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