Board of Labor and Industry, Industrial Accident Board formed and Prevailing Wage Law Passed

Massachusetts was at the forefront of many issues of fair labor and workplace standards. The state branch of the American Federation of Labor pushed hard in their early days to ensure that workers in Massachusetts were protected and workplaces were among the safest in the nation.

In 1904 the AFL pushed for the State Board of Health to inspect workplaces and regulate their health and safety. They followed in 1911 by successfully pushing to modify the Workmen’s Compensation Act which, in 1913, led to the creation of the Board of Labor and Industries and an Industrial Accident Board. These two departments helped to institutionalize health and safety standards for workplaces in the Commonwealth.

The creation of this board also led to the passage of the first prevailing wage law in 1914. The Board of Labor passed a law which made sure “government contactors paid wages at a scale ‘not less than the customary and prevailing wages for a day’s work at the same trade of occupation.” (Commonwealth of Toil, 60). The passage of this law was an enormous victory for union labor and union contractors. Now non-union contractors could not underbid union contractors because of lower wages and benefits to workers.