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Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to Leave Biden Administration: Report

Regulatory Agencies

Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is said to be leaving the Biden Administration for the private sector as part of a broader cabinet shakeup in preparation for a possible 2024 Biden reelection run.

Politico, citing hockey website The Daily Faceoff, said Walsh would leave to run the NHL Players Association, something it said a person familiar with the matter confirmed, but no departure date was given.

“Walsh played a key role as a mediator in helping Major League Baseball come to a lockout resolution in 2022,” the website noted. “As for how he fits into the pro hockey world: from a union-to-owners relations perspective, he also has a key connection to Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, an extremely influential voice as chairman of the NHL’s Board of Governors. In 2017 the Jacobs family donated $13,000 to Walsh’s political committee.”

It reported late last week that NHL Players’ Association was zeroing in on a leading candidate to replace Donald Fehr as its executive director.

The PA met in Florida during the 2023 NHL All-Star weekend to discuss Walsh’s potential appointment to the position.

Walsh was sworn in as the 29th Secretary of Labor in March 2021, and Politico noted his high-profile role in several of the administration’s interactions with organized labor to mixed results, including the last-minute compromise between freight rail carriers and unions in September and visited the West Coast as port workers renegotiated their contract with employers.

Following his time as a Massachusetts state representative, Walsh spent seven years as the Mayor of Boston. While mayor, he helped secure a statewide $15/hour minimum wage, paid sick leave, and paid parental leave.

Tightly aligned with labor unions, Walsh followed his father into Laborers Local 223 in Boston; he rose to head the Building and Construction Trades Council from 2011 to 2013.

Born and raised in Dorchester, Mass., he is a survivor of Burkitt lymphoma. He has a degree in political science from Boston College.

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