| Labor Commissioner of Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Oklahoma Department of Labor | |
| Type | Labor Commissioner |
| Term length | 4 years |
| Constituting instrument | Oklahoma Constitution |
| Formation | 1907 |
| First holder | Charles A. Daugherty |
| Succession | Eighth |
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TheOklahoma Commissioner of Labor is an electiveexecutive officer of theState of Oklahoma. The Labor Commissioner serves as the head of theOklahoma Department of Labor. The Labor Commissioner is responsible for supervising the administration of all state laws relating to labor and workplace safety and gathers and publishes information about the workforce of Oklahoma.
Until his death in August, 2015, the Labor Commissioner wasMark Costello, a Republican, who defeated the incumbentLloyd Fields, aDemocrat in the November 2010 election. In November 2015, Oklahoma GovernorMary Fallin appointed Melissa McLawhorn Houston to serve out the remainder of Costello’s term. Houston did not seek reelection to the position in the 2018 election, and was succeeded as Commissioner byLeslie Osborn.
TheOklahoma Department of Labor was created by theOklahoma Constitution in 1907. In August of that year, delegates from thelabor unions of the Twin-Territorial Federation of Labor, the State Farmers' Union and the Railroad Brotherhoods met inShawnee, Oklahoma, to formulate a list of demands for the upcoming constitutional convention. One demand called for the establishment of a State Labor Department.
Consequently, when the new state constitution was ratified by the delegates to the constitutional convention in 1907, the Oklahoma Department of Labor was created, with the Labor Commissioner as its head. The Labor Commissioner is responsible for the enforcement of labor laws that promote fairness and equity in the workforce, including state wage laws, workers' compensation compliance, state OSHA laws for public employers, asbestos compliance, child labor laws and various other duties.
The office of the Labor Commissioner has been both appointive and elective at various times in Oklahoma's history.
The Labor Commissioner serves as four-year term that runs concurrent with that of theGovernor of Oklahoma.
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The Oklahoma Constitution sets two responsibilities for the Labor Commissioner: (1) serve as the head of the Department of Labor and (2) serve as the chairman of the Board of Arbitration and Conciliation in the Department of Labor. As such, the vast majority of the Labor Commissioner's responsibilities are determined by acts of theOklahoma Legislature.
As the head of the Labor Department, the Labor Commissioner is thechief executive officer of the department and supervises the work of that department. In doing so, the Labor Commissioner is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of workers, to improve working conditions of workers, to advance opportunities of workers for profitable employment, and for carrying into effect all laws in relation to labor enacted by the Legislature. In performing his official duties, the Labor Commissioner may administer oaths, issuesubpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and take testimony in all matters relating to the proper enforcement of all laws over which the commissioner has supervision of.
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The following is an incomplete list of those individuals who have served as Labor Commissioner for Oklahoma:
| Name | Party | Term |
|---|---|---|
| Charles L. Daugherty | Democratic | 1907–1911 |
| W.G. Ashton | Democratic | 1915–1919 |
| Claude Connally | Democratic | 1919–1927 |
| W.A. Pat Murphy | Democratic | 1927–1947 |
| Jim Hughes | Democratic | 1947–1963 |
| W.T. Bill Hughes | Democratic | 1963–1967 |
| L.E. Bailey | Republican | 1967–1971 |
| Wilbur Wright | Democratic | 1971–1973 |
| L.P. Williams | Democratic | 1973–1975 |
| Wilbur Wright | Democratic | 1/13/1975 – 11/1/1975 |
| William A. Foster | Democratic | 1975–1979 |
| William R "Bill" Paulk | Democratic | 1979–1987 |
| Dean Calhoon | Republican | 1987–1990 |
| Ira Phillips | Republican | 1990–1991 |
| Dave Renfro | Democratic | 1991–1995 |
| Brenda Reneau | Republican | 1995–2007 |
| Lloyd Fields | Democrat | 2007–2011 |
| Mark Costello | Republican | 2011–2015 |
| Melissa McLawhorn Houston | Republican | 2015–2019 |
| Leslie Osborn | Republican | 2019–present |
