Marty Walsh

Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and trade union official who served as the 58th mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021 and as the 29th United States Secretary of Labor from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Walsh resigned from his position as the US Secretary of Labor in March 2023 in order to accept a position as executive director of the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA). Before his mayoralty, he served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 13th Suffolk district from 1997 until 2014. As a trade union member, Walsh worked his way up to serve as the head of the Boston Building Trades Council from 2011 until 2013.

Walsh was elected mayor of Boston in 2013 and was reelected in 2017. He was regarded as friendly towards real estate developers, and the city experienced a building boom during his mayoralty. He added policies to the city's zoning code that were inspired by the federal affirmatively furthering fair housing policy. He successfully negotiated for a 40-minute school day extension in Boston Public Schools. He also served on the leadership of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. During much of his mayoralty, Boston struggled with homelessness at Mass and Cass, which was ongoing at the time Walsh departed from office. While he supported Boston's bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, he ultimately reneged on his promise to sign the host city contract's financial guarantee, which contributed to the collapse of the bid. Walsh supported Boston retaining its status as a sanctuary city. In 2015, he supported the passage of a city ordinance to provide municipal employees with paid parental leave. The ordinance was passed and signed into law by Walsh. He supported an ordinance in the city council which regulated short-term rental of housing units, and signed it into law in 2018. In 2016, Boston and General Electric struck a deal for the corporation to move its headquarters to Boston. At the end of his tenure, he dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic's impacts on Boston.

Serving from March 2021 until March 2023 in the Cabinet of President Joe Biden as United States secretary of labor, Walsh was the first former union leader to serve in that position in roughly 45 years. Walsh, a recovering alcoholic who has been sober since 1995, was the first-ever Cabinet member to openly be in a twelve-step program for recovery from addiction.

Since 2023, Walsh has been the executive director of the NHLPA (the union representing professional ice hockey players in the NHL). During his tenure the union negotiated with the NHL, IOC, and IIHF terms of an arrangement to allow NHL players to compete in the 2026 and 2030 editions of the Winter Olympics. Walsh negotiated the terms of a four-year collective bargaining agreement reached in mid-2025 between the NHLPA and NHL, which will enter effect ahead of the 2026–27 season. Provided by Wikipedia