The United States secretary of labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies.
Formerly, there was a Department of Commerce and Labor. That department split into two in 1913. The Department of Commerce is headed by the secretary of commerce.
The Federal Emergency Relief Association (FERA) Camps, also called She-She-She Camps, were camps established in the United States to aid unemployed women by providing jobs and training. The camps were organized by Eleanor Roosevelt as a woman-focused counterpart to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) programs which catered solely to unemployed men. Roosevelt found that the men-only focus of the CCC program left out young women who were willing to work in conservation and forestry and were prepared to spend the six-month program duration living away from family and close support. Therefore, she lobbied for a sister organization to the CCC that would cater to young women. Roosevelt proposed that this program would consist of camps for jobless women and residential worker schools. The FERA camps, referred to as She-She-She camps by certain detractors, were funded by presidential order in 1933. Labor Secretary Frances Perkins championed one such camp after Roosevelt held a White House Conference for Unemployed Women on April 30, 1934, and subsequently Roosevelt's concept of a nationwide jobless women's camp was achieved. While the public largely supported New Deal programs such as the CCC, FERA camps reached a maximum of a little over 5,000 women annually by 1936, and overall served 8,500 as a result of Roosevelt's support. This compares to more than 3 million men who participated in the CCC.
The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary reports directly to the president and is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States. The secretary is appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The secretary of commerce is responsible for promoting American businesses and industries. The department states its mission as 'to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce of the United States'.
Until 1913, there was one secretary of commerce and labor, uniting this department with the United States Department of Labor, which is now headed by a separate United States secretary of labor.
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemployment benefits, reemployment services, and occasionally, economic statistics. It is headed by the secretary of labor, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet.
The purpose of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the well-being of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights. In carrying out this mission, the Department of Labor administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws and thousands of federal regulations. These mandates and the regulations that implement them cover many workplace activities for about 10 million employers and 125 million workers. The current secretary of labor is Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who was sworn in on March 11, 2025.
Lori Michelle Chavez-DeRemer (/ˈtʃɑːvɛz dəˈriːmər/; née Chávez; born April 7, 1968) is an American politician who has served as the 30th United States secretary of labor since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, she served as the U.S. representative for Oregon's 5th congressional district from 2023 to 2025 and as the mayor of Happy Valley, Oregon, from 2011 to 2019.
She was the first Republican woman to represent Oregon in the House. Additionally, she was one of the first two Hispanic women (alongside Andrea Salinas) elected to the United States Congress from Oregon. Chavez-DeRemer served one term in the House before being defeated in 2024 by Democrat Janelle Bynum.