rate for manufacturing in America in 1959 stood at about 12 accidents Since 1953, safety programs for State employees have been inaugurated In conclusion, there has been great and significant progress in good labor legislation by State legislatures since 1953. Law Enforcement During the years of the Eisenhower administration, the Department of Labor has placed an emphasis on obtaining voluntary compliance with existing labor laws wherever possible. Nevertheless, it consistently applied to its own enforcement responsibilities a sense of duty and dedication born of a need not only to prevent the exploitation of American workers, but to protect the Nation's fair employers from unscrupulous competition as well. As a product of this philosophy, the Department can present a record which, over the past 8 years, demonstrates achievements such as the following: • Proceedings under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act have increased steadily, from 992 in fiscal 1953 to 1,417 in fiscal 1960. The latter figure represents the largest total in the history of these acts. • As a result of the Department's compliance investigations, 826,506 employees received-during the 8 fiscal years since 1953—a total of $73,931,094 in back wages. • Under provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the wage standards of workers in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have been raised and the economic development of these areas furthered. • Under provisions of Davis-Bacon and related acts, 335 firms and individuals have been placed on the ineligible list as a result of violations, a record in striking contrast to only 4 such actions in the previous 17-year history of these acts. During the years of the Eisenhower administra tion, 5,971 Davis-Bacon cases were initiated, compared with only 476 from 1948 through 1952. Back wages totaling $2,177,000 were won for 20,585 workers. Well over 226,000 wage determinations were made, as compared with 95,733 during the previous 8 fiscal years. The 1960 total of 40,740 determinations represented a new record high. Late in 1959, the Department undertook direction and enforcement of an important new labor law, the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, a measure designed to protect the rights of individual union members and prevent racketeering and misuse of power in the labor-management relations field. Concurrent with the staffing of a new Bureau to administer the law, the Department handled an estimated 100,000 required reports, and opened some 3,000 complaint cases. New Programs During the years of the Eisenhower administration, the Department of Labor has undertaken a series of imaginative new programs aimed at improving the welfare of specific worker groups and insuring the best possible use of the Nation's work force. Three of the most important of these concern the general manpower field, farm labor, and the older worker. In addition, the Department has laid a new and stronger emphasis on cooperation between labor and management in industrial relations. Continuing its broad, yet detailed examination of the size and nature of the American labor force, the Department has produced a major study outlining the Nation's manpower requirements for the 1960's. The study revealed an expected growth in employment opportunities which would produce some 87 million jobs by 1970, but pointed up the danger of a continuing lag in the Nation's number of skilled workers. The study concluded that the best possible use of America's Negro, handicapped, older, and women workers would be required. More specific studies of various manpower problems have been initiated by the Department, and are continuing. One is a series of national studies of scientific and engineering manpower. Another is the development of a comprehensive survey of training in all industries, a program already tested in New Jersey and presently being applied on a national basis. Some 65 community surveys of local skill resources and requirements have now been made in 39 States, and 45 more are in progress. The Department has initiated a vigorous program of promoting job oppor tunities for older workers, a worker group which has experienced seriously adverse effects from discriminatory hiring practices. Using facts developed through extensive research, educational programs have been designed and implemented to dispel unfounded beliefs about older workers as employees. Specialized employment counseling and job placement services have been provided through the State employment agencies, affiliated with the U.S. Employment Service. Fiscal year 1960 witnessed a record number of 1.2 million placements of workers 45 years of age and over. Farm Labor In the field of farm labor, the Department of Labor has focused attention on a segment of the American labor force whose economic welfare has long been badly neglected. New regulations restricted use of the U.S. Employment Service for recruiting farm laborers to those employers who offered not less than the prevailing wage in their area, who offered housing not injurious to the health and safety of the farm worker families, and who offered other recruiting incentives similar to incentives offered by those employers successful at recruiting farm workers. Employment opportunities for migrant workers have been stepped up through adoption of the annual worker plan, a program which also provides growers with a more readily available labor supply. Legislation has been introduced by the Department which would establish Federal regulation of migrant worker crew leaders. An extensive study has been completed which has determined the feasibility of applying the minimum wage concept to farm labor. The Department also administers Public Law 78, the Mexican farm labor program, under which about 500,000 Mexican nationals (braceros) are imported into the United States each year to do seasonal farm work. Concern for the impact of this program on the employment opportunities, wages, and working conditions of domestic farm workers has led the Department to improve its certification process and its methods of making prevailing wage surveys. Partly as a result of these improvements, 120,000 fewer Mexican nationals were imported during 1960. Moreover, while in the United States, they were afforded greater protection through improved standards on housing, feeding, and transportation, together with a stronger compliance program. Although these improvements have helped both domestic and foreign farm laborers, much remains to be done. The Department's work in this area would be greatly facilitated if Congress would adopt several recommendations contained in a 1959 report by four consultants who, at my request, made an intensive study of Public Law 78. Labor-Management Relations The Labor Department has sought a new path to industrial peace through the recognition and acceptance of responsibility on the part of both labor and management. This has led to a continuing emphasis on the mutuality of interest between the two parties and a constant stress of the public's stake in the decisions, goals, and policies in the private sector of the economy. This approach has stabilized industrial relations and bolstered public confidence in the ability of labor and management to resolve their own differences peacefully in the best traditions of cooperation and mutual understanding. Time lost because of strikes during the past 8 years was only half that of the previous 7. The American people indeed have cause to look to the future with assurances that labor-management relations, that critical proving ground of democracy in our dynamic industrial world, can be a steadying element in our society. |