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Labor Union

Laborers International Union Local 223

Parent Organization: Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA)
Location:

DORCHESTER, MA
Tax ID:

41-472465
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(5)

Budget (2017):

Revenue: $1,580,175
Expenses: $1,327,116
Assets: $1,972,919

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Laborers International Union of North America Local 223 (Laborers Local 223) is a construction union located in Dorchester, Massachusetts.1 It is an affiliate of the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA) and is notable for being led by members of the family of Boston Mayor and Biden administration nominee for Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh.

Finances

In 2018 Local 223 received $1,725,008 in contributions through membership dues,2 $1,726,865 in total revenue,3 and possessed $2,427,287 in net assets after accounting for all liabilities.4

In 2018 the union spent $39,176 on automobile expenses, $29,695 on union apparel, and $57,698 on meeting expenses.5

Leadership

The union is closely tied to the Walsh family, the most prominent member of which is Martin J. Walsh, the 54th Mayor of Boston, Biden administration nominee for Secretary of Labor, former Massachusetts state legislator, and former head of both Laborers Local 223 and the Boston Building Trades Council. Martin’s father Joe and his uncle Patrick built the union into a Massachusetts political powerhouse that observers credited with elevating former Obama administration official and Harvard University academic Elizabeth Warren to the United States Senate.6

His cousin, Martin F. Walsh, is as of 2019 the business manager and treasurer of Local 223. In 2019, Walsh received $262,845 in gross salary for his services with $21,082 disbursed for his official business.7

Two other persons named Walsh hold positions with the union: Patrick Walsh and Colleen Walsh. Colleen is listed as an office manager paid over $100,000 in gross salary while Patrick is union president and paid almost $67,000.8 Martin F. Walsh has children by both of those names.9

Controversies

In 1999 William F. Rae, Jr., at the time a member of Local 223, sued the union alleging that the union engaged in a tortious interference between Raw and his employer, Morganti, Inc., and engaged in intentional infliction of emotional distress. Rae claimed that the members of the union disliked him and wished to remove him as the foreman from a project the union entered with Morganti.10 The Superior Court of Massachusetts rejected a union request to dismiss the case.11

In 2015, Martin F. Walsh, during a community discussion regarding Boston potentially hosting the 2024 Olympics, at which his cousin the mayor of Boston was present, responded to a woman’s question in opposition to Olympics related construction and development due to concerns about the displacement of low-income residents by calling her a “fucking piece of shit.”12

References

  1. “About” Greater Boston Building Trades Union. https://metrobtc.org/about/
  2. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed January 10, 2021. Part I. Line 8.
  3. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed January 10, 2021. Part I. Line 12.
  4. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed January 10, 2021. Part I. Line 22.
  5. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed January 10, 2021. Part IX. Line 24.
  6. Forry, Bill. “Pat Walsh, Union Chieftain, Was a Throwback- in a Good Way.” Dorchester Reporter, November 20, 2012. https://www.dotnews.com/columns/2012/pat-walsh-union-chieftain-was-throwback-good-way.
  7. Laborers International Union of North America Local 223 (Department of Labor File Number 003-371), Labor Organization Annual Report (Form LM-2), 2019, Schedule 11 https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=725047&rptForm=LM2Form
  8. Laborers International Union of North America Local 223 (Department of Labor File Number 003-371), Labor Organization Annual Report (Form LM-2), 2019, Schedule 11 https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=725047&rptForm=LM2Form
  9. “Irish Labor.” Irish Echo, September 19, 2012. https://www.irishecho.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/2012LABOR50.pdf.
  10. Rae v. Laborers’ Intern. Union of America, Local 223, 1999 WL 1324228 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1999)
  11. Rae v. Laborers’ Intern. Union of America, Local 223, 1999 WL 1324228 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1999)
  12. Clauss, Kyle S. “Reports: Mayor Walsh’s Cousin Curses at Woman During Boston 2024 Meeting” Boston Magazine. May 22, 2015. Accessed January 10, 2021. https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2015/05/22/mayor-marty-walsh-cousin-boston-2024-dorchester/
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: September 1, 1940

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2017 Dec Form 990 $1,580,175 $1,327,116 $1,972,919 $0 N $0 $1,592,078 $-11,903 $600,964 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $1,548,776 $1,262,761 $1,723,957 $0 N $0 $1,536,351 $12,425 $609,109
    2015 Dec Form 990 $1,809,673 $1,153,872 $1,437,942 $0 N $0 $1,505,944 $3,215 $562,297 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $1,225,882 $1,147,053 $782,141 $0 N $0 $1,222,623 $3,259 $568,645 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $1,022,370 $1,068,543 $715,215 $0 N $0 $1,018,011 $4,359 $542,678 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $992,247 $1,050,387 $766,215 $0 N $0 $982,649 $9,598 $525,000 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $995,767 $1,072,215 $837,980 $0 N $0 $989,393 $6,374 $542,871 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Laborers International Union Local 223

    12 A EVERDEAN STREET
    DORCHESTER, MA 02122-3508