Seattle Moves to Create a Municipal Employment Office
City council members propose a public bureau to connect laborers with jobs, citing a desire to improve employment conditions.
The story, cleaned up
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A bill was introduced in the House of Delegates providing for the creation of the office of labor commissioner. The bill proposes that there shall be an officer known as the labor commissioner in the department of public works, appointed by the mayor with the consent of the board of aldermen. It shall be the duty of the commissioner to compile statistics on manufacturing and employment in the city. The labor commissioner shall receive applications from persons desiring employment and those desiring to hire, recording their names in a book. The office will provide this service without charge to either party. The bill mandates that a weekly list of applicants be printed and posted in the commissioner's office, and a sign reading 'Free Public Employment Office' be displayed. The salary is set at seventy-five dollars per month for the commissioner and fifty dollars per month for a clerk. Any official charging a fee for these services would be subject to a fine or imprisonment.
“The labor commissioner shall also receive without charge and under such regulations as he shall prescribe, the applications of any and all persons desiring employment.”
This 1893 legislative proposal highlights an early civic effort to address economic instability and job placement—an ancestor to today's workforce development programs. It reflects the recurring Seattle struggle to balance industrial growth with public support for the working class during boom and bust cycles.
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