Biden picks Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as labour secretary

At Walsh’s second mayoral inauguration, Biden praised him for his character and efforts to create a thriving middle class, calling him a “man of extraordinary character in a moment when we need more character and incredible courage.”

“We’re at a moment when mayors and governors matter more than they ever did,” Biden said at the event. “We need leaders who will stand up against the ugly divisiveness spewing out of Washington every day.”

During his tenure as mayor, Walsh has overseen the city’s ongoing rejuvenation, which has led to challenges that include gentrification and rising housing costs.

He’s also had to grapple with the city’s history of racial tensions to try to make the city more welcoming for people of all backgrounds.

Most recently, Walsh has helped lead the city through the ongoing coronavirus pandemic with its myriad challenges, from helping maintain local businesses to ensuring widespread testing for the virus to figuring out how to maintain access to public schools.

Walsh and Biden share an Irish American background.

Last year, Biden videotaped a message for the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast. The event pulls together the state’s top elected officials, Democrats and Republicans, to enjoy Irish music and food — and cringe-worthy jokes.

“We Irish, as you know, we’re dreamers, yet we’re realists. We’re spiritual, yet we are doubters. We are compassionate, yet we’re demanding. Everything in us runs deep: sadness and joy, heartache and hope, fortitude and faith,” Biden said in his message last year. “We are the only people on earth who are always nostalgic for the future.”

The son of Irish immigrants, Walsh grew up in a triple-decker in Boston’s working class Dorchester neighbourhood. As a child, he survived a four-year bout with Burkitt lymphoma starting when he was 7.

Walsh said one of the toughest things about his cancer treatment was losing his hair, which he said was red at the time and hard to match for a wig. He later recalled how someone living on the top floor of the three-family home clipped a bit of his hair and came back later with an identical red wig.

Walsh has also been forthcoming about his early struggles with alcohol and has used his history with addiction to encourage others to seek help. He began his speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention by saying: “Good evening. My name is Marty Walsh, and I’m an alcoholic.”

“On April 23, 1995, I hit rock bottom. I woke up with little memory of the night before and even less hope for the days to come,” he said at the time. “Everybody was losing faith in me, everybody except my family and the labour movement.”

Walsh’s union history has led to some awkward moments as mayor, including when two former Walsh aides were charged with bullying music festival organizers into hiring union workers.

Kenneth Brissette, the city’s former director of tourism, and Timothy Sullivan, who was chief of intergovernmental affairs, were convicted in federal court in 2019 of conspiring to extort the organizers of the Boston Calling music festival by withholding city permits.

A federal judge later tossed the convictions, saying the government failed to prove the existence of a quid pro quo.

Steve Leblanc, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Biden picks Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as labour secretary

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