President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as his nominee to head the Labor Department, according to Politico.
Walsh, 53, is a former union leader who has been mayor since 2014. He was born in Boston and has a degree from Boston College. He was a member of the state legislature before becoming mayor.
Biden, who ran on a pro-union platform and began his campaign by announcing his bid in a local union hall in Pittsburgh, won 56% of union households, compared to Trump’s 40%, according to NBC News exit polls.
The former vice president ran for the high office vowing to strengthen collective bargaining.
“Strong unions built the great American middle class. Everything that defines what it means to live a good life and know you can take care of your family — the 40 hour workweek, paid leave, health care protections, a voice in your workplace — is because of workers who organized unions and fought for worker protections,” his campaign website states.
The website also claims that Biden would “hold corporate executives personally accountable for violations of labor laws.”
Biden’s choice likely comes as a disappointment to some of his backers on the far Left who wanted to see Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, take the helm at the Labor Department.
Unions endorsed the senator for president, in large part because he was a tireless advocate for “Medicare for all,” which would put everyone on federal healthcare. Sanders reportedly had an interest in the post and called union chiefs to ask for their backing.
