The City Employment Bureau’s Fight Against Job Scalpers
Tacoma’s municipal employment manager implements a new in-person policy to block local rivals from poaching public job leads.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Hereafter, all applicants for work at the city employment bureau must appear in person. Manager Collier has been tricked several times by rival bureaus in the city, which attempted to usurp his positions. It is claimed that several of the local offices would telephone city hall for a list of positions open, under the excuse of wanting work, and then turn those jobs over to their own applicants. In order that the city employment bureau might be well protected from such graft, Manager Collier has laid down this new law. Servant girls still remain on the list of missing.
“Several of the local offices would telephone to the city hall for a list of positions open, under the excuse of wanting work. Then they turned the jobs over to their applicants.”
This 1904 dispute over labor market access mirrors contemporary concerns about tech platforms and recruiters controlling job information. Tacoma’s efforts to ensure fair, public access to employment reflects a recurring civic struggle between private enterprise and the public's right to work.
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