Department of Labor 1913

One sign that the “labor problem” was an important national dilemma deserving serious attention from policymakers was the Federal Government’s growing interest in workers. In 1913, Congress passed legislation creating a cabinet-level Department of Labor. The new department included a Conciliation Service for mediating labor disputes; Bureaus of Labor Statistics, Immigration, and Naturalization; and a Children’s Bureau. The U.S. Employment Service was added soon after the Department began functioning. The nation’s first Secretary of Labor was William B. Wilson, a Scottish immigrant who was a Congressman from Pennsylvania and a former United Mine Workers official.