Labor Secretary Marty Walsh sits down to answer a few key questions about shifting patterns of work, what that means for our workforce, and how the Department of Labor is supporting workers through these changes with our Good Jobs Initiative.

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Good Jobs Initiative

The Good Jobs Initiative is a Department of Labor led Initiative that provides critical information to workers, employers, and government agencies as they work to improve job quality and create access to good jobs free from discrimination and harassment for all working people (with emphasis on underserved communities, including BIPOC individuals, LGBTQ+ individuals, women, immigrants, veterans, individuals with disabilities, individuals in rural communities, individuals without a college degree, individuals with or recovering from a substance use disorder, and justice-involved individuals).

The Good Jobs Initiative empowers workers by:

  1. Providing easily accessible information to workers about their right to minimum and prevailing wages, overtime, safe and healthy workplaces, the right to form a union and bargain collectively with their employers and many others;
  2. Engaging employer stakeholders as partners in improving job quality and workforce pathways to good jobs; and
  3. Supporting partnerships across federal agencies and providing technical assistance on grants, contracts, and other investments designed to improve job quality.

The Good Jobs Initiative coordinates work done since the beginning of this Administration—and often for decades before—under one umbrella to promote goods jobs.  And, subject to legal authority, the Good Jobs Initiative ensures that other agencies continue to have access to these resources in building job quality standards and equitable pathways to those jobs at the front-end. 

To date the Good Jobs Initiative has:

  • Worked in collaboration with federal agency partners to incentivize equity and good jobs in over $97 billion dollars of grant funding (as of 1/30/23). Use the Good Jobs Initiative By The Numbers Tool to explore how DOL has partnered with federal agencies to embed job quality and equity incentives in federal funding opportunities.
  • Entered into three Memorandums of Understanding with the Departments of Transportation, Commerce, and Energy where each agency details its commitment to using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds to support equitable workforce development pathways into good jobs;
  • Established shared Good Jobs Principles with the Department of Commerce identifying essential elements of a quality job;
  • Hosted a Summit where over 350 cross-sector stakeholders engaged in a full-day conversation exploring effective strategies for building partnerships to empower working people; and
  • Engaged both small and large employers across the country to showcase how they are recruiting and retaining diverse workers by investing in training, higher wages, benefits, and respecting workers’ right to organize and collectively bargain.

 

 

View the Good Jobs Initiative announcement and keynote address to the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Questions? Contact GoodJobsInitiative@dol.gov.