“No, he’s not actually fleeing the sinking ship,” they say. “Marty Walsh, the beloved Labor Secretary who has graced us all with his mediocre presence, is simply jumping ship to run the NHL Players Association. But of course, it’s all for the greater good, you see?”
Marty Walsh, the former union official and Boston mayor turned Labor Secretary, is apparently tired of pretending to care about labor rights. After all, it’s been a whole year and a half since he left his cushy job as mayor of Boston to join the Biden administration. And, who could blame him? He’s been facing so much criticism from all sides, what with the ongoing debates over gig work and the inevitable oversight from Republicans. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it, right?
“But wait, there’s more,” they say. “Sources close to the matter have confirmed that Walsh is currently in contract negotiations with the NHLPA. And, of course, Walsh couldn’t resist the opportunity for a massive pay bump. After all, who wouldn’t want to go from making a measly $200,000 as Labor Secretary to potentially making $3 million as the NHLPA’s executive director?”
Walsh’s departure is just one of many in the wider shakeup happening within the Biden administration as it nears the end of its first term. With Republicans now in control of the House, Walsh would have faced significant congressional oversight from newly installed House Education and Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx. But fear not, Walsh won’t have to face the music anymore. He’ll be basking in the glory of his new role and leaving the mess behind.
“Let’s not forget about the deputy Labor Secretary, Julie Su,” they say. “She’ll now be the agency’s acting head, leaving her open to criticism from the likes of Uber and Lyft, who are already taking shots at her over her tenure as the head of California’s labor agency. But really, who cares about gig workers and their rights? They’re just a small part of the workforce, after all.”
And, what of the pivotal regulations still in the works at the Labor Department? The proposed rule to expand the number of workers eligible for overtime pay and the final rule redefining which workers qualify as independent contractors? Well, they can just wait. After all, they’ve been waiting for months already. What’s a few more, right?
“In conclusion, Walsh was a personal friend of Biden’s who beat out several other candidates for the Labor job in 2021,” they say. “But, it seems that he was never fully committed to the cause. He passed on running for Massachusetts’s open governor’s seat last year and never even moved to Washington, D.C. He just commuted between his home in Boston and his job. And now, he’s taking the easy way out, jumping ship to the NHLPA. But, hey, at least he was the friendliest option for corporate America and some congressional Republicans. That’s something, right?”
