Boston Mayor Martin J. “Marty” Walsh has been selected by President-elect Joe Biden to be the next Secretary of Labor, according to an announcement by the Biden-Harris Transition Team.
Given Biden’s career-long ties to organized labor and campaign calling for higher wages, stronger benefits, and fair and safe workplaces, it’s no surprise that he picked a nominee who made his mark as a labor leader. After following his father into Laborers Local 223 in Boston, Walsh headed the Building and Construction Trades Council from 2011 to 2013. He has been endorsed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the American Federation of Teachers.
"Having served as the head of both Laborers’ Union Local 223 and the Boston Metropolitan District Building Trades Council, Mayor Walsh has the necessary experience, relationships, and the trust of the President-elect to help workers recover from this historic economic downturn and usher in a new era of worker power," the announcement states.
Before serving as mayor, Walsh served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for 17 years, overlapping with his work as a union official. In addition, Biden and Walsh reportedly have known each other for at least a decade, when Biden would visit Boston during his time as Vice President; Biden also presided over Walsh’s 2018 inauguration for his second term as mayor.
If he is confirmed by the Senate, Walsh would replace current Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, swinging the ideology pendulum back from a law firm partner who previously served as counsel in litigation that ultimately overturned the DOL’s 2016 rewrite of the fiduciary rule to a self-described “lifelong champion of working people.”
As DOL Secretary, Walsh would have a role in determining whether the department wants to revisit many of the newly finalized regulatory projects by the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. He also would oversee the enforcement and administration of more than 180 federal employment laws covering more than 150 million workers and 10 million workplaces, including federal minimum wage and overtime protections, the anti-discrimination requirements applicable to federal contractors, and ERISA’s protection of the more than $11 trillion held in employee retirement and health plans.
In addition to Walsh, Biden announced plans to nominate Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo to be Secretary of Commerce and Isabel Guzman as head of the Small Business Administration.
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