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The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) pulled out all the stops June 27 to celebrate its 75th birthday. Did you get your invitation? Whether you did or didn’t all were invited to learn about what the DIR has done and what it plans to do in the future.

Some of DIR's programs can claim longer histories. The department's oldest program, Division of Labor Statistics and Research, began in 1883 as the California Bureau of Labor Statistics. Precursors of DIR's divisions of Labor Standards Enforcement, Workers' Compensation and Occupational Safety and health were united with the Industrial Welfare Commission of 1913 and Industrial Accident Board of 1911 when the department itself was established in 1927.

“As we celebrate the 75th anniversary, we renew our commitment to California workers and employers to ensure their workplaces are lawful, safe and healthy," said Stephen Smith, DIR director. "We renew our determination to improve work force training and increase opportunities for young Californians by alerting them to apprenticeship opportunities, and we renew our efforts to improve the workers' compensation system so it serves both injured employees and their employers.”

The festivities began at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco with a presentation by state librarian Kevin Starr on the history of California labor history. The activities then spilled over in the afternoon to the state building on Golden Gate Ave. where workshops were conducted. The evening program featured Assemblymember Kevin Shelley—whose father authored a measure that established the state's apprenticeship system in 1939—in the state building atrium.

“Opportunity is the promise that nourishes individual and community prosperity in California," said Smith. "Along with every Californian with dreams, ambition and hope, we at DIR pledge to continue fostering opportunity in California workplaces. California's workers fuel the state's economy and are the most significant source of prosperity and stability in our communities.”