Labor Nominee Su Faces Doubts in Senate

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s nominee for labor secretary, Julie Su, received reward at her Senate listening to April 20 as “a champion of the working class” at the same time as some key Democrats have been unwilling to voice assist, creating uncertainty about her affirmation prospects.

A handful of reasonable Democrats haven’t publicly acknowledged whether or not they may vote for Su’s nomination forward of a affirmation listening to earlier than the Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions Committee. Biden in February picked Su, a civil rights legal professional and the deputy labor secretary, to substitute Marty Walsh, the previous mayor of Boston, to guide the Division of Labor.

She was beforehand confirmed because the deputy labor secretary, however has confronted opposition from enterprise teams, together with American Trucking Associations, crucial of her document main California’s labor division. They level to her assist of an overturned California regulation that will have required app-based journey hailing and supply corporations like Uber and Lyft, in addition to trucking companies, to deal with their employees as workers, offering advantages like paid sick go away and unemployment insurance coverage, slightly than unbiased contractors.

Republicans requested if she would advance the California customary, often called AB 5, that classifies many employees as workers slightly than unbiased contractors.

Su stated she wouldn’t and understands the worth of unbiased contractors. However she additionally asserted that “it’s a drawback in our financial system that must be addressed” when companies keep away from paying minimal wage, extra time or unemployment insurance coverage by classifying common employees as unbiased contractors as a substitute of precise workers.

The daughter of an immigrant mom who arrived on a cargo ship, Su could be the Biden administration’s first Asian American to serve within the Cupboard on the secretary degree. Biden final month referred to as her proof of the “American dream” and stated “she’s dedicated to creating positive that dream is in attain for each American.”

Su tapped into that spirit in her testimony, recounting how her mother and father have been in a position to claw their means into the center class by way of jobs that offered advantages in addition to turning into entrepreneurs.

“When he introduced my nomination for U.S. Secretary of Labor, the president referred to as me ‘the American Dream.’ My mother and father believed in it, I benefited from it, and I wish to do my half to ensure it’s a actuality for employees throughout the nation,” Su stated.

Su has additionally confronted blame for issues on the California Labor and Workforce Improvement Company in the course of the coronavirus pandemic when unprecedented numbers of individuals making use of for unemployment advantages confronted lengthy wait instances and the state paid out billions of {dollars} in fraudulent claims.

Trade teams have launched billboard and digital adverts in opposition to Su in West Virginia, Montana and Arizona, whereas unions have assembled to assist Su.

“Nobody can inform us with a straight face that Ms. Su is unqualified — she is extraordinarily nicely certified — this has every thing to do with the truth that Julie Su is a champion for the working class of this nation who will stand as much as the forces of company greed.” @SenSanders ✊ pic.twitter.com/YsOPmP6EZZ

— AFL-CIO ✊ (@AFLCIO) April 20, 2023

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the committee’s chair, voiced assist as he opened the April 20 listening to, saying the controversy over Su “has nothing to do along with her {qualifications}.”

“This debate actually has every thing to do with the truth that Julie Su is a champion of the working class of this nation who will get up in opposition to the forces of company greed,” he stated.

However Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), all declined to say whether or not they would vote for her affirmation this week. Democrats can not afford to lose greater than a few votes in a Senate divided 51-49. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) can also be recovering from shingles in California, with no agency return date.

Manchin repeatedly declined to touch upon Su’s nomination this week; Tester stated he would meet along with her after the assembly to “be certain she’s nonetheless proper”; Kelly stated he didn’t have considerations about her document however added he doesn’t preview his votes; Sinema stated by way of a spokeswoman that she doesn’t preview votes.

Su was confirmed by the Senate to her present position in 2021 by a 50-47 vote.

Throughout her testimony, Su repeatedly referenced her work alongside Walsh, saying that Biden had requested her to “end the job that Secretary Walsh and I began.”

Republicans seem unified in opposition to Su’s affirmation. Senate GOP chief Mitch McConnell of Kentucky stated in a ground speech that Su “has a prolonged observe document for all of the improper causes.”

Through the committee listening to, Republican senators intently questioned Su on whether or not she may forge relationships with trade teams, in addition to her oversight of the California labor division when it paid out unemployment advantages to fraudulent claims in the course of the pandemic.

The highest Republican on the panel, Sen. Invoice Cassidy of Louisiana, accused Su of unfairly favoring unions, telling her, “We’d like a labor secretary who’s honest and unbiased in implementing the nation’s labor legal guidelines.”

Su maintained a smile as she responded to Republican questions and emphasised that she knew the worth of small enterprise entrepreneurship by way of her mother and father. She insisted that she may construct relationships with each labor and trade teams to assist negotiate settlements and identified that Congress had lifted regular checks on unemployment claims for the improved advantages paid in the course of the pandemic.

Late final yr, Su was central to negotiations between labor and freight rail corporations and helped keep away from an economically debilitating strike. She has additionally led efforts to crack down on wage theft.

The Senate committee is predicted to vote subsequent week on whether or not to advance Su’s affirmation to a vote within the full chamber.

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