Julie Su (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Today, President Biden announced his intent to nominate Julie Su to serve as Secretary of the Department of Labor. Julie is a tested and experienced leader, who will continue to build a stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive economy that provides Americans a fair return for their work and an equal chance to get ahead.
“It is my honor to nominate Julie Su to be our country’s next Secretary of Labor. Julie has spent her life fighting to make sure that everyone has a fair shot, that no community is overlooked, and that no worker is left behind. Over several decades, Julie has led the largest state labor department in the nation, cracked down on wage theft, fought to protect trafficked workers, increased the minimum wage, created good-paying, high-quality jobs, and established and enforced workplace safety standards.
Julie is a champion for workers, and she has been a critical partner to Secretary Walsh since the early days of my Administration. 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 jobs we create in critical sectors like semiconductor manufacturing, broadband and healthcare are good-paying, stable and accessible jobs for all.
I look forward to continuing to work with Julie to build an economy that works for working people, and I respectfully ask the Senate to take up this nomination quickly so that we can finish the job for America’s workers.”
Julie Su, Secretary of Labor
Julie Su has spent her career fighting for workers, and currently serves as the Deputy Secretary of Labor, a position she has held since her July 2021 Senate confirmation. As Deputy Secretary, Su has worked side by side with Secretary Walsh to advance President Biden’s vision of a strong, resilient, inclusive economy with worker well-being at its center.
Previously, Su was the Labor Secretary for the State of California where she worked closely with unions and employers to build high road training partnerships to connect people—often those left out of prosperity—to good, union jobs. Su began her life in government service as the California Labor Commissioner where she launched the “Wage Theft is a Crime” campaign with the support of both labor and management. Su spent 17 years as a civil rights attorney representing workers who are often invisible, including 72 Thai garment workers who were trafficked into the US and forced to work behind barbed wire and under armed guard. Her work earned her a MacArthur “genius” award.
Su is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School. She is the daughter of immigrants, speaks Mandarin and Spanish, and she has 2 daughters, LiMei and AnLing, who are both in college.
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