The AFL-CIO today unveiled a multifaceted “Stand with Su” campaign in support of acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su’s confirmation to lead the Department of Labor. The campaign includes a six-figure digital ad buy, as well as a nationwide worker mobilization to call and email senators urging them to vote in support of Su.
A link to the first of the AFL-CIO’s ads in support of Su’s confirmation can be found here.
In coordination with Su’s hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on April 20, the AFL-CIO and our union and community-based partners are engaging in an all-out blitz to ensure Su’s record of supporting working people and increasing opportunity for all is front and center as senators consider her confirmation. Su’s storied career, which began as a young civil rights attorney who won $4 million for trafficked and exploited Thai garment workers, uniquely qualifies her to provide the critical leadership and innovative strategies needed for the Labor Department to effectively tackle the challenges workers and employers face in today’s economy.
“Julie Su is one of the most accomplished, hardworking and brilliant nominees this nation has ever seen for secretary of labor,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Julie is relentless in pursuing justice for working people, especially those on the margins who are routinely subject to exploitation and abuse. Her deep understanding of the future of work, the benefits and challenges of technological advancement in the workplace, and the essential role job training plays in creating an economy that works for all is exactly what our country needs to prepare future generations for rewarding careers. The AFL-CIO and our allies will fight tooth and nail to ensure Julie is confirmed because she’s the right person at the right time to move our nation’s workforce forward.”
The AFL-CIO campaign will mobilize union members across the country to contact their senators and urge them to support Su. The 50-state mobilization effort will include worker-to-worker conversations on Su’s record and the importance of the secretary of labor’s role in advocating for working people’s priorities like good jobs, fair wages and the enforcement of labor law. To supplement the work on the ground, the federation launched a six-figure digital ad campaign to reach hundreds of thousands of workers, with nearly 4 million impressions. The ads will run initially in the D.C. metropolitan area and Arizona, with plans to expand to other states.
As deputy secretary of labor, Su partnered with Secretary Marty Walsh on groundbreaking initiatives to fight workplace discrimination, bring more opportunities to women workers and build a thriving workforce for generations through job training and investment in burgeoning sectors like semiconductor manufacturing, clean energy and the care economy. Su’s been widely praised for her efforts to combat wage theft, winning millions of dollars for workers who had their pay stolen by unscrupulous bosses in California. She also has a long history of collaborating with employers and unions to build innovative partnerships to boost the economy and create good jobs that benefit workers and companies.
And most importantly, she’s never backed down from a fight when workers’ fundamental rights are on the line.
“Julie Su has provided her valuable support and leadership to make real changes in the industry, especially for garment workers who are often mistreated and have endured for decades—often in really bad work conditions at sweatshops,” said Francisco Tzul, a Los Angeles garment worker.
Contact: Steve Smith, 202-637-5018