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Thomas Perez on Civil Rights
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Make good on opportunity for people with disabilities
Perez has dedicated his entire career to making good on the promise of opportunity for all. A civil rights lawyer by training, Secretary Perez leads the Department of Labor in its mission of giving all Americans the chance to get ahead & stay ahead.
Under Secretary Perez's leadership, priorities for the department include being smarter and more strategic in the department's enforcement of federal law. Secretary Perez has made job training and workforce development a focal point of his tenure.
With historic investments in community colleges and apprenticeships and the department's implementation of the bipartisan Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, he is committed to connecting ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.
Additionally, Perez has kept up the drumbeat on state and local progress to expand access to paid leave. He also helps ensure that people with disabilities and veterans have access to employment opportunities and other supports to help them succeed.
Source: Department of Labor website: Secretary's biography
, Feb 29, 2016
Expand opportunity for marginalized communities
Secretary Perez has worked at all levels of government to move our country forward on a host of fundamental issues of fairness. Prior to his swearing in as secretary of labor, Secretary Perez served as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the
U.S. Department of Justice, where he fought to protect voting rights, ensure that communities have effective and democratically accountable policing, crack down on discriminatory lending and housing, and expand opportunity for marginalized communities.
As director of the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration, he helped ensure that people of all backgrounds could access quality, affordable health care.
Perez also tackled civil rights, criminal justice and constitutional issues as a special counselor for Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Source: Department of Labor website: Secretary's biography
, Feb 29, 2016
Women still earn 77 cents on the dollar compared to men
We need to do more to address gender-based wage disparities. I just don't know how to explain to my daughters that women still earn 77 cents on the dollar compared to men. For women of color, the gap is even wider: about 69 cents for African-American
women and 60 cents for Hispanic women, relative to their white male counterparts. And single mothers earn less than married women and women without children. Study after study shows that we can't tackle poverty in America without tackling this pay gap.
Source: Remarks at the Half in Ten Anti-Poverty Report Release
, Oct 29, 2013
Page last updated: Jan 14, 2017