SMACNA Urges Senate to Quickly Confirm Julie Su

SMACNA has sent a letter to the leadership of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), voicing its support for a quick confirmation of Julie Su as the nation's 30th Secretary of Labor. Days later, SMACNA forwarded a letter to the full Senate urging quick positive action on Su’s nomination. Su currently serves as the Acting Secretary after Secretary Marty Walsh departed the Administration to run the NHL Players Association.

Su served as the Department's chief operating officer during her term as the Deputy Secretary of Labor. Responsible for managing its budget and executing the laws as passed. Ms. Su consistently met with, worked with, and listened to both employers and employees to best advance enacted statutes and advocate reasonable national labor–management policy. This has been especially true as the Department implements historic new laws, such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPs and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act. These landmark laws are essential to the business community and require the Department to implement long-valued labor standards properly.

Before joining the U.S. Department of Labor, Deputy Secretary Su served as the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency secretary. As California labor commissioner from 2011 through 2018, Su was charged with enforcing the state's labor laws mandated by court order, enacted by the legislature, and signed by the Governor to ensure compliance in countless and varied workplaces.

Outlining SMACNA's support for Acting Secretary Su's nomination, Stan Kolbe, SMACNA's Executive Director of Government and Political Affairs, stated, "Acting Secretary Su has led the national effort to reform outdated rules to better reflect the intent of enacted statutes and helped energize the Labor Department effort to reform and expand registered apprenticeship programs to meet and address the skilled workforce shortage crisis."

SMACNA is thankful for Acting Secretary Su's leadership on several issues that are of critical importance to SMACNA contractors, including championing needed reforms to the Davis Bacon Act, Independent Contractor Regulations, and rules governing the use of Project Labor Agreements.

Read SMACNA's letter regarding Julie Su's nomination.