On January 8, President-elect Joe Biden chose Boston Mayor and former president of the Laborers’ Union Local 223 Marty Walsh as his U.S. Labor Secretary.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement, “Boston Mayor Marty Walsh will be an exceptional labor secretary for the same reason he was an outstanding mayor: he carried the tools. As a longtime union member, Walsh knows that collective bargaining is essential to building back better by combating inequality, beating COVID-19 and expanding opportunities for immigrants, women and people of color. He will have the ear of the White House, the Cabinet and Congress as we work to increase union density and create a stronger, fairer America. From the Boston Building and Construction Trades Council to the Massachusetts State House to the mayor’s office to his own personal journey with overcoming addiction, Marty Walsh has always been a fighter who understands the power of working people standing together for a better life.”
According to Biden, “Marty understands, like I do, that the middle class built this country and unions built the middle class. He sees how union workers have been holding this country together during this crisis.”
Walsh said, “We can defend workers’ rights, we can strengthen collective bargaining. We can grow union membership. We can create millions of good paying jobs with investments in infrastructure, clean energy, and in high-tech manufacturing, along with the workforce training to help get those people into those good jobs.”
On December 13, the president-elect announced his nomination for U.S. Secretary of Transportation as former Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
“Jobs, infrastructure, equity, and climate all come together at the DOT, the site of some of our most ambitious plans to build back better,” Biden said in the announcement. “I trust Mayor Pete to lead this work with focus, decency, and a bold vision — he will bring people together to get big things done…. We selected Pete for transportation because the department is at the intersection of some of our most ambitious plans.”
Buttigieg accepted the nomination, saying, “Americans shouldn’t settle for less than our peers in the developed world when it comes to our roads and bridges, railways, and transit systems. The U.S. should lead the way, and in this administration, we will.”
Former DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said Buttigieg “would make a fantastic DOT Secretary. As a former mayor, he will understand what mayors and governors need to rebuild our country and get the economy moving again.”
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