As the unofficial end to summer, Labor Day is one holiday that celebrates both nostalgia and newness; working and vacationing.

Some families are planning potlucks at the beach; others back-to-school shopping.

For others, though, Monday’s holiday is just another day at work — one that brings hope that some extra hours or overtime pay might help make ends meet for one more month.

At the U.S. Department of Labor, we’re committed to empowering all workers morning, noon and night. Together with unions, employers, state and federal partners and advocates at every level, we are working to make it possible for all workers — including right here in Honolulu — to achieve the American dream, that through hard work, you can care for your family and reach your goals.

Since joining the department in February 2021, I’ve worked with Women’s Bureau to fulfill our more than 100-year-old mission to advocate for women in the workplace.

Having followed closely the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women’s efforts to position a feminist COVID-19 recovery plan, I had the honor of joining the inaugural State of Women in Hawaii conference this summer, and sharing information about the Biden-Harris administration’s work to support women through pandemic recovery efforts and historic investments in our country’s infrastructure.

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In August, the Women’s Bureau announced $3.4 million in grant funding to recruit, train and retain more women in the kinds of jobs created by the newly passed legislation to invest in clean energy, manufacturing and construction.

In addition, we will soon be awarding an additional $2 million in grants to help women who earn low wages learn about and access their employment rights and benefits.

In August, I met with the Hawaii delegation of women carpenters at the annual United Brotherhood of Carpenters’ Sisters in the Brotherhood conference in Las Vegas. Surrounded by more than 500 sisters from unions and cities across the country, we talked about the work ahead to ensure women are recruited into these still heavily male-dominated occupations and supported to stay and succeed in these good jobs of the future. In March 2022, the Women’s Bureau published “Bearing the Cost: How Overrepresentation in Undervalued Jobs Disadvantaged Women During the Pandemic,” on the impact to women and families historically segregated into jobs that pay some of our economy’s lowest wages while being significantly underrepresented in STEM and jobs in the skilled trades.

Making child care affordable and preventing discrimination against pregnant workers are essential components in our strategy to ensure women have greater opportunities in higher-wage industries, That’s why we’re partnering with the department’s Wage and Hour Division to ensure women know their Family Medical Leave Act rights in the workplace and other laws that protect maternal health.

In our sister agencies, employees are enforcing laws and promoting policies that improve workers’ safety, health and economic security in workplaces across the country. They’re also making benefit services more accessible and user- friendly, advising workers on their benefits and retirements, and recovering benefits they’ve been wrongfully denied. And they’re promoting the important role unions play in protecting employees and advancing the economy.

Across the department, we remain motivated, because we know our work is important. It touches lives. It affects families. It improves communities.

So, this Labor Day, whether you’re working or enjoying a day off, you can rest assured that every day, Department of Labor employees are committed to making the American Dream possible for workers in cities and towns across the country — including my adopted one and the one I call “home.”

Wendy Chun-Hoon is the director for the Women’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor; her hometown is Honolulu.