Boston Mayor Marty Walsh was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a 68-29 vote on March 22 to be secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Labor. A member of the Laborers' International Union of North America and a former president of a LIUNA Boston local, he will lead the department at a time when some of the Biden administration’s pro-worker and pro-union agenda items are moving through Congress.
Walsh spoke in favor of The Protecting the Right to Organize, or PRO, Act, during his confirmation hearing on Feb. 4, calling it “one step towards helping people to organize freely.” The PRO Act passed the House on March 9.