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Minimum wage is fair. When my mother, Eleanor, worked for Western Industries in the early 1970's, the minimum wage was about $2.10. Later, I believe their wage was increased to about $2.30. Because my divorced mother, was the sole supporter of five minor children, she worked their grave yard shift.

Like so many divorced women of her generation, my father did not pay my mother any child support. Although, younger single women were cafeteria workers, many of the women had families to support on an inadequate minimum wage! Western Industries had the policy of not paying their employees overtime. They would dismiss their employees just a few minutes before they would be eligible for over time pay.

Western Industries, had the food concession for the Everett Boeing plant. The cafeteria workers would make and sell sandwiches to Boeing employees. Additionally, they would wrap meals for commercial airline flights.

How did Western Industries show their appreciation for their over-worked, under-payed employees? The answer to that ten thousand dollar trivia questions is, a pat on their rear ends, and being called good hard working girls! At the end of that shift, the big wigs laughed," there goes about five million dollars worth of labor just leaving that door!"

When I was a young college student attending Everett community college, a union representative, visited our psychology class. He advised, my class mates not to work for the culinary and bar tenders union. They did not adequately represent their union members, they just took their union dues. I shared my families story with my class mates. The Representative told me that visiting my class was a waste of time, if he knew I was going to be there.

I apologized for monopolizing his presentation. He said, I should not be sorry for sharing my families' experiences, but I should have allowed my class mates more opportunities to share their experiences.

A couple of decades latter, I took a college course in Sociology at Everett Community College. I discovered that large American companies such as the manufacture of sporting good, such as Nikkie, were actively involved in third world under developed countries. Before handing out any gold stars to Nickie for assisting the people in this nations live a happier, healthier lifestyles, be aware of the fact: they were involved in child slave labor, and many families sold their young children to Nikkie.

Nikkie made false promises to the families claiming they

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