While Donald Trump says he will fight for American workers, acting Labor Secretary Julie Su expressed concern that Trump will undo many of Joe Biden's pro-worker policies, including protecting workers from sweltering heat impact and extending overtime pay to millions more workers.

In an interview with The Guardian, Su said Trump was doing work for workers, given the many anti-worker policies of his first administration and the fact that Elon Musk and other billionaires advised him may not be enough. “It’s one thing to say you support workers, it’s another thing to actually do it,” Sue said. "You can't support billionaires and the working class at the same time. You can't support Elon Musk and support workers."

Musk, who has become one of Trump's top advisers, is fiercely anti-union and has sought to have the National Labor Relations Board declared unconstitutional. "I don't agree with the union idea," he once said.

Su expressed concern that the Trump administration and all its billionaires and business moguls may be neglecting America's poor and working-class people. “When you look at the track records of some of the people in the next government and then you look at the lack of representation of the working class and the middle class, I worry about the perspective of those who are struggling, those who rely on government to act in the interests of more than just the privileged ’s people are not well represented – and union busters are.”

Sue, who became acting labor secretary nearly two years ago after serving as deputy labor secretary, expressed pride in what the Biden administration has accomplished for workers. She pointed to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, Biden's strong support for unions, regulations to protect workers' lungs from silica dust, increased factory jobs and the first-ever legislation to protect workers from dangerous heat. regulations. (She never received the Senate majority to confirm her as labor secretary, as Sen. Joe Manchin opposed her.)

As for other accomplishments, Sue pointed to her behind-the-scenes role in helping Boeing workers and longshoremen on the East and West Coast get good union contracts. She also cited the department's enforcement efforts — the department has recovered more than $1 billion for wage theft victims since Biden took office.

“This president puts working people first in everything he does,” she said. "This president has a very strong commitment to unions."

Sue warned that a second Trump administration could be as anti-union as the first. “The National Labor Relations Board was viciously anti-union against them when they first came here,” Sue said. "In order to do what they say they're going to do this time, which is support workers and unions, they're going to have to do a 180 from what they did last time."

Peter Robb served as the NLRB's aggressively pro-business general counsel during Trump's first term and is currently leading Trump's labor board transition. Trump's pick for labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, has far more support from unions than most Republicans. Several unions endorsed her last fall when she ran unsuccessfully for re-election to Congress from Oregon.

Sue had some advice for her successor: "The American people need and deserve a strong labor sector. In some parts of the country, vulnerable workers rely on this sector to breathe life into labor laws, and 15,000 professionals work every day It’s important to have the support of the labor secretary to do this and use all the power they have to improve workers’ lives.”

As for Musk's ambitious plan to cut the $2 trillion budget, Su said her department already doesn't have enough money and further cuts would undermine its mission. “After spending cuts under the previous Trump administration, we did not have adequate resources to fulfill the department’s important mission,” Sue said. She added, "When workers tell us they don't get the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, when 13-year-olds do dangerous jobs, when 16-year-olds work on dangerous equipment, when firefighters save lives Entire careers of people's lives later, we seek workers' compensation and are denied."

Sue worries that Trump appointees will repeal the Biden administration’s first-ever national regulations to protect workers from extreme heat. Likewise, she worries the Trump administration will overturn a rule that makes it harder for businesses to misclassify construction workers and others as independent contractors, often to circumvent overtime and other laws.

Su, who won high praise for her innovative policies as California's labor commissioner, strenuously denied that Biden's defeat in November meant voters rejected his pro-worker policies. Su said policies to expand manufacturing, build clean energy and rebuild infrastructure will take years to complete, and many voters have yet to feel the benefits. "We need more time," she said.

“President Biden wants to fundamentally change the way the economy works for working people,” Sue said. “He calls the decades-old trickle-down economics scam a lie.”

As secretary of labor and California’s top labor official, Sue often worked to help the most vulnerable workers. “Too many workers are still struggling, many of them people of color and immigrant workers,” she said. "The rhetoric about immigration, the outright lies about what immigrants and immigrant communities bring and contribute — these lies are incredibly damaging. Anti-immigrant policies are anti-worker."

Sue condemned Trump's rhetoric on mass deportations: "You can't support mass deportation policies and simultaneously support workers. These policies make workers scared and more vulnerable to exploitation."

Sue, who grew up in Los Angeles County, said of the Los Angeles wildfires that migrant workers are often involved in cleanup and rebuilding after hurricanes, fires and other disasters. "Given the devastating fires that are still raging in my hometown, this is a monumental effort," she said. "Those workers who have done cleanup and rebuilding work before are going to be the ones we rely on, and they, like all workers, should Be treated with due dignity and respect.

“Policies of mass deportations,” she added, “will impede this important work and make those who do it more vulnerable.”

Sue insisted that if Trump really wanted to help workers, he should continue her department's efforts to aggressively enforce labor laws, whether they be minimum wage laws, child labor laws or occupational safety laws.

"The previous administration cut back on the Department of Labor's enforcement capabilities. You can't eliminate and cut back on (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and wage and hour and mine inspectors and keep workers healthy and safe," Sue said. Trump's nominees "said we will cut red tape and regulations, but the people who rely on strong regulations are the most vulnerable in our communities, including working people," she said.

Sue expressed frustration that conservative judges struck down Labor Department regulations, including a provision that Biden extended overtime pay to 4 million workers. She complained that those who “benefit from the wealth gap” “have found a way to block progress and pro-worker action.”

She spoke of a worker she met who said she would get a raise due to Biden's increased overtime hours, which would allow her to pay her rent and leave a little money for her daughter. But a Texas federal judge appointed by Trump overturned Biden's overtime expansion.

“A lot of the policies we have in place are basic policies designed to help people who are struggling,” Su said. "I think about those who think this is a game to strategize and take away such protections. That's a tragedy."

Sue denounced Republicans, business lobbyists and conservative think tanks for repeatedly blocking efforts to raise the federal minimum wage, which has been frozen at $7.25 for 15 years.

"Industry lobbyists constantly challenge policies that benefit working people," Su said. "You can't say you support workers and support them. Policies that stand in the way of putting more wages into workers’ pockets are unreasonable. "