    [United States Department of Labor Sixty-Third Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1975]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    United States
    Department of Labor
    Sixty-Third
    Annual Report
    Fiscal Year 1975

    United States
    Department of Labor
    Sixty-Third
    Annual Report
    Fiscal Year 1975
    John T. Dunlop, Secretary
    3 1336 05750 3568
    United States
    Department of
    Labor
    Secretary of Labor
    Executive Assistant and Counselor
    to the Secretary
    Special Assistant to the Secretary
    Public Affairs Director
    Director, Office of Information,
    Publications, and Reports
    Under Secretary
    Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary
    Chairman, Employees’ Compensation
    Appeals Board
    Chairman, Benefits Review Board
    Chief Administrative Law Judge
    Deputy Under Secretary for
    Legislative Affairs
    Deputy Under Secretary for
    International Affairs
    Associate Deputy Under Secretary for
    International Affairs
    Associate Deputy Under Secretary for
    Trade and Adjustment Policy
    Solicitor
    Deputy Solicitor
    Assistant Secretary for Policy,
    Evaluation and Research
    Deputy Assistant Secretary
    Assistant Secretary for Administration
    and Management
    Deputy Assistant Secretary
    Librarian
    Assistant Secretary for Employment
    Standards
    Deputy Assistant Secretary and
    Administrator, Employment
    Standards Administration
    John T. Dunlop1
    John C. Read2
    Donald R. Crowell
    Richard H. Lukstat3
    John W. Leslie
    Vacant4
    Vacant
    Floyd G. Ansley
    Ruth V. Washington
    H. Stephen Gordon
    James H. Hogue5
    Joel Segall
    Edward B. Persons
    Herbert N. Blackman
    William J. Kilberg
    Alfred G. Albert
    Abraham Weiss
    Ralph Mueller6
    Fred G. Clark
    Eckehard Muessig7
    Lillian A. Hamrick
    Bernard E. DeLury
    Robert C. Chase8
    'Appointed 3/18/75 to replace Peter J. Brennan
    ’Appointed 3/27/75 to replace Thomas M. Phelan
    ’Appointed 5/11/75
    4Richard F. Schubert resigned 3/21/75
    ‘Appointed 5/11/75
    ‘Appointed 6/22/75
    ’Appointed 8/18/74 to replace Tom Kouzes
    8Appointed 5/25/75 to replace George S. Roukis
    Deputy Assistant Secretary and
    Director, Office of Federal
    Contract Compliance
    Deputy Assistant Secretary and
    Director, Women’s Bureau
    Deputy Assistant Secretary and
    Wage-Hour Administrator
    Commissioner of Labor Statistics
    Deputy Commissioner for Statistical
    Operations and Processing
    Deputy Commissioner for Data Analysis
    Assistant Secretary for Occupational
    Safety and Health
    Deputy Assistant Secretary and
    Administrator, Occupational
    Safety and Health Administration
    Assistant Secretary for Manpower
    Deputy Assistant Secretary and
    Administrator, Manpower Administration
    Associate Manpower Administrator,
    Office of Policy, Evaluation and
    Research
    Associate Manpower Administrator,
    Office of Manpower Development
    Programs
    Administrator, Bureau of Apprenticeship
    and Training
    Associate Manpower Administrator, U.S.
    Employment Service
    Associate Manpower Administrator,
    Unemployment Insurance Service
    Associate Manpower Administrator, Field
    Direction and Management
    Associate Manpower Administrator, Office
    of Financial and Management Information
    Systems
    Philip J. Davis
    Carmen R. Maymi
    Vacant
    Julius Shiskin
    Thomas W. Gavett
    Janet L. Norwood
    John H. Stender
    Howard J. Schulte
    William H. Kolberg
    Ben Burdetsky
    William B. Hewitt
    Pierce A. Quinlan
    Hugh C. Murphy
    William B. Lewis
    Lawrence E. Weatherford’
    Floyd E. Edwards
    Vacant
    ’Appointed 6/8/75
    Assistant Secretary for
    Labor-Management Relations and
    Administrator, Labor-Management
    Services Administration
    Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy
    Administrator
    Assistant Administrator for
    Field Operations
    Administrator for Pension and Welfare
    Benefits
    Director, Office of Employee
    Benefits Security
    Deputy Director, Office of
    Employee Benefits Security
    Director, Office of Labor-Management
    and Welfare-Pension Reports
    Director, Office of Veterans’
    Reemployment Rights
    Director, Office of Labor-Management
    Relations Services
    Director, Office of Labor-Management
    Policy Development
    Director, Office of Federal
    Labor-Management Relations
    Director, Office of Administration and
    Management
    Regional Directors
    Atlanta
    Boston
    Chicago
    Dallas
    Denver
    Kansas City
    New York
    Philadelphia
    San Francisco
    Seattle
    Paul J. Fasser, Jr.
    Robert B. Lagather
    Jack A. Warshaw
    James D. Hutchinson10
    J. Vernon Ballard11
    Travis Knight12
    Vacant
    Vacant
    Beatrice M. Burgoon
    August F. Cantfil13
    Louis S. Wallerstein
    Albert L. Moore, Jr.
    Robert M. Burns
    Gerald P. Reidy
    Alexander P. White
    Paul W. Story
    Samuel R. Martinez
    Richard C. McAvinew
    Stephen D. Blum
    J. B. Archer
    George W. Smith
    James T. Hughes
    '“Appointed 6/25/75
    "Appointed 6/8/75
    12Appointed 6/8/75
    13Appointed 9/1/74
    For sale by the Superintendent of Documents,
    U.S. Government Printing Office,
    Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $1.80
    Stock Number 029-000-00250-9.
    United States
    Department of
    Labor
    Annual
    Report
    1975
    Contents
    1—-.......................................................Report of the Secretary of Labor
    9.............................................................. -.........-.... Department reports
    9........ -........................................................ -Manpower Administration
    21—.................................Labor-Management Services Administration
    29 -....................................... Employment Standards Administration
    37.................................Occupational Safety and Health Administration
    43......................-.................................. Policy, Evaluation and Research
    45........................................................... ....... Bureau of Labor Statistics
    57............................................................. Office of the Solicitor
    67...................... Office of the Assistant Secretary
    for Administration and Management
    71................ International Labor
    73......... Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board
    75............ .Benefits Review Board
    77............................................................................ Information activities
    79....................... -........ -.................................................Appendix tables

    Report of the
    Secretary of Labor
    As the Department of Labor
    closes Fiscal Year 1975, it can
    look back on much progress
    toward protecting and improving
    the welfare of American workers.
    Although recession caused
    growing numbers of men and
    women to suffer the financial
    shock of unemployment,
    emergency legislation was
    passed extending and expanding
    their right to collect unemployment
    insurance benefits and
    creating thousands of new public
    service jobs. In late spring, the
    recession reached its turning
    point and by mid-year, the
    recovery was in process. During
    these periods, the legislation
    continued to serve the best
    interests of the American worker.
    Some 35 million Americans
    participating in private pension
    and welfare plans gained new
    financial protections with the
    signing of the landmark
    Employee Retirement Income
    Security Act.
    Millions of the nation’s lowest
    paid workers began benefitting
    from amendments to the Fair
    Labor Standards Act through
    gradual increases in the federal
    minimum wage and new
    coverage.
    Disabled and Vietnam-era
    veterans, as well as mentally
    and physically handicapped
    Americans, gained new legal
    rights to equal employment
    opportunity. Workers adversely
    affected by increased imports
    began to receive the benefits of
    a liberalized trade adjustment
    assistance program authorized
    by the new Trade Act. The first
    benefits under this program were
    determined by the Department
    on May 15, 1975.
    Countless workers in all types
    of occupations and industries
    benefitted from strengthened
    enforcement, education and
    training efforts under the
    Occupational Safety and Health
    Act. And older workers, minority
    group members and women
    continued to increase their status
    and opportunities in the
    workforce with the help of
    apprenticeship training and
    outreach programs, affirmative
    action hiring plans in government
    contract firms and the enforcement
    of laws protecting them
    from discrimination based on
    race, color, sex, age, religion
    and national origin.
    Despite these many signs of
    progress affecting workers
    during the year, much work
    remains to be done. Serving the
    best interests of working men
    and women, and those who seek
    work, is a continuing process.
    Many problems still must be
    solved to achieve long-range,
    permanent improvements on
    behalf of America’s wageearners.
    Uppermost on the list of
    unfinished business for 1976 is
    the need to achieve full recovery
    from economic recession. On
    the occasion of my swearing-in,
    on March 18, 1975, I dedicated
    myself to the very first priority in
    this Nation—to get the economy
    moving and to restore people to
    work and improve business
    conditions so that enterprises
    1
    will have the incentive to create
    new jobs. Using policies and
    programs aimed at increasing
    consumer buying power, stepping
    up demand for goods and
    services and promoting industrial
    productivity and expansion, we
    must continue to work toward
    hastening the process of
    restoring the jobs and income
    lost by millions of American
    workers during recession.
    Important, too, is the need to
    insure long-term stability in our
    nation’s economy, avoid renewed
    inflationary spirals and allow
    for continued economic growth
    and expansion. With a growing
    labor force each year and
    the increasing workforce
    participation of women and other
    groups, a healthy and growing
    economy will be essential in
    meeting our projected need for
    at least 2 million new jobs
    annually until 1980, and an
    estimated 1.5 million additional
    jobs annually between 1980
    and 1985.
    Faced with the challenge of
    creating new jobs for America’s
    present and future workers, we
    must not lose sight of the
    continuing need to assure that all
    jobs provide men and women
    with equal opportunity for stable
    employment, decent pay and
    fringe benefits and safe and
    healthful working conditions.
    Government is already
    equipped with strong laws and
    regulations protecting workers’
    rights to equal employment
    opportunity. The task of
    eliminating job discrimination
    and providing true equality for
    minority group members and
    women has yet to be achieved,
    however, partly because these
    laws and regulations create
    undue administrative burdens
    and confusion for government
    and employers alike. During
    1976, a concerted effort by all
    federal agencies involved in
    administering civil rights
    legislation will be required to
    eliminate overlapping and
    confusing regulations; reduce
    unnecessary paperwork, time
    and money currently required of
    employers in achieving
    compliance; and generally
    streamline the federal equal
    opportunity enforcement effort.
    Vigorous enforcement of laws
    protecting workers’ wages, hours
    and working conditions also
    continues to be a priority. Labor
    Department investigations
    annually reveal millions of
    dollars owed to workers illegally
    paid below federal minimum
    wage and overtime rates. Migrant
    farm workers and young children
    continue to be victimized by
    unsafe, unhealthful working
    conditions and other forms of
    exploitation.
    More research and other
    activity leading to development
    of new job safety and health
    standards is a must in eliminating
    the alarming number of hazards
    to which workers are exposed
    in industry. Special attention
    must be focused on identifying
    and eliminating the health
    hazards caused by excessive
    exposure to certain industrial
    chemicals, materials and noise.
    All due haste and care is
    needed to complete the groundwork
    for effectively administering
    2
    the Employee Retirement
    Income Security Act of 1974.
    Regulations, administrative
    machinery and a system of
    coordinating the vast and
    complex responsibilities of the
    Labor Department and other
    agencies administering this law
    must be put in place, for this
    legislation not only influences the
    financial futures of millions of
    American workers, but also has
    a significant monetary impact on
    employers; unions; banks;
    insurance companies; stock,
    bond and capital markets; and
    corporate and government
    financing.
    In yet another move to protect
    the well-being of workers and
    the health of our nation’s
    economy, we must improve and
    update the federal-state
    unemployment insurance system.
    Our recent experience with high
    levels of unemployment over the
    past year provides an occasion
    to learn how that system might
    be best improved. Present
    weaknesses in the system leave
    some 12 million American
    workers without any unemployment
    insurance protection, limit
    more than 40 percent of all
    covered workers to a pre-tax
    weekly benefit amount of less
    than one-half their average
    weekly wage, and do not provide
    for adequate financing of the
    system at either the federal or
    the state levels. Corrections in
    these and other deficiencies
    are clearly needed to strengthen
    the unemployment insurance
    system and assure that it fulfills
    its original purpose—to protect
    workers and business from the
    financial drain of temporary,
    involuntary unemployment.
    Government, by law, has a
    distinct regulatory role in
    improving the quality of jobs and
    work and maintaining a healthy
    economy. Yet in many ways
    government can serve only as a
    catalyst and advisor to the private
    sector, for that is where the
    initiative for change and
    improvement must originate.
    Much of this change and
    improvement will depend on the
    voluntary efforts of labor and
    management to strengthen our
    nation’s free collective
    bargaining system and stabilize
    industrial relations, for many
    of the protections, benefits and
    privileges enjoyed by American
    workers today have been won
    through the agreement of both
    parties at the nation’s bargaining
    tables.
    In construction—an industry
    which has far-reaching impact
    on the economy—national union
    and contractor representatives
    have been responsible for a
    vastly improved industrial
    relations climate over the past
    several years. Work stoppages
    declined, contract negotiations
    in many localities tended to cover
    wider geographical areas and
    more crafts, and more concern
    was demonstrated for easing
    work rules and other restrictions
    that previously hampered
    productivity and raised costs.
    The expiration of construction
    industry wage and price controls
    on May 1, 1974, however, has
    recently brought a return in
    many localities to widespread
    work stoppages; whipsawing
    3
    negotiations; disregard for
    productivity; and excessive,
    economically damaging wage
    increases. While national labor
    and management representatives
    have strived to deal with these
    local problems, they continue to
    lack authority needed to
    effectively resolve them.
    To provide a national forum
    for peacefully resolving these
    sensitive issues and otherwise
    facilitating collective bargaining
    in the industry, the Collective
    Bargaining Committee in
    Construction was established by
    Executive Order 11849 by the
    President in April, 1975. The
    Committee is chaired by the
    Secretary of Labor and has as
    an ex-officio member the Director
    of the Federal Mediation and
    Conciliation Service.
    Members, representing both
    labor and management, are
    charged with a number of duties
    aimed at improving labormanagement
    relations nationally
    and locally, promoting more
    effective collective bargaining
    procedures, and generally
    helping to increase construction
    productivity.
    The committee’s specific goals
    include providing a data bank
    of wage and benefit information;
    encouraging and, if necessary,
    assisting in the peaceful
    resolution of disputes; broadening
    the scope of agreements
    through coordinated local and
    area bargaining; and identifying
    means for improving the training,
    availability and utilization of
    construction manpower.
    The work of this committee,
    if accompanied by the sincere
    efforts of construction labor
    and management to improve
    collective procedures and some
    form of federal legislation
    offering better protections to
    both parties in disputes, should
    do much to stabilize and enhance
    relations in an industry vital
    to our national economic
    welfare.
    Another area in which the
    voluntary initiative of labor and
    industry will play a key role in
    the years ahead involves meeting
    the growing demand of workers
    for better jobs. This initiative
    will also be needed if our nation
    is to respond favorably to other
    social, demographic and
    economic changes.
    For example, as workers
    continue to become better
    educated, their level of skills
    and personal expectations
    concerning their jobs will also
    rise. This makes the search for
    ways to create better jobs a
    national priority.
    Whether workers are employed
    in technical, professional, service
    or blue collar occupations,
    every attempt should be made
    to assure that their jobs offer
    decent pay and benefits,
    challenging and rewarding job
    content, opportunities for
    advancement and healthy and
    safe working conditions.
    “Good” jobs which conform
    to these standards already
    exist in all sectors of the
    economy, but it is significant to
    note that desirable jobs are most
    prevalent in industries investing
    the highest amounts of capital
    per worker on expanding and
    improving their facilities.
    4
    These capital investments are
    not only associated with higher
    hourly earnings, but also with
    creation of new jobs and new
    opportunities for upward
    mobility. In industries where
    capital investment is accompanied
    by use of new technology,
    working conditions also tend to
    be better than average.
    Thus, in meeting the challenge
    of improving job quality, our
    objective must be to encourage
    technological development and
    capital formation. Better
    technology and more research
    into technology would not only
    spur new investment, but would
    also increase productivity; and
    the benefits of an increase in
    output and income resulting
    from new capital formation
    would help provide a higher
    standard of living and better
    income for all Americans,
    regardless of whether or where
    they are employed.
    As workers grow more
    educated and increasingly seek
    out higher quality jobs, other
    changes will occur in our labor
    force which have many
    implications for the private
    sector, as well as government.
    Already, we have seen an
    increase in the average life
    span contribute to a growing
    interest in Social Security and
    other retirement benefits. Future
    attention must also be focused
    on the problem of helping older
    citizens move as easily and
    productively as possible from
    work to retirement, for the
    percentage of our population
    aged 65 and older is expected
    to rise from 9.8 percent in 1970
    to 10.7 percent in 1980 and 11.3
    percent in 1990. In addition, the
    labor force participation of
    workers aged 60 and older will
    continue its present decline.
    The projected decline in the
    proportion of our population
    aged 16-24 may herald a shift
    in the size or scope of education
    and training programs. Meanwhile,
    the relatively large
    increase expected in men and
    women aged 25-44—from 24
    percent of our population in
    1970 to 27 percent in 1980—
    promises to supply our labor
    force with a degree of experience,
    maturity and energy that will
    greatly enhance our potential
    for industrial productivity.
    This development again spells
    out the need to begin creating
    a more adequate supply of good
    jobs, so that workers in this
    age group will be able to realize
    their full potential in our
    economy.
    Ongoing shifts in the structure
    of the job market will result in
    other changes for which
    government and the private
    sector should be prepared.
    While employment in the
    public, retail, finance and service
    sectors of our economy is
    expected to continue its present
    expansion, employment in the
    goods-producing sectors—
    manufacturing, transportation,
    public utilities, mining and
    construction—is projected to
    continue its present relative
    decline.
    These changes will have a
    major impact on our nation’s
    manpower training needs. One of
    our most valuable tools in
    5
    meeting these needs will be the
    Comprehensive Employment and
    Training Act (CETA) of 1973,
    for this law gives local elected
    officials and manpower experts
    the flexibility to plan, design
    and manage locally tailored
    manpower programs geared
    toward the unique and changing
    needs of workers and employers
    in their areas.
    In the years to come, the
    federal government must
    strengthen its role under CETA
    as a technical advisor to the state
    and local governments using
    manpower revenue sharing
    funds. It must take the lead in
    developing and disseminating
    improved local and area labor
    market information as an aid to
    manpower planners. It must also
    find ways to coordinate more
    effectively the broad range of
    federal programs having an
    impact on the labor market,
    including CETA, vocational
    rehabilitation, vocational
    education and social services.
    Above all, the federal
    government must exercise its
    influence to bring together key
    groups at the local levelincluding
    local government
    officials, employers, labor
    representatives, members of
    private organizations and
    educators—so new relationships
    and new lines of communication
    can be formed and all groups
    can take part meaningfully in
    planning effective manpower
    systems.
    A key requirement for fulfilling
    our present and future manpower
    needs involves providing young
    people with quality education
    relevant to jobs and careers.
    At present, many young people
    devote years to learning a skill
    or studying for college degrees,
    only to find that jobs in their
    chosen fields have grown scarce.
    Others acquire advanced
    training or education and then
    are told by employers that they
    are overqualified for most of the
    jobs available. Still others may
    successfully launch new careers,
    but find that their academic
    background bears little or no
    relation to the requirements of
    their jobs.
    President Ford spotlighted
    these problems in a commencement
    address at Ohio State
    University during August 1974.
    Noting that young people often
    face a difficult transition from
    school to the world of work, he
    called for a “new partnership” of
    labor, business and education
    to help fuse “the realities of
    work-a-day life with the teachings
    of academic institutions.”
    New links between education
    and work are no less important
    for adult workers. In this age of
    rapid technological advancement
    and constant economic and
    industrial change, many workers
    are faced with a compelling
    need to update their skills or
    acquire new ones. They also
    should have more opportunities
    to acquire training needed for
    upward mobility, to return to
    school to pursue personal
    interests or to prepare for
    alternative careers if they so
    desire.
    Some new bridges between
    academia and the business
    world can be built with already
    6
    existing materials—by integrating,
    revising or strengthening
    the job training functions already
    being performed by our
    nation’s private vocational
    schools, junior colleges, military
    personnel training programs and
    the apprenticeship system.
    Other bridges to close the
    present gap between education
    and work might involve entirely
    new undertakings, such as
    sending workers and employers
    into schools to inform students
    about more of the practical
    aspects of jobs, or allowing
    educators to spend time gaining
    firsthand experience and sharing
    theoretical knowledge in
    industrial settings.
    With government acting as a
    catalyst to get concerned people
    working together on this effort
    in their communities, we can
    help expand the scope and
    availability of useful, joboriented
    education; enhance the
    employability of American
    workers; provide industry with a
    better trained, more productive
    work force; and generally build
    systems of education and work
    that serve people and our
    economy better.
    The report will cover in more
    detail the matters upon which I
    have touched. It should be noted
    that the Department’s progess
    during Fiscal Year 1975 largely
    was a culmination of efforts
    under the leadership of
    Secretary Peter J. Brennan and
    Under Secretary Richard F.
    Schubert.
    I especially want to thank
    Secretary Brennan, whom I
    succeeded on March 18, 1975;
    Under Secretary Schubert; and
    Thomas M. Phelan, Executive
    Assistant to the Secretary, for
    their full cooperation in
    facilitating the education of the
    14th Secretary of Labor.
    As the Department of Labor
    moves into its 63rd year of
    operation, I look forward to
    continuing the efforts of my
    predecessors and building upon
    their contributions in the best
    interest of American workers and
    the country.
    7

    Department Reports
    Manpower
    Administration
    Despite adverse economic
    conditions, the Manpower
    Administration was able to meet
    many of its goals and objectives
    for the 1975 fiscal year. The public
    employment service made about
    4.4 million nonagricultural job
    placements during the year, and
    the first full year of operation
    under the Comprehensive
    Employment and Training Act
    (CETA) saw an emphasis on
    public service employment, as
    Congress moved to ease the
    unemployment situation.
    Special programs continued to
    serve those most in need of help
    —veterans, youths, the poor, and
    members of minority groups.
    Efforts to increase the level of
    9
    participation and quality of jobs
    for women in the work force were
    also stepped up as part of the
    observance of International
    Women’s Year.
    Other programs were directed
    toward solving the employment
    problems of special groups, such
    as the Work Incentive Program to
    move people off welfare rolls, the
    Indian manpower program, and
    programs for older workers,
    migrant and seasonal
    farmworkers, and ex-offenders.
    The Job Corps, a residential
    program for severely
    disadvantaged youths, observed
    its 10th anniversary.
    Unemployment insurance
    benefits more than doubled
    during the year, with about $12.3
    billion paid to approximately
    12.1 million persons. Emergency
    unemployment assistance
    legislation extended benefits to
    some groups previously not
    covered and increased the length
    of time that benefits could be
    paid.
    Community Manpower Programs
    The first full year of operation
    under the Comprehensive
    Employment and Training Act
    (CETA), which decentralized
    manpower activities, was
    completed during the fiscal year.
    Grants totaling more than $2.9
    billion under Titles I, II and VI
    were made to 403 units of State
    and local government to carry out
    the provisions of the Act.
    Eligible prime sponsors
    included 58 cities, 156 counties,
    134 consortia, 45 balance-of-State
    sponsors, and four rural
    10
    Concentrated Employment
    Programs, with the District of
    Columbia and U.S. territories and
    possessions making up the
    remaining six. Programs of
    comprehensive manpower
    services, including recruitment,
    orientation, counseling,
    placement, institutional and
    on-the-job training, and a variety
    of other supportive services, were
    established. The law also
    provided for creation of
    transitional public employment
    jobs.
    Passage of emergency job
    legislation midway through the
    fiscal year increased emphasis on
    the creation of public service
    employment (PSE). Enrollments
    in PSE jumped from 56,000 in
    December 1974 to more than
    250,000 by the end of March 1975.
    The estimated numbers of
    cumulative enrollments by the
    end of the fiscal year were: Title I
    (comprehensive manpower
    services), 1.1 million; Title II
    (public service employment),
    227,000; Title VI (public service
    employment), 157,000. When the
    247,000 enrolled in categorical
    programs through December
    1975 are added, the estimated
    total enrollment for Titles I, II and
    VI for the fiscal year came to over
    1.7 million.
    The Manpower Administration
    continued to provide technical
    assistance and guidance to insure
    that Federal funds were properly
    spent. It also published additional
    regulations in the Federal
    Register.
    Plans were underway at the end
    of the year to serve an additional
    number of eligible prime
    sponsors, which increased to 430.
    Employment Service
    Overall placements by the
    public employment service (ES)
    during the year were down only
    slightly from a year earlier. In a
    period when total unemployment
    was rising steadily to a rate of
    8.6 percent at the close of the
    year, total nonagricultural
    placements, at 4.4 million, were
    only about 11 percent below those
    of the previous year. The number
    of different individuals placed in
    jobs, 3.1 million, was down by
    only about 6 percent.
    Job placement records for
    some hard-to-place groups,
    however, showed gains. Other
    groups showed only slight
    declines. For example, 592,000
    veterans were placed in jobs
    through public employment
    offices during the fiscal year, a
    decrease of less than 3 percent.
    For Vietnam-era veterans (391,000
    placed), the decline was less than
    1 percent. Placements for
    handicapped veterans and poor
    people (891,000) increased
    slightly during the year.
    The number of placements
    reflected a continuing effort to
    modernize job matching and
    related services and to provide
    improved services to groups such
    as Vietnam-era veterans and
    others with specific employment
    barriers. Intensive efforts were
    also made to improve the quantity
    and quality of services to migrant
    and seasonal farmworkers. A
    special task force was established
    in the U.S. Employment Service
    (USES) to assure that appropriate
    changes were made in State ES
    agency operations and to act as
    liaison with a court-appointed
    special review committee.
    In recognition of International
    Women’s Year, USES continued a
    plan to bring full equity of services
    to women. Program guidelines
    were revised to reflect equal
    employment opportunity for
    women, and publicity materials
    were developed on the theme
    “Equality for Women in Work.”
    Developmental work on a
    sophisticated system of
    computerized job matching
    continued during the year. Six
    experimental sites completed the
    implementation of matching
    systems. Some elements of the
    system were revised and refined
    in preparation for further
    expansion during the 1976 fiscal
    year.
    The ES modernization program,
    involving relocation and
    rehabilitation of local ES offices
    to make employment services
    more readily available, was
    expanded to 88 sites in 17 States.
    The project, also designed to
    increase placements and improve
    responsiveness to employers,
    provides services to applicants
    and employers in their own
    neighborhoods by making use of
    improved technology such as Job
    Bank and the Job Information
    Service.
    The Employer Services
    Improvement Project (ESIP) was
    extended to 27 more cities in 16
    States, bringing the total to 80
    communities in 27 States and
    involving 1,800 employers. ESIP
    is a model for improving the
    quality and quantity of ES
    services to employers.
    Operational problems are
    11
    identified and solutions are found
    through close working
    relationships between employer
    committees and local ES offices.
    In six cities, efforts were
    completed to implement the
    recommendations of the National
    Employers’ Committee for
    Improvement of the State
    Employment Services. Evaluation
    of the projects disclosed an
    increase in placements and job
    orders in those sites where
    substantial improvements were
    made.
    Fiscal 1975 was the second
    year of the 3-year Employer
    Services and Job Development
    Public Communications Project,
    designed to develop high-quality
    multimedia public
    communications programs and to
    make the new Job Service symbol
    the trademark of the public
    employment service. The effort
    seeks to increase job listings,
    registration of highly skilled
    jobseekers, and placements.
    Twenty-nine States have
    participated in the project.
    Among its special activities, the
    employment service participated
    in the Indochina Refugee Program
    by stationing USES staff at the
    Interagency Task Force
    Headquarters and State ES staff
    at each of the refugee reception
    centers. Staff provided technical
    assistance to the voluntary
    agencies in assessing refugee
    occupational skills and providing
    labor market information. The
    services of State ES offices were
    made available to the refugees for
    job referrals and placement at
    theirfinal resettlement location.
    In cooperation with State
    employment services, USES
    continued to develop and refine
    aptitude and proficiency tests
    used in selecting and counseling
    job applicants. Emphasis was
    placed on developing aptitude
    tests that predict success in
    specific occupations and are
    equitable with respect to minority
    applicants. Efforts included a new
    Spanish edition of the General
    Aptitude Test Battery and an
    improved Nonreading Aptitude
    Test Battery for use with
    educationally deficient
    applicants. However, because of
    the shift of counseling resources
    into direct placement activities,
    the number of individuals
    counseled fell to 885,000, or 9.9
    percent, below fiscal 1974.
    Apprenticeship Information
    Centers, located in 30 local
    offices, placed nearly 9,000
    persons in apprenticeship,
    including more than 1,700
    minority group applicants. The
    drop from fiscal 1974 was due
    primarily to the decline in the
    construction industry.
    Services to Veterans
    State employment service
    agencies continued to place
    emphasis on obtaining jobs or
    training opportunities for
    veterans. The unemployment rate
    for Vietnam-era veterans
    increased from 5.1 percent at the
    end of fiscal 1974 to a high of 9.9
    percent in April and stood at 9.7
    percent at the end of fiscal 1975.
    In spite of difficulty in placing
    workers, the employment service
    placed 592,000 veterans (down
    12
    only 2.8 percent from fiscal 1974),
    391,000 Vietnam-era veterans (a
    decrease of only 0.5 percent), and
    76,000 handicapped veterans (an
    increase of 2.7 percent).
    The Interagency Jobs for
    Veterans Advisory Committee
    was formed to streamline and
    combine the activities of the Jobs
    for Veterans program and also to
    achieve the objectives of the
    President’s Veterans Program. In
    addition, 10 regional veterans
    employment representatives were
    added to the field staff of the
    Veterans Employment Service.
    These positions were created to
    increase the Manpower
    Administration’s efforts to
    produce jobs and training
    opportunities for veterans.
    Mandatory listing of job
    openings with the employment
    service by Federal contractors
    continued at about the level of
    the previous year. Veterans
    placed in such jobs decreased
    only slightly, from 111,000 in
    fiscal 1974 to 110,00 in fiscal 1975.
    Disabled veterans continued to
    receive special attention. A study
    commissioned by the Manpower
    Administration disclosed that
    disabled veterans may experience
    unemployment at double the rates
    for comparable age groups of
    nondisabled veterans. The State
    employment service agencies
    have taken appropriate action to
    insure adequate services to
    disabled veterans, to develop
    cooperative relationships with
    other agencies and community
    groups, and periodically to review
    such services.
    Under a special outreach
    employment program conducted
    by the Blinded Veterans
    Association through a contract
    with the Department of Labor,
    blind veterans were contacted
    and provided with job search and
    placement assistance. The
    project has been renewed for the
    1976 fiscal year.
    Work-Experience and Training
    The Comprehensive
    Employment and Training Act
    (CETA) specified that certain
    programs could best be
    administered at the national level.
    Among them were programs for
    Indians and migrant and seasonal
    farmworkers. The Manpower
    Administration’s Office of
    National Programs took steps to
    see that these programs, as well
    as a program for older workers,
    were fully implemented during
    the year.
    Of particular significance was
    completion of the first full year of
    the program to provide manpower
    services to Indians and other
    native Americans throughout the
    country through direct grants to
    Indian tribes, bands or groups.
    Grants were also made to private
    nonprofit organizations
    established to provide services to
    these groups.
    The Indian program operates
    through 145 grants, which cover
    virtually the entire country,
    including Alaska, at a cost of
    $68 million. It is administered by a
    national staff, half of whom are
    Indian. To provide better service
    to the Indian prime sponsors, 10
    staff members are stationed in the
    field.
    13
    The migrant and seasonal
    farmworker program underwent
    significant changes during the
    year. Resources were allocated to
    the States on a formula basis, and
    a competitive system for selecting
    prime sponsors was established,
    eliminating many past inequities
    in providing needed services to
    this group.
    Operating in all States except
    Alaska, the migrant program has
    made 65 grants, 43 with private
    nonprofit organizations and 22
    with CETA prime sponsors.
    The older worker program,
    previously funded under CETA
    and providing subsidized
    employment in community
    beautification and conservation
    projects, has been continued
    under the authority of the Older
    American Community Service
    Employment Act of 1973. It is
    operated through national
    contracts with five organizations:
    Green Thumb, Inc., the National
    Retired Teachers Association, the
    National Council of Senior
    Citizens, the National Council on
    Aging, and the Department of
    Agriculture’s Forest Service.
    Other national programs
    serving the disadvantaged,
    veterans and minorities are
    conducted by the National
    Alliance of Businessmen, the
    Human Resources Development
    Institute (AFL-CIO), the National
    Urban League, Opportunities
    Industrialization Centers, and
    SER/Jobs for Progress.
    Work Incentive Program
    The Work Incentive (WIN)
    Program, designed to move
    people off the welfare rolls into
    productive work, directed much
    of its efforts during the year
    toward raising the level of jobs in
    which it placed participants.
    Under a contract with the Center
    for Human Systems, Inc., WIN
    staff were trained to increase job
    opportunities for women (who
    comprise 75 percent of WIN
    participants) by overcoming
    traditional barriers.
    During the year, 590,000
    persons entered the WIN program
    and received counseling,
    orientation and placement into
    jobs ortraining, and 170,500 WIN
    participants obtained
    unsubsidized jobs through the
    program.
    The collocation of WIN staff of
    the Department of Labor and the
    Department of Health, Education,
    and Welfare—the agencies
    responsible for the program—
    resulted in improved program
    operations. Other program
    improvements included allocation
    of funds based on performance
    factors as well as caseload size
    and the replacement of the
    manual reporting system by an
    automated data system.
    Job Corps
    Job Corps observed its 10th
    anniversary during the year with
    a day-long program in
    Washington, D. C., featuring
    exhibits, speeches, panels and
    other activities honoring
    corpsmembers. Similar
    observances were held at Job
    Corps centers throughout the
    United States. More than one-half
    million youths have been served
    14
    by the program since it began.
    Since Job Corps is now
    authorized under Title IV of
    CETA, new regulations were
    developed and published in the
    Federal Register. Handbooks and
    guides were also revised to
    conform to the regulations.
    A major innovation in program
    operations was the conversion of
    several centers into
    coeducational facilities. In
    addition to the increased training
    opportunities for women at these
    centers, other centers are offering
    nontraditional vocational training
    for women. Sixteen centers have
    been approved for coeducational
    programs.
    Union programs operating at
    Job Corps centers were increased
    during the year by about 500
    training slots. The unions placed
    over 90 percent of program
    graduates in jobs with average
    hourly starting salaries of $4.20.
    Educational activities at the
    centers were reviewed in an
    attempt to integrate basic
    education and vocational
    programs. A new system of
    vocational training was tested,
    handbooks were revised, and
    educational materials were sent
    to each center for pilot testing.
    Apprenticeship
    The number of persons entering
    apprenticeship showed a slight
    decline during the year. There
    were 65,035 new apprentices,
    bringing the total registered at the
    end of the year to 183,615. The
    number of minority apprentices
    continued to increase. They now
    constitute 16 percent of
    participants. Although final State
    figures are not available, it is
    estimated that these would
    increase the overall number of
    apprentices by one-third, or about
    60,000, with a comparable
    percentage of minorities.
    Efforts to increase the number
    of women in apprenticeship
    programs continued. Five
    outreach projects were funded to
    inform interested groups of
    apprenticeship opportunities for
    women.
    The Bureau of Apprenticeship
    and Training (BAT) assisted
    industry in developing 242 new
    skill improvement programs that
    provided training to 8,281
    workers. This brought the total
    number of workers in skill training
    programs to 20,893.
    An agreement was signed with
    the Army Corps of Engineers to
    give creditfor skill training in the
    military toward apprenticeship or
    journeyman status in a civilian
    occupation. BAT also cooperated
    with the Departments of Navy and
    Commerce to encourage training
    opportunities for occupational
    skills in the shipbuilding industry.
    Three new trades were added
    during the year to the list of
    apprenticeable occupations—
    surveyor, wastewater treatment
    plant operator and water
    treatment plant operator.
    Unemployment Insurance
    Unemployment insurance (Ul)
    benefits more than doubled
    during the year, with about
    $12.3 billion being paid to
    15
    approximately 12.1 million
    individuals. About 272,000 were
    veterans assisted during their
    transition to civilian employment.
    The Special Unemployment
    Assistance (SUA) program was
    enacted to provide federally
    financed benefits to individuals
    who were formerly employed in
    areas of high unemployment and
    not covered by the State Ul
    programs—primarily State and
    local government workers,
    farmworkers and household
    workers. These benefits became
    payable when the unemployment
    rate had averaged 6 percent or
    higher nationally or 6.5 percent or
    higher in a local area for the three
    most recent consecutive months.
    Workers could receive up to 39
    weeks of SUA benefits at a weekly
    rate that would have been payable
    if their wages had been covered
    under a State Ul law. There have
    been about 341,000 beneficiaries
    during the year and $183 million
    paid in benefits.
    The Emergency Unemployment
    Compensation Act of 1974 was
    passed to provide a federally
    financed program of Federal
    Supplemental Benefits (FSB) to
    unemployed workers who had
    exhausted both their regular Ul
    benefits and extended benefits
    under the Federal-State Extended
    Unemployment Compensation
    Act of 1970. The program made
    possible, initially, a potential
    maximum of 52 weeks of benefits;
    later, by amendment, of 65 weeks.
    Under the Federal-State extended
    benefits program, $1.1 billion was
    paid in benefits, and under the
    FSB program, $0.5 billion was
    paid.
    As a result of 44 disasters in 27
    States, about 7,900 unemployed
    individuals received $3.4 million
    in Disaster Unemployment
    Assistance (DUA).
    During the year, under the
    Trade Expansion Act of 1962,12
    petitions were certified.
    Readjustment allowances of over
    $12.3 million were paid to more
    than 5,500 individuals affected by
    trade concessions. Under the
    Trade Act of 1974, which became
    effective on April 3,1975,15
    petitions were certified.
    Readjustment allowances of
    about $212,000 were paid to over
    3,400 workers during the final 3
    months of the fiscal year.
    Considerable attention was
    given also to the first comparative
    analysis of program operations.
    Data derived from cost model
    studies were used in all 52
    jurisdictions. From the analysis,
    action plans were submitted to
    the State agencies recommending
    cost-effective systems and
    procedures, over 62 percent of
    which have been implemented.
    Studies to determine effective
    procedures to prevent and detect
    benefit overpayments were also
    completed, and cost-effective
    systems and procedures will be
    recommended to the States
    during the next fiscal year. A
    study was made of SUA
    administrative costs in four States
    to provide budget criteria.
    To strengthen the
    unemployment insurance
    program, to which workers have
    looked for 40 years for income
    maintenance protection, the
    Administration proposed
    legislation to expand coverage to
    16
    certain jobs that have lacked such
    protection. The bill would also
    assure that a State’s weekly
    benefit amount will meet a Federal
    standard for replacement of lost
    weekly wages, improve the
    financing of Federal costs by
    increasing taxable wages, and
    establish a National Commission
    on Unemployment Insurance to
    make a comprehensive review of
    the Federal-State unemployment
    insurance program.
    The Federal Advisory Council
    on Unemployment Insurance, a
    mechanism for public
    participation in Ul policymaking,
    was revitalized during the year.
    Composed of employer, employee
    and public members representing
    a wide diversity of occupations,
    industries and special interests,
    the Council operated for the first
    time under its own leadership,
    advising the Secretary of Labor
    on improvements needed in the
    Ul system.
    The Council considered such
    topics as adequacy of benefits,
    system financing needs,
    emergency benefits during
    recessionary periods, and
    expanded coverage.
    Recommendations were
    considered by the Department in
    developing its legislative
    program.
    Research, Development
    The major evaluation study
    completed during the year
    analyzed the effectiveness of
    public employment programs
    underthe Emergency Employment
    Act. As part of an overall
    evaluation of CETA manpower
    programs, a comprehensive study
    of the early implementation of
    CETA was conducted, and a
    longitudinal study was initiated
    through the Bureau of the Census
    to determine how the program
    affected postprogram
    employment earnings of CETA
    participants.
    Other research and
    development projects included: a
    demonstration of the use of
    publicly supported, low-stress
    work environments to ease the
    transition into the work force of
    those persons not yet ready to
    withstand the pressure of the
    competitive labor market,
    including youths, female heads of
    households on welfare,
    ex-offenders, and ex-addicts; an
    extension of a successful
    demonstration of the use of
    income maintenance to enhance
    the adjustment of ex-offenders to
    life outside prison, and a
    demonstration of methods for
    overcoming obstacles to
    employment of minority collegeeducated
    women in professional
    and managerial jobs.
    A research program was
    conducted to gather data and
    information necessary to enhance
    the effectiveness and strengthen
    the performance of the
    employment service system, and
    vouchers were experimented with
    to finance self-selected
    institutional and on-the-job
    training of welfare recipients.
    The Manpower Administration
    continued to support manpower
    researchers by funding doctoral
    and postdoctoral research. It also
    supported the development of
    manpower practitioners needed
    17
    under decentralized CETA
    manpower programs by
    maintaining programs at 13
    universities and colleges for the
    training of State and local
    planners and deliverers of
    manpower services.
    The International Manpower
    Institute conducted two seminars
    —one on maximizing employment
    in developing countries and the
    other on rural employment and
    poverty in these countries.
    A series of strategy intervention
    papers, for executive
    management use, assessed the
    1975 economic outlook, its impact
    on manpower, and the
    development of alternative policy
    and program approaches for
    coping with the rise in
    unemployment.
    Reports, position papers and
    policy statements were prepared
    to assist policymakers in dealing
    with a variety of manpower topics
    for use by outside agencies.
    Management Improvement
    In keeping with policy of
    decentralizing authority to the
    field, the Manpower
    Administration redirected
    operational planning and control
    reports to assistant regional
    directors for manpower so they
    can better assess their program
    performance. Budget plans of
    employment security agencies
    were also streamlined to fit
    current use of performance
    budgeting.
    To raise the capability of
    manpower staff at all levels, plans
    were made for staff training
    centers in each region. Funds to
    begin operation were allocated
    prior to the end of the fiscal year.
    The Manpower Administration
    directives system was redesigned
    to include a standardized format
    and layout and a classification
    and index system for all
    directives. The format and system
    of control for handbooks were
    also revised.
    A methodology to update data
    on adults in low-income families
    was developed for use in CETA
    Title I allocations.
    Substantial progress was made
    during the year to improve
    funding, planning, operation and
    evaluation of the labor market
    information (LMI) system. Funds
    from all sources were earmarked
    at the national level for the LMI
    system; specific plans for
    utilizing these funds were
    required, and a system for
    monitoring and reviewing LMI
    operations and fund utilization
    was developed.
    Comprehensive instructions
    were developed for reporting
    labor force and employment and
    unemployment data for States,
    counties, labor market areas,
    CETA prime sponsor jurisdictions,
    and areas of substantial and
    persistent unemployment.
    The Manpower Administration
    laid the groundwork for overall
    improved management by
    establishing in comprehensive
    form its goals and objectives for
    the 1976 fiscal year. Using this as
    its guide, each major Manpower
    Administration component
    organized and coordinated its
    activities in detailed work plans
    for the year.
    18
    Equal Employment Opportunity
    Women were the focus as the
    Department joined in observance
    of International Women’s Year
    proclaimed by the United Nations.
    Plans for its observance by
    program components and
    regional offices gave evidence of
    broad commitment to the concept
    of equality for women and other
    minorities in the labor force.
    CETA prime sponsors were
    encouraged to identify
    employment and promotion
    barriers to women and minorities
    and to make every effort to fully
    utilize their capabilities. An
    affirmative action clause on the
    employment of women was
    included in all national contracts.
    In line with the move toward
    decentralization, the Office of
    Investigation and Compliance
    provided guidance and assistance
    to the field to insure compliance
    with equal employment
    opportunity (EEC) laws and
    regulations. Training was
    provided in five different regions,
    and a 3-day workshop for EEO
    representatives was held in
    Washington.
    19

    Labor-Management
    Services Administration
    President Ford’s signing of the
    pension reform law—the
    Employee Retirement Income
    Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)—
    highlighted the 1975 fiscal year
    for the Labor-Management
    Services Administration (LMSA),
    which administers key provisions
    of that law.
    One of the longest and most
    complex laws ever enacted by
    Congress, ERISA provides new
    assurances to millions of workers
    in private industry that they will
    receive the pensions to which
    they are entitled and which they
    have earned. Its administration
    required LMSA to reorganize
    several offices and to create some
    new ones.
    The Office of Labor-
    Management Welfare-Pension
    Reports (LMWP), which had
    administered the former pension
    law (Welfare and Pension Plans
    Disclosure Act of 1958) and the
    Labor-Management Reporting
    21
    and Disclosure Act of 1959
    (LMRDA), was split into two new
    offices: the Office of Employee
    Benefits Security (OEBS), to
    administer ERISA, and the Office
    of Labor-Management Standards
    Enforcement (LMSE), to
    administer LMRDA. An Office of
    Planning, Evaluation and Systems
    was created to provide support
    services in program planning,
    program evaluation and systems
    management activities.
    But ERISA-related changes
    were not the only ones in LMSA.
    Amendments to Executive Order
    11491, regulating labormanagement
    relations in the
    Federal service and administered
    in part by LMSA, were approved
    by the President, and these
    amendments made substantial
    changes in the Order. The law
    governing veterans’
    reemployment rights was
    renamed, recodified and
    expanded to include employees
    of State and local governments.
    Other LMSA activities included
    assistance in improving labormanagement
    relations and
    enforcing and securing voluntary
    compliance in connection with
    laws regulating veterans’
    reemployment rights and union
    activities. LMSA also participated
    in investigations supporting the
    President’s Program Against
    Organized Crime.
    Employee Benefit Plans
    The Employee Retirement
    Income Security Act (ERISA),
    enacted September 2,1974,
    protects the interests of
    participants and beneficiaries in
    22
    employee pension and welfare
    benefit plans. The Act requires
    reporting and disclosure of plan
    and financial information to
    participants and beneficiaries, as
    well as to the U.S. Department of
    Labor and, in some cases, to the
    Internal Revenue Service and the
    recently created Pension Benefit
    Guaranty Corporation. It
    safeguards plan assets through
    establishment of fiduciary and
    funding standards. It also
    safeguards pension benefits
    through establishment of
    participation and vesting
    standards and by requiring plan
    termination insurance for certain
    pension plans. In addition, the law
    provides some measure of
    protection for widows and
    widowers through the joint and
    survivor provisions.
    ERISA applies to employee
    pension and welfare benefit plans
    regardless of size that are
    maintained by employers
    engaged in commerce or in any
    industry or activity affecting
    commerce, or by employee
    organizations representing
    employees so engaged, except
    those plans specifically exempt.
    The first reports due under ERISA
    were to be filed August 31,1975.
    These reports are a short form
    plan description. Full plan
    descriptions and summary plan
    descriptions will be required to be
    filed with the Department by May
    30,1976, and summary plan
    descriptions must be disclosed
    to participants and beneficiaries
    by that date. The first annual
    report due under the ERISA will
    cover the plan year beginning in
    1975. A series of regulations and
    proposed regulations and several
    interpretative bulletins have been
    issued as well as two popular
    pamphlets.
    The Welfare and Pension Plans
    Disclosure Act (WPPDA), which
    was effective January 1,1959, and
    amended in 1962, also applied to
    employee pension and welfare
    benefit plans. It was primarily a
    disclosure measure under which
    administrators were required to
    file plan descriptions and annual
    reports with the Department of
    Labor and to disclose certain
    reports and documents to plan
    participants and beneficiaries.
    Section 111 of ERISA repealed
    the WPPDA except that the
    WPPDA continues to apply to
    conduct and events which
    occurred before the effective date
    of ERISA. Since the first annual
    report due under the ERISA is for
    the plan year beginning in 1975,
    annual reports for plan years
    beginning in 1974 must still be
    filed under the WPPDA.
    Approximately 190,500
    employee benefit plans were on
    file under the WPPDA as of
    December 31,1974. Of the total
    plans on file, about 52,000 were
    retirement plans. Of the 453
    investigations completed, 377
    involved delinquent or deficient
    reports.
    Compliance, Enforcement
    There were 53,954 active labor
    organizations with reports on file
    under the Labor-Management
    Reporting and Disclosure Act
    (LMRDA) as of June 30,1975.
    LMSA completed 6,116 LMRDA
    investigations during the year,
    including 148 involving union
    elections.
    The Department instituted 48
    civil actions under the Act in
    Federal District Courts. Twentynine
    individuals were charged
    with criminal violations of the
    LMRDA in indictments or criminal
    informations filed in Federal
    District Courts, including 14 as a
    result of LMSA participation in
    Organized Crime Strike Forces in
    17 major cities. Thirty persons,
    including some indicted in
    previous years, were convicted of
    LMRDA violations. Three were
    acquitted and LMRDA charges
    against nine others were
    dismissed.
    LMSA received annual financial
    reports required under the
    Standards of Conduct Section 18
    of Executive Order 11491 from
    3,130 active Federal labor
    organizations. Of the 624
    Standards of Conduct
    investigations LMSA completed
    during the year, 13 involved
    Federal union elections and 578
    delinquent and deficient reports.
    Federal Labor-Management
    Under Executive Order 11491,
    as amended, the assistant
    secretary of labor for labormanagement
    relations supervises
    representation elections and
    decides unit determination
    questions, as well as cases
    involving alleged unfair labor
    practices and standards of
    conduct violations.
    The assistant secretary also
    decides eligibility questions on
    national consultation rights and
    23
    questions concerning the
    grievability and arbitrability of
    grievances under existing
    negotiated agreements.
    During the year, 1,366 cases
    involving representation petitions,
    unfair labor practice complaints
    and grievance-arbitration
    applications were initiated in
    LMSA’s 24 area offices. During
    that time, 1,176 cases were
    closed. In the same period, 325
    representation elections were
    supervised by LMSA field
    personnel. The assistant secretary
    issued 127 decisions based upon
    records of formal hearings
    conducted before hearing officers
    or administrative law judges. In
    addition, the assistant secretary
    made determinations on 152
    requests for a review of actions
    taken by LMSA assistant regional
    directors.
    Veterans’ Reemployment
    The Department continued to
    meet its responsibilities to
    veterans, reservists, National
    Guardsmen and others having
    statutory reemployment rights
    under Chapter 43 of Title 38, U.S.
    Code, and its predecessor
    statutes.
    On Decembers, 1974, the law,
    formerly Section 9 of the Military
    Selective Service Act of 1967,
    was renamed and recodified and
    its mandatory coverage extended
    to include employees of State and
    local governments released from
    military training or service on or
    after that date. Partly as a result
    of this, the number of complaint
    cases filed rose to 3,516 during
    fiscal 1975 from 3,239 the previous
    year, even though it is estimated
    that total separations from
    military service remained near the
    500,000 per year level. Of the
    3,516 cases received, 295 were
    from State and local government
    employees. Another factor in the
    increase in cases received was a
    substantial rise in National Guard
    and reservist cases to 418 from
    only 273 during the 1974 fiscal
    year.
    Increased field staff expertise
    in the reemployment rights
    program, together with a field
    reorganization during the year
    that permitted a higher degree of
    specialization, led to a reduction
    in the backlog of pending
    complaint cases from 825 to 694
    during the year despite the
    increase in cases received.
    Participation of new veterans in
    the referral procedure established
    in cooperation with the
    Department of Defense continued
    at about the same proportion—
    some 59 percent of total
    separatees—as during the
    previous fiscal year. Each
    participating veteran was sent
    basic information about
    reemployment rights assistance
    and other services available to
    veterans through the Department
    of Labor. About 40 percent of
    these veterans, compared with 42
    percent the year before, indicated
    that they had pre-service
    employers. Those employers were
    advised of the basic provisions of
    the reemployment rights law. As a
    result, many veterans were
    reinstated in their jobs and
    accorded their other
    reemployment rights without
    24
    further action by the Office of
    Veterans’ Reemployment Rights
    (OVRR) of the Labor-Management
    Services Administration.
    Copies of the referral forms
    received by OVRR from the
    military separation centers were
    made available to the Manpower
    Administration’s Veterans’
    Employment Service (VES). VES
    offers assistance to veterans in
    finding employment in cases
    where the veterans do not have
    reemployment rights or do not
    choose to exercise their
    reemployment rights with their
    pre-service employers.
    Labor-Management Relations
    There was substantial stability
    in the relations between labor and
    management during the year, and
    the Federal government
    continued its policy of
    encouraging resolution of labormanagement
    disputes with a
    minimum of direct participation.
    This policy was followed in
    negotiations in the aerospace,
    longshoring, mining, petroleum
    and maritime industries.
    Federal action was necessary
    in one dispute when mediation
    failed to produce a settlement. On
    that occasion, a Presidential
    Emergency Board was oppointed
    under the Railway Labor Act. The
    Board investigated and reported
    on a dispute between the Nation’s
    railroads and employees
    represented by the Brotherhood
    of Railway, Airline and Steamship
    Clerks. The dispute was later
    resolved on the basis of the
    Board’s recommendations.
    “Early warning” reports
    covering negotiations which
    could affect the national interest
    were provided to the Secretary
    and other key Government
    officials. Staff assistance was
    provided to the Presidential
    Emergency Board established
    under the Railway Labor Act.
    In addition, the Department
    continued its program of
    assistance to State and local
    governments and public
    employee organizations to
    establish procedures for resolving
    labor-management relations
    problems. Upon request, the
    Department provided technical
    assistance, information and data
    services, and training and
    conference activities to the
    participants in the non-Federal
    public sector. It conducted
    special training seminars for
    newly appointed Public Employee
    Relations Board members, for
    labor and management
    representatives, and for third
    party neutrals. It also provided
    technical assistance to a number
    of State and local jurisdictions in
    drafting public employee rules
    and regulations and in conducting
    representation elections.
    The Urban Mass Transportation
    Act of 1964 provides that the
    Secretary of Labor certify that
    arrangements are made to protect
    the interests of employees
    affected by urban mass
    transportation projects assisted
    by the Department of
    Transportation. The Department
    of Labor certified 279 applications
    for assistance under the Urban
    Mass T ransportation Act,
    involving total project values of
    some $5.5 billion.
    25
    Policy Development
    Legislation was enacted in
    areas of policy interest such as
    pension reform, Taft-Hartley
    coverage of nonprofit hospital
    workers, and reemployment rights
    for veterans previously employed
    hy State and local governments.
    Policy recommendations were
    developed on important labormanagement
    relations issues
    including extension of Federal
    labor relations law to farmworkers
    and protection of workers
    adversely affected by various
    governmental and private actions.
    A number of other proposals
    affecting labor-management
    relations were also reviewed and
    evaluated. These proposals were
    augmented by a supportive
    program of analysis and research.
    The research staff completed a
    study of welfare and pension plan
    coverage during layoffs and
    strikes, and a study of
    multiemployer pension plan
    terminations during 1965-1973.
    The latter is part of a larger study
    being done by the Treasury
    Department. Research studies
    were planned on pension plans
    required under the Employee
    Retirement Income Security Act
    of 1974.
    LMSA financed studies of
    “Grievance and Arbitration
    Procedures in State and Local
    Agreements,” “Multiemployer
    Pension Plan Provisions in 1973,”
    and “Pension Plan Provisions in
    the Construction Industry, 1973,”
    which were published by the
    Bureau of Labor Statistics. LMSA
    also financed a study of
    “Arbitration of Public Sector
    Labor Disputes: The Nevada
    Experiment,” a condensation of
    which was published in the
    Industrial and Labor Relations
    Review, October 1974.
    LMSA arranged with the Bureau
    of Labor Statistics for the
    collection and maintenance of
    public sector agreement files and
    for an extensive analysis of state
    and local public sector
    agreements. Funds were supplied
    to the Bureau of the Census to
    collectdataon labor-management
    relations at the state and local
    government level.
    Six contracts were awarded for
    research in the areas of private
    pensions and private sector labor
    relations.
    Planning, Evaluation
    The Office of Planning,
    Evaluation and Systems was
    established under a major LMSA
    reorganization in January 1975 to
    provide agency-wide support
    services in program planning,
    program evaluation and systems
    management activities. The major
    functions of this new
    organizational unit include
    direction of long-term and
    broad-scale planning for program
    operations; evaluation of LMSA
    programmatic policies,
    procedures and systems;
    provision of systems leadership
    related to all data systems
    throughout LMSA, and
    development and operation of a
    full range of LMSA computerbased
    information systems and
    services.
    While certain aspects of the
    Office’s functional responsibilities
    are still under development,
    26
    several major projects have been
    initiated, including an evaluation
    of the impact of the Labor-
    Management Reporting and
    Disclosure Act (LMRDA) on union
    election activities and internal
    union administration at the
    various levels of union
    organization; an assessment of
    current LMSA management
    information systems; the
    development and implementation
    of a revised field activity reporting
    system in order to better meet the
    needs of field and program
    managers, and, with contractor
    assistance, the development of a
    design concept and specifications
    for an overall information system
    to support the new pension
    program of the Office of
    Employee Benefits Security.
    27

    Employment Standards
    Administration
    During the 1975 fiscal year, four
    pieces of major legislation
    affecting the Employment
    Standards Administration (ESA)
    became law. The Vietnam Era
    Veterans Readjustment
    Assistance Act of 1974 was
    passed, requiring Federal
    contractors on contracts of
    $10,000 or more to take affirmative
    action to employ and advance in
    employment disabled veterans
    and veterans of the Vietnam era.
    Amendments to the Federal
    Employees’ Compensation Act
    included benefit changes and a
    major change in the method of
    providing compensation
    payments for non-controverted
    traumatic cases. The Farm Labor
    Contractor Registration Act was
    amended to increase contractor
    coverage, strengthen worker
    protection and increase the
    penalties for violations.
    Amendments to the Rehabilitation
    Act of 1973 included a change in
    the definition of “handicapped
    individual.”
    Two major reorganizations
    took place within ESA during the
    year. The Women’s Bureau’s
    outreach and community services
    were consolidated, and its
    program planning was recognized
    29
    and provided with full-time staff.
    A new Office of Federal Contract
    Compliance Programs was
    approved late in the fiscal year.
    The new office includes the
    former Office of Federal Contract
    Compliance, Office of
    Employment Standards for
    Handicapped Workers, and
    Veterans Affirmative Action Task
    Force. This new organization will
    assure a maximum degree of
    coordination with respect to
    policies and procedures common
    to all the affirmative action
    programs while maintaining the
    unique differences of each of the
    programs.
    Improving, Protecting Wages
    During the fiscal year, ESA’s
    Wage and Hour Division handled
    55,200 compliance actions which
    showed almost 217,000 workers
    employed in violation of minimum
    wage standards and 250,000
    workers employed in violation of
    overtime standards. A total of
    approximately $72.5 million was
    found due to these workers. Of
    the workers found underpaid, 80
    percent earned less than the
    Bureau of Labor Statistics lower
    family income for their area. Over
    170,000 workers subject to
    minimum wage violations and
    208,000 workers employed under
    violative overtime practices
    received a total of approximately
    $46.7 million in back wages. The
    major reason for the difference
    between the total money found
    due to employees and the amount
    actually paid is employers’
    refusals to pay back wages in
    cases considered unsuitable for
    litigation by the Department. In
    such cases, the employee has the
    right to institute private and
    independent action for the
    recovery of back wages, and
    substantial amounts of wages are
    recovered by employees in this
    way which are not reflected in the
    Department’s statistics.
    Implementation of the 1974
    amendments to the Fair Labor
    Standards Act (FLSA), expanding
    coverage of the Act, proceeded
    smoothly. Regulations were
    issued on minimum wage and
    overtime requirements for
    domestic service workers and for
    law enforcement and fire
    protection employees. However,
    the Supreme Court temporarily
    stayed enforcement of FLSA
    overtime provisions for State and
    local government employees
    engaged in fire protection or law
    enforcement activities (including
    security personnel in correctional
    institutions), pending the Court’s
    decision in National League of
    Cities, et al. v. Dunlop.
    Nevertheless, normal
    enforcement activity is being
    undertaken with regard to all
    other employment brought under
    the Act by the 1974 amendments.
    Approximately 17,000 minors
    were found illegally employed
    under the child labor provisions
    of the FLSA during the year, a 15
    percent increase over the
    previous year. Regulations
    providing for assessment of civil
    monetary penalties for certain
    child labor violations were issued
    at the end of 1974 to be effective
    on July 18,1975. A proposed
    regulation which would establish
    the Work Experience and Career
    30
    Exploration Program (WECEP) on
    a permanent basis was also
    published for comment.
    Enforcement of the various
    Government contract labor
    standards laws, such as the
    Davis-Bacon and Related Acts,
    the Service Contract Act and the
    Contract Work Hours and Safety
    Standards Act, disclosed $3
    million in back wages due
    approximately 11,300 workers.
    Over 9,500 workers were actually
    paid $2.3 million in back wages,
    compared with 12,000 workers
    receiving almost $3 million during
    the previous fiscal year.
    A total of 12,950 wage
    determination decisions under
    the Davis-Bacon and Related
    Acts were issued during the year.
    Of this total, 10,669 were project
    determinations and 2,281 general
    determinations. General
    determinations cover all crafts in
    a specified geographic area and
    are published in the Federal
    Register. They may be used by
    any contracting agency with an
    appropriate project. Project
    determinations are issued to the
    contracting agency, in response
    to a request, for projects in
    geographic areas not covered by
    a published determination. The
    number of general wage
    determinations in effect continued
    to increase, providing wider
    coverage of geographic areas
    and diminishing the need for
    specific project determinations.
    A total of 5,127 determinations
    were issued under the Service
    Contract Act during the fiscal
    year, an increase of 42 percent
    overthe number issued in 1974.
    This increase reflects, to a great
    extent, the impact of decreasing
    size standards for contract
    coverage. Contracts with more
    than five employees now require
    wage determinations. These
    determinations included a wide
    variety of job classifications
    required in the performance of
    numerous types of service
    contracts awarded by Federal
    agencies.
    Improved Federal-State
    employment standards
    cooperation and coordination
    continued to be a priority effort.
    Technical assistance was
    provided to over 25 State
    jurisdictions, including the
    District of Columbia, as well as to
    numerous trade unions,
    employers and other Federal
    agencies. In many instances,
    more than one request was
    received from a State for
    assistance. Interest remained
    high in developing more effective
    State standards to regulate
    private employment agencies.
    ESA provided considerable
    technical assistance in this area
    to the International Association of
    Governmental Labor Officials
    (IAGLO).
    Equal Employment Opportunity
    ESA made significant
    contributions to ensuring equal
    employment opportunities for all
    workers regardless of race, color,
    sex, age, religion or national
    origin. Two new affirmative action
    programs were implemented
    during the year to provide equal
    employment opportunities for
    handicapped workers and
    disabled and Vietnam-era
    veterans.
    31
    The program to eliminate
    sex-based wage differentials,
    where men and women perform
    substantially equal work,
    continued to make progress. Back
    wage findings under the Equal
    Pay Act amount to over $26
    million due to almost 32,000
    workers, nearly all of them
    women. Almost 18,000 workers
    received approximately $7.5
    million in back wages. Suits
    involving substantial
    underpayments to women
    academic employees were filed
    against a number of colleges and
    universities. Additional court
    actions were instituted in many
    other industries.
    Compliance actions to correct
    illegal age discrimination
    identified approximately 5,500
    individuals discriminated
    against under one or more of the
    provisions of the Age
    Discrimination in Employment
    Act. Monetary damages of $6.6
    million were found due to 2,350
    individuals. Approximately $1.6
    million was paid in damages to
    some 725 individuals.
    International Women’s Year
    (IWY), 1975, was the focal point of
    many Women’s Bureau (WB)
    activities. The Bureau had the
    responsibility of coordinating the
    overall Department program to
    celebrate IWY. The Bureau’s
    projects in recognition of IWY
    included a joint United States-
    Japan Study of the Role and
    Status of Women in the Labor
    Force. This study was conducted
    by the U.S. Women’s Bureau and
    the Women’s and Minors’ Bureau
    of Japan. The Bureau also
    cosponsored with the Inter-
    American Committee of Women a
    one-day conference to promote
    nontraditional occupations for
    women in the hemisphere. It
    prepared a paper on “The Role of
    National Women’s Commissions,
    Bureaus and Similar Bodies,”
    given at a worldwide seminar on
    that subject in Ottawa, Canada. In
    addition, the Bureau director
    served as an alternate
    representative to the U.S.
    Delegation to the United Nations
    World Conference of the
    International Women’s Year, held
    in Mexico City.
    The Bureau initiated, as part of
    its IWY activities, a program
    directed toward the problems of
    women in prison and those
    recently released. The U.S.
    Department of Justice, Bureau of
    Prisons, detailed a woman
    ex-offender to the Women’s
    Bureau to assist with the program,
    which includes working with
    corrections officials, women’s
    prisons, educators, employers
    and others to provide job training
    for women who are in prison and
    placement in training or jobs upon
    release. Preliminary plans were
    made to hold consultations with
    community leaders and
    corrections officials in two cities
    to explore possibilities for
    community programs focusing on
    the resocialization of women
    offenders, and providing job
    training and employment
    opportunities.
    A major program in 1975 was to
    promote the opening of
    nontraditional jobs to more
    women. The Bureau planned and
    developed 10 conferences in
    conjunction with the Manpower
    32
    Administration’s Work Incentive
    (WIN) II training program to insure
    greater availability of
    nontraditional jobs to women in
    the WIN program. Support was
    also given to the Manpower
    Administration’s project to recruit
    women for apprenticeship
    outreach programs. Conferences
    were held by the Bureau in six
    cities to enlist the support of trade
    unions, business and industry,
    and community groups.
    ESA’s affirmative action
    programs were consolidated into
    one organization with the creation
    of the Office of Federal Contract
    Compliance Programs.
    Approximately 22,750
    compliance reviews were
    conducted by Federal compliance
    agencies to enforce Executive
    Order 11246, which prohibits
    discrimination in government
    contract work because of race,
    color, sex, religion or national
    origin. There were 12,450 reviews
    of supply and service firms and
    10,300 reviews in the construction
    industry. Over 800 notices were
    issued to contractors giving them
    30 days to show cause why
    enforcement proceedings should
    not be instituted against them.
    Four firms were debarred during
    the year from further government
    contract work because of
    violations of the Executive Order.
    Revised Order No. 14,
    establishing standardized
    procedures and reports
    concerning compliance reviews
    of government contractors, was
    fully implemented, with
    approximately 90 percent of the
    required reports being received.
    A study based on data received
    indicated an increase in the
    employment of minorities and
    women on government contracts.
    Although the development of
    hometown plans slowed, with only
    one such plan developed, several
    construction compliance plans
    were extended during the year.
    There were 71 construction
    compliance plans in effect at the
    end of the year. Audits of these
    plans showed that hometown
    plans have been relatively
    successful in achieving equal
    employment opportunities in the
    construction industry through the
    development of voluntary
    agreements among labor,
    management and community
    groups. The question of providing
    equal employment opportunities
    for women in construction
    received considerable attention,
    and a Task Force on Goals and
    Timetables for Women in
    construction held meetings on the
    subject.
    Proposed handicapped worker
    regulations have been prepared.
    During the year, 331 complaints,
    alleging violations of Section 503
    of the Rehabilitation Act, were
    filed, with 97 of the complaints
    being resolved. A Veterans’
    Affirmative Action Task Force was
    established to develop
    regulations and procedures for
    enforcement.
    Workers’ Compensation
    The Federal Employees’
    Compensation Act was amended
    during the year to include benefit
    changes and a change in the
    method of providing
    compensation payments for
    33
    non-controverted traumatic
    cases. A total of 144,897 injuries
    were reported under the Act
    during the year, up from the
    123,009 reported in 1974. New
    claims for compensation rose to
    35,615, up from 31,025 in the
    previous year. At the year’s end,
    36,479 cases were being
    compensated on the periodic
    payment rolls, up from 33,244 in
    1974. Benefits paid under the
    Federal Employees’
    Compensation Act amounted to
    $367,543,573, or 35.8 percent
    more than the previous year.
    New injuries reported during
    the year under the
    Longshoremen’s and Harbor
    Workers’ Compensation Act and
    its various extensions increased
    to 198,336, up from 181,525 in
    1974. Lost-time injuries increased
    from 41,485 in 1974 to 46,741 in
    1975. These continue to reflect
    changes brought about by 1972
    amendments to the Act. The
    amendments extended coverage
    to workers performing maritime
    work at land installations
    adjoining and used in connection
    with maritime activities. During
    1975, 76,435, or 51 percent, of
    maritime injuries reported were
    covered by the extension of the
    Act to include shoreside areas.
    Maximum benefits increased
    under the Longshore Act on
    October 1,1974, from $210.54 per
    week to $261.00 per week, the
    latter representing 175 percent of
    the national average weekly wage
    applicable for this period.
    A total of 31,690 black lung
    claims were reported under the
    Federal Coal Mine Health and
    Safety Act (Black Lung Program).
    Benefits paid under this program
    amounted to $5,890,557, of which
    $1,382,230 was for medical
    benefits. Title IV of the Act
    requires the Secretary of Labor to
    determine “responsible” coal
    mine operators, who will be liable
    for payments to disabled coal
    miners and their survivors. These
    payments by responsible
    operators began January 1,1974.
    Operators are required to
    guarantee benefit payments by
    obtaining an approved
    amendment endorsement to their
    insurance policy with a private
    carrier or State agency, or by
    self-insuring with the Department
    of Labor. Where no responsible
    operator can be identified, the
    Department will assume
    responsibility for payment of
    benefits.
    Farm Labor Contractor
    Registration Act
    (Public Law 93-518, as
    amended, requires the Secretary
    of Labor to report on provisions of
    this Act in the Annual Report of
    the Secretary.)
    The Farm Labor Contractor
    Registration Act (FLCRA) of 1963
    was substantially amended
    effective December 7,1974. The
    Amendments expanded coverage
    by including under one Act
    intrastate contractors and some
    employees of farmers and
    growers. They prohibited the
    knowing employment of illegal
    aliens by farm labor contractors
    and made it illegal to engage the
    services of an unregistered
    contractor. Insurance
    34
    requirements were strengthened
    and safety and health provisions
    for housing included. For the first
    time, civil penalties up to $1,000
    per violation were added to the
    Act.
    To carry out ESA’s new
    responsibilities, interim
    amendments were published on
    February 11,1975, and a
    comprehensive revision of the
    regulations will be published for
    comment early next year.
    Updated enforcement procedures
    were developed specifically for
    this program, and all wage-hour
    compliance officers have
    received training on the amended
    law. The investigation report form
    has been completely revised to
    provide more detailed information
    on the characteristics of the
    employer and the nature of the
    violations disclosed. The
    compilation of statistics will be
    computerized to enable more
    comprehensive analysis and
    fuller reporting of investigative
    findings.
    ESA, the Manpower
    Administration, and the
    Occupational Safety and Health
    Administration have established
    procedures to carry out their
    respective responsibilities in
    administering the Act. These
    include inspecting housing
    facilities owned or controlled by
    farm labor contractors and
    distributing informational
    materials through all local State
    employment service offices. Such
    procedures also provide for timely
    referral of all complaints received
    by Employment Service (ES)
    offices to ESA for investigation.
    Under established procedures, ES
    offices do not service
    unregistered crew leaders.
    Public information materials,
    including posters and nontechnical
    pamphlets, have been
    prepared and distributed.
    Department of Labor officials
    have met with representatives of
    the principal national
    associations representing
    growers and farm labor
    contractors to discuss the
    amendments to the Act and
    speakers have been provided to
    address meetings of state and
    local organizations. In addition,
    the ESA Office of Information has
    distributed eight recorded radio
    spots to more than 2,000 radio
    stations around the country, in
    both English and Spanish. Two
    television spots, one English and
    one Spanish, have been
    produced. The extensive use of
    radio and television materials in
    most agricultural regions has
    been verified by sets of reply
    cards and public service vouchers
    from various radio and television
    stations. News releases, fact
    sheets, publications and a
    Manpower magazine article by an
    ESA economist have also been
    distributed.
    A total of 241 complaints were
    received during the fiscal year. A
    total of 116 complaint
    investigations were completed
    during the year, and violations of
    one or more provisions of the Act
    were disclosed in 89 percent. Of
    the 46 complaints received from
    State ES offices during the fourth
    quarter of the year, investigations
    disclosed 44 to involve violations.
    Section 4 of the Farm Labor
    Contractor Registration Act
    35
    provides for the certification of
    farm labor contractors and for
    issuing identification cards to all
    full-time or regular employees of
    certified contractors. During the
    year, a total of 3,125 applications
    for contractor certificates or
    employee identification cards
    were received. Employee
    identification cards were issued
    to 353 employees and contractor
    certificates granted to 2,159
    contractors whose migrant
    employment was estimated at
    78,000. Certification activity was
    more than double the 1,068
    certificates and 146 identification
    cards issued during the previous
    year. In the San Francisco Region,
    86 percent of the applications for
    registration were from contractors
    who had not registered before.
    A total of 910 compliance
    actions were completed and
    technical assistance was
    provided in an additional 249
    cases. About half of the actions
    were made subsequent to the
    effective date of the Amendments
    (December 7,1974). Of the 910
    actions, over three-fourths (718)
    were full investigations and 105
    follow-up investigations, and 87
    were conciliation or other types of
    compliance contacts; 716
    involved farm labor contractors,
    and 194 involved full-time or
    regular employees of farm labor
    contractors. Geographically, 418
    of the investigations were made in
    the Atlanta Region, 194 in the
    Chicago Region and 144 in the
    Philadelphia Region. A total of
    20,443 migrants were employed
    by the contractors at the time of
    their investigations, an average of
    about 29 workers per contractor.
    Full compliance with the
    amended Farm Labor Contractor
    Registration Act was disclosed in
    only about eight percent of the
    investigations made during the
    second half of the fiscal year, as
    contrasted with 19 percent during
    the first half of the year. Violation
    of insurance provisions, which
    were disclosed in about 12
    percent of the investigations
    during the first half of the year,
    increased to 41 percent in the
    second half. The higher level of
    non-compliance reflects the
    impact of the new amendments.
    Two certificates were revoked,
    and an applicant was refused one
    during the year by the wage and
    hour administrator. In addition,
    22 civil actions were filed against
    farm labor contractors and
    growers, 11 criminal actions were
    recommended to the Justice
    Department, and 133 illegal aliens
    (involving 15 farm labor
    contractors) were found
    employed.
    36
    Occupational Safety and
    Health Administration
    During the 1975 fiscal year, the
    Occupational Safety and Health
    Administration (OSHA) improved
    its inspection procedures, set
    new health and safety standards,
    and improved its Federal
    enforcement program.
    In addition to its new activities,
    OSHA continued its training
    programs and State assistance
    grants in an effort to improve
    working conditions for all
    Americans.
    By combining government
    enforcement with voluntary
    compliance, and national
    standards with localized
    programs, OSHA has worked to
    fulfill its obligation, as stated in
    the law which created it, “to
    assure so far as possible every
    working man and woman in the
    Nation safe and healthful working
    conditions..
    Enforcement and Compliance
    OSHA placed increased
    emphasis on improving the
    quality of inspections, while
    increasing their number slightly
    over the previous year. This was
    accomplished by developing a
    more knowledgeable and
    experienced field force and
    establishing a responsive
    dialogue between this group and
    37
    the National Office in handling
    standards interpretations and
    program directives.
    OSHA inspected 80,949
    workplaces to obtain compliance
    with requirements of the
    Occupational Safety and Health
    Act during the fiscal year. As a
    result of these inspections,
    318,792 violations of the Act,
    affecting 6,173,255 employees,
    were cited. Penalties totalling
    $8,245,496 were proposed.
    In addition, a new Field
    Performance Evaluation System
    was inaugurated. This system
    includes monitoring each region’s
    performance and programming
    inspections according to the
    region’s injury and illness rate
    and the worker population of its
    various industries. Nineteen area
    office monitoring visits were
    made under this system during
    the year.
    Standards Development
    Of major importance to OSHA
    during the fiscal year was a shift
    in the direction of its standards
    development. Instead of revising
    original standards, there was
    more emphasis on new areas of
    occupational safety and health.
    The most publicized standard
    promulgated during the year
    dealt with exposure to
    vinyl chloride, a chemical which
    has been linked to a rare form of
    liver cancer. The vinyl chloride
    standard received immediate
    legal challenge from industry.
    However, the U.S. Court of
    Appeals for the Second Circuit
    unanimously upheld the standard,
    noting that the standards
    development process is
    essentially legislative in character
    and that the Secretary of Labor, in
    exercising his responsibility
    under the Act, may set standards
    where scientific knowledge is not
    entirely conclusive.
    New research into the toxic
    effects of inorganic arsenic
    increased concern over its
    carcinogenic potential, and
    studies strongly implicated it as a
    cause of occupational cancer. A
    proposal was published which
    provided for sharply reduced
    environmental limits as well as for
    medical surveillance,
    environmental monitoring,
    recordkeeping, respiratory
    protection, methods for
    compliance, and training.
    A proposal on noise as an
    occupational hazard created
    considerable controversy.
    Industry, labor and other
    interested parties provided OSHA
    with substantial data and informal
    opinion. The issues of feasibility
    and an effective safe level were
    key areas of concern. Hearings
    on the proposed noise exposure
    standard were being held at the
    close of the fiscal year.
    A joint project was begun
    the previous year with
    the National Institute for
    Occupational Safety and Health to
    improve the existing health
    standards for nearly 400 toxic
    substances. The first standards
    resulting from this project were
    proposed in May 1975. The
    project will continue at least two
    more years until standards for all
    substances are completed.
    Other standards activity during
    the year included a proposal
    38
    dealing with housing furnished as
    a condition of employment and
    promulgation of final regulations
    covering roll-over protective
    structures for agricultural
    tractors, specialized work
    conditions in the
    telecommunications industry,
    and the safe use of industrial
    slings.
    Training and Education
    On-site consultations became a
    significant addition to OSHA’s
    effort to encourage employers to
    comply voluntarily with the
    requirements of the Act during
    1975. An amendment to the
    legislation for the Department of
    Labor’s appropriation for the
    year authorized on-site
    consultations without citations or
    penalties in States where the
    program for occupational safety
    and health is administered by
    OSHA. The consultation is
    performed by the States, under
    contract to OSHA, with State
    personnel. Through this program,
    hazardous conditions can be
    identified and corrective
    measures taken without relying
    on OSHA’s enforcement
    resources.
    OSHA’s training and
    educational efforts for Federal
    and State compliance officers
    continued to stress preparing
    them for fair and competent
    enforcement. Educating
    employers and employees in
    recognizing, avoiding and
    preventing unsafe and unhealthful
    working conditions constituted
    another facet of the program.
    The OSHA Training Institute in
    Rosemont, Illinois, instructed
    some 870 trainees from OSHA
    and 650 from the States during
    the year. Increased efforts on
    behalf of Federal agency
    employees resulted in the
    training of some 450 Federal
    safety and health staff at the
    Institute and the development,
    under contract, of seven
    specialized courses for Federal
    agency personnel.
    Private sector training stressed
    existing safety and health
    educational systems that are
    responsive to local needs. Over
    122,000 employers and employees
    were trained under OSHA
    auspices during the year. The
    American Association of
    Community and Junior Colleges
    was awarded $900,000 to conduct
    training through 20 two-year
    colleges throughout the Nation.
    Training was also provided by the
    Building and Construction Trades
    Department, AFL-CIO;
    Pennsylvania State University;
    University of Wisconsin; National
    Fire Protection Association, and
    American Industrial Hygiene
    Association through five
    university industrial hygiene
    centers.
    An integral part of OSHA’s
    training and education program is
    developing and providing
    instructional materials for
    employers, employees and their
    representatives. One such
    package of materials, “Principles
    and Practices of Occupational
    Safety and Health—a
    Programmed Instruction Course,”
    was designed as a self-teaching
    course for first-line supervisors.
    It contains 14 lessons and an
    administrator’s manual. Another
    39
    training aid is “Occupational
    Safety and Health Administration
    Training Guidelines,’’ which helps
    employers identify OSHA
    standards pertaining to training
    and provides a framework for
    establishing acceptable training
    programs.
    OSHA’s training programs also
    include evaluating effectiveness.
    Under contract with OSHA, the
    American Institute for Research
    developed test instruments to
    measure the degree of learning in
    three Institute courses. Southwest
    Research Institute investigated
    the baseline knowledge of a
    sample group of employers and
    employees. Behavior Science
    Corporation developed a system
    for determining minimal levels of
    safety and health knowledge for
    satisfactory performance by
    supervisory personnel in the
    construction industry. Two guides
    were, prepared for evaluation of
    OSHA-sponsored training and
    curricula.
    Federal Agency Programs
    Executive Order 11807, issued
    in fiscal 1975, called for safer and
    more healthful workplaces for
    Federal employees. It established
    a clear line of responsibility for
    the application of the Act in the
    Federal Government. Regulations
    were published detailing the
    manner in which Federal
    departments and agencies are to
    implement the requirements of
    Executive Order 11807. The
    President also issued a
    memorandum to the head of each
    Federal department and agency
    directing a greater effort in
    promoting occupational safety
    and health programs.
    The Federal occupational
    safety and health program
    received increased attention from
    OSHA as well as from the heads
    of the various departments and
    agencies. Program evaluative
    reviews were made by OSHA for
    76 departments and agencies, and
    155 consultative/advisory visits
    were made to provide program
    assistance. In addition, OSHA
    processed 190 complaints
    alleging unsafe or unhealthful
    working conditions in Federal
    workplaces, and a program was
    initiated to report serious
    accidents.
    State Programs
    A fundamental aim of the Act is
    to encourage States to assume
    responsibility for administering
    and enforcing their own
    safety and health programs.
    States desiring to undertake this
    responsibility may submit a plan
    to the Department of Labor for
    approval. Such plans must,
    however, be at least as effective
    as that of the Federal OSHA.
    After approval, all aspects of a
    State program are monitored to
    ensure that it remains at least as
    effective as the Federal program.
    Data are collected pertaining to
    commitments within the plan for
    enforcement of standards,
    training of employees and
    collection of injury and illness
    statistics. Wherever possible,
    evaluation of State performance
    is made by comparison with
    comparable Federal performance.
    40
    During the first half of the 1975
    fiscal year, there were 26
    approved State plans, but
    withdrawals reduced the number
    to 22 by year’s end. The inability
    of a State to pass legislation
    necessary to establish an
    occupational safety and health
    program and the lack of public
    support within the State usually
    caused the withdrawals. To some
    extent, cost to the State of
    operating such a program also
    was a factor in withdrawals.
    Sixteen States with pending plans
    were notified of additional
    requirements necessary before
    approval could be granted.
    Rejection proceedings began in
    connection with two other plans.
    OSHA awarded grants totaling
    $27,178,829 to States for
    administering their programs.
    State programs funded by these
    grants supplemented the Federal
    enforcement program with over
    1800 State compliance personnel.
    41

    Policy, Evaluation
    and Research
    During the 1975 fiscal year, the
    Office of Policy, Evaluation and
    Research carried out a broad
    program in planning and
    developing policy for the
    Department, participating in
    developing legislative initiatives,
    and stimulating and coordinating
    evaluation and research.
    The Office of Policy
    Development advised the
    Secretary’s Office on subjects
    such as improvements in
    unemployment insurance, the
    relationship between work and
    education, the labor market
    impact of national health
    insurance proposals, the role of
    manpower programs in the
    recession, the Department’s
    regulatory programs, and
    improvements in workers’
    compensation programs.
    The Office of Planning and
    Program Analysis played a major
    role in coordinating the
    Department’s internal planning
    efforts. The Office provided the
    necessary staff support to the
    Department’s Program and
    Budget Review Committee to
    assure an intensive and objective
    review of major policy issues
    and budget proposals submitted
    for consideration by the
    Department’s program agencies.
    The Office also provided
    analytical staff support to the
    Secretary and Under Secretary
    in establishing major
    departmental management
    objectives.
    The Office of Research and
    Evaluation planned and
    coordinated agency research
    and evaluation activities
    throughout the Department.
    Strengthened by creation of the
    Research Clearinghouse, this
    office played an important role
    in maintaining the quality of
    departmental program evaluation
    activities. Composed principally
    of economists who provide
    technical assistance to agency
    evaluation offices, it performed
    scientific analyses, largely
    program evaluations, without
    substantial assistance from
    outside contractors.
    The Office provided substantial
    assistance to the Manpower
    Administration in developing a
    series of evaluation studies of
    programs underthe
    Comprehensive Employment
    and Training Act. The Office
    also completed in-house
    evaluation studies of the Work
    Incentive Program, the Office of
    Federal Contract Compliance and
    the Work Experience and Career
    Exploration Programs.
    The Office of the Assistant
    Secretary sponsored two major
    conferences to discuss the
    methodology and findings of
    studies designed to evaluate the
    impact of the Office of Federal
    Contract Compliance and
    occupational safety and health
    programs. Objectives, relative
    priorities, the adequacy of
    present methodology, and
    availability of data sources were
    major areas of discussion.
    43

    Bureau of
    Labor Statistics
    The economic statistics of the
    Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
    were under close scrutiny for
    signs of change in the economic
    performance of the Nation during
    the 1975 fiscal year. In May, the
    unemployment rate reached its
    highest level—9.2 percent—since
    1941, but it began to recede in
    June. Employment rose to an
    alltime high in the Fall and then
    fell sharply. Employment began
    to increase again in the Spring.
    Productivity declined in the first
    two quarters of the fiscal year,
    was unchanged in the third,
    but rose in the fourth.
    Double-digit inflation, as
    measured by the Consumer
    Price Index (CPI), prevailed
    throughout much of the year but
    slowed down in the second half
    to below a 10 percent annual rate.
    Increased attention to BLS
    statistics led to a closer
    examination of many series and
    methods and to a great deal of
    analytical work by the staff.
    The seasonal adjustment method
    was reexamined, and a study of
    alternate methods continues.
    The amount of monthly pricing in
    the CPI was expanded. New
    measures of wage-rate changes
    were published. A new and
    improved diffusion index,
    showing the percent of industries
    45
    with employment gains, was
    developed.
    Other major programs
    advanced. Partial results from
    portions of the Consumer
    Expenditure Survey were
    released. This was the first survey
    of spending and earnings of
    American families in 12 years.
    Other steps in the revision of
    the Consumer Price Index, due
    to be completed in 1977, were
    accomplished. The Point of
    Purchase Survey was completed,
    and the new item and outlet
    sample was selected.
    As a part of the Bureau’s effort
    to improve the labor force
    estimates for local areas, a study
    of the statistical records from
    Unemployment Insurance
    systems of individual States was
    carried out.
    Data collection began for the
    Employment Cost Index, which
    will provide an economy-wide
    measure of changes in total
    compensation when fully
    completed.
    An expanded data base and
    computational system improved
    productivity and cost measures,
    making the results more reliable
    and comprehensive.
    Several studies on women
    were published as a contribution
    to International Women’s Year,
    and a chartbook, U.S. Working
    Women, was prepared.
    The Monthly Labor Review
    Reader was published as an
    anthology to be used during the
    Nation’s Bicentennial. It includes
    55 Monthly Labor Review articles
    on employment, unemployment,
    labor force, prices, productivity,
    wages, collective bargaining,
    and the future of work.
    46
    Current Employment Analysis
    The deterioration in the U. S.
    employment situation, which
    began in the second half of
    1974 and worsened in early 1975,
    intensified demands on the
    Bureau of Labor Statistics by
    policymakers and others for
    analysis and interpretation of
    current employment trends. In
    response to the increased level
    of interest, the scope of analysis
    efforts was vastly expanded.
    Much of the Bureau’s effort
    was focused on assessing the
    nature and relative impact of
    increased levels of joblessness
    on demographic, occupational,
    geographic and other groups in
    the economy. The Bureau
    completed and published two
    special studies on the extent and
    impact of unemployment and
    developed plans to conduct a
    new study of methods and
    intensity of job search on the part
    of the unemployed. Recent
    trends in unemployment were
    analyzed in terms of proportion
    attributable to job loss and shares
    accounted for by other factors,
    as well as in terms of impact
    on various labor force groups,
    including household heads.
    These studies assisted in
    understanding the nature of the
    recession and, consequently, in
    the foundation of remedial
    programs. New data series, such
    as seasonally-adjusted
    unemployment rates for detailed
    industries, were also introduced.
    Toward the end of the year
    concern over the current
    seasonal adjustment procedures
    led to a thorough reexamination
    of seasonal adjustment. This
    study, which is continuing, laid
    the groundwork for a major effort
    to seek alternative seasonal
    adjustment methods.
    Research continued to develop
    better estimates and insights into
    labor market underutilization and
    the adequacy of worker earnings.
    One report focused on the
    problems of measuring
    unemployment, including a
    discussion of the special
    problems involved in counting
    persons with employment-related
    hardship (including discouraged,
    secondary and subemployed
    workers) and an evaluation of
    whether these groups should be
    added to the jobless count.
    Another report developed several
    alternative measures of
    underutilization in terms of hours
    lost. A third examined the
    not-in-labor-force group as a
    labor reserve. Studies were also
    published examining trends and
    differences in earnings among
    demographic and economic
    groups, including union
    and nonunion workers
    and household heads.
    A special union-nonunion
    earnings differential study used
    the Current Population Survey
    (CPS) micro data base.
    Contributions to International
    Women’s Year included a
    chartbook and several articles
    focusing on the current
    experience and trends in the
    status of working women.
    The Bureau also continued its
    program of analyses and reports
    on the employment status of
    minority groups. The Bureau
    published a Directory of Data
    Sources on Racial and Ethnic
    Minorities and completed a
    chapter on the labor force status
    of Black Americans for the
    annual Census Bureau report.
    Research continued into the
    economic and social implications
    of changing work patterns in
    the United States, including 4-day
    and other types of new work
    schedules. National data on
    beginning and ending hours of
    work were published for the
    first time.
    A major effort to improve the
    estimates of unemployment in
    States and local areas began with
    the conduct of a study of the
    statistical resource base in the
    Unemployment Insurance (Ul)
    records of individual States. The
    survey, which included all States
    in the continental U. S., set out
    to develop precise information
    on the methods of collection,
    tabulation and reporting of the
    Ul data and to provide information
    on the application of these data
    in total unemployment estimation
    procedures.
    The implementation of new
    methods of estimating
    unemployment in States and
    local areas continued, with
    several additional changes. The
    new methods, which were
    introduced in 1974, included the
    use of the CPS where possible
    to provide more accurate State
    and local data that are
    comparable from State to State
    and consistent with the national
    unemployment estimates. The
    number of States for which the
    survey data were used was raised
    from 19 in 1974 to 27 in 1975,
    and plans were developed to
    extend coverage to all States.
    Procedures were introduced to
    assure that components could be
    47
    summed to independently
    derived Statewide estimates.
    Estimating methodology was
    changed to reflect new data on
    long-term unemployed resulting
    from the extension of the period
    of time unemployment insurance
    benefits could be drawn.
    Consumer Price Index Revision
    During the year, BLS
    accomplished a number of the
    major objectives of the Consumer
    Price Index Revision Program.
    The revision program, when
    completed in April 1977, will
    result in a revised CPI for urban
    wage and clerical workers as
    well as a new index for the urban
    population. Revisions of the CPI
    have been carried out at
    approximately 10-year intervals
    to make necessary adjustments in
    index weights; to select new
    samples of areas, market basket
    items, and retail outlets, and
    to incorporate improvements
    in index concepts and
    methodology.
    BLS completed the selection
    of the new item and outlet
    samples from Census Bureau
    data collected for the Consumer
    Expenditure Survey and Point
    of Purchase Survey. These major
    surveys provide the basis for
    selection of new samples of
    market basket items, item
    weights, and retail outlets in
    which to price market basket
    items.
    A major test pricing program
    to revise the methodology used
    to select individual items for
    pricing within retail outlets was
    completed. The goal of the new
    collection methodology is to
    select—to the extent possible—
    items to be priced using
    probability sampling techniques
    within retail outlets so the
    resulting market basket items
    will be as representative as
    possible of the distribution of
    actual consumer purchases.
    Major efforts were devoted to
    preparing large scale surveys
    necessary to actually begin the
    pricing of the new samples.
    Substantial progress was also
    made in redesigning the
    computer system used to process
    and compute the revised index.
    The Bureau continued research
    work in measuring the costs of
    homeownership. This may lead
    to further conceptual and
    methodological improvements
    in the revised CPI.
    Prices and Living Conditions
    Selected data from the
    first-year Diary of the 1972-73
    Consumer Expenditure Survey
    were published. Average weekly
    expenditures for food, personal
    care, gasoline and gas and
    electricity were published with
    families separated by income,
    family size, age of head, region
    and six other characteristics.
    BLS published a new set of
    price indexes for transportation
    of railroad freight for all rail
    shipments and for each of 11
    selected commodity groups. The
    indexes have been calculated
    back to January 1969.
    The basis of pricing for
    fertilizer materials and
    refractories was converted from
    quotations published in trade
    48
    journals to transaction prices
    reported directly to BLS. The
    Wholesale Price Index sample
    was substantially improved for
    semi-conductors, woodpulp and
    paperboard. Publication of the
    index for mobile homes was
    initiated.
    Nine new 4-digit industry
    indexes were published, bringing
    to 160 the number of industries
    published in the mining and
    manufacturing sectors of the
    economy.
    Export price indexes covering
    25 percent of U.S. commodity
    exports and imports have been
    released. These indexes are
    being published on a quarterly
    basis and provide the only
    direct measure of price trends
    for U.S. foreign trade.
    Estimates of Autumn 1974
    costs of the 4-person family
    budgets were prepared and
    published in April 1975. The
    Autumn 1974 costs of the retired
    couple’s budgets were prepared
    for publication.
    The Bureau made two major
    improvements in the CPI. The
    sample of new cars priced for
    the index was revised and
    expanded to account for changes
    in the market, notably the
    increased importance of imported
    and small cars. The second
    improvement was an expansion
    in the amount of monthly pricing
    in the index. This improvement,
    which entails the collection of
    about 52,000 additional price
    quotes annually for selected
    items previously priced on a
    quarterly basis, is designed to
    increase the sensitivity of the
    CPI to monthly price changes.
    Wages and Industrial Relations
    Significant improvements
    were introduced in wage and
    industrial relations data. These
    improvements stemmed largely
    from the growing demands of
    the Federal economic community.
    New measures of wage-rate
    change were included in reports
    on wage developments in major
    collective bargaining units. The
    new series were made possible
    by completion of a sophisticated
    data processing system. In
    addition, the new data processing
    capability made it possible to
    fill requests for a number of
    special tabulations.
    Data collection began for the
    Employment Cost Index,
    designed to provide an
    economy-wide measure of
    changes in total compensation
    unaffected by occupational,
    industrial, and geographic shifts
    in employment. Eleven wage
    chronology bulletins and
    supplements were prepared
    during the year, updating
    previous publications by
    including developments under
    recent contract settlements.
    A more efficient area wage
    survey sample was introduced,
    permitting a reduction in the
    number of area studied from
    85 to 70 and improving the
    representation of all 263 survey
    areas within the contiguous
    48 States.
    BLS continued to provide
    ESA with survey results which
    are used in administering the
    Service Contract Act. BLS
    conducted about 105 area
    surveys under this arrangement.
    49
    In addition, tabulations on a
    pilot study of formal rate ranges
    in five survey areas were provided
    to ESA.
    BLS published for the first
    time in many years detailed
    reports on occupational pay
    relationships in department
    stores and in union and open
    shop construction. As part of this
    construction survey, tabulations
    of data by race and Spanish
    surname in the occupations
    studied were provided to ESA.
    A pilot study in construction
    began to test the feasibility of
    collecting the data by mail
    questionaire instead of personal
    visit in this industry. The first
    industry wage survey report to
    incorporate regression
    techniques—occupational pay
    in men’s suit and coat
    manufacturing—was issued.
    A new probability sample of
    cities in the union wage studies,
    which will be implemented in
    fiscal year 1976, was developed.
    For the first time in about 15
    years, Monthly Labor Review
    articles for the five union wage
    surveys were published. A “Guide
    to the Printing Industry” was
    incorporated in the bulletin on
    union wages and hours in the
    printing industry.
    The Bureau took action on
    General Accounting Office
    recommendations to improve the
    annual survey of professional,
    administrative, technical and
    clerical pay (PATC). It developed
    a more comprehensive training
    program, instituted a new quality
    measurement program, and
    conducted additional research to
    review and improve occupational
    50
    definitions used in the survey.
    BLS also provided technical
    support to the U. S. Civil Service
    Commission in a research project
    to improve the industrial
    coverage of the survey in 1976.
    The Bureau studied the feasibility
    of reporting cash nonproduction
    bonus data in the PATC survey.
    Special efforts were directed
    toward completing municipal
    government wage surveys for all
    cities of 500,000 population or
    more. Supplemental reports were
    introduced and used to speed up
    publication of results whenever
    possible.
    A comprehensive analysis of
    health benefit plans, made in
    cooperation with the Social
    Security Administration, was
    updated to reflect January 1975
    data. Employer and employee
    contribution-rate data were
    collected for the first time.
    The 1974 edition of the Digest
    of Selected Health and Insurance
    Plans, and Supplement I, were
    issued. Three articles, two on
    multi-employer pension plans
    and one on the number of workers
    covered under negotiated health
    and insurance and pension
    plans, were published in the
    Monthly Labor Review.
    Extensive data were provided
    on pension plans for the executive
    and legislative consideration of
    pension legislation. Data on
    continuing health benefits for
    laid-off workers were also
    furnished.
    Reports on the compensation
    structure of employees of each of
    the 50 States were issued for the
    first time, and the fourth bulletin
    detailing the annual earnings
    and employment patterns of
    employees was published.
    Extensive statistics relating to
    the earnings and hours of work
    of employees in 23 low-paying
    industries were provided to
    ESA to appraise existing and
    proposed changes to the
    provisions of the Fair Labor
    Standard Act (FLSA).
    A massive and complex
    program of studies of industries
    and occupations exempt from
    the minimum wage or overtime
    pay provisions of the FLSA was
    planned with ESA and launched
    by the Bureau. The studies will
    examine topics such as employee
    earnings and hours of work,
    patterns of seasonality, and
    potential costs to employers
    should exemptions be removed
    for the exempt industries and
    occupations studied.
    Expansion of work in the public
    sector continued with the release
    of a study of negotiated grievance
    and arbitration procedures in
    State and local government and
    a study analyzing more than 100
    contract characteristics. The
    latter study has been put on
    an annual cycle, with up-to-date
    findings to be available to the
    negotiating parties on a quarterly
    basis.
    The 1973 edition of the
    Directory of National Unions
    and Employee Associations was
    the first to be issued as a
    loose-leaf publication, thereby
    permitting periodic revisions of
    the entire listing section. The
    1975 edition, now underway, will
    include a major section on the
    structure of union finances.
    In addition to the annual
    bulletin on strikes in the U.S.,
    special reports were published
    for the railroad and construction
    industries and for all levels of
    government.
    The Bureau’s analysis of
    collective bargaining
    agreements in the private sector
    continued with the completion
    of a study of the treatment of
    safety and health issues before
    and after the passage of the
    Occupational Safety and Health
    Act of 1970 and two studies
    of characteristics and provisions
    in the construction industry.
    The redesign of the Bureau's
    industrial relations data
    processing system is on schedule
    and should produce timelier work
    stoppage and collective
    bargaining agreement data than
    has hitherto been possible.
    Productivity and Technology
    BLS continued to strengthen
    and expand its program of
    research in productivity and
    technology. Two productivity
    measures for industries—
    gasoline stations and hotels
    and motels—were added to the
    list for which detailed
    productivity studies are
    published. The new series on
    Federal government productivity
    was refined and expanded, and
    indexes for the 1967-74 fiscal
    years were completed for 16
    functional groupings and the
    total sample.
    The productivity and cost
    measures calculated for the
    private economy and the farm
    and nonfarm sectors were
    51
    improved by the introduction
    of an expanded data base and
    computational system. The new
    system incorporates several
    refinements in both the
    underlying data and methods
    which make the results more
    reliable and comprehensive.
    Reports appraising the impact
    of major technological changes
    on productivity and occupations
    over the next 5 to 10 years were
    published for textile mill
    products, lumber and wood
    products, tires and tubes,
    aluminum, banking and health
    services. These reports, the first
    of a series, update and expand
    earlier research and were
    undertaken as part of the
    Bureau’s ongoing effort to assess
    the manpower implications of
    new technology.
    A report on labor and material
    requirements for apartment
    construction was published to
    measure the impact of
    construction activity on labor
    and material requirements.
    Estimates were also prepared on
    the impact of Bicentennial-related
    construction activity on
    employment and occupations in
    Washington, D.C.
    Comparative studies of
    productivity, compensation and
    costs were expanded for
    manufacturing in the United
    States and 11 major industrial
    countries. Measures were
    introduced for relative changes
    based on the most recent quarter
    compared with the same quarter
    of the previous year.
    Comparisons of labor force,
    employment and unemployment
    levels were expanded by the
    52
    addition of monthly and quarterly
    estimates of unemployment
    rates in the major countries.
    Finally, the Bureau published
    a wide-ranging chartbook,
    Productivity: an International
    Perspective, in response to a
    request by the National
    Commission on Productivity and
    Work Quality.
    Economic Growth
    Division activities continued to
    develop along two related
    program lines: long-term
    projections of manpower
    requirements in all sectors of
    the economy and studies of the
    manpower requirements currently
    generated by selected
    government programs.
    A comprehensive study of
    industry employment
    requirements by major sector
    of the economy in 1980 and
    1985 was completed and
    published. Revisions were soon
    made analyzing the effects on
    these projections of both the
    recent economic decline and
    current energy problems and
    policies. Several scenarios
    showing different rates of
    economic recovery to 1980 and
    alternative energy policies are
    being studied.
    Several projects on current
    Federal manpower requirements
    were completed in this period.
    The “Manpower Factbook,”
    providing a methodology to assist
    agencies in determining their
    own manpower requirements,
    was published. A study of the
    employment requirements
    generated by medical programs
    of the Veterans Administration,
    institutional manpower training
    grants, National Institute of
    Health grants, and National
    Aeronautics and Space
    Administration outlays was also
    published. In addition, estimates
    were completed of the manpower
    requirements of Bicentennial
    activities in the Washington area
    as a contribution to a study by
    the Mid-Atlantic Regional Office
    undertaken for the District
    of Columbia government. A
    2-year study was begun to
    determine the job requirements
    associated with urban transit
    programs in the Boston area.
    Occupational Safety and Health
    The Office of Occupational
    Safety and Health Statistics, in
    its fourth year of operation,
    completed its recordkeeping
    revision, issued 1973 survey data,
    and expanded its State grant
    program. It also carried out
    special statistical projects.
    Revised recordkeeping forms
    were introduced on January 1,
    1975. These forms are used by
    employers to record work-related
    injuries and illnesses. Revisions
    were needed to give more
    precise measures of the
    seriousness of cases and to make
    the forms easier for employers
    to understand. A revised
    Recordkeeping Requirements
    Booklet, which contains the
    revised forms and instructions
    for using them, was mailed to
    nearly 1 million employers in
    November and December 1974.
    A revision of Report 412, What
    Every Employer Needs to Know
    About OSHA Recordkeeping,
    was completed. An audio aid,
    containing a tape cassette
    and other materials, for
    self-instruction in OSHA
    recordkeeping, was prepared
    and offered for sale by the
    National Audiovisual Center. A
    contract was negotiated to
    produce a film to instruct
    employers about how to keep
    OSHA injury and illness records.
    Two different annual surveys
    were analyzed: Bulletin 1830,
    Occupational Injuries and
    Illnesses by Industry, 1972, was
    published in October 1974.
    Estimates were also prepared
    from data collected in the annual
    survey for 1973. The Quality
    Measurement Survey (QMS) for
    1973 was a major activity during
    the first quarter of the year. Plans
    are now underway for the 1974
    QMS, to be conducted in the
    Fall of 1975. These surveys are
    conducted to validate the quality
    of data collected. In addition,
    various publications discussing
    the safety and health statistics
    program and demonstrating the
    use of the estimates from the
    annual survey were published.
    During the year, two special
    studies were completed. The first,
    a study of safety and health
    provisions contained in 500
    matched collective bargaining
    agreements, showed a slight
    upward trend in such provisions
    negotiated after passage of the
    Occupational Safety and Health
    Act. The second study was
    designed to assess the feasibility
    of obtaining necessary data
    from employers to examine a
    possible relationship between
    53
    workers’ length of time on job
    and injury incidence. Results of
    this study indicated that such
    data are not readily obtainable
    and that the complexity of other
    factors present tend to obscure
    a relationship. Preliminary results
    were received from a third study
    which focused on a qualitative
    measurement of work-injury
    information recorded on workers’
    compensation first reports of
    injury.
    During the year, 53 State grants
    were processed. Of these, 22 are
    operating under approved 18(b)
    State plans. BLS contributes
    to the semi-annual State
    performance evaluation
    conducted by OSHA. Forty-four
    States are participating in the
    Bureau’s 1974 Quality
    Measurement Survey. Most of
    the grant funds were required to
    conduct the annual survey;
    however, about a fourth of the
    grant money was used for the
    Supplementary Data System.
    Twenty-five States are
    participating in the analysis of
    workers’ compensation data.
    Guidelines for State data
    requirements were revised and
    the grant application package
    updated. The system for
    monitoring State performance
    in the annual survey was
    computerized to provide regional
    and State measures.
    Manpower Structure, Trends
    Research was conducted for
    the biennial revision of the
    Occupational Outlook Handbook.
    Looking Ahead to a Career, a
    slide series presenting trends in
    labor force characteristics and
    occupational and industrial
    employment, became available,
    and several reports were issued
    from the occupational outlook
    program.
    In fiscal 1976, research on
    occupational mobility will be
    conducted, designed to improve
    information on occupational
    supply. Methodological research
    aimed at improving data
    generated from studies of the
    impact of Federal program
    expenditures on occupational
    demand and supply will continue.
    A report on this topic was
    completed in fiscal 1975, titled
    Research on the Effects of
    Federal Programs on
    Occupational Requirements and
    Supply: A Demonstration Study
    of the National Institutes of
    Health.
    In the BLS-MA-State
    cooperative Occupational
    Employment Statistics Survey
    Program, data are being collected
    for each cooperating State by the
    State employment security
    agency. During the year, 28
    States and the District of
    Columbia collected data from
    establishments in manufacturing
    industries.
    As a part of the Bureau’s
    Occupational Employment
    Statistics program, over 40
    State employment security
    agencies published projections
    of industrial and occupational
    manpower requirements to 1980
    covering the State and most
    major metropolitan areas.
    One revised supplement to the
    Tomorrow’s Manpower Needs
    Series was published. This
    54
    revision, Matching Occupational
    Classification to Vocational
    Education Program Codes, allows
    educational planners and others
    to match the occupation
    classification used in the
    Bureau’s current National-State
    industry-occupational matrix
    system.
    A set of diffusion indexes
    showing the percent of industries
    with employment increases was
    developed for 172 industries
    and first published in December
    1974. The 172-industry diffusion
    index is an improvement over
    the earlier 30-industry index.
    The new indexes measure a more
    comprehensive breadth of
    dispersion of economic gains
    and losses and are a better
    analytical measure of cyclical
    changes than the 30-industry
    series.
    55

    Office of
    the Solicitor
    New laws and amendments to
    existing legislation increased the
    variety and volume of legal
    services provided by the Office
    oftheSolicitorduringthe 1975
    fiscal year. Legal services were
    provided for a number of major
    legislative proposals, and court
    rulings brought substantial
    benefits to American workers.
    A paralegal program, instituted
    by the Department as a pilot
    program for the Federal
    Government, continued to provide
    formal study, on-the-job training,
    and active participation in legal
    services for 19 paralegal trainees
    representing the various field
    offices and national office
    divisions.
    Considerable effort was
    directed toward increasing
    organizational efficiency through
    the more intensive use of word
    processing equipment.
    General Legal Services
    Throughout the first nine
    months of the fiscal year the
    Division of General Legal
    Services assisted the Solicitor
    as the Labor Department
    member of the Administrative
    Conference of the U.S. in
    formulating task force activities
    in connection with the
    intergovernmental program
    operations.
    The division also prepared,
    cleared and published the
    Department’s Disclosure
    Regulations (29 CFR Part 70),
    required by the extensive
    amendments to the Freedom of
    Information Act which became
    effective February 19,1975.
    Veterans’ Reemployment Rights
    Veterans’ reemployment rights
    provisions were recodified into
    Title 38, United States Code,
    and two significant statutory
    amendments were added. The
    Federal law was extended to
    give enforceable rights to
    employees of the States and
    their local subdivisions, and the
    application of State statutes
    was barred in these actions. The
    legislative history made it clear
    that only undue delay was
    appropriate as a time-barred
    defense in these cases.
    Litigation activity in the area
    of veterans’ reemployment rights
    continued at a high level. During
    the year, the Supreme Court, in
    Foster v. Dravo Corp., 420
    U.S. 92 (1975), decided a vacation
    eligibility case by concluding
    that if a bona fide work
    requirement exists for accrual
    of vacation benefits, returning
    veterans must satisfy that
    requirement in order to receive
    a vacation in their year of return
    or the year thereafter.
    The issue of counting military
    service for the purpose of
    pension benefits took on
    increased significance during
    the year, with two district court
    decisions, Davis v. Alabama
    Power Co., 383 F.Supp. 880
    N.D. Ala, 1974) and Smith v.
    Industrial Employers and
    Distributors Assoc., 385 F.Supp.
    1281 (N.D. Calif., 1974), holding
    that military service must be so
    57
    counted, while one court of
    appeals decision, Litwicki v.
    PPG Industries, Inc., 505 F.2d
    189 (C.A. 3, 1974), took the
    opposite view.
    A significant decision of first
    impression was rendered in
    Armstrong v. Baker, 394 F.Supp.
    1380 (N.D. W.Va., 1975), wherein
    the court ruled that a disabled
    veteran who could not perform
    work in his preservice
    classification was entitled under
    the disability provision of the
    act to be placed in another
    position in a different seniority
    unit with accumulated seniority,
    notwithstanding a collective
    bargaining agreement which
    precluded transferring between
    seniority units with seniority
    intact.
    Another decision of first
    impression was rendered in Lott
    v. Goodyear Aerospace, Corp.,
    89 LRRM 3025 (N.D. Ohio, June
    11,1975, not yet officially
    reported). Under the law,
    reservists cannot be discharged
    from employment nor denied any
    incident or advantage of
    employment solely because of his
    or her reserve obligation.
    Service Contract Act
    The Division provided legal
    services for the administration
    and enforcement of the Service
    Contract Act. It represented the
    Department at administrative
    enforcement proceedings and
    prepared appellate briefs for
    all such hearings. It also
    represented the Department in six
    non-enforcement administrative
    hearings. The Division prepared
    litigation reports, pleadings and
    briefs for use of the Department
    of Justice in both enforcement
    and defensive litigation of court
    cases arising under the Act.
    Among the year’s most significant
    decisions concerning the
    Service Contract Act were
    Industrial Crating & Packing, Inc.,
    et al. v. Peter J. Brennan, No.
    C74-73T (D.C.W.D. Wash.) in
    which the court ruled that it had
    no jurisdiction to review the
    wage determinations of the
    Secretary of Labor, and United
    States of America v. Deluxe
    Cleaners and Laundry, Inc.,
    Civil No. 74-1322 (C.A. 4) in which
    the Court of Appeals supported
    our position that the two or
    three-year statute of limitations
    provided in the Portal-to-Portal
    Act cannot be applied to
    enforcement litigation brought by
    the United States to recover
    underpayments finally found
    due in administrative proceedings
    under the Act.
    Consumer Credit Protection
    The Division continued to
    provide legal services necessary
    for the enforcement of the
    provisions of Title III of the
    Consumer Credit Protection Act
    relating to restrictions on
    garnishment. Two favorable
    federal circuit court decisions
    were rendered and two others
    that were part favorable and part
    unfavorable. One significant
    case under Title III is currently
    pending before the United States
    District Court of Arizona.
    In Brennan v. The Kroger Co.,
    513F.2d961 (C.A. 7,1975)
    58
    the Seventh Circuit held the
    discharge of an employee
    unlawful under Section 304(a) of
    the Act where the discharge
    resulted from the mere service
    on an employer of a second
    garnishment order which did not,
    because of the pendency of a
    superior lien, require the
    withholding of any of the
    employee’s earnings. In two
    cases consolidated for purposes
    of appeal the Ninth Circuit held
    that Section 306 provides
    authority for the Secretary to
    maintain civil actions to enforce
    both Sections 303 and 304. On
    the merits of those cases,
    however, the Court followed the
    Fifth Circuit’s conclusion that
    pre-Act garnishment could be
    counted for purposes of the
    discharge provisions of the Act.
    Hodgson v. Consolidated
    Freightways, Inc., and Hodgson
    v. Giant Snacks Co., 503 F.2d
    797 (C.A. 9, 1974). In one district
    court case a pre-Act IRS levy
    was counted as a garnishment
    under Section 304. In Stewart v.
    The Travelers Corporation, 503
    F.2d108 (C.A. 9,1974), the
    Ninth Circuit held that Title III
    includes a private right of action.
    This division rendered
    substantial assistance in the legal
    preparation of Dunlop v. First
    National Bank of Arizona,
    (USDC Dist. of Ariz., Civ. No.
    72-118 PHX WPC).
    Davis-Bacon and Related Acts
    In North Georgia Building &
    Construction Trades Council
    v. U.S. Department of
    Transportation, et al. (N.D. Ga.,
    Civil Action No. C75-955A,
    decided June 16,1975, not yet
    reported), the Court held inviolate
    the authority of the Secretary
    of Labor, as against the
    contracting agency, to finally
    interpret and apply his own wage
    determinations issued under
    the Act.
    In Fry Brothers Corp. v.
    Department of Housing and Urban
    Development, et al. (D. N.Mex.,
    Civil Action No. 74-331, decided
    Feb. 3,1975, not yet reported),
    plaintiff sought $3,000,000 in
    damages allegedly resulting from
    wrongful withholding of
    approximately $72,000. The
    complaint was dismissed without
    prejudice on the basis that it
    appeared that the court lacked
    jurisdiction over the action at
    that time because administrative
    remedies had not been
    exhausted.
    In response to plaintiff’s
    allegation that it relied on an
    agreement with the Department
    of Housing and Urban
    Development as to classification
    of workers, the court further
    stated that it was clear from the
    statute and the regulations that
    the authority to classify workers
    lies with the Labor Department,
    and not with the contracting
    agency.
    Child Labor Provisions
    The child labor provisions of
    the Fair Labor Standards Act
    (FLSA) were amended, effective
    May 1,1974, to provide civil
    penalties for violations, to provide
    by regulation that employers
    obtain proof of age of young
    59
    workers they employ, and to
    restrict the permissible
    employment of children in
    agriculture. The Act as amended
    prohibits the employment in
    agriculture outside of school
    hours of any child under 12 years
    of age unless employed by his
    parent on his parent’s farm or
    with consent of his parent on
    farms exempt from the monetary
    provisions of the Act under the
    500 man-day test. In a case
    challenging the constitutionality
    of this amendment, Kelly v.
    Brennan, 74 CCH Labor Cases
    TT33,101 (D. Oregon, not yet
    officially reported) a preliminary
    restraining order issued June 22,
    1974, enjoined the Secretary of
    Labor from enforcing provisions
    of Section 12 of the FLSA. On
    September 13,1974, the
    three-judge Federal Court in
    Oregon ruled in favor of the
    Secretary (76 CCH Labor Cases
    1)33,222, not yet officially
    reported), upholding the
    constitutionality of the child
    labor provisions of the Act.
    The Division has prepared
    comments on a variety of
    proposed legislation introduced
    in Congress which would have
    amended the provisions which
    established the 12 year minimum
    age for employment in
    agriculture.
    The 1974 Amendments also
    provide for imposing civil money
    penalties for violation of the child
    labor provision of the Act and
    the regulations issued
    thereunder. The Division
    prepared new regulations under
    amended sections of the Act.
    The Division handled and
    argued the appeal in Brennan
    v. Correa Jr., d/b/a Ricardo’s
    Mexican Enterprises of Omaha,
    513 F.2d 161 (C.A. 8,1975),
    which by Per Curiam decision
    reversed and remanded the
    lower court decision, as
    requested by the Secretary of
    Labor.
    Farm Labor Contractor Act
    As a result of the 1974
    amendments to the Farm Labor
    Contractor Registration Act,
    which became effective on
    December 7,1974, this division
    has substantially increased its
    legal services. Currently, the
    division is drafting purposed
    regulations implementing the
    1974 amendments, aiding the
    administrator in the development
    of field operations, and
    coordinating the enforcement
    activities of the regional offices.
    The division also continued to
    provide necessary assistance
    to the regions, including
    participation in 60 injunctive
    actions and 2 defensive actions.
    As a direct result of these
    enforcement actions, the number
    of contractors registering this
    year has substantially increased.
    International Labor
    In the area of international
    labor affairs and tariffs and
    foreign trade, the division
    prepared or reviewed the
    Department’s reports on
    proposals for legislation in the
    tariffs and trade area. Attorneys
    from this division accompanied
    the Department’s witnesses
    60
    giving Congressional testimony,
    and an attorney from the division
    participated in interagency
    groups established to implement
    several provisions of the Trade
    Act of 1974.
    With the passage of the Trade
    Act, statutory investigations in
    trade adjustment assistance
    cases are made by the
    Department of Labor (instead of
    the U.S. International Trade
    Commission), effective April 3,
    1975. This division prepared the
    implementing regulations under
    the Trade Act and reviews each
    file in terms of whether it contains
    “substantial evidence” to support
    the decision of the certifying
    officer.
    Attorneys from this division
    represented the Department on
    the inter-agency legal committee
    formed to represent the
    Government in the case
    Consumers Union v. Committee
    for the Implementation of Textile
    Agreements (U.S.D.C. 74-968)
    involving issues of the President’s
    authority to negotiate and enter
    into trade agreements concerning
    textiles as provided for in section
    204 of the Agricultural Act of
    1956.
    The division participated in and
    prepared draft Executive Branch
    position letters concerning a
    number of conventions and
    recommendations previously
    adopted by the representatives
    of member nations of the
    International Labor Organization
    (ILO).
    Additional material was
    prepared in connection with
    certain ILO law and practice
    reports required to be submitted
    to the ILO by member countries.
    Three attorneys from this division
    were members of the U.S.
    Delegation to the 60th Session
    of the International Labor
    Conference in Geneva,
    Switzerland.
    Legislation, Legal Counsel
    The Division of Legislation and
    Legal Counsel performed
    numerous legal and drafting
    services for the Administration’s
    legislative proposals. These
    included the emergency jobs and
    unemployment assistance
    program, pension reform,
    permanent changes in the
    unemployment insurance system,
    trade reform, on-site consultation
    under the Occupational Safety
    and Health Act, health
    maintenance programs,
    amendments to immigration
    certification provisions, and
    amendments to the Farm Labor
    Contractor Registration Act. In
    addition, the division provided
    special assistance in
    implementing the provisions of
    the Freedom of Information Act
    and the Privacy Act of 1974.
    The division was responsible
    for assisting in preparing reports
    to the Congress and the Office of
    Management and Budget on a
    wide variety of legislation. It also
    functioned as legal counsel to
    the Solicitor and to the Assistant
    Secretary for Policy, Evaluation
    and Research.
    Extensive assistance and
    guidance were rendered to
    Labor Department officials in
    connection with their
    appearances before committees
    of the Congress.
    61
    Occupational Safety and Health
    The Standards Section of the
    Division of Occupational Safety
    and Health assisted OSHA’s
    Office of Standards Development
    in preparing comprehensive
    new standards for vinyl
    chloride, mechanical power
    presses, industrial slings,
    telecommunicationsand roll-over
    protective structures for
    agricultural equipment (ROPS).
    The division also provided legal
    services in hearings on proposed
    standards for arsenic, noise,
    temporary labor camps,
    conveyors and 4,4'methylene
    bis (2-chloroaniline) (MOCA) as
    well as ROPS and vinyl chloride.
    Proposed standards reviewed
    by the Division and published in
    fiscal year 1975 included noise,
    temporary labor camps, arsenic,
    MOCA and the revocation of the
    ground fault circuit protection
    requirement. The Standards
    Completion Project was initiated
    with the publications of proposed
    standards for six ketones.
    The division provided
    assistance and guidance to the
    various Regional Offices of the
    Solicitor in the handling of
    adjudicatory proceedings. It also
    has represented the Secretary
    in approximately 100 contested
    cases arising in the District of
    Columbia. Attorneys have
    prepared approximately 115
    petitions for review and submitted
    approximately 150 briefs to the
    Occupational Safety and Health
    Review Commission. The
    issues raised in these petitions
    and briefs include tests for
    employee exposure, employer
    62
    implementation of feasible
    engineering controls to limit
    employee dust exposure,
    interpretation of standards,
    classification of violations, and
    procedures before and
    jurisdiction of the review
    commission. Attorneys with the
    division have assisted in
    preparing draft revisions of
    OSHA’s Field Operations Manual,
    ranging from the conduct of
    inspections to OSHA applicability
    in the maritime area. The
    attorneys have also provided
    OSHA with assistance
    concerning Federal employee
    safety programs.
    Since the signing of a
    memorandum of understanding
    with the Department of Justice
    in March 1975, the Appellate
    Section has had principal
    responsibility for the preparation
    and filing of briefs and
    presentation of oral arguments
    in the Courts of Appeals.
    Appellate litigation has continued
    to increase over the past fiscal
    year, with over 30 decisions
    issued by the courts and over 40
    additional cases still pending.
    Major decisions during the past
    fiscal year have upheld the
    constitutionality of various
    aspects of the Act and have
    sustained major rulemaking
    activities of the Secretary, such
    as his standard regulating
    employee exposure to vinyl
    chloride.
    Legal activities in the State
    plan area shifted from the
    primary activity of reviewing
    and writing decisions on
    submitted plans to reviewing
    and evaluating comments on
    developmental phases of
    approved plans, such as State
    enacted legislation, procedures
    and agreements. One new plan
    (Arizona) was approved, and
    four (New Jersey, New York,
    Illinois and Wisconsin) were
    withdrawn after approval, leaving
    22 approved plans at the end of
    fiscal ’75.
    Review of submitted plans led
    to initiation of formal rejection
    proceedings for the New Mexico
    and Virginia plans. The legality of
    approving “developmental
    plans,’’ those that required further
    legislation or other action to
    meet OSHA requirements, was
    upheld in Robinson Pipe Cleaning
    Co. v. Department of Labor &
    Industry (D. N.J., 1974, Civil
    Action No. 74-228). Secretary
    of Labor regulations for approval
    of State plans were found
    reasonable in AFL-CIO v.
    Brennan, (D. D.C., 1975, Civil
    Action No. 74-406).
    Procedures and conditions
    for coordinating State and
    Federal enforcement, variance
    granting, recordkeeping, and
    posting activities were
    developed and adopted. Under
    the coordinated enforcement
    jorocedures, operational
    agreements were signed with
    eight States: Utah, Kentucky,
    Tennessee, Oregon, North
    Carolina, South Carolina,
    Vermont and Colorado, under
    which the State has primary
    responsibility for enforcement
    of standards under its plan.
    Formal procedures for withdrawal
    of approval of State plans
    failing to live up to their
    commitments were developed
    and adopted, as well as
    procedures for a Federal on-site
    consultation program utilizing
    State personnel.
    Manpower Legal Services
    The four primary activities
    of the Manpower Legal Services
    Division during the past year have
    been: (1) assisting the Manpower
    Administration (MA) in
    implementing new legislation,
    (2) assisting MA in developing,
    for the first time, comprehensive
    sets of regulations for the
    operation of its many programs,
    (3) providing an ever increasing
    amount of legal advice on a
    day-to-day basis, and (4)
    representing the Department’s
    interests in manpower-related
    litigation.
    Substantial legislation was
    enacted relating to training and
    public service employment
    programs and unemployment
    compensation programs. In both
    these areas, it was critical to
    get rapid implementation, as the
    purpose of the legislation was
    to deal quickly with the
    worsening national economic
    situation. The division assisted
    the Manpower Administration in
    interpreting the legislation and
    developing the necessary
    guidelines to implement it.
    The division helped the
    Manpower Administration
    complete a comprehensive set
    of regulations for the
    Comprehensive Employment and
    Training Act of 1973, as amended.
    The division provided an
    increased amount of day-to-day
    legal service to the Manpower
    63
    Administration on legal problems
    arising under manpower statutes.
    It worked with the Manpower
    Administration and the
    Department of Health, Education,
    and Welfare in developing
    improved regulations for the
    Work Incentive Program, and has
    continued to represent the
    Secretary in a growing amount
    of litigation involving tine
    Department’s manpower
    programs. It achieved significant
    victories in cases of first
    impression under CETA and
    cases pertaining to the interstate
    clearance system’s procedures
    for securing domestic and
    seasonal farmworkers prior to
    the certification of temporary
    foreign workers.
    Plan Benefits Security
    The Plan Benefits Security
    Division (PBSD) was first,
    organized as a Solicitor’s Office
    task force during legislative
    consideration of the Employee
    Retirement Income Security Act
    (ERISA). It became a division
    of the Solicitor’s Office in
    December 1974, when the first
    funds for implementation of the
    act were appropriated by
    Congress.
    This division published
    regulations and interpretive
    bulletins dealing with the
    fiduciary responsibilities of
    employee benefit plan funds
    and parties in interest, as well
    as a procedure for persons
    requesting exemptions from the
    act’s prohibited transaction
    provisions.
    It issued interim exemptions
    from the prohibited transaction
    provisions applicable to certain
    transactions between employee
    benefit plans and certain
    broker-dealers, reporting dealers
    and banks. Proposed exemptions
    from the prohibited transaction
    provisions applicable to certain
    transactions commonly engaged
    in by multi-employer plans were
    issued.
    During the year, this division
    .represented the Secretary in
    connection with proceedings
    before the U.S. Parole Board
    to consider applications of
    persons for exemptions from the
    criminal conviction prohibition
    section of the Act and issued two
    sets of proposed regulations
    concerning the reporting and
    disclosure requirements of the
    Act. It also intervened in the first
    case under the authority of
    ERISA.
    Employee Benefits
    The Division of Employee
    Benefits participated in a large
    number of cases involving legal
    issues arising out of the black
    lung provisions of Title IV of the
    Federal Coal Mine Health and
    Safety Act of 1969, the
    Longshoremen’s and Harbor
    Workers’ Compensation Act, and
    the Federal Employees’
    Compensation Act.
    On October 29, 1974, the
    Supreme Court summarily
    affirmed a decision of a
    three-judge district court which
    upheld the constitutionality of
    many provisions of Part C of
    Title IV of the Federal Coal Mine
    Health and Safety Act of 1969.
    64
    National Independent Coal
    Operators Assoc, v. Brennan,
    372 F.Supp. 16 (D. D.C.), aff’d 95
    S.Ct. 216. In a related case,
    Turner-Elkhorn Mining Company
    v. Brennan (E.D. Ky.), the
    three-judge court also upheld the
    constitutionality of several
    provisions of the Act, while at the
    same time, declaring the
    irrebuttable presumption
    contained in section 411 (c)(3), the
    limitation of evidence provisions
    set forth in section 411 (c)(4)
    unconstitutional. The Supreme
    Court, on April 28,1975, stayed
    the injunction which the district
    court had entered enjoining the
    Secretary from applying these
    provisions. The Supreme Court
    has scheduled plenary review of
    all issues for its next term.
    In an unanimous decision
    issued June 16,1975, the
    Supreme Court upheld the
    Department’s position that
    section 22 of the Longshoremen’s
    and Harbor Workers’
    Compensation Act could not
    operate to preclude an employee
    from seeking additional benefits
    where no compensation order
    had been filed on his original
    claim even though the employer
    had voluntarily paid
    compensation. Intercounty
    Construction Corp. v. Walter, 95
    S.Ct. 2016. This decision resolves
    the conflict between the favorable
    decision of the Court of Appeals
    for the District of Columbia
    Circuit (Intercounty Construction
    Corp. v. Walter, 500 F.2d 815) and
    the contrary view held by the
    Fifth Circuit in Strachan Shipping
    Co. v. Hollis, 460 F.2d 1180, cert,
    den. 409 U.S. 887.
    In another Longshoremen’s
    Act case, Edgar McCord v.
    Benefits Review Board, 514 F.2d
    298, the Court of Appeals for the
    District of Columbia Circuit held
    that neither the Longshoremen’s
    Act nor Rule 15 of the Federal
    Rules of Appellate Procedure
    requires that the Benefit Review
    Board (a quasi-judicial body
    established by section 21 of the
    Act) be joined as a party and
    compelled to participate in
    litigation involving the propriety
    of its decisions. In a companion
    case Director, Office of Workers’
    Compensation Programs v.
    Cephas, the Court of Appeals
    upheld the right of the Director
    to appeal decisions rendered by
    the Benefits Review Board.
    The division prepared and
    published regulations to
    implement the authority and
    responsibility of the Office of
    Workers’ Compensation
    Programs in administering 1974
    amendments to the Federal
    Employees’ Compensation Act.
    Labor-Management Laws
    In Dunlop v. Bachowski, the
    Supreme Court issued an
    opinion deciding that courts have
    jurisdiction to entertain suits by
    disappointed complainants to
    review, on a very limited basis,
    the Secretary’s decision not to
    file suit to overturn a union
    election under the Labor-
    Management Reporting and
    Disclosure Act (LMRDA). The
    Court held that the Secretary
    may be required to furnish a
    statement of his reasons for not
    proceeding, but that his factual
    65
    findings are not subject to
    question through an adversary
    trial procedure.
    The Ninth Circuit Court of
    Appeals, in Brennan v. Silvergate
    District Lodge 50, International
    Association of Machinists,
    affirmed the District Court’s denial
    of an incumbent officer’s motion
    to intervene as a party-defendent
    for the purpose of contesting the
    lawsuit filed by the Secretary of
    Labor, and of his subsequent
    motion to intervene for the
    purpose of challenging the
    Secretary’s certification of the
    court-ordered supervised
    election.
    In Brennan v. Local 485,
    Electrical, Radio and Machine
    Workers, the Second Circuit
    Court of Appeals upheld a
    District Court decision which
    invalidated an election for
    Business Manager, upon the
    ground that it had been
    conducted in violation of the
    union’s constitution.
    There was also considerable
    lower court litigation activity
    under Title IV of the LMRDA
    during Fiscal 1975. In Brennan
    v. Local 795, Longshoremen’s
    Association, the Court directed
    termination of a trusteeship
    which was being unlawfully
    maintained by the International,
    and the installation of officers
    elected in the Local’s 1973
    election. This was the first case
    in which Title III and IV causes
    of action were combined, and
    also the first in which the
    Department has obtained a
    court order for installation of
    officers whose election had been
    improperly set aside by the
    union. The union has appealed.
    In Hodgson v. Supermercados
    Pueblo, suit had been filed
    against the union because it
    failed to hold an election of
    officers within the time period
    prescribed by the Act. While the
    case was pending in court, the
    union held an unsupervised
    election. The Court held that
    this intervening unsupervised
    election had no effect on the
    court action brought by the
    Secretary. A contrary decision
    was rendered in Hodgson v.
    Local 1177, Laborers, where the
    Court held that no new supervised
    election was needed, as the
    violations present in the
    contested election were too
    remote and minor and had been
    corrected by the Union’s holding
    of its own unsupervised election.
    An appeal from this decision is
    pending.
    An important decision was
    issued under the Welfare and
    Pension Plans Disclosure Act,
    in Flowers v. Brennan, where
    the plaintiff, as a representative
    of the Teamster’s Central States
    Southeast Areas Pension Fund,
    sought to compel the Secretary
    to conduct a hearing for the
    purpose of increasing the Fund’s
    bond under section 13 (e) of the
    WPPDA, and further requested
    damages in the amount of
    $900,000, the amount allegedly
    lost as the result of the
    Secretary’s refusal to do so.
    The Court held that the
    Secretary’s decision not to hold
    the requested hearing constituted
    an exercise of discretion under
    the Act which was not susceptible
    to judicial review.
    66
    Administration and
    Management
    As part of its efforts to
    improve administrative and
    management functions within
    the Department, the Office of
    the Assistant Secretary for
    Administration and Management
    (OASAM) completed a major
    study of the Department’s
    automatic data processing
    program during the 1975 fiscal
    year.
    The study was conducted by a
    task force of senior managers
    drawn from each major user of
    automatic data processing
    (ADP) in the Department. It
    reviewed present utilization of
    ADP and evaluated future
    requirements.
    The task force also assessed
    current ADP technology.
    Recommendations were made
    for the Department’s future
    course in ADP.
    Among other things, the task
    force urged that the major
    users of ADP become responsible
    for the systems analysis, systems
    design, programming and
    operation of their own
    applications. It recommended
    that the Department develop a
    hardware-oriented computer
    center to serve as a source of
    supply for the computer support
    to run these applications.
    Finally, the task force
    recommended that a separate
    organization be established to
    formulate and monitor the
    Department’s ADP plans, policies
    and standards.
    When the recommendations
    are implemented, the Department
    will be in a better position to
    take advantage of the technology
    now available in ADP, while
    maintaining the management
    control necessary to insure
    efficiency and cost effectiveness.
    During the year, 448 indirect
    cost rates, resulting in cost
    savings of $1.3 million for the
    Department and $2.2 million to
    the Federal government, were
    negotiated and approved.
    Procedures on the computation
    of indirect cost rates for
    Concentrated Employment and
    Training Act (CETA) grants were
    developed.
    The audit staff issued 4,287
    audit reports covering $3.9 billion
    in expended Federal funds, of
    which $66.2 million was
    questioned. Late in the year, a
    series of CETA seminars was
    started to familiarize local
    Manpower Administration
    personnel, CETA prime sponsors,
    interested State and local audit
    agencies, and interested certified
    public accountants with the U.S.
    Department of Labor Integrated
    CETA Audit Program.
    The Department began moving
    to its new building at Third Street
    and Constitution Avenue, NW.,
    in the latter half of the year.
    When the relocation is completed,
    the Department’s national office
    activities will be consolidated
    in four buildings instead of 16
    separate locations.
    A personnel management
    evaluation program to determine
    how effectively personnel
    management contributes to
    accomplishing agency and
    regional missions was developed
    and implemented. Major
    67
    recommendations are
    documented, transmitted to
    appropriate managers, and
    incorporated into the
    Department’s management
    system so that progress on
    implementing corrective action
    can be followed. During the year,
    evaluations were conducted
    in one region and the national
    office of a major agency; and an
    evaluation of the entire regional
    structure of another agency was
    initiated.
    A new competitive examination
    for apprenticeship and training
    representatives was developed
    with revised qualification
    standards. These will allow for
    the recruitment of more women,
    minorities and Vietnam-era
    veterans.
    An Executive Resources
    Requirements Planning System
    was designed, and data on
    characteristics of the current
    executive workforce as well as
    future requirements for
    executives were developed.
    Eleven Senior Executive Program
    seminars and 85 Executive
    Development Program seminars
    were conducted, the latter
    for employees in grades
    GS-13-15 in the national office
    and the regions. Other
    seminars conducted included
    Labor-Management Relations,
    Human Side of Management,
    Management Techniques for
    Supervisors and Equal
    Employment Opportunity
    Workshops. A program manual
    for administrative, clerical and
    technical programs was
    published and implemented in
    three agencies and five regions.
    68
    OASAM conducted several
    safety and health program
    evaluations and facility surveys.
    It also established new health
    units in seven cities, conducted
    special education and screening
    programs for high blood pressure,
    alcoholism, cancer, vision and
    glaucoma, and established a
    comprehensive supervisor safety
    and health training course.
    The Department participated in
    the White House Conference on
    Equal Employment Opportunity
    and conducted a successful
    Federal Women’s Week program
    which focused on problems
    confronting women and the need
    to improve their status. The
    Department also participated in
    meetings of the National
    Commission on International
    Women’s Year where discussion
    focused on the United States’
    role in the World International
    Women’s Year Conference held
    in Mexico City.
    A full-time Spanish-speaking
    program coordinator was
    appointed, and an “action plan”
    was developed to find qualified
    Spanish-speaking persons for
    Departmental positions.
    The effectiveness of the payroll
    and accounting functions of the
    Department were improved and
    operating costs reduced. Agency
    costs for each program activity
    were detailed in monthly cost
    reports and summaries. In a
    number of instances, internal
    operating costs were reduced
    through more effective computer
    programs and improved data
    transmission techniques.
    Progress continued toward
    decentralizing certain accounting
    functions to the regional offices.
    Under the Regional Accounting
    Project, data for accounting
    functions, financial reports and
    fiscal year-end closings will be
    decentralized.
    A capability for carrying out
    a manpower utilization program
    with a goal of achieving the
    most effective use of the
    Department’s manpower
    resources was reoriented.
    Comprehensive studies are to be
    conducted in each of the
    Department’s agencies on a
    regular basis to aid in determining
    realistic staff requirements to
    support the annual budget
    submissions.
    On the regional level, personnel
    management was further
    decentralized to the regions and
    additional staff assigned. The
    accuracy of regional accounting
    records increased significantly
    due to the efforts of the regional
    financial management advisors
    and the Department’s improved
    financial management system.
    Implementation of
    management-by-objectives
    (MBO) in the ten regional
    administrative and management
    offices enhanced the quality of
    management in these
    organizations. Full-time training
    and employee development
    specialists were assigned to each
    region to expand and improve
    coordination of regional training
    and career development. Each
    region appointed a permanent
    equal employment opportunity
    officer to assure continuity for
    this vital function.
    69

    International
    Labor
    Passage of the Trade Act of
    1974 was the most significant
    development affecting the wide
    range of Department activities in
    international labor during the
    1975 fiscal year.
    The Act, signed by President
    Ford on January 3,1975, provides
    for an expanded trade adjustment
    assistance program to aid
    workers who lose their jobs
    because of increased imports.
    Principal benefits available to
    eligible workers include cash
    allowances, counseling and
    placement services, training
    programs, job search grants,
    and relocation allowances.
    A new Office of Trade
    Adjustment Assistance was
    established within the Bureau of
    International Labor Affairs (ILAB)
    to administer the adjustment
    assistance program. From the
    time the new program took effect
    in early April 1975 until June 30,
    a total of 63 petitions for
    adjustment assistance were
    received covering approximately
    56,000 workers. Petitions
    involving 4,600 workers were
    certified; others covering nearly
    1,400 workers were denied, and
    the remainder were being
    investigated.
    Earlier in the fiscal year,
    nearly 8,300 other workers were
    certified by ILAB as eligible for
    trade adjustment assistance
    under provisions of the Trade
    Expansion Act of 1962.
    The new Trade Act also gave
    legislative authority for work
    already in progress on the
    multilateral trade negotiations
    (MTN) and authorized a
    Generalized System of
    Preferences under which the U.S.
    would be able to grant duty free
    treatment to certain imports
    from developing countries. The
    Department participates in the
    interagency committees which
    are responsible for developing
    all aspects of international trade
    policy as well as for the MTN.
    Since the Trade Act of 1974
    requires advice from organized
    labor on the MTN, a Labor
    Policy Advisory Committee was
    established consisting of
    representatives from 54 trade
    unions and a number of
    departments of the AFL-CIO.
    Six Labor Sector Advisory
    Committees covering industry
    and service sector groupings
    were also organized.
    The Department participated
    in the negotiation of bilateral
    agreements with 22 countries
    under the Arrangement
    Regarding International Trade
    in Textiles (MFA) of the General
    Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
    The purpose of these
    negotiations was to bring U.S.
    textile bilateral agreements into
    conformity with the provisions
    of the MFA and to help protect
    the jobs of 2.3 million American
    workers in the textile and apparel
    industries.
    During the year, the
    Department participated in the
    development of general
    international economic policy in
    various interagency groups and
    in meetings of the Organization
    for Economic Cooperation and
    Development (OECD) on trade
    71
    and related matters.
    In the research area, ILAB
    inaugurated studies on the impact
    of foreign direct investment
    and technology transfer on U.S.
    workers, added to the number of
    industries in which the effect
    of trade policy is examined
    intensively, and expanded its
    work in the area of worker
    adjustment to employment
    dislocation due to trade. It
    completed a study of the impact
    of trade barriers in steel and an
    analysis of the effect of various
    trade negotiating packages on
    output and employment by
    industry.
    Through the Department
    of Labor International Technical
    Assistance Corps (DOLITAC),
    24 technical aid projects were
    undertaken in 22 countries.
    Technical and cultural
    exchange programs in the labor
    and manpower fields were
    arranged for 1,039 foreign visitors
    to the United States under the
    sponsorship of the Agency for
    International Development, the
    State Department, the United
    Nations, and other organizations.
    Many trade union leaders and
    high level foreign government
    labor officials participated in
    these programs.
    During the year, the
    Department participated in the
    management of the U.S. Foreign
    Service, with the Deputy Under
    Secretary for International Affairs
    serving on the Board of the
    Foreign Service.
    The Department co-sponsored
    with the State Department a
    conference at New Delhi, India,
    of U.S. Foreign Service labor
    attaches and economic officers
    stationed in Asia.
    The Department provided the
    leadership for U.S. participation
    in the International Labor
    Organization’s (ILO) four
    Governing Body sessions and the
    annual International Labor
    Conference in Geneva. U.S.
    delegations also actively
    participated in ten additional ILO
    meetings, as well as in the
    American States’ Regional
    Conference in Mexico City.
    The Department continued to
    carry out its responsibilities in
    connection with the OECD
    Manpower and Social Affairs
    Committee as well as in U.N.
    agencies other than the ILO.
    A series of traveling seminars
    and exhibits was presented in
    Bulgaria, Ivory Coast, Kenya,
    Poland, Romania, Senegal and
    Yugoslavia. It was sponsored by
    the U.S. Information Agency.
    The Overseas Veterans
    Counseling Program (OVCP)
    was ended on June 30,1975, after
    31/2 years of operation. During
    that period, the program, a joint
    job counseling effort of ILAB and
    the Manpower Administration to
    aid returning American
    servicemen and women, provided
    briefings for approximately
    338,000 members of the Armed
    Forces in groups and nearly
    79,000 individually.
    72
    Employees’
    Compensation
    Appeals Board
    Despite a large increase in
    workload during the 1975
    fiscal year, the Employees’
    Compensation Appeals Board
    (ECAB) reduced the average
    time necessary to decide an
    appeal from 3.7 months to 2.5
    months.
    The Board began the year with
    43 cases pending. During the
    year, 305 new appeals were
    docketed and 296 cases were
    closed, leaving 52 cases pending
    at the end of the year. This
    represented an increase from
    the 1974 fiscal year, when 179
    appeals were filed and 177
    closed, and from the 1973 fiscal
    year, when 150 appeals were
    filed and 162 cases closed.
    Of the 52 pending cases, only
    three were ready for Board
    decision. Six had been decided
    and written opinions were being
    processed. The balance were
    awaiting preliminary proceedings
    or pleadings, such as the filing of
    a memorandum by the Office
    of Workers’ Compensation
    Programs to justify its
    determination or for a reply by
    appellant pursuant to the
    Board’s rules of procedure.
    The decrease in the average
    time for deciding an appeal
    resulted from agreements by the
    Board, the Office of Workers’
    Compensation Programs, and the
    Office of the Solicitor toward the
    end of the 1974 fiscal year,
    intended both to reduce the time
    for obtaining case records and
    increase the timely presentation
    of legal briefs and written
    arguments.
    73

    Benefits
    Review Board
    The Board hears and
    determines appeals from
    decisions of administrative law
    judges regarding claims for
    compensation under the
    Longshoremen’s and Harbor
    Workers’ Compensation Act and
    its extensions, and under Title
    IV, Section 145 and Part C of the
    Federal Coal Mine Health and
    Safety Act which provides
    benefits for total disability or
    death due to pneumoconiosis.
    The Board in effect replaces the
    175 Federal District Courts where
    appeals were processed prior
    to the 1972 amendments to the
    Act.
    The three members of the
    permanent Board were appointed
    by the Secretary on April 8,1974.
    An interim Board was appointed
    by the Secretary of Labor on
    January 8,1973, and rules of
    practice and procedure were
    issued on March 1,1973.
    During the 1975 fiscal year,
    221 cases were appealed to the
    Board and decisions were issued
    in 108 cases; 64 cases are
    pending and 68 cases to date
    have been appealed to the U. S.
    Circuit Courts of Appeals. The
    Board has heard oral argument
    in 31 cases. Out of the total
    number of cases appealed to the
    Board, 14 have been Black
    Lung cases.
    The Board’s decisions are
    published, and are available to
    the public.
    75

    Information
    Activities
    Rising unemployment and
    inflation—and the problems these
    created for American workers—
    greatly intensified the public’s
    interest in information about
    Labor Department programs
    during the 1975 fiscal year.
    Demand was particularly heavy
    for information about wages,
    prices, employment, and
    unemployment insurance claims.
    The Department issued the
    latest weekly or monthly statistics
    on these topics as they became
    available.
    As a means of keeping the
    media and American public better
    informed of the Department’s
    policies, programs and activities,
    Secretary Dunlop initiated weekly
    news briefings with major media
    representatives regularly
    covering the agency soon after
    he took office in March 1975.
    Other public information
    efforts during the year focused
    on promoting awareness of and
    compliance with laws and
    programs administered by the
    Department to protect the nation’s
    wage-earners.
    Many public information
    activities were shaped by the
    passage of new legislation. For
    example, when emergency
    measures to provide the growing
    number of jobless workers with
    supplemental unemployment
    benefits and public service jobs
    were enacted, the Department
    used news releases and other
    media contacts to inform workers
    quickly how and where they could
    apply for this new assistance.
    More news releases and
    other materials followed
    signing of the Employee
    Retirement Income Security Act,
    as regulations were proposed
    or issued and new machinery was
    set up to administer and enforce
    the law. Two publications—
    “Often-Asked Questions About
    the Employee Retirement
    Income Security Act” and
    “News About the Employee
    Retirement Income Security
    Act”—were issued as
    nontechnical guides to the
    protections and requirements
    of this legislation.
    Other new laws passed during
    the fiscal year spurred similar
    efforts to inform workers and
    employers. These included the
    1974 amendments to the Fair
    Labor Standards Act and portions
    of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
    and the Trade Act of 1974
    administered by this Department.
    Occupational safety and health
    commanded increased attention
    during the year as scientific
    evidence continued exposing
    certain industrial substances as
    cancer-causing agents or other
    health hazards.
    The public was kept abreast of
    these findings and informed about
    new Occupational Safety and
    Health Act standards governing
    exposure to workplace hazards.
    In line with the Department’s
    continuing emphasis on
    education and training to help
    workers and employers
    recognize, avoid and eliminate
    safety and health hazards, the
    Construction Industry Standards
    Digest and General Industry
    Standards Digest were prepared
    77
    and distributed to unions, trade
    associations, insurance
    companies and other interested
    groups. These pocket-size
    handbooks explain in clear,
    concise language how to comply
    with standards cited in some
    85-90 percent of all workplace
    compliance inspections.
    After being the first agency to
    take action during the 1974 fiscal
    year in a Federal effort to improve
    graphics, the Department this
    year began employing its new
    design concept for a consistent
    “visual identity” on all printed
    information materials. Like other
    agencies participating in the
    effort, coordinated by the
    National Endowment for the Arts,
    the Department’s goals are to
    increase the effectiveness of
    communication with the public
    and lower costs of graphics
    design and printing.
    In another move to improve
    the quality of Department
    communications, avoid
    duplication of effort and achieve
    economy, the Department began
    consolidating and centralizing
    control over all audio-visual
    activities. While this effort will
    become fully operational during
    the coming fiscal year, it already
    has helped reduce travel time
    and costs by enabling remarks
    of top Department officials to be
    video-taped and played back
    where appropriate in the field.
    The need to reach and inform
    the Department’s many special
    constituencies continued to be
    emphasized during the year, as
    packets of specially tailored
    Labor Department news and
    information were mailed to
    media serving union members,
    blacks, Hispanic Americans,
    women and small-town residents.
    News releases, articles,
    exhibits, publications and radio
    and television materials helped
    inform the general public and
    interest groups about Labor
    Department programs and
    activities. More in-depth
    coverage was provided in such
    agency periodicals as Job Safety
    and Health, Manpower, Monthly
    Labor Review and Occupational
    Outlook Quarterly.
    Department officials
    maintained an active schedule
    of speaking engagements before
    labor, business, academic,
    professional and other groups to
    explain policies and programs.
    Regional and agency
    information offices responded to
    inquiries and publication
    requests and performed other
    appropriate tasks.
    The guiding principle and
    ultimate purpose behind all these
    activities during the year was
    to keep the public informed.
    78
    Appendix Tables
    Appropriations and other authorizations, fiscal year 1975................80
    Farm labor contractor registration act enforcement statistics.......81
    Number of employees on Labor Department rolls........................... 82
    Characteristics of new participants in comprehensive employment
    and training act, title I, title II, and title VI for fiscal year 1975 .... 83
    Selected employment service activities, U. S. totals
    for 1966-75 and by State for fiscal year 1975 ........................ 84
    Unemployment compensation for federal employees U. S.
    totals for 1966-75 and by State for fiscal year 1975 ................. 86
    Unemployment compensation for ex-servicemen U. S.
    total for 1966-75 and by State for fiscal year 1975 ................... 88
    Benefit data under State unemployment insurance programs,
    U. S. totals for 1966-75 and by State for fiscal year 1975 ....... 90
    Comprehensive employment and training act
    activity for fiscal year 1975 ....................................................... 92
    79
    Appropriations and Other Authorizations,
    Fiscal Year 1975
    Positions Amounts
    Training under Comprehensive Manpower
    Assistance ......................................................... ____ 2,852,450,000
    Training under Older Americans Act ..................... — 12,000,000
    Federal Benefit Payments to Unemployed Federal
    Workers, ex-Servicemen, and persons displaced
    under Trade Adjustment Act........................... ____ 2,365,000,000
    Temporary Employment Assistance ....................... — 875,000,000
    Advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund and
    Other Funds...................... ................................. ____ 5,750,000,000
    Administration of Unemployment Compensation
    and Employment Service Administration ....... — 1,242,300,000
    Administration of Other Manpower Programs ....... 3,471 95,674,000
    Total Manpower Programs .............................. 3,471 13,192,424,000
    Benefit Payments to injured Federal Employees — 165,000,000
    Labor-Management Services Administration ......... 1,093 36,845,000
    Employment Standards Administration................... 2,859 76,116,000
    Occupational Safety and Health Administration..... 1,987 102,006,000
    Bureau of Labor Statistics....................................... 1,523 54,422,000
    Departmental Management ..................................... 2,292 31,359,000
    Total Other Programs....................................... 9,754 465,748,000
    Total Department of Labor Appropriations .... 13,225 13,658,172,000
    Funds appropriated to other agencies’ programs
    administered by Department of Labor:
    Department of Health, Education and Welfare
    (Work Incentive Funds) ................................... 140,000,000
    Agency for International Development ------- 1,388,000
    Federal Employees’Compensation Act Claims ------- 182,200,000
    Grand Total .................................................... 13,225 13,981,760,000
    80
    Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act
    Enforcement Statistics
    June 21, 1974 December 21, 1974
    Fiscal year to to
    1975 December 20, 1975 June 21, 1975
    Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
    Compliance actions, total 910 100 459 100 451 100
    No violations disclosed 124 14 87 19 37 8
    Violations found, total 786 86 372 81 414 92
    No valid contractor certificate
    of registration or
    full-time employee identification
    card .............
    Failure of farm labor contractor
    to exhibit registration
    card while engaged
    in covered
    539 59 228 50 311 69
    activities ......................
    Failure to inform farmworker
    of labor conditions
    applicable to the
    work at time of recruit-
    61 7 37 8 24 5
    ment .............................. 237 26 38 8 199 44
    Failure to post: ................
    Terms and conditions of
    456 50 177 39 279 62
    housing occupancy
    Other terms and condi-
    239 26 125 27 114 25
    tions of employment .. 409 45 136 30 273 61
    Record keeping violations..
    Failure to provide itemized
    earnings and withholding
    289 32 68 15 221 49
    statements .................
    Inadequate vehicle insur-
    278 31 87 19 191 42
    ance 238 26 54 12 184 41
    Other violations ...........
    Total number of migrants
    employed .
    241
    20,443
    26 64
    9,304
    14 177
    11,139
    39
    ‘Preliminary statistics for the first two months of FY 1976 indicate that enforcement
    activity has been further expanded with 1,206 compliance actions
    taken and 144 civil actions filed against contractors and growers during that
    period.
    81
    Number of Employees on Labor Department Rolls
    ________ Full-time Employees______ Other
    District of________ District of
    Agencies Total Columbia Field______ Total Columbia Field
    O) O CM O 00 CD CO O
    CD CM CO CO O LO CM
    CD CD
    ■’tCDCO-i-COCMi-COCO
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    Characteristics of New Participants in
    Comprehensive Employment and Training Act,
    Title I, Title II, and Title VI for Fiscal Year 1975
    ’A large portion of participants falling in this group reflect the nonclassification
    in Puerto Rico by ethnic categories.
    Tittle
    I
    Title
    II
    Title
    VI
    U.S. Total (Cum. enrollment) ................. . 1,126,000 227,100 157,000
    Percent ............................................ 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Male .......................................................... 54.4 65.8 70.2
    Female...................................................... 45.6 34.2 29.8
    Age: Under 22 ........................................ 61.7 23.7 21.4
    22-44 ............................................. 32.1 62.9 64.8
    45-54 .............................................. 3.5 8.4 9.1
    55 and over ................................. 2.6 5.0 4.7
    Education: 8 grades or less ......... 13.3 9.4 8.4
    9-11 .................................... 47.6 18.3 18.2
    12 and over ...................... 39.1 72.3 73.3
    On public assistance: AFDC ................. 15.5 6.6 5.6
    Other ..................11.3 9.2 8.1
    Economically disadvantaged ............. 77.3 48.3 43.6
    Ethnic group: White ............................... 54.6 65.1 71.1
    Black ............................. 38.5 21.8 22.9
    American Indian 1.3 1.0 1.1
    Other’............................... 5.6 12.1 4.9
    Spanish American ................................ 12.5 16.1 12.9
    Limited English-speaking ability........... 4.1 8.0 4.6
    Migrants or seasonal farmworkers....... 1.6 1.0 1.0
    Veteran: Special Vietnam .................. 5.2 11.3 12.5
    Other ....................................... 4.4 12.6 14.6
    Handicapped ........................................... 3.8 3.2 2.9
    Full-time student................................. 32.8 3.0 2.8
    Offender.................................................... 5.7 2.9 2.6
    Labor force status:
    Employed 2.3 3.9 2.0
    Underemployed ................... 4.5 8.4 6.4
    Unemployed ........................... 61.6 83.6 88.4
    Not in labor force ................ 31.6 4.1 3.1
    Receiving unemployment insurance .. 3.9 12.0 14.6
    Median hourly wage
    Preenrollment $2.60 $2.87 $3.02
    Postenrollment ................................... $2.76 $3.36 $3.57
    Selected Employment Service Activities, U.S. Totals
    for 1966-75 and by State for Fiscal Year 1975
    Fiscal year and state
    New
    applications'
    Total
    counseling
    interviews
    Tests
    administered
    Placements
    In
    nonagricultura
    industries
    In
    I agricultural
    industries
    1966 10,625,700 2,285,316 2,594,175 6,586,827 4,305,207
    1967 .................... 10,773,823 2,399,120 2,277,114 6,142,153 4,112,938
    1968 10,693,230 2,599,022 2,099,955 5,759,923 4,572,501
    1969 9,962,834 2,503,928 1,783,298 5,524,269 4,864,495
    1970 .......................? 9,957,060 2,522,963 1,489,561 4,603,597 4,550,348
    1971 9,740,415 2,388,563 1,198,423 3,596,832 3,263,541
    1972 9,370,000 .2,471,000 1,558,000 3,610,000 2,715,000
    19732 ..................... 11,485,026 2,564,935 1,611,500 4,516,703 2,104,931
    1974 11,905,444 2,021,731 1,345,169 4,913,391 1,758,096
    1975 ...................... 12,348,586 1,643,521 1,676,826 4,273,911 1,497,591
    Alabama 244,803 34,634 32,300 80,584 3,425
    Alaska 42,831 1,830 1,780 24,786 159
    Arizona.............. 174,712 12,807 9,418 72,930 7,543
    Arkansas 113,156 18,838 14,227 40,018 27,554
    California 1,244,544 98,375 33,737 440,801 806,386
    Colorado 184,571 25,994 12,966 55,656 5,667
    Connecticut 232,938 12,238 7,408 35,340 3,323
    Delaware 36,399 4,017 1,544 9,080 2,821
    District of Columbia 101,414 22,616 8,873 42,499 32
    Florida 371,233 46,833 26,008 145,557 19,588
    Georgia 385,206 45,466 16,481 84,713 926
    Hawaii ................ 62,896 7,656 2,820 19,147 2,328
    Idaho 77,827 10,488 9,508 37,131 8,349
    Illinois ................ 502,796 74,598 28,967 143,102 6,428
    Indiana 400,095 23,205 25,397 91,738 1,237
    Iowa 150,177 10,244 12,386 88,816 5,856
    Kansas ......... 123,263 24,304 8,387 53,061 8,143
    Kentucky 179,053 39,942 25,759 60,096 2,103
    Louisiana 202,480 15,014 26,461 84,895 27,869
    Maine................. 53,437 16,215 2,070 25,021 1,795
    Maryland 182,695 36,240 6,265 36,876 12,597
    Massachusetts 280,862 42,803 9,841 95,380 14,735
    Michigan ........... 588,073 54,242 28,215 86,422 11,008
    Minnesota ........... 213,908 36,990 27,212 83,355 11,860
    Mississippi 193,947 67,897 40,315 84,434 5,957
    Missouri ............... 339,773 39,121 52,250 114,919 7,404
    Montana ....... 75,823 42,243 13,746 36,698 7,379
    Nebraska ............ 81,136 14,573 6,053 45,350 4,880
    Nevada ................ 76,438 8,577 7,041 24,523 1,425
    New Hampshire 66,948 4,440 1,863 13,580 611
    New Jersey 255,530 44,350 10,670 94,595 11,451
    New Mexico 110,519 18,698 7,291 45,206 3,426
    New York ........... 471,600 127,425 60,343 361,781 28,728
    North Carolina . 416,102 36,600 49,655 80,543 132,751
    North Dakota 51,139 8,587 9,531 35,318 5,969
    Ohio ................ 507,732 33,505 50,427 117,678 3,239
    Oklahoma ............. 228,413 36,820 27,296 125,737 31,342
    Oregon ................. 203,011 37,076 12,850 70,440 36,088
    Pennsylvania 392,599 74,556 51,746 414,160 171,835
    Puerto Rico 179,891 16,106 4,170 44,218 17,657
    Rhode Island ...... 61,939 10,665 1,594 23,089 163
    South Carolina 205,937 32,860 22,666 53,032 33,854
    South Dakota 44,805 18,539 11,180 35,297 5,811
    Tennessee 214,398 17,618 31,007 69,334 20,421
    84
    Selected Employment Service Activities, U.S. Totals
    for 1966-75 and by State for Fiscal Year 1975
    Fiscal year and state
    New
    applications'
    Total
    counseling
    interviews
    Tests
    administered
    Placements
    In
    nonagricultura
    industries
    In
    I agricultural
    industries
    1966 .................... 10,625,700 2,285,316 2,594,175 6,586,827 4,305,207
    1967 ...................... 10,773,823 2,399,120 2,277,114 6,142,153 4,112,938
    1968 10,693,230 2,599,022 2,099,955 5,759,923 4,572,501
    1969 9,962,834 2,503,928 1,783,298 5,524,269 4,864,495
    1970 9,957,060 2,522,963 1,489,561 4,603,597 4,550,348
    1971 9,740,415 2,388,563 1,198,423 3,596,832 3,263,541
    1972 9,370,000 2,471,000 1,558,000 3,610,000 2,715,000
    1973* 2 . 11,485,026 2,564,935 1,611,500 4,516,703 2,104,931
    1974 ................... 11,905,444 2,021,731 1,345,169 4,913,391 1,758,096
    1975 .................... 12,348,586 1,643,521 1,676,826 4,273,911 1,497,591
    Texas 833,776 91,444 119,102 382,581 32,243
    Utah 103,093 29,250 27,970 57,280 4,329
    Vermont 40,608 6,583 1,955 12,138 795
    Virginia 307,743 37,911 46,797 77,433 5,362
    Washington 271,411 15,608 10,883 84,491 74,788
    West Virginia 127,507 12,712 5,740 40,671 2,626
    Wisconsin 258,279 35,860 12,686 64,858 1,609
    Wyoming 34,520 8,370 2,619 23,124 1,365
    Note: Data reflect transactions.
    ’ These figures do not include renewals of applications.
    2 Revised. Figures exclude Washington State.
    85
    Unemployment Compensation For Federal Employees1 U.S. Totals For 1966-75
    ________ and by State For Fiscal Year 1975
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    Comprehensive Employment and Training Act
    Activity for Fiscal Year 1975
    Total Title
    I
    Title
    II
    Title
    VI
    Total individuals served ......... 1,510,100 1,126,000 227,100 157,000
    Total terminations .................. 658,000 553,300 70,900 33,800
    Direct placements .............. 64,200 62,900 1,000 300
    Indirect placements .. 98,400 84,500 9,700 4,200
    Self placements .................. 39,700 28,600 5,900 5,300
    Other positive terminations 198,300 170,800 21,900 5,600
    Nonpositive terminations 257,400 206,600 32,400 18.400
    Current enrollment, as of
    June 30, 1975 ....................... 852,000 572,700 156,200 123,100
    Cumulative enrollment by
    program activity
    Classroom training ............. 297,900 292,000 5,100 800
    On-the-job training ............. 76,500 73,800 2,400 300
    Public service employment.. 361,200 29,800 211,500 119,900
    Work experience ............. 609,700 562,200 10,700 36,800
    Other activities ................. 88,000 86,900 1,100 —
    Current enrollment by program
    activity, June 30, 1975
    Classroom training ............. 127,200 124,200 2,700 300
    On-the-job training ............ 41,100 39,400 1,400 300
    Public service employment .. 264,100 20,700 149,000 94,500
    Work experience ............... 331,100 297,200 4,600 29,300
    Other activity ....................... 36,700 36,200 500 —
    ☆ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1976 0 - 595-397
    92