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Marty Walsh

Marty Walsh
Official portrait as Secretary of Labor
Official portrait, 2021
6th Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players' Association
Assumed office
March 13, 2023
Preceded byDonald Fehr
29th United States Secretary of Labor
In office
March 23, 2021 – March 11, 2023
PresidentJoe Biden
DeputyJulie Su
Preceded byEugene Scalia
Succeeded byJulie Su (acting)
Mayor of Boston
In office
January 6, 2014 – March 22, 2021
Preceded byThomas Menino
Succeeded byMichelle Wu
Kim Janey (acting)
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
from the 13th Suffolk district
In office
April 12, 1997 – January 3, 2014
Preceded byJames T. Brett
Succeeded byDaniel J. Hunt
General Agent of the Boston Building Trades Council
In office
January 2011 – April 2013
Preceded byJames Coyle
Succeeded byBrian Doherty[1]
Personal details
Born
Martin Joseph Walsh

(1967-04-10) April 10, 1967 (age 57)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Lorrie Higgins
(m. 2024)
EducationBoston College (BA)
WebsiteOfficial website

Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and trade union official who served as the mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021 and as the 29th United States Secretary of Labor from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Walsh resigned from his position as the US Secretary of Labor in March 2023 in order to accept a position as executive director of the National Hockey League Players' Association. Before his mayoralty, he served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 13th Suffolk district from 1997 until 2014. As a trade union member, Walsh worked his way up to serve as the head of the Boston Building Trades Council from 2011 until 2013.

Walsh was elected mayor of Boston in 2013 and was reelected in 2017. He was regarded as friendly towards real estate developers, and the city experienced a building boom during his mayoralty. He added policies to the city's zoning code that were inspired by the federal affirmatively furthering fair housing policy. He successfully negotiated for a 40-minute school day extension in Boston Public Schools. He also served on the leadership of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. During much of his mayoralty, Boston struggled with homelessness at Mass and Cass, a matter that was unresolved at the time Walsh departed from office. While he supported Boston's bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, he ultimately reneged on his promise to sign the host city contract's financial guarantee, an action which contributed to the collapse of the bid. Walsh supported Boston retaining its status as a sanctuary city. In 2015, he supported the passage of a city ordinance to provide municipal employees with paid parental leave. The ordinance was passed and signed into law by Walsh. He supported an ordinance in the city council which regulated short-term rental of housing units, and signed it into law in 2018. In 2016, Boston and General Electric struck a deal for the corporation to move its headquarters to Boston. At the end of his tenure, he dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic's impacts on Boston.

Serving from March 2021 until March 2023 in the Cabinet of President Joe Biden as United States secretary of labor, Walsh was the first former union leader to serve in that position in roughly 45 years. Walsh, a recovering alcoholic who has been sober since 1995, was the first-ever Cabinet member to openly be in a twelve-step program for recovery from addiction.

  1. ^ Metzger, Andy (January 9, 2014). "Doherty Tapped to take Walsh's post at Building Trades" (PDF). dotnews.com. Dorchester Reporter. Retrieved July 14, 2023.

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