Marty’s got big Labor backing
Mayor mum on Cabinet post; others tout his qualifications
National union leaders are said to be pushing Mayor Martin Walsh as a contender for secretary of labor in President-elect Joe Biden’s administration — though Walsh had little reaction to the reports.
Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has been trying to gin up support for the mayor, and the massive union federation could endorse him soon to run the Department of Labor in the administration of Biden, who’s projected to take the presidency in January.
The American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten told Bloomberg News that Walsh is a “great idea” for labor secretary, and she talked up the fact that Walsh has strong labor chops — and the ear of his friend the president-elect already.
Walsh is a former union worker himself, a former president of Laborers Local 223. Before becoming mayor, the Dorchester native served as a state representative and head of the Boston Building Trades, an influential union umbrella organization over the electricians, ironworkers and other locals.
After a Veterans Day event in Brighton, the mayor wasn’t biting, saying he wouldn’t talk politics on the day meant to honor our troops.
“There’ll be plenty of time to talk about politics later on, but we’re just going to focus on this today,” Walsh said in response to the Herald’s questions after the event.
Walsh’s office said in a statement, “On January 20, 2021, mayors will once again have a partner in the White House, and I’m excited about what a Biden-Harris administration means for Boston. While it’s an honor to be mentioned among the many highly-qualified individuals being considered for a role in the Biden Administration, I am focused on my job as mayor of the City of Boston.”
State Sen. Marc Pacheco, a top Massachusetts Biden backer who served with Walsh in the Legislature, said of the mayor, “He’s been involved for years and knows people in every aspect of both the national and international labor movement.”
Walsh appears to have more direct labor ties than some of the other people in the discussion for the secretary perch, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who’s openly lobbying for the position.
But the mayor’s administration has had labor-related dust-ups, most recently regarding the federal criminal charges related to accusations that his top lieutenants pressured the Boston Calling music festival organizers to use union labor. Two Walsh administration high-ups were convicted — before a judge then threw out the decisions and acquitted them both.
Earlier in Walsh’s tenure, his administration took flak for connections to four Teamsters charged with threatening “Top Chef ” employees over that show’s use of non-union workers. Testimony entwined Walsh’s City Hall in that scandal, but the mayor claimed vindication after the jury found the Teamsters not guilty in 2017.
If Walsh does go to Washington, City Council President Kim Janey would become the acting mayor. She’d be the first woman and first person of color to sit in the big office on the fifth floor of Boston City Hall. It would also open the floodgates in the 2021 mayoral race, which already has drawn two high-profile challengers in city councilors Andrea Campbell and Michelle Wu.