Text of Act Creating the Industrial Welfare Commis- Chapter 62, General Laws of Oregon for 1915 To protect the lives and health and morals of women and minor workers, and to establish an Industrial Welfare Commission and define its powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of minimum wages and maximum hours and standard conditions of labor for such workers, and to provide penalties for violation of this Act. WHEREAS, The welfare of the State of Oregon requires that women and minors should be protected from conditions of labor which have a pernicious effect on their health and morals, and inadequate wages and unduly long hours and unsanitary conditions of labor have such a pernicious effect; therefore, Be it enacted by the People of the State of Oregon: Section 1. It shall be unlawful to employ women or minors in any occupation within the State of Oregon for unreasonably long hours; and it shall be unlawful to employ women or minors in any occupation within the State of Oregon under such surroundings or conditions-sanitary or otherwise-as may be detrimental to their health or morals; and it shall be unlawful to employ women in any occupation within the State of Oregon for wages which are inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living and to maintain them in health; and it shall be unlawful to employ minors in any occupation within the State of Oregon for unreasonably low wages. Section 2. There is hereby created a commission composed of three commissioners, which shall be known as the "Industrial Welfare Commission"; and the word "Commission" as hereinafter used refers to and means said "Industrial Welfare Commission"; and the word "Commissioner" as hereinafter used refers to and means a member of said "Industrial Welfare Commission." Said Commissioners shall be appointed by the Governor. The Governor shall make his first appointments hereunder within thirty days after this bill becomes a law; and of the three Commissioners first appointed, one shall hold office until January 1, 1914, and another shall hold office until January 1, 1915, and the third shall hold office until January 1, 1916; and the Governor shall designate the terms of each of said three first appointees. On or before the first day of January of each year, beginning with the year 1914, the Governor shall appoint a Commissioner to succeed the Commissioner whose term expires on said first day of January; and such new appointee shall hold office for the term of three years from said first day of January. Each Commissioner shall hold office until his successor is appointed and has qualified; and any vacancy that may occur in the membership of said Commission shall be filled by appointment by the Governor for the unexpired portion of the term in which such vacancy occurs. A majority of said Commissioners shall constitute a quorum to transact business, and the act or decision of such a majority shall be deemed the act or decision of said Commission; and no vacancy shall impair the right of the remaining Commissioners to exercise all the powers of said Commission. The Governor shall, so far as practicable, so select and appoint said Commissioners—both the original appointments and all subsequent appointmentsthat at all times one of said Commissioners shall represent the interests of the employing class and one of said Commissioners shall represent the interests of the employed class and the third of said Commissioners shall be one who will be fair and impartial between employers and employes and work for the best interests of the public as a whole. Section 3. The first Commissioners appointed under this Act shall, within twenty days after their appointment, meet and organize said.Commission by electing one of their number as chairman thereof and by choosing a secretary of said Commission; and by or before the tenth day of January of each year, beginning with the year 1914, said Commissioners shall elect a chairman and choose a secretary for the coming year. Each such chairman and each such secretary shall hold his or her position until his or her successor is elected or chosen; but said Commission may at any time remove any secretary chosen hereunder. Said secretary shall not be a Commissioner; and said secretary shall perform such duties as may be prescribed and receive such salary as may be fixed by said Commission. None of said .Commissioners shall receive any salary as such. All authorized and necessary expenses of said Commission and all authorized and necessary expenditures incurred by said Commission shall be audited and paid as other State expenses and expenditures are audited and paid. Section 4. Said Commission is hereby authorized and empowered to ascertain and declare, in the manner hereinafter provided, the following things: (a) Standards of hours of employment for women or for minors and what are unreasonably long hours for women or for minors in any occupation within the State of Oregon; (b) Standards of conditions of labor for women or for minors in any occupation within the State of Oregon and what surroundings or conditions-sanitary or otherwise-are detrimental to the health or morals of women or of minors in any such occupation; (c) Standards of minimum wages for women in any occupation within the State of Oregon and what wages are inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living to any such women workers and to maintain them in good health; and (d) Standards of minimum wages for minors in any occupation within the State of Oregon and what wages are unreasonably low for any such minor workers. Section 5. Said Commission shall have full power and authority to investigate and ascertain the wages and the hours of labor and the conditions of labor of women and minors in the different occupations in which they are employed in the State of Oregon; and said Commission shall have full power and authority, either through any authorized representative or any Commissioner to inspect and examine any and all books and payrolls and other records of any employer of women or minors that in any way appertain to or have a bearing upon the questions of wages or hours of labor or conditions of labor of any such women workers or minor workers in any of said occupations and to require from any such employer full and true statements of the wages paid to and the hours of labor of and the conditions of labor of all women and minors in his employment. Section 6. Every employer of women or minors shall keep a register of the names of all women and all minors employed by him, and shall, on request, permit any Commissioner or any authorized representative of said Commission to inspect and examine such register. The word "minor," as used in this Act, refers to and means any person of either sex under the age of eighteen years; and the word "women," as used in this Act, refers to and means a female person of or over the age of eighteen years. Section 7. Said Commission may hold meetings for the transaction of any of its business at such times and places as it may prescribe; and said Commission may hold public hearings at such times and places as it deems fit and proper for the purpose of investigating any of the matters it is authorized to investigate by this Act. At any such public hearing any person interested in the matter being investigated may appear and testify. Said Commission shall have power to subpoena and compel the attendance of any witness at any such public hearing or at any session of any conference called and held as hereinafter provided; and any Commissioner shall have power to administer an oath to any witness who testifies at any such public hearing or at any such session of any conference. All witnesses subpoenaed by said Commission shall be paid the same mileage and per diem as are allowed by law to witnesses in civil cases before the Circuit Court of Multnomah County. Section 8. If, after investigation, said Commission is of opinion that any substantial number of women workers in any occupation are working for unreasonably long hours or are working under surroundings or conditions detrimental to their health or morals or are receiving wages inadequate to supply them with the necessary cost of living and maintain them in health, said Commission may call and convene a conference for the purpose and with the powers of considering and inquiring into and reporting on the subject investigated by said Commission and submitted by it to such conference. Such conference shall be composed of not more than three representatives of the employers in said occupation and of an equal number of the representatives of the employes in said occupation and of not more than three disinterested persons representing the public and of one or more Commissioners. Said Commission shall name and appoint all the members of such conference and designate the chairman thereof. Said Commission shall present to such conference all information and evidence in the possession or under the control of said Commission which relates to the subject of the inquiry by such conference; and said Commission shall cause to be brought before such conference any witnesses whose testimony said Commission deems material to the subject of the inquiry by such conference. After completing its consideration of and inquiry into the subject submitted to it by said Commission, such conference shall make and transmit to said Commission a report containing the findings and |