{"id":2463,"date":"2021-05-18T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uniontrack.com\/blog\/?p=2463"},"modified":"2021-05-18T13:22:34","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T13:22:34","slug":"labor-secretary-marty-walsh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniontrack.com\/blog\/labor-secretary-marty-walsh","title":{"rendered":"Biden Selects Labor Advocates for Key Positions: Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ken Green
CEO & Founder
UnionTrack<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a candidate, President Biden<\/a> promised to be \u201cthe most pro-union president you have ever seen.\u201d In his first few months in office, he has taken steps to follow through on that pledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most notably, reports Steven Bennen<\/a>, MSNBC contributor and The Rachel Maddow Show producer, Biden has vocally supported the Amazon workers in their unionization efforts in Alabama and openly endorsed the passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act<\/a>. He also fired the sitting general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and nominated multiple labor advocates to key federal positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of those new leaders, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran, have long histories of supporting workers and unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"picture<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Marty Walsh Expected to Prioritize Workers as Labor Secretary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no surprise that President Biden nominated former Boston mayor Marty Walsh to lead the Labor Department with Walsh\u2019s strong ties to unions, workers and labor advocacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Lifetime of Unionism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Walsh was born into an immigrant family in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester. His father was a laborer who belonged to the Laborers International Union of North America (Laborers or LIUNA) Local 223 in Boston. Marty joined that same union in 1998 at age 21 and was elected president in 2005. In 2010, Walsh was also elected secretary-treasurer and general agent of the Boston Building Trades Council, and in 2011 he was elected to lead the organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 1997 until 2014, Walsh was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.  During his tenure, he served as chairman of the Committee on Ethics and as a co-chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party Labor Caucus. Walsh stepped down from his leadership positions when he was elected mayor of Boston in 2013. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his career, Walsh has prioritized the needs of workers. As a union leader, he led negotiations that protected union members\u2019 benefits and pay when developers were more concerned with keeping costs down. He also pushed for the developers to hire only union workers, writes United Food and Commercial Workers International Unions (UFCW) Local 227<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to his biography with the City of Boston<\/a>, while serving as mayor, Walsh focused on attracting private-sector employers to the city, created a \u201clearn and earn\u201d apprenticeship program for low-income workers, led local and national conversations about income inequality, and established an Office of Financial Empowerment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bloomberg reporters Benjamin Penn, Josh Eidelson, and Jennifer Epstein<\/a> note he also signed \u201can executive order certifying that vendors with city contracts don\u2019t engage in \u2018wage theft,\u2019 and lobbied \u201cfor an ordinance establishing six weeks of paid parental leave for city employees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walsh\u2019s efforts on behalf of workers demonstrates that \u201che is the type of individual who has never forgotten where he came from,\u201d Terry O\u2019Sullivan<\/a>, general president of LIUNA, said during the mayoral run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walsh Garners Union Support as Labor Secretary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been over 50 years since a union member has served as labor secretary of the United States, reports Benjamin Swasey<\/a>, deputy political editor for NPR. The nomination and confirmation of former union leader Marty Walsh, whom Senator Elizabeth Warren<\/a> describes as \u201ca champion for America\u2019s labor unions and a fierce fighter for working families,\u201d reverses that trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis appointment is a signal that Biden will make a priority of a labor agenda,\u201d write Penn, Eidelson and Epstein. That\u2019s why his nomination received so much support from labor leaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs Boston mayor and throughout his career, Marty Walsh has always been a champion for American workers,\u201d UFCW International President Marc Perrone<\/a> said in a statement. \u201cWhether it was standing with Stop & Shop grocery workers striking to protect their health care, creating good union jobs, or supporting a strong minimum wage for Boston workers, Walsh has always put hardworking families first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMarty is a star, and he could hit the ground running as far as dealing with the issues and impact on working families,\u201d says Lee Saunders<\/a> president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he has some very challenging issues to confront, writes Sam Gringlas<\/a>, journalist at NPR’s All Things Considered. The most pressing are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n