VIDEO: On Senate Floor, Hirono Highlights Biden-Harris Administration’s Progress for Working People, Commends Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), delivered remarks on the Senate floor highlighting the historic progress made by the Biden-Harris Administration to create over 14 million jobs and keep unemployment rates low. In her remarks, Senator Hirono also commended Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su for her work in achieving these milestones and called out unfair criticisms of the Acting Secretary.

“After decades of declining union membership, working people are coming together to demand their fair share of the economic success our country is experiencing—success they make possible,” said Senator Hirono during her remarks. “Since assuming the top role at the Labor Department earlier this year, Acting Secretary Su has played a critical role supporting workers and finding consensus to move our economy forward.”

Senator Hirono highlighted the crucial role Acting Secretary Su played in mediating several contentious labor disputes, including the potentially-disastrous strike at ports along the west coast, the largest health care strike in our nation’s history carried out by Kaiser Permanente employees, and the historic deal between the United Auto Workers and the Big Three auto companies.

“In addition to these and many other settled labor disputes, Acting Secretary Su is leading major initiatives to make life better for working people in our country and grow the middle class—from expanding overtime protections, to strengthening apprenticeship and work training programs and much more,” continued Senator Hirono. “Julie Su’s work speaks for itself. She listens, she finds consensus, and she helps those around her stay the course for as long as it takes. What more could we ask of a Secretary of Labor?”

In her remarks, Senator Hirono also called out the double-standards often applied to women of color in leadership positions.

“To be blunt, Mr. President, sexism, racism, and double standards applied to women of color are all too common, in spite of their denials all around,” Senator Hirono continued. “Julie Su has been doing the job of Secretary of Labor for months, and she’s been doing the job well. But still, some of our colleagues cling to baseless criticisms, insisting she’s unfit to serve. It’s unfair to Acting Secretary Su, and to the millions of workers whose lives she’s helped to improve.”

Senator Hirono has remained a strong advocate on behalf of Julie Su’s nomination to become Secretary of Labor. If confirmed, Su would be the first Asian-American in the Biden administration to serve in the Cabinet at the secretary level.

Senator Hirono’s full remarks are below and video is available for download here.

M. President, as 2023 comes to a close, I rise to mark a year of historic progress for working people in our country. Since President Biden took office, we’ve created more than 14 million jobs, including 1.5 million jobs created in manufacturing, construction and engineering. Meanwhile, unemployment has been under 4% for 22 months in a row—the longest stretch in over 50 years. And across the country, we’re seeing the labor movement reclaim its strength.

After decades of declining union membership, working people are coming together to demand their fair share of the economic success our country is experiencing—success they make possible. None of this is happening by accident, M. President. These victories are thanks, in large part, to the commitment of the Biden-Harris Administration and, to give credit where credit is due, the work of Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su.

Since assuming the top role at the Labor Department earlier this year, Acting Secretary Su has played a critical role supporting workers and finding consensus to move our economy forward. In June, just months after taking over the Department, she helped avert a potentially-disastrous strike at ports all along the west coast. Had major ports come to a screeching halt, our country would have experienced massive supply chain disruptions, costing our economy billions of dollars. Such a shutdown would have been particularly chaotic for Hawaii, where the vast majority of our goods are shipped to the state.

Gene Seroka, the Director of the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest container port in the country, said Julie was “a constant and reassuring voice of reason that helped to keep both sides at the bargaining table and focused on resolution.” In October, Acting Secretary Su helped settle a labor dispute between Kaiser Permanente and nearly 75,000 of its union employees who staged the largest health care strike in our nation’s history. After weeks of bargaining, Kaiser and its employees had failed to reach an agreement, endangering the care they provided to millions of Americans across our country.

At the invitation of both parties, Acting Secretary Su flew to California to sit at the bargaining table and encourage both sides to continue talking in good faith. To help bridge the gap between labor and management, and keep the lines of communication open, Acting Secretary Su was regularly moving from room to room, serving as a critical liaison in the negotiations. With her help, Kaiser workers reached a historic deal that included a record 21% wage increase over four years. Both sides agree she was critical to reaching a deal, with the union calling her support “instrumental” and Kaiser’s Senior Vice President of Labor Relations saying that Julie was “able to get us to articulate where we have commonalities, not about a particular package, but about our interests in the employees, and in health care.” That’s what Julie does—she helps people find common ground, setting workers, businesses, and our economy up for success. But even after that historic success, many continued to doubt Acting Secretary Su’s acumen—with one labor economist going so far as to question her skills as a mediator.

Let’s face it, it is not unusual for so-called experts to question the leadership qualities of women with little evidence to substantiate their criticisms. In spite of her detractors, just weeks later, Julie Su helped mediate a truly historic deal between the United Auto Workers and the Big Three auto companies, resolving the most significant auto strike in modern American history. Like Kaiser workers, with Acting Secretary Su’s support, autoworkers secured a transformational contract—a contract that will see UAW salaries rise more in the next four years than they have in the previous 20.

Shawn Fain, the newly-elected UAW President, showed his mettle in these negotiations as the country watched. Significantly, he too praised Julie Su’s leadership, citing her work to build trust between labor and management and encouraging them to focus on their shared goals. In addition to these and many other settled labor disputes, Acting Secretary Su is leading major initiatives to make life better for working people in our country and grow the middle class—from expanding overtime protections, to strengthening apprenticeship and work training programs, and much more.

M. President, Julie Su’s work speaks for itself. She listens, she finds consensus, and she helps those around her stay the course for as long as it takes. What more could we ask of a Secretary of Labor? But still, there are those who question Julie’s ability to do the job, either ignoring or willfully dismissing her track record of successes. To be blunt, M. President, sexism, racism, and double standards applied to women of color are all too common, in spite of their denials all around.

Julie Su has been doing the job of Secretary of Labor for months, and she’s been doing the job well. But still, some of our colleagues cling to baseless criticisms, insisting she’s unfit to serve. It’s unfair to Acting Secretary Su, and to the millions of workers whose lives she’s helped to improve. Like the committed public servant she is, Julie perseveres, focusing on the important work of her Department. Along with millions of working people all across our country, I’m grateful for all she and the Biden-Harris Administration have done for workers, businesses, and our economy.

This Administration and Acting Secretary Su understand that workers are the force that keeps our country moving forward. With their continued leadership, I look forward to more wins for workers and our economy in the years ahead.

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