Open Letter: Women for Julie Su

 

February 20, 2023

Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

President of the United States of America

Dear President Biden,

As prominent leaders committed to gender, reproductive, racial, and economic justice, we urge you to nominate Julie Su for United States Secretary of Labor. Many of us called on you to nominate her as labor secretary in 2021, and we do so again now. Ms. Su is impeccably qualified to lead the U.S. Department of Labor, with the vision, experience, and dedication needed to build a 21st century economy that works for everyone.

Ms. Su would bring to the role a deep commitment to addressing the racial and gender economic disparities that have been exposed—and magnified—by the COVID-19 crisis. She has decades of experience advancing gender equity and family economic security and building a strong caregiving economy. Given your Administration’s commitment to racial and gender equity, and a diverse leadership, and given Julie Su’s excellent work as Deputy Secretary to date, your Administration can make history and mark this new era by nominating an exceptionally qualified woman of color as your labor secretary.

Ms. Su has unparalleled experience and qualifications to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor. As the State of California’s Secretary of Labor, she oversaw the largest state labor department in the country and led an agency that serves more than 17 million workers. Ms. Su supported and protected workers in the building trades and specifically ensured that construction workers are always paid a prevailing wage. She brought the largest wage theft case ever by the state of California against a private company, which was a framing and drywall subcontractor that cheated more than 1,000 construction workers. During her decade tenure as California Labor Commissioner then Secretary of Labor, Ms. Su co-founded and co-led the state’s Pay Equity Task Force to improve compliance with the state’s gender pay equity law; strengthened paid sick leave protections during the pandemic; helped establish collective bargaining rights for over 40,000 child care workers; implemented new overtime protections for domestic workers and farmworkers; and required janitorial and agricultural employers to provide trainings to prevent sexual violence and harassment.

A nationally recognized labor expert and lawyer, Ms. Su has been a lifelong champion of women workers, particularly low-paid workers, immigrant workers, and those essential workers who have been on the front lines of this pandemic. Her previous trailblazing career at a distinguished civil rights organization earned her numerous accolades, including the prestigious MacArthur “genius” award, one of four “Pioneers in Women’s History” by former President Clinton, and one of the “Fifty Most Noteworthy Women Alumni” of Harvard Law School. 

At this critical juncture, we need a labor secretary who can advance workplace rights and protections for all workers and ensure a just, inclusive economic recovery that puts the economic security of women and working families at the center. This country and your Administration would be exceptionally well served by Julie Su—a modern-day Frances Perkins —as your Secretary of Labor. 

Sincerely,

Aarti Kohli

Agustina Matos

Ai-jen Poo

Aimee Allison

Alexa-Rio Osaki

Aliza Kazmi

Alvina Yeh

Amy Monk

Andrea Plaza

Angela Glover Blackwell

Angela Sanbrano

Angelica Salas

Ann O'Leary

Ann Shoket

Archana Sahgal

Ari Jones

Bel Leong-Hong

Benish Shah

Betsy Lin

Bo Thao-Urabe

Breanna Maldonado

Cali Williams Yost

Carmen Lanche

Carol McDonald

Carrie Pugh

Chi Chi Wu

Christine Chen

Chung Seto

Claudia F. Kaercher

Courtni Pugh

Cristina Jimenez

Crystal Plati

Darakshan Raja

Daranee Petsod

Deborah Chen

Donna

Donna Lent

Donna Zaccaro

Doreena Wong

Elizabeth Seja Min

Ellen Bravo

Ellen Pao

Esta Soler

Estella Owoimaha-Church

EunSook Lee

Eva Paterson

Ginger Lew

Gloria L. Blackwell

Gloria Pan

Gloria Steinem

Grace Huang

Grace K. Pai

Greisa Martinez Rosas

Hannah Rosenzweig

Hillary Holley

Hitha Palepu

Isa Noyola

Jadine Nielsen

Jeanette Takamura, PhD

Jenn Stowe

Jennifer C. Pizer

Jennifer Chau

Jennifer Tucker

Jenny Low

Jenya Cassidy

Joanne N Smith

Jocelyn Frye

Juana Flores

Judith Hope

Judith LeBlanc

Judy Patrick

Julie Gutman Dickinson

Julie Lythcott-Haims

Juliet K. Choi

Kara Gustafson

Karen Eber

Karen K. Narasaki

Kathy Nakagawa

Katie Bethell

Katlyn Perkins

KaYing Yang

Kenyora Parham

Kiersten Stewart

Kimberly S. G. Chang, MD, MPH

Kiran Gill

Kristal Bergfield

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

Lan Hoang

Laura Brounstein

Lateefah Simon

Lelaine Bigelow

Leng Leng Chancey

Lenka Mendoza

Leslie Katz

Lily Trieu

Lisalyn R. Jacobs

Lorella Praeli

Luna Yasui

Lupe M. Rodriguez

Madalene Xuan-Trang Mielke

Marcella Howell

Maria Huerta Reyes

Maria Reyes

Marielena Hincapie

Mee Moua

Meera Rajput

Megan Fountain

Mina Black

Mini Timmaraju

Mini Timmaraju

Miriam Yeung

monica khant

Monica Ramirez

Morgan Hopkins

Muthoni Wambu Kraal

Nadia Marin-Molina

Nadia Nisha Belkin

Neeti Narula

Neidi Dominguez

Nicole Melaku

Nora Mata

Noreen Farrell

Olga Lilia Castillo

Pamela Shifman

Phillip Westry

Po Murray

Prisca Bae

Priya Purandare

Pronita Gupta

Rea Carey

Rinku Sen

Rosemarie Molina

Rosemary Martinez

Roxana Tynan

Ruth Ann Harnisch

Ruth Milkman

Sachi Watase

Sandra Cordero

Sara Gould

Saru Jayaraman

Sayu Bhojwani

Sehreen Noor Ali

Shakya Cherry-Donaldson

Shaunna Thomas

Sheila Katz

Sissy Trinh

Shoua Moua

Spencer Watson, JD

Stephanie Cho

Sue Ann Hong

Sung Yeon Choimorrow

Susan McPherson

Susana Raquel Berger

Teresa Younger

ThaoMee Xiong

Tram Nguyen

Umbreen Bhatti

Valerie Ploumpis

Vallay Moua Varro

Vicki Shabo

Victoria Huynh

Vida Lin

Virginia M. Kee

Yaquelin Lopez

Ying McGuire

Yvonne Hsu

Yvonne Y. Lee

 
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