Statement from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka after the Senate’s vote to confirm Marty Walsh as secretary of labor:
Congratulations to Secretary Walsh. It’s difficult to overstate the importance of this moment. For four years, working families have lived with a Labor Department devoted to serving a handful of elite interests. Now, the power to enforce safety and equity in our workplaces has been handed from a ruthless corporate lawyer to a proud union brother.
Working people organized, mobilized and voted to deliver that victory. But we aren’t finished yet. It’s time to build a truly just recovery that hands power back to the workers who have borne the brunt of this crisis.
That means delivering unprecedented funding to create a 21st-century infrastructure alongside a new generation of good-paying union jobs. It means raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. And most of all, it means strengthening working people’s right to organize together by finally passing the PRO Act. Our work has only just begun, and we will be stronger with Secretary Walsh in the fight ahead.
Contact: John Weber (202) 637-5018