BUREAU OF INDUSTRIAL 
RELATIONS 
The Bureau of Industrial Relations is that Bureau 
of the Department of Labor and Industry which 
studies the conditions existing between employer 
and employe in the industries of the State to the end 
that misunderstandings or disagreements may be 
avoided, or promptly adjusted if they do arise. 
The principal duties of the Bureau are therefore 
David Williams to prevent labor disputes between employers and 
employes or, if unable to prevent, to adjust such 
trouble, so that harmony may prevail in the industry affected. 
COLLECTION OF UNION WAGE SCHEDULES 
In addition to giving attention to industrial disputes, the representa- 
tives of the Bureau of Industrial Relations also assist the Bureau of 
Statistics in collecting union wage schedules in cities of Pennsylvania. 
In connection with these schedules, the representatives of the Bureau 
must visit all parts of the Commonwealth and confer with representa- 
tives of local unions and with employers. The information collected by 
these representatives is compiled by the Bureau of Statistics and used 
in reports issued by that Bureau for the Department of Labor and 
Industry. 
The Bureau of Statistics also forwards the data gathered for several 
of the cities to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 
Labor at Washington for use in Federal reports. Due to the fact that 
the collection of these statistics is gradually being extended to more 
cities and additional trades, it has become one of the important fune- 
tions of the Bureau of Industrial Relations. 
MEDIATION OF LABOR DISPUTES 
The Bureau of Industrial Relations performs that function of the 
Department outlined in the Administrative Code as follows: 
Section 2206. Mediation and Arbitration—The Department of 
Labor and Industry shall have the power, and its duties shall be, 
whenever a difference arises between an employer and his employes 
with regard to wages, hours, or conditions of employment, to send 
a representative of the department promptly to the locality in 
which such difference exists, and endeavor by mediation to effect 
an amicable settlement of the controversy. If such settlement 
cannot be effected, and the dispute is submitted for arbitration, the 
department, in the event of the failure of representatives of em- 
ployer and employes to name an impartial person to act as chair- 
man of the board of arbitration, shall, if requested by the parties 
to the dispute, select such person to act as such chairman. 
OBSERVANCE OF SAFETY CODES 
In addition to the responsibility of attempting to adjust labor dis- 
putes arising within the Commonwealth. the Bureau of Industrial Re- 
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