(USNewsMag.com) – Julie Su will be nominated as labor secretary by President Joe Biden. Since 2021, Su has been deputy labor secretary. If she is confirmed as labor secretary she will be responsible for ensuring the Biden administration’s message about the economy and labor rights for workers amid fears of a recession is known.
The nomination comes after the announcement of the departure of Marty Walsh, the first Cabinet department head to depart from the Biden administration. Walsh, the former Mayor of Boston, is set to leave his labor secretary position in March for a position with the National Hockey League Players Association. Until confirmed by the Senate, Su will serve the acting labor secretary.
During her time as deputy labor secretary, Su was part of a team that worked to help the unions and railroads come to an agreement avoiding a freight stoppage. She has been part of issues such as the push for increasing the minimum wage as well as part of a crack down on trafficked workers.
Su has received endorsements from Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus as well as the National Education Association. If confirmed, Su would be the first Asian American in Biden’s Cabinet in a secretary level position.
Su served in the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency as the secretary. She also served as California’s labor commissioner. She has come under fire for her oversight of a California department that was responsible for paying unemployment benefits during the pandemic, which some claim were mishandled. The White House has spoke out in her defense, saying the state was unprepared for the number of claims received in 2020.
Before entering government she worked at the Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Los Angeles as a litigation director. In 2001, Su was awarded a “genius” grant by the MacArthur Foundation for her work on behalf of workers in a sweatshop in California who were working below minimum wage.
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