Photo by CRISTINA EDUARDO / COMUNICAS / DORCHESTER POSTDorchester born and raised, and current Mayor of the City of Boston, Marty Walsh, was nominated by the President-elect Joe Biden to lead the Department of Labor.
“Walsh and Biden have strong personal ties,” according to Politico, the news media organization that first reported the pick.
“For Secretary of Labor, I nominate a good friend and a stand-up guy, Marty Walsh from Boston. Son of Irish immigrants (…) Marty was born and raised in Dorchester,” President-elect Biden said in a press conference on January 8, 2021.
Walsh quickly accepted the offer, and, if confirmed by the US Senate, he will step down his elected seat as Mayor of Boston.
In a brief speech after his nomination, Walsh assured that “now we have the opportunity to put power back in the hands of working people across this country.”
Boston City Council President Kim Janey will become Acting Mayor of the city until the general election if Walsh is confirmed by the Senate.
“I have spoken with Councilor Janey, and I am confident that the operations of City government, including our Covid-19 response, will continue smoothly,” Walsh staff said in a Tweet on January 12, 2021.
“Should he be confirmed, I’m ready to take the reins and lead our city through these difficult times,” Councilor Janey stated regarding Walsh’s nomination.
The US Secretary of Labor oversees the enforcement and administration of more than 180 federal employment laws covering more than 150 million workers and 10 million workplaces.
Laws administered by the Department of Labor include the workplace safety requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Mine Safety and Health Administration, federal minimum wage and overtime protections, the anti-discrimination requirements applicable to federal contractors.
Born in Dorchester on April 10, 1967, from Irish immigrant parents, Martin Joseph Walsh is the 54th mayor of Boston since 2014. Before that, he was the Massachusetts State Representative for the 13th District, since 1997. Walsh joined the Laborers Union Local 223 at age 21 and served as the union’s president until he became the mayor of Boston.
At age seven, Walsh was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma and survived thanks “to the extraordinary care he received at Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute,” according to an official statement from the Mayor’s office.
Walsh resides in the Lower Mills village of Dorchester with his long-time partner Lorrie Higgins.
