By SEUNG MIN KIM and JOSH BOAK
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that his labor secretary nominee Julie Su is a “real leader” who has supported unions, enforced worker safety and protected the victims of human trafficking.
“Julie is the American dream,” Biden said in remarks at the White House. “She’s committed to making sure that dream is in reach for every American”
The daughter of an immigrant mother who arrived on a cargo ship, Su said she believes “in the transformative power of America.” She noted that a union job gave her parents a path to the middle class, one that eventually led her to college at Stanford University and law school at Harvard University.
“To all workers who are toiling in the shadows, know that we see you, we stand with you, and we will fight for you,” Su said.
Su, the current deputy labor secretary, would replace the departing incumbent, former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, whom Biden hailed by saying, “If I ever want anybody in the foxhole with me, I want Marty Walsh.”
A civil rights attorney and former head of California’s labor department, Su was central to negotiations between labor and freight rail companies late last year, working to avert an economically debilitating strike. She also has worked to broaden employee training programs and crack down on wage theft. If confirmed by the Senate, Su would also be the first Asian American in the Biden administration to serve in the Cabinet at the secretary level.
Su was considered to lead the department when Biden won the White House but instead became the department’s deputy. Walsh announced his intention to leave the administration earlier this month to lead the National Hockey League Players’ Association. Su will serve as the acting secretary until the Senate acts on her nomination.
Biden had been under pressure from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and other Asian American and Pacific Islander advocates to select Su to head…
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