Acting Secretary Su: America’s future is bright

Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited Pittsburgh's Workforce Hub to discuss workforce development this week. Hubs around the country are creating good jobs in all communities, especially those historically left behind. While in Pittsburgh, Acting Secretary Su and Secretary Cardona visited the local Job Corps Center to see how the program helps put young people on the path to high-quality jobs.

A widespread investigation by our Wage and Hour Division has recovered nearly $16 million and restored over 24,700 paid sick leave hours for more than 2,800 workers denied their full wages and benefits by 62 subcontractors hired to construct temporary housing and provide services to Afghan refugees at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.

In South Carolina this week, Acting Secretary Su met with workers to discuss their efforts to advocate for better working conditions and wages. She also visited Benedict College, a Historically Black College, where she spoke about efforts to ensure equitable access to training and education opportunities for military families, people formerly involved in the foster care system, formerly incarcerated people, adult learners, and others who have historically faced greater barriers.

Our Veterans’ Employment and Training Service announced a $12 million funding opportunity for organizations to provide training and employment services to help veterans combat homelessness.

Last week, Acting Secretary Su was in Connecticut where she met with Rep. Rosa DeLauro to discuss the importance of paid family and medical leave, which could potentially add $775 billion in additional economic activity each year nationwide. While in Connecticut, Acting Secretary Su and Rep. Joe Courtney cohosted a roundtable discussion on modernizing unemployment insurance and workplace safety for health care workers.

We awarded more than $1.5 million in grants this week, including:

• $800,000 to support storm recovery efforts in Mississippi
• $768,337 to support Massachusetts’ opioid crisis response

We’ve reached a settlement agreement to resolve more than $1.2 million in unpaid medical claims by individuals in the West Virginia-based Revelation Energy health care plan. Our investigators found the affiliated employers and some former officers failed to fund the plan's medical benefit claims payments. In a related court action, trustees of coal producer Blackjewel’s 401(k) plan must pay $637,014 for diverting employee contributions.

• Read about the Revelation Energy settlement
• Read about the Blackjewel order

A new law may allow formerly ineligible nuclear workers to receive medical care for diseases caused by exposure to beryllium.

We recovered $901,625 for 75 Florida grocery store workers after finding they were wrongly denied overtime pay.

On the 15th anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Women's Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon highlighted progress on this pay equity milestone.

Our Wage and Hour Division combats human trafficking on multiple fronts, which includes calculating restitution.

Our Wage and Hour Division will offer online seminars throughout 2024 for prospective federal contractors on prevailing wage requirements.

MSHA completed impact inspections in December at 16 mines with histories of repeated safety and health violations, issuing 247 violations.

A new report shares highlights from the Office of the Solicitor’s 2023 enforcement work, including efforts to combat retaliation and worker misclassification.

Interested in a challenging but flexible job where no two days are the same? Investigative work might be for you! Andrea Velasco, a senior investigator in our Office of Labor-Management Standards, shares what she loves most about her career.

🌮 La Estrella Tacos must pay $824K in back wages and damages to 102 workers after our investigators found willful #overtime violations. Penalties include $50K for deliberate violations.
📍 Manteca, California
Read more: https://bit.ly/4b2NdFI

-@WHD_DOL

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