#YesJulieSu: Why the Senate Should Confirm Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su

During her time, she has centered equity, promoted worker power, and strengthened workplace protections across industries.

For over a year, Julie Su has served as the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor—the federal agency tasked with improving the well-being of workers. During her time, she has centered equity, promoted worker power, and strengthened workplace protections across industries. And she’s done this all while serving as acting secretary of labor. Despite her strong leadership, her nomination has stalled in Congress. This women’s history month, we celebrate Acting Secretary Julie Su’s leadership and call on the Senate to stop this egregious delay, make it official, and confirm her as nominee.  

As acting secretary of labor, Su is part of a long legacy of women leaders who have fought to center equity and promote worker power. From organizing farmworkers and domestic workers for better wages and working conditions to codifying protections to prevent gender-based pay discrimination, women have time and again led the effort to fight against oppressive practices in our workplaces.  

Centering equity

Under Su’s leadership, the DOL continues to prioritize equity. Earlier this year, DOL released its updated Equity Action Plan to support the Biden-Harris Administration’s executive order to advance racial equity. In the plan, Su emphasized the DOL’s commitment to “improving the well-being of underserved, marginalized, disadvantaged, and excluded communities.” This includes those with limited English proficiency and workers in the Southeast, who tend to make lower wages and have less access to benefits and workplace protections. 

Su’s commitment to marginalized workers runs deep. As an attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, formerly known as the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Su led litigation that freed 72 Thai garment workers from an El Monte, California sweatshop. The workers, mostly women who spoke little English, were held captive under inhumane conditions for as long as seven years. Su secured millions in back pay for the affected workers, and the case paved the way for federal laws to combat labor trafficking. Nearly 30 years later, Su inducted the El Monte garment workers into the DOL’s Hall of Honor alongside other trailblazing inductees, such as A. Philip Randolph, Dolores Huerta and Bayard Rustin.  

Promoting worker power  

Su’s strong commitment to worker power has been on full display during her tenure at DOL, including during last year’s “hot labor summer,” when hundreds of thousands of workers across industries engaged in collective action. During that time, Su received acclaim for her role in high-profile labor negotiations in critical sectors of our economy. On the West Coast, port employer representative Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and port worker International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) were negotiating a new 6-year contract for the 22,000 workers at nearly 30 different ports across the west coast of the country. Negotiations had lingered for over a year, prompting work disruptions at some of the busiest ports in the country. While shipping companies were reaping record profits, workers struggled with safety issues, long hours and low pay—issues exacerbated by the pandemic.  Su proved instrumental in keeping the parties at the bargaining table during tense contract negotiations. When a deal was finally reached, ILWU and PMA released a joint statement pointing to Su’s assistance in getting to the finish line.  

The continuous support for her leadership from unions across the country should come as no surprise. Last fall, some 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers represented by a coalition of unions went on strike—the largest strike of health care workers in our nation’s history.  The unions took to the picket lines for three days to demand higher pay and a fix to the dangerous staff shortages. Su played an important role in mediating the tense negotiations, helping to land a good contract for workers. Following the tentative agreement announcement, Kaiser Permanente and the coalition of unions released a statement thanking Su for “her instrumental involvement in bringing negotiations to a close.” 

Strengthening workplace protections 

Under Su’s leadership, DOL is working to make the rules of economy fair for workers, including by strengthening wage protections. Last year, DOL finalized a rule to strengthen wage standards for construction workers on public buildings or other public works. This is a critical step in ensuring construction programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Invest in America agenda create high- quality jobs. DOL is also close to finalizing a rule to restore and expand overtime protections, which would have a disproportionate impact on Black and Hispanic salaried workers.  

Before her tenure at DOL, Su served as the secretary for the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), where she worked to make workplaces more just. This includes efforts to push back against illegal practices, such as wage theft, which disproportionately impacts Black and brown workers. While at LWDA she launched the Wage Theft is a Crime public awareness campaign and filed actions against employers who violated the law, helping to secure backpay for affected workers. against employers who violated the law, helping to secure backpay for affected workers. 

In our continued fight for an economy that works for everyone, we need to uplift leaders who prioritize pro-worker efforts. Unsurprisingly, anti-worker groups and conservatives oppose Su’s nomination because she is an exceptional advocate for workers.  

Julie Su demonstrates what true leadership looks like in our continued fight for a just and inclusive economy. It’s past time for the Senate to confirm her as secretary of labor.