President Biden Selects Boston Mayor Marty Walsh for Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh

(This article first appeared in the January/February 2021 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)

On January 7, news outlets reported that Boston Mayor Marty Walsh was then President-elect Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Labor. Walsh, currently in his second term as mayor, entered politics following a long history as a trade unionist. Walsh first joined the Laborers Union Local 223 at age 21, before becoming the leader of Boston’s Building and Construction Trades Council in 2011.

“As a longtime union member, Walsh knows that collective bargaining is essential to building back better by combating inequality, beating COVID-19, and expanding opportunities for immigrants, women and people of color. He will have the ear of the White House, the Cabinet and Congress as we work to increase union density and create a stronger, fairer America,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka following the announcement.

“It will take an unprecedented effort from the President-elect and the Labor Department to recover from the failed policies of the past four years, which have harmed working people and our families,” Trumka continued. “But with Joe Biden and Marty Walsh, we are setting our sights high, starting with passage of the PRO Act so the tens of millions of workers who want to form a union can do so freely and fairly.”