Waitresses Enforce Wage Justice
When a local Greek restaurant failed to pay a waitress her wages, her union sisters decided to skip the courts and handle the matter personally.
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.
One of the Greek restaurants received a visit the other evening that made its proprietor sit up and take notice. One of the waitresses formerly employed in the house was having trouble in getting her money and the rest of the girls, after talking the matter over in the union, concluded that there was a quicker way of settling the girl's wages than employing attorneys. So after the adjournment of the meeting, a delegation of girls 'called' upon the proprietor. It wasn't exactly a social call, although they had no intention of doing a 'Carrie Nation' stunt. They wanted their sister to have the money she had worked for and needed, and concluded to try moral suasion. They made that Greek understand that American girls were not to be fooled with and that a girl's money was due her. The display of a determined feminine force brought the proprietor to terms on the double quick. The girl got her money.
“They made that Greek understand that American girls were not to be fooled with.”
This story reflects the era's casual xenophobia while also documenting a grassroots labor victory. It illustrates the 'self-help' tactics used by labor groups in early Everett when legal channels were deemed too slow or expensive.
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