Boston, MA
August 1, 2023
Thank you, Secretary Walsh.
As always, Marty, you’re leaving me with big shoes to fill—whether it’s serving as Labor Secretary or speaking after you at a Boston event.
No, but seriously, from the moment we met, you made sure that I was a partner to you in this work. I am deeply grateful for that -- and for the friendship we’ve built along the way.
Thank you, President Johnson, for your continued leadership of the NAACP organization and for holding our administration accountable when dealing with our nation's longstanding issue of racial justice.
Thank you as well to the union members and the union leaders who are here today, including Yvonne Wheeler, my fellow hometown California girl, President Becky Pringle, our very own Dr. Annie B. Martin Award recipient, Clayola Brown, and so many more.
As I look around this room, I’m thinking of the long and storied history of Black Americans leading the fight at the intersection of racial and economic justice. And I'm reminded of the tremendous role that Black women have played at the forefront of the labor movement.
You have always known that workers’ rights and civil rights go hand-in-hand.
History has taught us that Black workers have been shut out of opportunities in the past and have continued to be excluded from the full promise of economic opportunity and prosperity.
We’re pulling every lever we have at the Department of Labor to change that. Because the only way to build the economy President Biden envisions – from the bottom up and middle out, where no one is left behind – is to uplift workers, particularly workers of color. It’s how to make our entire economy thrive.
On day one, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities, an order that instructed federal agencies to assess how the federal government perpetuates systemic barriers to opportunities for people of color.
And on my first day at the Labor Department, one of the very first things I asked was, “What are we doing to uplift Black workers?”
Under President Biden, we’re doing a lot, and we’re using every tool at our disposal to get it done.
A few things I want to highlight today:
Last year, President Biden’s Minimum Wage executive order took effect, ensuring that workers on covered government contracts are guaranteed $15 an hour. This executive order changed the lives of everyone impacted by it, and half of those workers are Black or Latinx.
We’re leveraging the power of procurement. In the last two years, the Department has allocated nearly half a billion dollars to Black-owned businesses through contracts. Over 90 percent of them are small Black-owned businesses.
And finally, we’re empowering workers and unions. I don’t need to tell anyone in this room that union organizing is one of the most important ways to strengthen and expand a Black middle class. Unionization actually increases pay for Black workers by over 17 percent, compared to 10 percent for white workers.
That is why I’m so proud to lead the Labor Department during the most pro-worker, pro-union administration in history.
We all know that when we center equity in everything we do, all workers thrive. Because equity and excellence go hand in hand.
To create an economy that is fair, inclusive, and resilient, we must continue to seize this opportunity and close the gaps caused by longstanding inequities that have held Black and Brown workers back.
Our economy simply works better when we are all represented, and we all have equitable access to good jobs and careers.
For as long as I am your Acting Secretary of Labor, this will be my top priority.
Let’s work together to get it done.