Secretary Joanne F. Goldstein welcomes you to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD) website.
EOLWD is committed to working on behalf of job seekers, apprentices, union members, claimants, employers, attorneys and researchers.
EOLWD provides a wide variety of programs and services to serve constituents across the Commonwealth. The cornerstone of our services are our network of 34 One-Stop Career Centers and the field offices across the Commonwealth. Additionally, our online services and call centers provide convenient ways for customers to access our services.
This web portal is designed to make it easier for you to find the information you need from us and from the agencies we oversee. Please explore our website to learn about our programs and services. You will find information on workplace safety, workers’compensation, workforce training grants, and economic data that offers detailed information about the state’s labor markets, unemployment figures, and job vacancy reports.
Please feel free to send us your thoughts and comments as to how we can better meet your needs. You can interact with us via our Jobs Blog or send us an email.
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Jobs Blog http://jobs.blog.state.ma.us
JobQuest www.mass.gov/jobquest
Secretary Joanne F. Goldstein Biography
Secretary Joanne F. Goldstein oversees the Commonwealth’s five labor and workforce regulatory agencies: the Departments of Unemployment Assistance, Career Services, Labor Standards, Industrial Accidents, and Labor Relations. She also manages the Joint Task Force on the Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification, working with the officials in the Patrick-Murray Administration and across state government to combat workplace fraud and protect exploited workers.
Secretary Goldstein is a member of Governor Deval Patrick’s Cabinet, and is also one of the five members of his “development cabinet,” which works across agency and department lines to spur economic growth and job creation.
Governor Patrick appointed Secretary Goldstein in January of 2010, bringing to her position an impressive record of achievement and leadership at the top levels of the legal profession, organized labor, and government. She was reappointed to serve the Governor during his second term in January of 2011.
A Massachusetts native, Secretary Goldstein has spent her entire professional career fighting for the interests of working men and women across the Commonwealth and the nation. She has been a tireless voice, as a labor attorney and public servant, in promoting the rights of workers to good jobs, with living wages, at safe workplaces. Her commitment to workers is fueled by her lifelong belief in dignity and respect at the workplace. She believes that the pursuit of economic and social justice are the cornerstones of who we are as a community and a Commonwealth.
Secretary Goldstein established her own successful employment and labor law practice, where she represented a wide range of unions, specializing in representing unions in the utilities industry. With that experience and a record of accomplishment in her field, she was named, in 1996, as General Counsel for the Utility Workers Union of America AFL-CIO (UWUA), where she oversaw all union legal matters and spearheaded national union policy on issues including workforce development, health care, safety issues, and training.
In 2007, she was appointed by Attorney General Martha Coakley as Chief of the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division, where she was responsible for enforcement of the wage and hour laws of the Commonwealth. At the Attorney General’s Office, Secretary Goldstein was also a lead member of the Governor’s Joint Task Force on the Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification.
As Secretary, she continues the Administration’s efforts to support workforce training and education, provide services and resources to the unemployed, oversee the departments that adjudicate labor disputes within the Commonwealth and ensure workforce safety across the state. In addition, Secretary Goldstein is responsible for the department that oversees the Workers' Compensation system in Massachusetts.
Civic Engagement
Secretary Goldstein has served on numerous professional organizations’ advisory boards.
•AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee
•American Arbitration Association Advisory Committee
•Jewish Labor Committee
•Women’s Bar Association
Awards & Honors
•Women’s Bar Association's 2009 Women of Justice Award
•Recipient of the Cushing-Gavin Award from the Archdiocese of Boston’s Labor Guild
•AFL-CIO Achievement Award
•“Salt of the Earth” award from Community Labor United Named
•Distinguished Alumnae Award from Hofstra Law School
Personal Highlights
•Secretary Goldstein began her legal career with Angoff, Goldman, Manning, Pyle and Wagner in Boston, becoming the first woman to practice union side labor law in Massachusetts.
•She is an active member of Temple Emanuel in Newton, MA, where she resides with her husband Edward.
•The Goldsteins have three adult children – Michael (and his wife Lindsey) Janna and Jeffrey and two granddaughters, Kaela and Zoe.
Education
•Graduate of Doherty Memorial High School in Worcester, MA
•University of Michigan, B.A.
•Law School, Hofstra University, New York, J.D. - Law Review Member -