Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su visited North Carolina on September 24, 2024, to promote the U.S. Department of Labor’s Good Jobs Principles and to support public and private sector partnerships aimed at building equitable workforce pipelines. The visit also highlighted the Biden-Harris administration's efforts to create well-paying jobs while addressing climate change.
In Charlotte, Acting Secretary Su met with local elected officials, union leaders, community leaders, and workforce providers. They announced their commitment to adopt and implement the department’s Good Jobs Principles. The city’s building trades and community-based organizations revealed the formation of the Charlotte Regional Apprenticeship Collaboration. This initiative aims to develop diverse and equitable apprenticeship pipelines in greater Charlotte.
“Through President Biden and Vice President Harris’s Investing in America agenda, we have made significant progress in delivering good jobs and economic security to communities across the country,” said Acting Secretary Su. “Here in North Carolina, that means $10.3 billion of investments in safe roads and bridges, clean air and water, and renewable energy. With today's announcement - and through partnerships of those in this room - we are going to make sure that every single cent of that $10.3 billion supports good-paying North Carolina jobs.”
In Cherokee, Acting Secretary Su toured the Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center, which is part of the American Climate Corps (ACC). The ACC initiative aims to train a new generation of workers in clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience, leading them towards well-paying union jobs. During her visit, Acting Secretary Su formally inducted participants as members of the American Climate Corps.
“When we take this oath, it’s a commitment that you are making not just to yourself, not just to the climate but also to each other," said Acting Secretary Su during her address to participants. "A community of people who are going to be accountable to one another to put their talent, their hunger, their drive and the skills they learn here to good work… Your generation made this issue so critical that legislators could not ignore it, and your generation is going to be the one that shows us what’s possible and shows us a new way.”
