Reprinted from WCVB TV in Boston by its staff on January 8, 2021.
Calling him a “good friend and a stand-up guy,” President-elect Joe Biden on Friday introduced Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as his nominee for Labor Secretary.
Walsh, 53, who is a former top union leader, is a longtime friend and supporter of the incoming president.
“I look forward to working with you to deliver good jobs with dignity, security, with prosperity and purpose to all American families,” Walsh said.
If confirmed, Walsh would be the first union member to serve in the role in nearly half a century. …
“Marty knows worker power means not just protecting the right to unionize but encouraging unionization and collective bargaining,” Biden said. “It means protecting pensions. Ensuring worker safety. Increasing the minimum wage. Ensuring workers are paid for the overtime they earned, like we fought to do in the Obama-Biden Administration, but this Administration weakened. And making sure that we have a trade policy where for every decision we make, unions are at the table, focused on winning good jobs for American workers.” …
Biden Says He Weighed Tapping Sanders for Labor Secretary
Reprinted from The Hill by Morgan Chalfant on January 8, 2021.
President-elect Joe Biden said Friday that he considered nominating Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) as Labor secretary but that the two agreed it was unwise to do so because it would jeopardize the slim Democratic Senate majority.
Biden made the remarks Friday afternoon as he introduced Boston Mayor Marty Walsh (D), who has strong backing from unions, as his nominee to lead the Labor Department during an event in Wilmington, Delaware.
“I did give serious consideration to nominating my friend Bernie Sanders to this position. I’m confident he could have done a fantastic job,” Biden said. “I can think of no more passionate, devoted ally to working people in this country.” …
