Labor Relations Subject Files

Series

Identifier: 6003-01

Scope and Contents Note

The Personnel Department's Labor Relations Unit negotiates and implements collective bargaining agreements and administers the City's Personnel Rules. From 1969 until the Personnel Department was created in 1979, the labor relations function was part of the Executive Department's Personnel Unit. Subject files for the Labor Relations Unit date primarily from the 1970s and 1980s and reflect policy development, committee work and interaction with departments across the City with respect to union policies and represented employees. The records are primarily those of Everett Rosmith, Bill Hauskins and Lizanne Lyons. There is information regarding a Quality of Worklife Project in the 1980s, the development of a smoking policy from 1985 to 1988, and the Seattle City Light Productivity Improvement Program in the early 1990s, among other topics.

Dates

Creation: 1968-2003

Creator

Seattle (Wash.). Personnel Dept. (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Records are open to the public.

Historical Note

The Personnel Department was created in 1979. It administers the employee selection system, labor relations and negotiations, benefit programs, and the classification/compensation plan. The Department also manages employee records, implements affirmative action, and coordinates other personnel related programs. The City Charter of 1896 created the Civil Service system and established the Civil Service Commission and Civil Service Department to administer the system. The reorganization in 1979 abolished the Civil Service Department, replacing it with the Personnel Department, and established the Civil Service Commission as a separate City agency. In 1997, the Personnel Department was incorporated as a division within the Executive Services Department. In 2001, a departmental reorganization reestablished Personnel as a separate and independent department.