Session Laws

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to immediately authorize the commissioner of labor and industries to suspend the operation of certain labor laws, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. The commissioner of labor and industries is hereby authorized, in conformity with Article XX of Part the First of the Constitution of the Commonwealth, to suspend until July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-two the application or operation of any provision of chapter one hundred and forty-nine of the General Laws or any rule or regulation made thereunder, regulating, limiting or prohibiting the employment of persons, or of minors over the age of sixteen, or both. The commissioner shall exercise this authority when he finds, after opportunity has been given to interested parties to be heard, that an emergency exists or that conditions of hardship in an industry, branch of an industry, or individual establishment require or justify the suspension of any provision of such laws, rules or regulations. Suspensions issued by the commissioner shall prescribe, and may be either granted or limited to, one or more particular departments, operations or occupations within an establishment or a particular industry or branch of industry. The commissioner shall appoint industry advisory committees, on which employers and employees shall be equally represented, to consult and advise him in matters relating to the suspension authorized by this act.

SECTION 1A. A special commission is hereby established for the purpose of examining which labor laws are suspended, how often the labor laws are suspended, and whether the labor laws should be amended instead of suspended. Said commission shall consist of two members of the senate, one of whom shall be the senate chairman of the joint committee on commerce and labor, two members of the house of representatives, one of whom shall be the house chairman of the joint committee on commerce and labor, and three members to be appointed by the governor, one of whom shall be the commissioner of the department of labor and industries, one of whom shall be a representative of Associated Industries of Massachusetts and one of whom shall be a representative of the Massachusetts AFL/CIO - State Labor Council.

Said commission shall report to the general court the results of its investigation and study, and its recommendations, if any, together with drafts of legislation to carry its recommendations into effect by filing the same with the clerk of the house of representatives on or before the first Wednesday in November, nineteen hundred and ninety-one.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect as of July first, nineteen hundred and ninety.