You could say he also represents the Ice and Salt minors too. Since due to cuts for food ration pay put them out of a job.
Like...an example would be you have the Food Distribution Advisor > Caterer > Food Chief who makes/distributes food.
Well if the Advisor is embezzling food units, that cuts portion size. The Caterer only gets a certain amount of food to distribute across the district and due to scarcity prices go sky high.
Well when it gets back to the higher up in Agriculture more money has to be spent to farm/produce/package more food to give. If the Uppers don't pump any more money the. They need/want to and keep it for themselves then there has to be a way to redistribute what is already in the economy.
In order to get more money for bigger budget certain places have to be cut and because technically Ice and Salt mining are a sub form of mining you don't have to have three foremans for each position, but can use 1 for all three.
But in this society the Foreman is in charge for everyone's lives and the more people the more stressful it is to keep up with equipment, weather conditions, under ground conditions, changes in equipment, food, personal safety, etc.