Julie A. Su, nominee for deputy secretary of Labor, testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen Constructing on Tuesday, March 16, 2021.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
President Joe Biden is nominating Julie Su, the present deputy and former California official, as his next labor secretary, replacing the departing incumbent, former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
Su, a civil rights attorney and former head of California’s labor department, was central to negotiations between labor and freight rail firms late last 12 months, working to avert an economically debilitating strike. She also has worked to broaden worker training programs and crack down on wage theft. If confirmed by the Senate, Su would even be the primary Asian American within the Biden administration to serve within the Cabinet on the secretary level.
Biden, in a press release on Tuesday, called her a “champion for staff.”
“Julie is a tested and experienced leader, who will proceed to construct a stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive economy that gives Americans a good return for his or her work and an equal likelihood to get ahead,” he said. “She helped avert a national rail shutdown, improved access to good jobs free from discrimination through my Good Jobs Initiative, and is ensuring that the roles we create in critical sectors like semiconductor manufacturing, broadband and healthcare are good-paying, stable and accessible jobs for all.”
Su was considered to steer the department when Biden won the White House but as a substitute became the department’s deputy. Walsh announced his intention to depart the administration earlier this month to steer the National Hockey League Players’ Association. Su will serve because the acting secretary until the Senate acts on her nomination.
Biden had been under pressure from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and other Asian American and Pacific Islander advocates to pick Su to go the department. This administration was the primary in greater than twenty years to not have a Cabinet secretary of AAPI descent, despite its regular declarations that it was essentially the most diverse in history. Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai are of AAPI descent but don’t lead a Cabinet department.
Su, if confirmed, would also expand nearly all of women serving within the president’s Cabinet. She was confirmed by the Senate to her current role in 2021 by a 50–47 vote.
Su’s nomination drew swift support from Democrats on Capitol Hill, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer saying she can be “phenomenal” within the job.
“The president couldn’t have picked a greater nominee,” he told reporters. “I’m really enthusiastic about her, and we’ll move to think about her nomination very, in a short time.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who will preside over Su’s confirmation hearing as chair of the Senate health, education, labor and pensions committee, praised the choice. Sanders had urged consideration of Sara Nelson, the president of the flight attendants union, but made clear Su had his strong support.
“I’m confident Julie Su can be a superb Secretary of Labor,” he tweeted. “I stay up for working together with her to guard staff’ rights and construct the trade union movement on this country.”
But Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, the highest Republican on the Senate health, education and labor committee who opposed Su when she was chosen for deputy secretary, called her work overseeing the department “troubling” and “anti-worker.”
The committee should “have a full and thorough hearing process,” Cassidy said.
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., who chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said she was “overjoyed” by the choice, thanking Biden in a tweet for “nominating your first AAPI Cabinet Secretary!”
“It actually is healthier late than never,” Chu said in a temporary interview, citing CAPAC support for Su two years ago for the highest Labor post and praising Su’s credentials as a pacesetter and enforcer of labor laws including minimum wage and occupational safety standards. She said GOP criticism about Su had been fully vetted two years ago and that the approaching confirmation process will show their charges “don’t have any basis.”
Chu noted that Biden had said he would name a Cabinet that looked like America, and “he fulfilled that promise.”
Su’s nomination also comes at a key moment for labor unions, which have been facing a decline in membership for many years. Unions gained some momentum as staff at major employers resembling Amazon and Starbucks pushed to unionize. But Biden — an avowed pro-union president — needed to work with Congress to impose a contract on rail staff last 12 months to avoid a possible strike.
The Labor Department said just 10.1% of staff last 12 months were union members. That figure has been cut nearly in half since 1983 and will fall further, as younger staff are less prone to belong to unions.
“There isn’t any yet one more dedicated and qualified to defend the elemental rights of working people than Julie Su,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “It’s her life’s work.”