The Department of Labor was organized for the benefit of all the
workers of the United States, whether union or non-union. And it
attempts to function in such a way as to be of general help and value.
One of its important functions is performed by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, the duty of which, as its name indicates, is to gather and
publish information concerning labor, especially information regarding
hours and earnings of laboring men and women, the relations of capital
and labor, and the material and social welfare of labor.
The Bureau publishes a monthly review and various bulletins. These
contain, in addition to news of interest to labor, statistics on
immigration, unemployment, cost of living, etc.
The Department also maintains an Employment Service, which deals with
the labor requirements of the country in agriculture, in the factories,
in the mines and in the workshops.
This Service functions through headquarters and sub-branches
established in different parts of the country.
Considering the cruel wrongs and impositions of many of the old-time
labor agencies, it can be seen that a government agency of this sort
may be a boon to the working man looking for a job. It is the policy
of the bureau in such cases to get the employer and the employee into
direct personal touch with the Service itself.
The work of the Department of Labor regarding which the public hears
the most is its mediation service. This Service is authorized in the
Act creating the Department of Labor. The Secretary of Labor acts in
labor disputes, not as a judge, but as a mediator. The policy of the
Department, therefore, is one of conciliation and its representatives
attempt to act with fairness to employers, employees and the public,
alike.
Many threatened strikes are prevented annually and hundreds of disputes
settled.
Another government agency operated for the welfare of the laboring
man is The Bureau of Mines. Its primary concern is to see that high
standards of safety and health are maintained in the mining industry
of the country. It investigates the causes of accidents, makes
recommendations, and cooperates with mine owners and miners in working
out plans for the improvement of conditions in any given mine.
The Bureau maintains rescue cars in every mining district of the
country. They are equipped with experts in rescue work and with first
aid appliances of every sort. When not actually required in connection
with some disaster, the cars are sent from place to place, and the
members of the crew act as teachers of first aid and rescue work in the
mining centers. With each of the cars there is a mining engineer who
gives talks and personal advice regarding sanitation and the general
problem of the improvement of living conditions.
Cooperating with the Bureau of Mines in many mining communities will be
found the Public Health Service. It has been called upon in particular,
to fight against miners’ consumption.
Another Bureau maintained in part for the benefit of labor is the
Bureau of Navigation of the Department of Commerce, which supervises
the labor contracts of seamen on merchant vessels engaged in foreign
trade. In this way seamen are protected against fraud and assured that
their pay will be forthcoming in accordance with their contracts, which
are made under the supervision of the Bureau.
In these various ways the government works to promote and protect the
welfare of the laboring men and women of the country, though, of course
we have here only glimpsed its activities in outline.