Building America’s Future Starts with Good Jobs: A Conversation with Acting Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su

August 28, 2024 - (4 min read)

Economic Opportunity & Workforce Development

At the beginning of August, NLC and the Department of Labor brought together the inaugural Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy to wrap up a year-long technical assistance and peer learning initiative. While the sixteen cities are a diverse cross-section of the country in terms of population size, geography and economic priorities, they all share a common commitment to developing and promoting job quality in their communities. It is more important than ever for local leaders to be advocates for inclusive, high-quality workforce development in their communities.

NLC sat down with Acting Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su to reflect on the Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy and discuss how communities can build opportunity infrastructure for their residents.

National League of Cities: For those who haven’t been a part of Good Jobs, Great Cities, how would you describe the initiative?

Acting Secretary Julie A. Su: This has really been an incredible partnership between mayors, the National League of Cities and the Department of Labor where we’ve come together to answer this question: How do we make sure that everybody can get a good job, a good job that lifts them out of poverty, a good job that gives them real opportunity, a good job that gives their family security and uplifts their community? Good Jobs, Great Cities has allowed us all to come together, share ideas, be pushed to think more creatively, be inspired by one another and be willing to be honest about the difficulties of connecting people to good jobs.

NLC: Good Jobs, Great Cities isn’t just a partnership between NLC and the Department of Labor; it’s a showcase of just how well the federal government can work at the local level.

Acting Secretary Julie A. Su: We knew at the Department of Labor that this was a moment of tremendous opportunity in this country. In part because of historic investments under President Biden and Vice President Harris in communities in the industries of construction, manufacturing and clean energy. In order to ensure that these jobs were connected to the people who needed them most, we wanted to work with the leaders on the ground: our mayors. You know, we know how important they all are. We know that at the federal government level, we can’t do the work that we need to do alone. And so, working in partnership to identify challenges, issues, assets, needs and strategies have made a world of difference.

NLC: A key tenant of Good Jobs, Great Cities is that it’s not just about creating any kind of job. It’s about creating good quality jobs. Why is that so important?

Acting Secretary Julie A. Su: I think whatever one’s story, a good quality job is a key to security and changing one’s life, to building real prosperity. My parents came to this country as immigrants. My mom came on a cargo ship because she couldn’t afford a passenger ticket, and when she got a union job working for the county as a social worker, that changed our lives. It changed our fortunes. It allowed us to go to the doctor when we were sick. It gave her a pension so that she could have security when she retired. My dream is that everybody in this country can find a job like that, which will help to build that for them. Working with the incredible leadership of these mayors and the National League of Cities, we are working to make that dream real.

NLC: What do you think is important for local leaders as they work to connect their communities to good quality jobs?

Acting Secretary Julie A. Su: Connecting people to the good jobs they need, and connecting employers to the people that they want requires connectivity between educational institutions, employers, unions, and community-based organizations that serve people who’ve been left behind in the past. And all that working in isolation will not get us where we want to go, but working together in an interconnected system will.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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