Labor Secretary Marty Walsh meets with ILWU members in Seattle and Tacoma
U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh toured the ports of Seattle and Tacoma and met with ILWU members and officers from Locals 19 and 23 to discuss port infrastructure investment, the supply chain, the Biden Administration’s agenda for working people, and other issues on March 22 and 23.
Sec. Walsh came out to the Pacific Northwest on the invitation of ILWU International President Willie Adams. During his port tours, Sec. Walsh was accompanied by Pres. Adams, International Vice President (Mainland) Bobby Olvera, Jr, and Coast Committeemen Frank Ponce De Leon and Cam Williams. Local 19 President Herald Ugles and Local 23 President Jared Faker attended the tours in their respective ports. Washington Area District Council President Dan McKisson helped to coordinate both events. While at the Port of Seattle, Sec. Walsh toured the PMA P46 Training Center where he addressed a classroom of trainees and observed a crane simulator in action.
After touring the ports, Sec. Walsh was treated to barbeques at Locals 19 and 23, where he was joined by delegations of state, local, and federal elected officials to honor the hard work and sacrifices of longshore workers, marine clerks, and foremen during the pandemic and to discuss issues facing American workers. Hundreds of ILWU members showed up to welcome Sec. Walsh, learn about President Joe Biden’s labor agenda and hear from their local Congressional delegation.
Sec. Walsh explained that strengthening the labor movement is a priority for President Biden and a part of his plan to create economic opportunities for workers in America.
“Joe Biden cares about the labor movement,” Walsh said, “He talks about unions. He talks about collective bargaining. He talks about worker power. He’s talking about building an economy that works. When the President talks about building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, he means the members of this union and unions across the country. How do we give opportunities for people who don’t have an opportunity to be part of your union or my union or other unions in this country? How do they get a pathway into a union? That’s what he talks about. We tried the trickle-down economy thing years ago, if you remember. It didn’t trickle down very far.”
The barbeque at the Local 19 hall was attended by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Congresswoman Suzan K. DelBene, Congressman Rick Larsen, Congressman Adam Smith, and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.
The event at the Local 23 hall in Fife was attended by Congressman Derek Kilmer, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland, and Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards.
Historic visit
“Eighty-eight years ago, Franklin Roosevelt sent Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins to San Francisco to meet with Harry Bridges and other longshore leaders during the 1934 General Strike,” President Adams said. “Marty Walsh has been the first Secretary of Labor to come out the West Coast to meet with the ILWU since 1934.”
Working-class roots
“Some politicians talk about the middle class, but we are working class. I’m proud to be working class,” Adams said. “My parents were working class, my grandparents were working class. Marty Walsh is working class, and he makes no apologies that his agenda is to help workers.”
Sec. Walsh is the son of Irish immigrants. He followed his father and uncle into Laborers Local 223 at the age of 21. He served as the Local’s Recording Secretary and President. He went on to head the Boston Building Trades Council, and also served 16 years in the Massachusetts Legislature. Sec. Walsh is the first labor leader to hold the position of Secretary of Labor since 1976.
At home in the union hall
Sec. Walsh explained that he felt at home in the union hall because that is the world in which he was born and raised. He reflected on his long history in the labor movement, the opportunities that being a union member has given him, and the need to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (“PRO”) Act so that more workers will have the opportunity to join a union and benefit from collective bargaining.
“I got sober because my union, Laborers Local 223, had health insurance that allowed me to go into a recovery program. Because of that, my life was completely changed,” Walsh said. “Those numbers, 223, have a special meaning to me, because my union has given me so many opportunities in my life. Those numbers gave me the opportunity to run for state representative and represent my district in Boston for 16 years in the legislature. Those numbers gave me the ability to be able to run the Building Trades in the City of Boston. Those numbers and what they represent gave me the opportunity to run for Mayor of Boston in 2013, where I served for seven years.”
“President Biden wanted a Labor Secretary that emulates what he wants to see for workers in America,” continued Sec. Walsh. “He called me and asked me to serve as his Secretary of Labor because of those union numbers: 223.”
The event was made possible by the volunteer efforts of scores of rank-and-file members and Federated Auxiliary members who set up for the event, prepared the food, and cleaned up the hall afterward.
