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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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terms of, “Well, what would suit you? Let's find an answer.”

But the tactics that the Commies taught him are extraordinarily useful tactics in organizing periods. When I say useful, I mean they're based upon human psychology, and upon the fact that a man who appears to be fighting will always attract a lot of people to him. Also, their idea of keeping things in confusion is very good for the early days of an organizing period, because the confusion can always be turned into, “Join the union and this will be all cleared up.” That's during the organizing period. I think the Commies were useful to him, and I think the techniques that they handed over to him proved very useful in this period of organization and in keeping control of the thing himself.

But, of course, all sorts of strange people got into the thing. He became acquainted, naturally, with the West Coast Commies. He became acquainted equally with Joe Ryan, the head of the dockworkers. All these people who work alongshore know each other. He became acquainted with Mike Quill, who arrived about that time. Mike Quill was also another person who nobody had heard very much about and who turned





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