Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su knows how important a good job is because one transformed her family.
Department of Labor; BI
Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su knows firsthand the importance of a good job.
Su is the daughter of immigrants; she told Business Insider that her mother came to the US from China on a cargo ship because she couldn't afford a passenger ticket. For years, both of her parents worked minimum-wage jobs. Then, when Su was a little girl, her mother got a union job with Los Angeles County, which meant a stable paycheck, benefits, and now, in retirement, a pension.
"I know what a good union job does for a family — because it transformed mine," Su said. That job meant her mother could come home at a reasonable hour, and her schedule was set. It also meant that if anyone in the family needed to see a doctor, they could.
Su's story is one that President Joe Biden's administration hopes will become a reality for people nationwide. Much of Biden's economic policy has focused on reversing the tides of a labor market that's squeezed out the middle class and the existence of "good jobs" — jobs like Su's mother secured, providing stability, security, and benefits. As the acting Secretary of Labor, Su must help build an economy full of good jobs. It's a hefty challenge that comes as both the labor market itself is hot and the workers within it want more.
"We are seeing the highest support for unions than we've seen in decades, and that it's no accident that that comes along with an administration that is supportive of unions and these historic wins for unions and workers at the bargaining table," Su said. "We are seeing that now, in this moment. And that's one reason I'm so proud to be the acting labor secretary in this administration."
Translating for her parents inspired Su to pursue a career in law. She realized that law, too, is a language: "I went to learn that language so I could use it to help people who didn't speak it, who were left out of our system," she said.
Later, Su was the lead attorney in a federal lawsuit representing undocumented Thai garment-factory workers whose bosses kept them effectively enslaved at a sweatshop, as Business Insider previously reported, winning them millions in back pay and legal immigration status. That work also earned her a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." She eventually became California's labor secretary and, in 2021, the country's deputy labor secretary. Now, she serves as the acting secretary after Biden tapped her to fill former Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh's empty seat.
Under her purview, the Department of Labor has already moved to raise overtime thresholds and crack down on child labor. She holds the post during a time of blockbuster strike activity, with automotive workers with UAW and actors with SAG-AFTRA taking to picket lines and winning.
Those strikes serve as stress tests for how far Americans' support for labor unions can go. Both were immediately disruptive — interrupting car buying and the TV shows Americans love to binge. Yet support remained strong for both.
Across the country, Su said, there's solidarity among workers — union and nonunion alike — around the idea that their employers should value their work.
"Solidarity, it has been very powerful," Su said. "It's helped at each bargaining. I've seen much of this bargaining up close, and I think that solidarity is part of this moment."
And Su's role is also key to Biden's goal of reversing a long-standing trend in the American labor market: A middle class that keeps shrinking and the loss of good jobs that can sustain families, provide benefits, and give people a sense of security. Su has seen that firsthand: When she spent one summer in Washington, DC, working at an internship, she waited tables to pay her bills.
"I realized that sometimes the way people see a service worker is really dependent on their ability to make a worker sort of invisible as a human being," she said. "That was also very powerful for me."
When it comes to what makes a job a good job, Su repeats the president's words: It's more than a paycheck, but about dignity and respect. And, she added, it's about a real sense of security.
"I think that all people want to be part of something bigger than themselves," Su said. "So they want a job to be able to support themselves and raise their families, but they also want to feel like they're making a contribution, that there's a sense of purpose. And I think a good job helps to give people that sense of purpose. And that's something we're trying to do all across America, is make sure that working people can feel that."
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