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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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in the area of Binghamton was about as low as you were likely to find them, except in remote sections where there was nothing but a fireworks factory and a cannery. Endicott-Johnson and International Business Machines had very low scales of wages. It was often a very delicate situation. I would always arrive full of information that I got from anonymous, and other, letters about them, but I had to treat those things very carefully. Yet both Mr. Endicott and Mr. Watson acted like gentlemen and gave the employees time off in the afternoon so that they could get into Binghamton to hear the Commissioner make a political speech. It was very generous and very decent really.

I was making a political speech and was anxious to win votes at that moment. We didn't have the authority to make either Endicott or International Business Machines pay a higher scale of wages. We had no authority to make them change their wage, so long as they paid the minimum wage for women. I don't think we had ever fixed a minimum wage for women in those two industries. They were not sweated industries, such as brush-making, candy-making and things like that were. Still it was a good deal lower than the rest of the state. They didn't like to have it mentioned. They begged you not to mention it.

Very few people would try to put me on the spot to do





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