REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF LABOR In this, the Annual Report of the U.S. Department of Labor for fiscal 1960appearing as it does at a time when the administration of that Department is changing hands-it seems advisable to preface the detailed reports that follow with a wider reaching statement of goals, both achieved and unachieved, that have occupied the Department in recent years, particularly as they relate to the organization and administration of the Department itself and to the legislative programs that derive from the mandate instructing us to "foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States." The Department It is elemental that the charge placed upon this agency by Congress and the goals set forth in the mandate cannot be realized unless the instrument for their attainment, the Department itself as an organization, is effective and respected. That status results only from quickly responsive programs, well administered. The programs of the Department have been subjected to constant and close scrutiny in recent years-by both the officials and special consultants. Based upon these findings, and with the aim of securing the most profitable recognition and stature from other Departments and agencies, from both labor and management, and from the general public, a lengthy series of substantial changes have been made in the administrative structure and techniques of the Department, some of which are: • Assistant Secretaries of Labor were given line responsibility over bureaus to provide more immediate executive direction. • The Departmental Policy Committee was created to coordinate policy and program development. • The Departmental Operations Committee, composed of the chief officers, was created to marshal and coordinate all departmental resources for the execution of policy and program. The positions of Deputy Under Secretary and four Deputy Assistant Secretaries were created in the career civil service to assist officials appointed by the President and to insure continuity of Department operations. • The Office of Legislative Liaison was created to coordinate and direct the legislative activities of the bureaus and offices. • The Office of Research and Development was created to centralize such activities and provide clear direction. • The Program Planning and Review Committee was created and placed under the direction of the Deputy Under Secretary to achieve maximum economy and efficiency in departmental policy and program operation. • The executive inventory and development program was created for the orderly development of executive talent keyed to the future needs of the Department. In addition to these administrative changes—and many others unlisted for the sake of space-there have been major changes in the structure of the Department: • A new major bureau, the Bureau of Labor-Management Reports, with 22 field offices was established after the enactment of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959. The many problems encountered incident to the establishment of this bureau and the working out of its functions presented to the employees of the Department a severe test. which they met with success and credit to themselves. • A new Division of Welfare and Pension Reports in the Bureau of Labor Standards was created to administer the Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act. • Establishment of the Bureau of International Labor Affairs and the reorganization of the Department's international activities gave to the Department enlarged influence in developing American foreign labor policy. • Expansion of the Bureau of Apprenticeship to Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, with new emphasis on training by industry, both through apprenticeship and in skilled occupations not considered apprenticeable, was made in response to the developing manpower challenge of the 1960's. The administration of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act was decentralized to four field offices to expedite investigation, adjudication, and processing of claims; the decentralization is now two-thirds completed. These changes are indicative of the creative administration by Department employees of their continuing responsibilities. They represent a segment of the large total of accomplishments that may be classified as "Achieved Goals." There are, of course, a number of objectives that at the time of this report remain unattained. Many of these are only fully functional phases of programs now in development, such as resolving the staffing and organizational problems that still remain from the establishment of the Bureau of Labor-Management Reports and completing the decentralization of the administration of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act. On the administrative level, the program planning activities of the Program Planning and Review Committee and the activities of the Office of Research and Development need greater clarification and coordination. Higher and more intensive development of the newly stressed training activities of the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, with a larger program to convince the Congress, the trade union movement, and employers of the value of these services, seems mandated by the work force projections of the 1960's. Eventual transfer of the Division of Welfare and Pension Reports from LSB to BLMR would also seem logical. Attention to a fuller integration of the field personnel of the Department in departmental programs, with a better grouping and greater consistency in regional boundaries, would also appear to be a desirable administrative objective. Generally, the full stature and prestige that this Department is capable of achieving—and ought to achieve—is still before it. Because of the dedicated efforts of its personnel over the past 7 years, that goal is closer today than was thought possible. Legislative Goals In seeking from the Congress legislation to "foster, promote and develop the welfare of American wage earners," the Department has recorded many of its most significant achievements-nor is it surprising in a rapidly changing economy and rapidly evolving society that a large share of the unachieved goals is also to be found in this area. The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 contains a number of provisions that carry into law legislative recommendations made by the Department in the course of recent years. Among the more important are those that: • Provide for labor-management reporting and disclosure and furnish pro- • Repair the Federal-State jurisdictional problem (no man's land) under • Close loopholes in the secondary boycott provisions of the NLRA. • Make certain types of organizational and recognitional picketing ("blackmail picketing”) unfair labor practices. ● Remove the bar against economic strikers voting in union representation elections. • Allow certification by the NLRB, under certain circumstances, of unions in the building and construction industry as exclusive bargaining representatives without a prior election. Many other provisions of the law contained departmental recommendations, first announced in December 1957 and presented to subsequent Congresses. In addition, the Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act made a start toward meeting departmental recommendations to provide protection for the funds, totaling close to $50 billion, now gathered into plan treasuries. This law, however, is extremely defective. In other legislative areas, departmental recommendations have been accepted and become law, such as those that: • Increase the minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act and extend the protection to additional workers (P.L. 381, 84th Congress, extending the minimum wage to $1 after an administration recommendation of 90 cents an hour). • Include labor standards provisions for Government financed work in additional statutes, accomplished by several laws including those governing the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 and the Federal Civil Defense Act. • Provide temporary additional benefits during the 1958-59 period of re- • Provide a permanent unemployment insurance program for ex-servicemen. • Improve the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act • Provide the Secretary of Labor with authority to establish and enforce safety standards respecting employment under the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and to provide for the establishment of safety training programs for employers and employees covered by that act. In discussing significant legislative achievements, some mention should be made of the progress-large by comparison with the past if still inadequate in many respects with regard to the needs of the future-made by the States in improving the welfare of their wage earners, even though the Department's role is one of encouragement and assistance only. It is true, however, that the States act more effectively, with greater spirit and vision, when the national administration in Washington makes it a matter of policy to leave in the hands of the States a burden of the responsibility for improving wages, hours, and working conditions. Gratifying results have been achieved in this area: Since 1953, all States have improved their unemployment insurance laws. With changes enacted in the 1960 legislative sessions, 48 States, with 93.3 percent of the covered workers, will have maximum basic weekly benefits of $30 or more; 13 of these, with 16.6 percent of the covered workers, have a basic maximum of $35 to $40; and 17 States, with 48.9 percent of the covered workers, have a basic maximum of $40 or over. Substantial progress has been made in minimum wage legislation. Thirty-five jurisdictions now have minimum wage laws. Since January 1953, five States have enacted such laws for the first time. In six more jurisdictions, which already had such legislation, new laws were adopted. Ten jurisdictions established statutory minimum rates, and six additional States raised the statutory minimum. Because of legislative action from 1953 to date, workmen's compensation weekly benefits of $40 or more are now being paid in 31 jurisdictions, with 16 of these providing benefits of $50 or more. The number of jurisdictions paying a maximum of less than $30 has been reduced to one. The safety of workers has been improved. Since 1953, there has been an 11 percent reduction in the all-manufacturing injury rate. The injury |