Posts tagged California labor commissioner
Commentary: To Harvard and Back with Julie Su
August 18, 2025 // This year, Julie Su, Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of labor, became a resident fellow with Harvard’s Kennedy School, Institute of Politics. The Century Foundation also brought Su on board as a full-time senior fellow. These prestigious institutions seem to have overlooked key events in Su’s long career. Harvard, where Su, a Stanford grad, earned her law degree, hails the Biden nominee as “a nationally recognized workers’ rights and civil rights expert.” As California’s labor commissioner, Su was “widely credited with a renaissance in enforcement and creative approaches to combating wage theft and protecting immigrant workers.” In reality, her experience was a bit more extensive.
Julie Su: ‘Unions were built for big fights’
February 23, 2025 // In four years at the U.S. Department of Labor under President Biden, including two as acting secretary of labor, Julie Su ’94 helped to implement the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, extend overtime pay for salaried workers, and facilitate agreements between employers and unions for autoworkers, longshoremen, school bus manufacturers, and airplane machinists. In those contract negotiations, Su, a labor rights activist, often heard from employers that the wage increases demanded by workers were too high because they were “above the market wage.” She pushed back on that premise, she explained in remarks at the Feb. 14 graduation of the Harvard Trade Union Program (HTUP).
California collects millions in stolen wages, but can’t find many workers to pay them
October 6, 2024 // The state Labor Commissioner sometimes struggles to get back pay to workers when it reaches wage theft settlements. It tries social media, TV and hotlines. But money owed to employees is still sitting in state accounts.
Biden Bypasses Senate Confirmation in Labor’s Julie Su
October 3, 2023 // According to the GAO, she can stay in the top Labor Department post without Senate confirmation. That effectively cuts out the voters and sets a poor precedent. Now, should some federal secretary depart, the president need only appoint an “acting” replacement. According to the Government Accountability Office, that person can avoid Senate confirmation and remain on the job, regardless of their suitability for the post.
Kiley, Foxx Intro Bill to Keep Labor Secretary Role Temporary
July 28, 2023 // "For the sake of job creators and working Americans, Biden must pull Su," she wrote. "Instead, he has stretched the law to bypass a Senate confirmation process. Par for the course for a president accustomed to flouting the law to get his way. I am pleased to support Rep. Kiley's bill to clarify federal law, putting an end to this administration's efforts to skirt the law at the expense of workers and job creators." H.R. 4957, the Department of Labor Succession Act, clarifies federal law to ensure that the tenure of an Acting Secretary of Labor aligns with the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (Vacancies Act). On July 20, Su became the longest serving cabinet member.