Who Is Marty Walsh?

Marty Walsh is the U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Joe Biden and was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on March 23, 2021. He served as the Mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021.

Early Life and Education

Marty Walsh was born on April 10, 1967, in Boston, Massachusetts. He earned a bachelor's degree from Boston College in 2009.

In 1988, Walsh joined Laborers Local 223, a construction workers union that represents over 20,000 men and women in the northeast. He started his career as a union laborer building scaffolding and bracing masonry walls along Boston's waterfront.

Walsh served as leader of the Building and Construction Trades Council from 2011 to 2013. Working with business and community leaders, he created a program called Building Pathways, a model for increasing diversity in the workplace and providing career opportunities for women and people of color.

Serving Massachusetts

Marty Walsh was an elected member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1997 until 2014 where he served as chair of the Committee on Ethics and as co-chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party Labor Caucus. During his tenure, he focused on creating good jobs, protecting workers' rights, expanding mental health treatment, and investing in public transit.

Walsh was elected and served two terms as the mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021. He is credited with adding 140,000 jobs to the city and helped secure a statewide $15/hour minimum wage, paid sick leave, and paid parental leave. He established universal, pre-kindergarten for all children, and free community college for low-income students.

Secretary of Labor

As the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh leads the Department of Labor's (DOL) efforts to promote the welfare of wage earners, job seekers, and retirees across the U.S., including administering and enforcing a wide range of labor laws.

Walsh is viewed by many Democrats as a strong choice for labor secretary because of his extensive experience and relationships with labor unions and is the first labor secretary in 50 years who is also an active union member.

During his first year at the Department of Labor, Walsh has taken steps to expand the Registered Apprenticeship program to create a skilled workforce for businesses of all sizes and reduce unemployment rates across the country.

In 2022, the Department of Labor announced the “Good Jobs Initiative” to focus on worker empowerment, employer engagement, and federal agency support for equity in historically underserved communities.

Notable Accomplishments

Marty Walsh was diagnosed at age seven and is a survivor of Burkitt lymphoma, a rare, aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that affects children. He endured four years of treatment.

Walsh is a member of the recovery community who has worked to expand addiction treatment throughout his career. In 1995, Walsh committed to a program to address his battle with alcoholism and its impact on his mental health.

The Bottom Line

Marty Walsh serves as the U.S. Secretary of Labor in the Biden Administration. His experience as a union laborer and leader and elected official in Massachusetts will help shape his efforts to administer and enforce labor laws and support wage earners in the United States.