President-elect Joe Biden announced on Thursday he has selected Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as his labor secretary. The 53-year-old Walsh, a former union worker who has a long history with labor, has served as the Democratic mayor of Boston since 2014. Prior to that, he was head of the Boston Building Trades Council which represents thousands of union construction workers.
Paul Craney, spokesperson and board member at the nonpartisan Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, spoke with One News Now about Walsh. The mayor, he says, will undoubtedly adopt a new description: rubber stamp.
Craney
"He will do whatever Big Labor asks him to do," Craney said in reference to the mayor. "I'm very pleased that he's getting out of Massachusetts, [and] I think businesses in Boston have a reason to celebrate today – but that's probably to the detriment of the United States."
Among other things, the Alliance contends Walsh has "ugly ties to union bosses" and was "the largest receiver of union loophole money" in state history.
"He's never been known to be someone who advocates for any type of business [or] employer concerns," Craney added. "He has always, 100% of the time, sided with any labor policy that's put before him. He's a mediocre politician – and he will be a rubber stamp for anything any union boss brings before him that lands on his desk."
Perhaps that's why Walsh's nomination was praised by union leaders Thursday, among them the president of the AFL-CIO.
"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," Richard Trumka said in a statement published on TheHill.com.
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