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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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the working people. There were Communists, of course, in the labor movement, but by no means a majority of the workers. Of course, the movement became so communistic, according to one group, because the old Confederation and the government were so lax in securing for the workers the actual enjoyment of situations which were a matter of requirement of law.

At any rate, when Blum came into the government, he, of course, was a Socialist. I don't know exactly what the Socialist party means in France, but I think it was a true socialist party, if I remember rightly. He was under pledge, and his whole government was under pledge, to enforce the labor laws and to extend the labor laws. He hadn't been in office but a very few weeks - two weeks, I think it was - when they started going on strike all over Paris. When asked why, they said it was to secure the performance of the promise which Leon Blum had made to them that the labor laws would be enforced, to secure better sanitary facilities, better hours, more opportunity, and an increase in wages. This had all been promised to them and they were on strike in order to enforce that. But they struck by staying in. They didn't leave the factories, just stayed there. That was, of course, very, very disturbing





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