On April 20, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the nomination of Julie Su to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Labor. Su, who was approved as the No. 2 at Labor by the Senate last Congress in a party line 50-47 vote, previously served as California Labor Secretary. Before holding the Secretary of Labor role in California, Su also served as California Labor Commissioner from 2011 through 2018. Su was also one of the top architects of California’s controversial Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) law, which instituted an arbitrary and vague three-stage, “ABC” test to prove a worker is an independent contractor instead of an employee.

On April 17, ABC sent a letter, notifying the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee of our opposition to Julie Su to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Labor.

On March 30, ABC joined a coalition of trade and business organizations in a letter to the committee raising considerable questions around the nomination of Su and her questionable record over the past years as Deputy Secretary and her previous role in California, and urging the committee to question Su on the current challenges facing the Department of Labor and the workforce in the United States.

ABC believes that during her time as Deputy Secretary, Ms. Su has shown she is unwilling or unable to consider the concerns of thousands of our nation’s small business and millions of workers who face daunting challenges under the DOL’s current regulatory agenda. Without assurances from Ms. Su that the voices of the majority of small businesses will be heard at DOL, ABC will be forced to continue to raise serious concerns with her nomination.