WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $10.5 million to fund the first year of four, five-year cooperative agreements aimed at developing strategies to assist youth and young adults with disabilities — particularly in underserved communities — in successfully transitioning into the workforce.

The awards have been granted to the Connecticut Department of Labor, Kansas Department of Commerce, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and the New York Department of Labor.

Administered by the department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy and the Employment and Training Administration, the Equitable Transition Model Demonstration grants support efforts to identify evidence-based solutions that enhance the training and employment prospects of disabled youth and young adults. Each award recipient will focus on specific populations, determined through data analysis and needs assessments. 

“The Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that all young people access the opportunities they deserve and achieve the success they desire,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “These historic investments exemplify the department’s bold and transformative actions to improve the education and employment outcomes of young people with disabilities, particularly those from historically underserved communities.”

These cooperative agreements align with the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to a more inclusive workforce and will provide up to $67.1 million in funding, contingent upon the awardees’ workplans and federal funding availability.

“We know that youth and young adults with disabilities face systemic barriers to finding and thriving in employment, and for those from historically underserved communities, the barriers can be multiplied and multifaceted,” said Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Taryn M. Williams. “These cooperative agreements will help us identify the most effective strategies for dismantling these barriers, ensuring all young people with disabilities are supported and empowered to successfully navigate the transition from school to college or a career.” 

Learn more about ODEP.

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su penned an op-ed reflecting on the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire published in Teen Vogue on March 25, 2024, the fire’s 113th anniversary. In it, the Acting Secretary recalled the lives lost — the majority of which were immigrant women — and how it began the legacy of former Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, who witnessed the fire in downtown New York City. 

The op-ed also referenced the work of President Biden’s administration to enforce labor laws, uphold safety standards and empower workers to speak up, and the Acting Secretary’s experience in advocating for today’s immigrant workers in the garment industry. 

“Secretary of Labor Julie Su on the Worker Movement 113 Years After the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire” includes the following excerpts:

• “This Women’s History Month, I’m reflecting on Frances Perkins’ legacy and how she turned the unheard voices of those immigrant women into a call to action. Frances became a driving force behind programs that generations of Americans have relied on for economic security and dignity, including a nationwide minimum wage, health and safety regulations, restrictions on child labor and more.”
• “I saw this early in my career. In 1995, 72 Thai garment workers were being forced to work behind barbed wire and under armed guard in a suburb of Los Angeles called El Monte. These workers, who were overwhelmingly women, were trafficked to the United States. They had been lured by the promise of the American dream, only to find themselves confronting injustice, just as the Triangle factory workers had decades earlier.”
• “To create change, it has taken workers using their voices to fight for their basic rights. I’ve asked my team at the Department of Labor to use every tool we have to support and empower workers in that fight. For example, earlier this year, we recovered more than $1 million for 165 workers whose employer had denied them overtime wages and then tried to conceal the wage theft. To date, this is the Department’s largest settlement ever for California garment workers.” 
• “In addition to enforcing laws that protect workers, in the Biden-Harris administration we’re making sure that women, women of color and people who have historically been shut out of opportunities can get good-quality jobs.” 
• “The Department of Labor and the Biden-Harris administration will continue to answer that call — the call of the women who came before us — with vigilance. We are fighting to enforce labor laws, uphold safety standards, and empower workers to speak up, speak out, and organize. As we remember those who lost their lives in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, we reaffirm that we cannot rest until that work is done.”

WASHINGTON – In a statement today, Acting Secretary Julie Su joined President Joe Biden in congratulating Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, who filed for a union election on March 18, 2024: 

“I stand with President Biden in congratulating the Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga who filed for a union election yesterday. As I have said, unions are good for the country and every worker should have the free and fair choice to join one, without employer interference or coercion. The decision on whether to join a union belongs to workers, full stop. 

“Across the country, workers have been exercising their right to organize, while unions like UAW negotiated historic contracts, lifting the floor for union and non-union workers alike. I am proud to be the Acting Secretary of Labor for the most pro-union president in history and am heartened by this news out of Tennessee.”

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor and Dominican Republic government representatives today renewed a partnership to strengthen collaboration with the Caribbean nation’s U.S. embassy and consulates to provide its citizens with useful information about U.S. laws protecting their workplace safety and health, wages and work hours and other employment matters. 

U.S. Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee joined Ambassador Sonia Guzman in signing a joint declaration at the department’s headquarters. During the ceremony, leaders from the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Wage and Hour Division, Employee Benefits Security Administration and the National Labor Relations Board also signed letters of arrangement with the Dominican government.

“This partnership with the government of the Dominican Republic will ensure that their citizens working in the U.S. are aware of the protections our nation’s labor laws provide, including the rights to a safe and healthy workplace and to be paid all of their hard-earned wages,” said Deputy Undersecretary Thea Lee. “They should also know that they have the ability to exercise their labor rights freely, have a voice in the workplace and can participate in our country’s strong economy.”

Partnerships like these help the department enforce U.S. labor laws more effectively, especially in high-risk and low-wage industries where violations are more likely to occur. They also help the department’s enforcement agencies identify problems workers face to enhance and target outreach efforts. 

“Our mission as a representative of the Dominican government is not limited to strengthening bilateral ties with the U.S. government, but also with other communities, companies and organizations that carry out their work here in the United States, especially if it is the Hispanic community, with which we are united by so many historical ties and friendship,” said Dominican Republic Ambassador Sonia Guzman.

Learn more about the department’s international work.

WASHINGTON – New research released today by the U.S. Department of Labor reveals that Black women lost $42.7 billion in wages compared to white men in 2023, and Hispanic women lost $53.3 billion in wages. These losses are driven entirely by the fact that Black and Hispanic women are concentrated disproportionately in jobs that, on average, pay lower wages than those held by white men.

“As we mark Equal Pay Day today, the Department of Labor’s ‘Bearing the Cost’ report is further evidence that women have long been undervalued in jobs and industries where they are overrepresented,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “The Biden-Harris administration is centering racial and gender equity in our economic growth plan, working to close the racial and gender pay gaps by expanding both opportunity and job quality for women.”

Job segregation is a long-standing driver of the persistent pay inequities experienced by women in the U.S. In 2022, the gender wage gap – the difference between the median wages of men and women working full-time year-round – was 16 percent, which means women working full-time year-round received 84 cents for every dollar paid to men. Compared to white, non-Hispanic men, the wage gaps were 20 percent for white, non-Hispanic women; 31 percent for Black women; and 43 percent for Hispanic women. 

“Job segregation results in lower wages for women, especially women of color and their families, and hurts the whole economy,” said Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon. “The Biden-Harris administration is implementing proven strategies to address economic disparities and working to eliminate the wage gap for all workers.”

Learn more about the research. 

WASHINGTON — The Biden-Harris administration today released the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2025. Following historic progress made since the President took office — with nearly 15 million jobs created and inflation down two-thirds — the budget protects and builds on this progress by lowering costs for working families, protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare, investing in America and the American people, and reducing the deficit by cracking down on fraud, cutting wasteful spending, and making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share.

“With the $13.9 billion in discretionary resources President Biden has called for, the Department of Labor can fulfill the promise to empower all workers to succeed in our growing economy,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “We are laser-focused on building the high road in employment while combatting the low road to deliver access to high-quality jobs, fairness, safety and dignity in every community.” 

The budget makes critical, targeted investments in the American people that will promote greater prosperity for decades to come. At the Department of Labor, the budget supports worker empowerment and equity, enhances labor-management collaboration; protects workers’ wages, safety and retirement security; and provides high-quality education and training for well-paying jobs. The budget includes investments focused on: 

• Empowering and protecting workers: With an allocation of $2 billion, a $121 million increase from the 2023 level, the budget supports the enforcement of fair, safe, and healthy working conditions, particularly for high-risk and underserved groups. It aims to safeguard workers' wages and benefits; protect children from unsafe labor practices and exploitation, especially for migrant children; address the misclassification of workers as independent contractors; and improve workplace health and safety. To protect the hard-earned savings of America’s workers, it implements reforms outlined in the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 for employer-sponsored retirement plans.
• Expanding pathways to good jobs: The budget invests in proven training models to equip workers with the necessary skills for quality jobs. It allocates $50 million to initiate the Sectoral Employment through Career Training for Occupational Readiness program, focusing on developing and expanding sector partnerships in growing industries. Moreover, the budget calls for $335 million to broaden Registered Apprenticeship opportunities, with $50 million earmarked to expand existing Registered Apprenticeship programs in clean energy occupations. In addition, it allocates $70 million for community colleges to enhance collaborative, high-quality training programs with the public workforce development system and employers.
• Improving unemployment insurance system access and equity: The budget invests $3.5 billion, an increase of $313 million over the 2023 enacted level, with the goal of strengthening and modernizing the nation’s unemployment insurance system. This includes efforts to address fraud and a comprehensive legislative package to provide states with tools to combat improper payments, ensuring equitable access for all claimants. The budget also outlines principles for future reforms to improve benefit levels, eligibility, financing fairness, reemployment services and fraud prevention.
• Strengthening mental health parity protections: The budget proposes additional resources to enforce requirements for coverage of comprehensive mental health and substance use disorder benefits and improves all health plans. An additional $275 million over 10 years will also go toward ensuring that plans have an adequate network of behavioral health providers and assisting employers in complying with the law.
• Increasing penalties for employers who violate workers’ rights: To deter violations of workers’ rights and ensure accountability, the budget proposes increased penalties for employers who violate safety, health, wage, child labor, equal opportunity and labor organizing laws.
• Helping meet the department’s commitment to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement partnership: With a $45 million increase, the budget would continue technical assistance through grants and agreements with non-governmental organizations to build capacity to protect workers’ rights, improve labor relations and increase public engagement.
• Building Infrastructure for responsible artificial intelligence: The budget proposes a new AI policy office within the department to oversee AI initiatives, foster innovation and help mitigate risks associated with AI utilization in the department’s programs.

The budget builds on the President’s record while achieving meaningful deficit reduction through measures that cut wasteful spending and ask the wealthy to pay their fair share.

Learn more about the President’s FY 2025 Budget.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement on the February 2024 Employment Situation report: 

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 275,000 jobs in February. Our economy has added 14.9 million jobs since President Biden took office. The unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in February, continuing a trend of two straight years of a jobless rate below 4 percent. 

“Our economy’s strong and steady economic growth doesn’t happen by accident. Leadership matters. Four years ago, workers were struggling after the worst economic crisis in a century, but today – as President Biden emphasized last night in his State of the Union address – our economy is the envy of the world. That’s because we’re building our economy from the middle out and the bottom up, where all of America’s workers have a fair shot. Our work is not done. The Biden-Harris administration will continue to improve job quality and do more to connect workers to the good jobs we’re creating. That’s how we’ll make sure that everyone in our country can feel the benefits of our strong economic growth.” 

WASHINGTON – As part of the most pro-worker, pro-union administration in history, Acting Secretary Su is traveling the country to engage with workers, visiting Oregon and Mississippi over the past two weeks. During the visits, she spoke with a diverse group of workers and community leaders about the Biden-Harris administration’s ongoing commitment to creating opportunities for all workers and building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up.

The Biden-Harris administration is empowering workers and fighting to ensure that they receive the highest protections they are guaranteed under federal law. While visiting Mississippi, Acting Secretary Su met immigrant workers at a roundtable in Jackson with the Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity, followed by a roundtable with community and labor leaders in Jackson. 

Acting Secretary Su then traveled to Greenville to meet with representatives from the Mississippi Worker Center for Human Rights and non-union workers from various industries in the Mississippi Delta.

On Feb. 22, 2024, Acting Secretary Su traveled to Oregon, where she highlighted workforce development programs and partnerships to support care workers with Congresswoman Val Hoyle. The next day, she toured the Willow Creek Center Mechatronics Lab at Portland Community College with Representative Suzanne Bonamici. The trip concluded with a tour of the National Electrical Contractors Association-International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Training Center and a roundtable discussion on how the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda is strengthening the clean infrastructure economy, including by creating family-sustaining jobs for women and people of color in the construction industry.

Between her trips to Oregon and Mississippi, Acting Secretary Su also announced nearly $200 million in grants to support public-private partnerships that expand, diversify and strengthen Registered Apprenticeships. These grants will help strengthen the nation’s workforce development infrastructure and connect people from all communities to good jobs created by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. Additionally, Acting Secretary Su took some time to speak with The Hollywood Reporter about the ways this administration is the most pro-union in history, as well as the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to having worker voices at the table when it comes to the future of work and AI.

Media highlights from the Acting Secretary’s travels include: 

• WAPT: Acting labor secretary tours Mississippi talking about jobs and wages (Feb. 14, 2024) 

“Su was in Jackson at the Smith-Robertson Museum, speaking before a panel about jobs and wages in Mississippi. The Biden Administration appointee said it is a fact-finding tour about the status of the country.

‘I think the question is, what makes a good job? And the question is where someone can make enough to not only just get by, but to thrive, to save for their future,’ Su said.

Her tour took her from Jackson and Greenville for meetings with workers and their representatives to hear about their challenges and discuss the work of the Biden-Harris administration to reach every community and keep workers safe.”

• Clarion Ledger: Acting U.S. Labor Secretary pledges to enforce federal labor laws in Mississippi (Feb. 15, 2024) 

“On Wednesday, Su made no apologies for supporting worker rights including the right to collective bargaining.

“‘When workers do well, everybody does better,’ she said.

“The acting secretary said that right-to-work laws, which serve to limit union organizing, ‘are rooted in racism,’ and that states having those laws (including Mississippi) are proven to have ‘the lowest wages, the highest number of fatalities and the fewest benefits.’”

• Fox 56 WOLF: Dept. of Labor Announces Apprenticeship Funding (Feb. 22 2024)

“The $200 million the Department of Labor is putting into apprenticeships is about making sure that we have the workforce that is needed to do everything and that they’re coming from all communities across America so everybody sees themselves in these good jobs that are being created,” says Acting Secretary Julie Su.”

• Portland Tribune: Federal labor official lauds Oregon effort to diversify workforce (Feb. 26, 2024) 

“Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su says America's workforce has to look more like all Americans to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, reinvest in domestic manufacturing of semiconductors and make the transition to carbon-free energy.

“She spoke after touring the NECA-IBEW Electrical Training Center in Northeast Portland, speaking with some of those in pre-apprenticeship programs, and listening to organizations such as Oregon Tradeswomen and Constructing Hope that seek to attract people to jobs where they have historically been underrepresented. Constructing Hope, based in Portland, aims at helping people newly released from jails and prisons enter the workforce.”

• 16 KMTR: Promoting apprenticeships: Rep. Val Hoyle & Acting Sec. of Labor meet w/ local apprentices (Feb. 22, 2024) 

“The Biden Administration announced a $200 million dollar grant to expand registered apprenticeships on Wednesday, February 21, 2024…

“‘Since President Biden has come into office, we have created a historic number of jobs across the country," the Acting Secretary explained. "And people often ask, are we going to have the workers to fill these jobs?’”

• The Hollywood Reporter: How Biden’s Labor Chief Is Thinking About AI’s Threat to Hollywood Workers (Feb. 24, 2024)

“I think unions are the backbone of Hollywood, just like they’re the backbone of the American middle class. The president says all the time that the middle class built America and unions built the middle class. We saw that through SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild, and also numerous other unions who went to the bargaining table and took to the streets in order to demand their fair share. I think it is also not an accident or a coincidence that those things happened at the same time that we have the most pro-worker, pro-union president in history in office, who’s also been very clear that we can’t build the economy that we want if we don’t do right by working people. We can’t make America better, stronger, we can’t recover from the crises of the last few years if we don’t center the wellbeing of working people.” 

WASHINGTON – As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s whole-of-government equity agenda, the U.S. Department of Labor today released its updated Equity Action Plan to support the administration’s advancement of racial equity through executive orders and other federal mechanisms. 

“The Biden-Harris administration is building an inclusive economy through historic investments that create good jobs across the country. At the Department of Labor, we’re focused on making sure those good jobs are equitable and accessible to all workers, including Black workers, Hispanic workers, workers of color, women, and many more communities that have historically been left out or left behind,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “When underserved individuals and communities have access and pathways to good jobs, it boosts productivity, innovation and economic well-being for everyone. We will continue to use all of our available resources to expand our economy while promoting the economic and social well-being of all workers.”

The updated report states that “equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy, and our diversity is one of our country’s greatest strengths. However, for too many, disparities in our laws and public policies, and in our public and private institutions, have often denied that equal opportunity to individuals and communities. These inequalities leave some workers more at risk to injury, discrimination, exploitation, or abuse. To continue to improve working conditions for all workers, the department is focused on expanding sustainable, accessible equity programs and policies that help close the gap for workers in underrepresented communities.”

Building on the progress of the first-ever Equity Action Plan, feedback from public forums and research into the barriers workers and retirees still face, the department developed five areas of focus for its 2023 Equity Action Plan update:

• Supporting workers, including those in the Southeast United States.
• Ensuring underserved communities have access to good jobs.
• Embedding gender equity into our partnerships and services.
• Improving services for individuals with limited English proficiency.
• Evaluating procurement practices to advance equity, including to support small, disadvantaged businesses such as Black- and women-owned businesses.

“This whole-of-government approach gives us an opportunity to work together to deepen our previous commitments and create a more sustainable system while we pursue new avenues to reach underserved and underrepresented communities,” said Chief Diversity and Equity Officer Alaysia Black-Hackett. “We cannot do this work alone, and we value input from the communities we serve and partners on the ground who help deliver sustainable programs and policies as we move forward together.”

Since the release of the 2022 Equity Action Plan, the Department of Labor has:

• Strengthened partnerships to prevent and address workplace retaliation.
• Provided millions of dollars in state grants to improve the Unemployment Insurance system.
• Created a Centralized Office for Language Access so that our services can reach all workers regardless of language barriers.
• Launched a national online dialogue to strengthen employment and training services.
• Expanded Registered Apprenticeship Program opportunities.

The updated Equity Action Plan focus areas will build on the accomplishments of the first Equity Action Plan through continued targeted support for the most underserved communities. As the work continues, the department will continue to engage the public on its progress and plans.

Learn more about the Department of Labor’s Equity Action Plan. 

Learn more about the Biden-Harris administration’s equity work. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement on the January 2024 Employment Situation report: 

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 353,000 jobs in January, bringing the total jobs created under President Biden to 14.8 million. The unemployment rate held at its steady, low rate of 3.7 percent. This continues a two-year trend of a jobless rate under four percent, the longest stretch in more than 50 years.  

“This strong jobs report also shows balanced, broad-based growth across sectors, with gains in retail, health care and professional and business services like engineering and management jobs. Employment in manufacturing also rose by 23,000 in January, and since President Biden took office, we’ve added 791,000 manufacturing jobs across the country.  

“Even with these strong gains in our economy, we have more room to grow by bringing more people into the labor force. That’s why we will continue to pursue President Biden’s agenda of creating good jobs with pathways to the middle class and fighting for policies that support childcare workers and working families.”