The NHLPA is set to name US Labor Secretary Marty Walsh as its new CEO, according to multiple reports. Here’s what you need to know:
- Walsh will replace Don Fehr, who has held the position since 2010.
- Walsh, 55, previously served as mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021.
- An official announcement is expected after President Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, according to reports.
background story
Walsh’s expected appointment comes nearly a year after the NHLPA’s seven-player panel He began his search to Khalifa Fehr. Executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates, too Join the effort last August.
Fehr, who also served as the MLBPA’s executive director from 1985 to 2009, has led the NHLPA through two rounds of collective bargaining in 2013 and 2020. The NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program cannot be identified with “any individual infractions or institutional failures.” policy or procedure.
Walsh is set to take over with three years remaining before the next round of NFL-NHL talks.
Evaluate the duration of the month
When the NHLPA voted in April 2022 to begin the search for Fehr’s successor, it represented a welcome change for an organization that has historically struggled through the peaceful transition of power. Fehr’s record hasn’t been perfect — the union has surrendered crucial ground in every set of its CBA negotiations, and the systemic failure to protect Kyle Beach looms large. Still, the stability that Fehr brought to the job in 2010 shouldn’t be lost, especially given the chaos that preceded it. Putting the union in the right place to choose his successor and install him just over four years before the CBA expires should be part of Fehr’s legacy, too. – gentle
What Walsh brings to the role
Walsh, a former worker who first got his union card himself in 1988, is a great choice for several reasons. Regardless of the Bruins’ fanbase, his work has largely come out of the often isolated world of hockey, and that alone is a deflection from expectations. The lack of connections, conflicts, and preconceived notions seems to be a draw. Instead, the NHLPA went with the best pool of goodwill work available to them. Walsh is, in short, a union man — not a hockey one.
Prior to his time with the Biden administration and his mayoralty in Boston, Walsh ran that city’s Building Trades Board. There, he was the chief representative of the 35,000 union builders, charged with negotiating on their behalf with building developers during Boston’s building boom. He had the responsibility and the power, and He wasn’t afraid to use it —but he was also fair enough to cut deals, win mayoral elections, and end up in a presidential administration. – gentle
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