Builds on union support from Longshoreman earlier this month

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BOSTON, MA – Josh Kraft, candidate for Mayor of Boston, today announced the endorsement of Iron Workers Local 7, which represents 3,800 members. 

The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers Local 7 builds and supports hundreds of pre-engineered, architectural, industrial maintenance, heavy rigging, and welding projects. 

“I couldn’t be more grateful for the support of the Local 7 Iron Workers and their long history of building communities, advocating for economic opportunity, and giving back,” said Kraft.

Kraft added, “Having seen their work for three-plus decades in Boston’s non-profit sector, I know the Iron Workers’ reputation. Their members get jobs done on time and on budget. And frankly, we could use a little more of that in City Hall these days.”

“Josh shares our members’ values. He understands the importance of their work, and we are confident he will protect the working families of today and tomorrow,” said Vincent Coyle, Jr., Business Manager for Local 7.

“We need more people like Josh who are willing to do the hard work of bringing people together to have challenging conversations. That’s why we offer our wholehearted endorsement of his candidacy for Mayor of Boston,” said Frank Murray, Local 7 Political Action Committee. “Josh is the leader we need in this city.”

About Josh 

Josh Kraft has spent his 35 year career working in disadvantaged communities in and around Boston. He was most recently President of the New England Patriots Foundation, and for three decades he worked with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, including 12 years as its President and CEO.

Josh’s commitment to service began with his first job out of college as an outreach coordinator at a South Boston nonprofit. There he was responsible for making sure at-risk youth attended school in the morning, regularly visiting their families at home. It was in this role that Josh saw firsthand truancy, addiction and domestic violence, but also what is possible for communities when like minded individuals engaged in a common goal.

In 1993, he founded the Boys & Girls Club in Chelsea at a time when the city and its schools were in state receivership. Located in the basement of a public housing development, Josh went door-to-door raising money from local businesses to rehabilitate the facility and organize and fund a summer basketball league coached and refereed by local police officers he had personally recruited. Josh would serve as executive director of the Chelsea Boys & Girls Club for the next 15 years, building and managing an extremely loyal staff and deeply engaged local Board, leading major local fundraising campaigns and piloting innovative programming to create a safe haven for thousands of young people in one of Massachusetts’ most underserved communities.

Unanimously selected to serve as the Boys & Girls Club of Boston’s President and CEO in 2008, Josh fostered a community of more than 200 program partners throughout Boston and Chelsea, doubling the club’s budget to $26 million and leading a five-year campaign which raised nearly $132 million. During his tenure, Josh doubled the organization’s membership, deepened its impact and expanded its reach to Boston’s Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and Mattapan neighborhoods.For more on Josh and the campaign, visit www.joshforboston.com

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Media Contact:
Eileen O’Connor
eileen@joshforboston.com
617-806-6999