For Immediate Release: February 28, 2023

Contact: Matt Spence  202-728-6014

IBEW Statement Urging the Confirmation of Julie Su for Labor Secretary

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers enthusiastically supports Julie Su to be President Joe Biden’s next Secretary of Labor.

“Deputy Secretary Su has dedicated her life to the cause of workers’ rights and good middle-class jobs,” IBEW International President Kenneth W. Cooper said. “Like President Biden and outgoing Secretary Walsh, she sees labor unions as key to rebuilding America’s middle class. I know she will bring the dedication and passion she has shown throughout her career for working families to this new role leading the Department of Labor, and the IBEW fully supports her nomination.”

Julie Su is a lifelong advocate for working people and civil rights. Before coming to the Labor Department, she served as secretary for the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency and as state labor commissioner, where she enforced strong on-the-job health and safety protections and cracked down on wage theft.

The IBEW joins the rest of the labor movement in thanking Secretary Marty Walsh for his service to the country and to its working families.

“Secretary Walsh has truly left his mark on the Department of Labor,” said Cooper. “His commitment to the Department's fundamental mission, ensuring a level playing field for working people, has always been 100 percent.”

“Joe Biden announced during his campaign that he would be the most pro-labor president this country has ever seen, and through historic legislation and appointments like that of Secretary Walsh, he has so-far followed through on that promise. The Biden-Harris administration’s pro-worker and pro-middle-class agenda is unprecedented in this country’s history, and Julie Su is the right person to help carry that agenda forward at the Department of Labor.”

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The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) represents approximately 775,000 members and retirees who work in a wide variety of fields, including construction, utilities, manufacturing, telecommunications, broadcasting, railroads and government.