1. Martin Joseph Walsh was born on April 10,1967 and 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.
92 Facts About Marty Walsh
1. 2.
Marty Walsh was elected mayor of Boston in 2013 and was reelected in 2017.
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Marty Walsh added policies to the city's zoning code that were inspired by the federal affirmatively furthering fair housing policy.
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Marty Walsh successfully negotiated for a 40-minute school day extension in Boston Public Schools.
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Marty Walsh served on the leadership of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.
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Marty Walsh supported Boston retaining its status as a sanctuary city.
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Marty Walsh supported an ordinance in the city council which regulated short-term rental of housing units, and signed it into law in 2018.
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Marty 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.
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Marty Walsh was born on April 10,1967, in Dorchester, Boston, to John Marty Walsh, an Irish American originally from Callowfeenish, a townland near Carna, County Galway, and Mary, from Rosmuc, Co.
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Marty Walsh's parents emigrated separately but married in the United States in 1959.
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Marty Walsh grew up in the Savin Hill area of Dorchester, where he lived in a triple-decker.
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Marty Walsh was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma at the age of 7, forcing him to miss most of second and third grade and repeat fifth grade.
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Marty Walsh initially dropped out of college and entered the field of construction.
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Marty Walsh later took night classes as an adult, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in social science from the Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston College in 2009.
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In 1996, Walsh ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign for the Massachusetts House of Representatives seat that James T Brett had vacated.
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Michael Jonas of The Boston Globe reported that Marty Walsh's victory benefited from "organizational ties and personal loyalties," with Marty Walsh performing particularly strong in his own neighborhood of Savin Hill.
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Marty Walsh served as chair of the House Homeland Security and Federal Affairs Committee, as well as the chair of the House Committee on Ethics.
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Marty Walsh was vice chair of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure and the vice chair of the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government.
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In 2004, Marty Walsh voted against legislation that would define marriage in Massachusetts as being between "one man and one woman".
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Marty Walsh co-sponsored legislation that would permit undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition at universities.
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Ahead of the ultimate 2006 passage of the Massachusetts health care reform, Marty Walsh supported efforts related to reform healthcare in Massachusetts with the goal of universal coverage.
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Marty Walsh joined the vast majority of the House in voting in support of the healthcare reform legislation that was ultimately enacted.
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Marty Walsh was one of a number of co-sponsors on legislation to have Massachusetts join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact which passed in the House on July 9,2008.
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In 2010, Marty Walsh voted in support of similar legislation which passed the legislature and was signed into law by Governor Deval Patrick.
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On February 13,2013, Marty Walsh introduced a bill to have The Modern Lovers song "Roadrunner" be named the official rock song of Massachusetts.
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In 2002, Marty Walsh considered resigning from the state house in order to accept an appointment to serve as Suffolk County registrar of deeds, but ultimately declined the position and remained in the state house.
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In 2008, Walsh supported John H Rogers's unsuccessful effort to beat out Robert DeLeo to serve as the next speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
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Marty Walsh served as a co-chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party Labor Caucus.
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In late-2010, Marty Walsh was elected to serve as both the secretary-treasurer and general agent of Boston Building Trades Council, a union umbrella group.
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The general agent is the head of the group, and Marty Walsh formally succeeded James Coyle in the office in January 2011.
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Marty Walsh resigned as general agent in April 2013 when he announced that he was running for mayor, but at the time retained his position as president of Laborer's Union Local 223.
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In 2016, news emerged that, when Marty Walsh was the general agent, his phone calls had been wiretapped by federal authorities in 2012 as part of an investigation.
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Marty Walsh resigned his Trades Council position in April 2013 after formally announcing his bid for mayor.
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When Marty Walsh initially announced his candidacy, he lacked substantial name recognition outside of his own state house district.
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In July 2017, Marty Walsh announced he would seek a second term in the 2017 mayoral election.
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Marty Walsh was sworn in for his second term on January 1,2018; then-former vice-president Joe Biden presided at the ceremony.
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Marty Walsh served as mayor of Boston from January 2015 through March 2021.
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Marty Walsh resigned as mayor on March 22,2021, the same day that he was confirmed for his position in the Cabinet of Joe Biden.
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In March 2015, Marty Walsh supported City Councilor Michelle Wu's efforts to pass a paid parental leave ordinance.
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In 2018, Walsh appointed William G Gross as commissioner, making Gross the first African American individual to hold the position.
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In January 2021, upon Gross' retirement, Marty Walsh made Dennis White, African American, the new commissioner of the Boston Police Department.
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Days after appointing White, Marty Walsh suspended him pending an investigation into allegations of domestic violence.
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Marty Walsh is considered not to have properly vetted White before appointing him.
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In June 2020, Marty Walsh created the Boston Police Reform Taskforce.
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On March 14,2020, Marty Walsh declared a municipal state of emergency regarding the pandemic.
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Marty Walsh urged Bostonians to adhere to social distancing guidelines, and made efforts to limit public activity.
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On March 16,2020, Marty Walsh announced the Boston Resiliency Fund, a city-led fundraising effort to support programs and charities serving those impacted by the pandemic.
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Marty Walsh established the Boston Rental Relief Fund in April 2020, using $3 million of city funds.
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Marty Walsh later added an additional $5 million in June 2020.
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On October 8,2014, Marty Walsh, citing the advice of various City departments, agencies and leaders, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, ordered the closure of the Long Island Bridge due to disrepair and the evacuation of the programs for the homeless located on Long Island.
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Later that year, Marty Walsh unveiled plans to renovate a facility to house hundreds of homeless people displaced due to the closure of the Long Island Bridge.
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Marty Walsh supported Boston bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, regarding it as an opportunity to elevate Boston's international profile.
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In October 2014, Marty Walsh had signed a letter stating that he would sign the Host City Contract without reservation; however, in July 2015, he stated that he was not comfortable signing the financial guarantee in its current form at that time.
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In 2015, Marty Walsh launched the Climate Ready Boston initiative to prepare Boston for the effects of climate change.
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Marty Walsh served in the leadership of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.
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Towards the end of 2014, Marty Walsh proposed and negotiated a 40-minute extension to the school day of Boston Public Schools, which was implemented.
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Marty Walsh supported an ordinance in the city council which regulated short-term rental of housing units.
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In June 2020, Marty Walsh declared racism to be a public health crisis.
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That month, in an effort to address institutional racism, Marty Walsh announced he would create an "equity and inclusion cabinet" in his administration, launch a racial equity fund, and declared his intent to pursue a new zoning amendment aimed at addressing the issue of resident displacement.
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On January 7,2021, Marty Walsh was announced by President-elect Joe Biden to be his designated nominee for secretary of labor.
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Marty Walsh was the final department secretary of Biden's Cabinet to be confirmed.
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Marty Walsh is the first Cabinet secretary to openly be in a twelve-step program for recovery from addiction.
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Marty Walsh was the first former union leader to serve in the position in roughly 45 years, since the tenure of William Usery Jr.
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Marty Walsh was criticized for spending a substantial amount of time during his tenure as secretary of labor away from Washington, DC, where the United States Department of Labor is headquartered, and instead in Boston.
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Marty Walsh considered running in the 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial election after Governor Baker announced his retirement, but he ultimately opted against doing so.
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Marty Walsh tendered his resignation from the Department of Labor effective March 11,2023 in order to serve as the executive director of the players' union of the National Hockey League.
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However, he argued that Marty Walsh disappointed the expectations that unionists had for his tenure, citing shortcomings of his tenure as well as direct actions such as his support of Biden's decision to allow congressional intervention in order to resolve the 2022 United States railroad labor dispute.
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Ben Penn of Bloomberg Law reported that, as labor secretary, Marty Walsh lobbied trade unions not to criticize the prospective appointment of David Weil, which helped to clear the path for Biden to nominate Weil to serve as the administrator of the Wage and Hour Division without vocal union opposition.
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Also in October 2021, Marty Walsh became the first labor secretary to visit a picket line and stand with the strikers when he visited the 2021 Kellogg's strike.
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Marty Walsh mediated a December 2021 resolution between the Massachusetts Nurses Association and Tenet Healthcare to end a nine-month strike at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts that involved 700 striking nurses.
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Marty Walsh was involved in efforts to avert a strike in the 2022 United States railroad labor dispute.
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Marty Walsh negotiated a tentative agreement to avert a rail strike.
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Marty Walsh was formally confirmed unanimously by the NHLPA's board of directors to hold that role on February 16,2023, and the Department of Labor announced that he would leave office as secretary of labor and take office as executive director of the NHLPA in mid-March.
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Marty Walsh is reported to earn a $3 million annual salary in the position.
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Marty Walsh has disagreed with characterizations that players had opposed wearing jerseys on anti-LGBTQ grounds, and has instead characterized the motivations of those players as having been, "religious beliefs or political back home beliefs".
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Marty Walsh made resolving the Arizona Coyotes arena situation a significant priority for himself.
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Marty Walsh was critical of the Coyotes playing with Mullett Arena as their temporary home arena, lacking any definite plans for a new permanent venue.
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Marty Walsh opined in February 2024 that the team should be relocated to a new market if the situation cannot be quickly remedied.
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Marty Walsh was supportive of the NHL and NHLPA reaching an agreement with the IOC and IIHF to allow NHL players to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
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In 2023, Marty Walsh began to increase his public profile in Boston.
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Marty Walsh made his first political endorsements since leaving office as mayor by endorsing two candidates in the 2023 Boston City Council election.
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Marty Walsh had become acquaintances with Harris during her time as a US senator, and was reported by The New York Times to have been one of her most trusted advisors at the time of her presidential campaigns.
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On February 29,2024, President Biden nominated Marty Walsh to serve as a governor of the United States Postal Service.
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Marty Walsh was nominated to the seat left vacant by the departure of Lee Moak.
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Marty Walsh declared that he did not intend to resign his players union leadership position if confirmed, noting that the duties postal service board membership are not a full-time job.
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Marty Walsh had never established a residence in Washington, DC during his tenure as secretary of labor, instead opting to stay in hotels while in Washington, DC over the work week and returning to his Dorchester residence for weekends.
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Marty Walsh has been a season ticket holder of the NFL's New England Patriots since franchise owner Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994.
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Marty Walsh speaks Irish and holds both American and Irish citizenship.
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Marty Walsh attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in order to facilitate his recovery.
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Marty Walsh opened the speech with the words, "My name is Marty Walsh, and I'm an alcoholic".
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Marty Walsh's experience with addiction was a component of the life story of him overcoming adversity which retold as a portion of his messaging to voters during the 2013 mayoral election.
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That same year, after Marty Walsh delivered the university's commencement address, Marty Walsh was awarded an honorary degree by the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.