Groups representing unions and Asian Americans are among those pressing President Biden to tap Julie Su as the next Secretary of Labor, with some of the most ardent calls coming from Southern California.
Su, who currently serves as the deputy labor secretary to departing Sec. Marty Walsh, used to represent workers in the region as the litigation director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Southern California.
She was the lead lawyer in the 1995 landmark El Monte Thai garment slavery case that saw dozens of undocumented workers recover lost wages and win the right to stay in the U.S.
In 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Su as California’s labor commissioner. Her tenure was marked by efforts to fight wage theft and promote career advancement for immigrants, women and people of color, said Kent Wong of the UCLA Labor Center.
“She has paid particular attention to the concerns of workforce development and the importance of providing job opportunities to underserved communities,” said Wong, who is part of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance and the California Federation of Teachers, both of which are backing a Su nomination.
Su’s name is being floated along with former New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who has the support of Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders said he would supporteither one of two people: Sara Nelson, the head of the largest flight attendants’ union, or former Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich.
Any Su nomination would face the same opposition she encountered when she was being considered for the top labor post before President Biden selected Walsh, then Boston’s mayor and a former union official.
Business interests and Republicans zeroed in on the massive fraud that wracked California’s…
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