100 years of protecting Oregon’s workers summarized in new study

LERC Director Bob Bussel

(photo courtesy of LERC)

EUGENE, Ore. -- (April 1, 2008) -- In 100-pages, a University of Oregon professor tells the story of labor in Oregon, focusing on eight leaders who often used their commissioner's post of the state's Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) as a bully pulpit to promote social stability and decency.

The study -- available at the bureau's Web site -- was written by Bob Bussel, director of the UO's Labor Education and Research Center, at the invitation of outgoing director Dan Gardner, who notes that the just-completed 100-year review is "a tad tardy." BOLI was established in 1903.

Bussel, a professor of history, says that readers can learn how state government came to assume a prominent role in ensuring that the rights and interests of working Oregonians were protected.

”They will learn about important social struggles, including efforts to end child labor, to curb discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability or sexual orientation, and to improve conditions for farm workers," he said. "And they would learn about an extraordinary set of figures, the relatively small number of commissioners who have led BOLI over the course of its history. The state's labor commissioners have often used their position as a bully pulpit, reminding Oregonians that social stability and social decency could not be obtained without an enduring commitment to fair and just treatment for workers.”

"BOLI: One Hundred Years of Service to Working Oregonians" walks the reader through issues that faced the agency's commissioners, beginning with O.P. Hoff, a Norwegian immigrant who held office from 1903 to 1919, to Gardner, who recently resigned, effective April 7, to accept a union-lobbying job in Washington, D.C., after more than five years as commissioner.

Images from Bussel's history

Hoff led the first safety investigations, reporting in 1906 that all but 20 of 673 factories inspected had dangerous or unsafe conditions. He won the authority to fine violators and force compliance. During his tenure, the state enacted a child-labor law, created the nation's first enforceable minimum wage law and pursued shorter hours for working women. Hoff also spoke on behalf of teachers, whom he described as "about the poorest paid class of wage earners in the state."

Charles H. Gram, as second director (1919-1943), inspected steam boilers following 10 fatalities. He found dangerous conditions at 900 of 3,200 steam boilers, leading to safety regulations. He also began inspections of plumbing, air tanks, electrical wiring and elevators. A major win for Gram were laws that guaranteed regular paydays and allowing for court actions for back wages. He also led efforts to help the unemployed find jobs and to intercede to help settle labor disputes, beginning with a strike in 1935 by lumber and sawmill workers. He also helped launch a Seasonal Employment Commission to address agricultural and food-processing needs.

Similarly, Bussel addressed the issues handled by subsequent commissioners: William E. Kimsey, 1943-1955; Norman O. Nilson, 1955-1973; Bill Stevenson, 1974-1979; Mary Wendy Roberts, 1979-1994; Jack Roberts, 1995-2003; and Gardner, who took office in 2003. On March 14, Gov. Ted Kulongoski appointed State Sen. Brad Avakian of Beaverton as Gardner's successor.

"BOLI's establishment over 100 years ago reflected a social consensus that government regulation was needed to help reconcile the competing interests of workers and employers and provide legal protection to those at risk of being mistreated or exploited," Bussel wrote in his conclusion.

He also noted national and state shifts in the last two decades favoring less government regulation of workplace and economic affairs. Among new challenges, he wrote, are part-time and temporary employment arrangements, a shift toward treating workers as independent contractors, the privatization of public jobs and the erosion of employer-provided pension and health benefits.

Before entering the university labor education field, Bussel worked for the labor movement, including 10 years for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union and a year as a union representative for an SEIU health care local in Massachusetts. Before joining the UO in 2002, he taught for seven years in the labor education program at Penn State University.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Contact: Jim Barlow, director of science and research communications, 541-346-3481, jebarlow@uoregon.edu

Source: Bob Bussel, associate professor of history and director of the Labor Education and Research Center, 541-346-2784, bussel@uoregon.edu