Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su's Message to the Labor Movement

To mark the Labor Day weekend and the efforts and dedication of union members-activists and union leaders, Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su sent the following message to America’s labor unions.

Acting Secretary’s note to union leaders and members:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Labor,

Labor Day is approaching, and as folks prepare for the holiday weekend, I want to recognize your partnership in growing an equitable, accessible economy, while lifting up workers’ voices on the job.

As President Biden often says: the middle class built America, and unions built the middle class. You know it, and I know it because I lived it. When I was younger, my mom got a union job working for the Los Angeles County. She went from making minimum wage to having a sustainable job that created a pathway to the middle class for my family.

In President Biden’s America, this story is being written as we speak for families across the nation. We’re rebuilding the middle class with good, union jobs.

That's why I’m so proud to be leading the Labor Department during the most pro-worker, pro-union administration in history.

We’re working hard to preserve and expand the American dream for everyone. That means access to good jobs with good pay and benefits, where you are treated with dignity in the workplace.

And we’re not just talking the talk. Under President Biden's Invest in America agenda, workers across the country are delivering new roads, safer bridges, affordable internet, clean drinking water, a cleaner climate, and a manufacturing boom.

All of these projects are also an opportunity to make our workforce more accessible for communities that have been left behind in the past while creating good union jobs that support families, and communities. Our Good Jobs Initiative is leading the way, developing agreements with other federal agencies to embed job quality, equity, and worker empowerment in more than $181 billion in federal funding opportunities.

Throughout my recent travels, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with so many workers – like Jazz Allen with the Chicago Women in Trades and Erin O’Brien-Hoffman with IUPAT District Council 21 in Philadelphia – parents who wanted to build a better future for themselves and their families but historically faced barriers to getting these good jobs. Until they found a union.

Unions help close the wage gap for women and workers of color. They provide predictable schedules and all-around safer workplaces. To meet workers in this moment, we need to make sure everyone has access to the good union jobs we’re creating, especially those who have been left out or left behind in the past.

We’re building equity into everything we do, using all the tools in our toolbox to protect workers’ rights, wages, health and safety, and supporting workers’ right to fight for higher wages and better working conditions. Because the transformative power of a good job should be available to everyone.

We’re partnering with unions to find innovative ways to increase access to job training, apprenticeships, and pathways into good jobs in high-demand industries for underrepresented populations and underserved communities.

And, we’re protecting every worker’s right to organize with resources like the newly updated Worker Organizing Resource and Knowledge (WORK) Center and Know Your Rights Toolkit to make sure all workers know their rights and how to form a union if they choose.

Growing our economy from the bottom up and middle out takes partnership, and I’m dedicated to working as hard as you are to build a more accessible, equitable economy that works for all Americans.

As we reflect on the work we’ve accomplished together, and recommit ourselves to all the work that remains, I want you to know that all of us at the Labor Department value the work that unions and workers do every day to keep America moving forward.

You can learn more about how the Department of Labor is empowering workers at www.dol.gov/laborday.

I wish you and your family a wonderful Labor Day.

In solidarity,

Julie Su
Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor

Twitter: @ActSecJulieSu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ActSecJulieSu
Instagram: @ActSecJulieSu
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ActSecJulieSu