Members of the National Leather Workers’ Union resumed their picket line at the Winslow Brothers & Smith tannery this evening after a seven‑hour conference before the State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation ended without agreement.
At a mass meeting in Lithuanian Hall, the 400 strikers were informed that negotiations would resume the following morning and that there was still hope for an early settlement. The day passed without violence, largely because management had granted vacations to office staff, foremen, and other nonstriking employees. No attempts were made to cross the picket line, but strikers maintained an overnight presence to prevent truck traffic in or out of the plant.
All employees received their pay at the Endicott Street entrance during the afternoon. A large police detail surrounded a portable payshed that had been moved to the entrance, and strikers were not permitted on company property. Only the paymasters were inside the plant.
Union president Samuel Thomas stated that workers were seeking an agreement containing the same provisions as the previous year’s contract. Thomas led an 11‑member strike committee at the State House, accompanied by attorney William Reagan.
Representing the company — chaired by former Governor Frank G. Allen — were general superintendent Henry Crosby and attorney John Morgan. According to reports, the company sought wage reductions to match unit costs at its Peabody plants, along with the elimination of time‑and‑a‑half overtime and the discontinuation of the one‑week paid vacation.
Source: April 1, 1938 Boston Globe
Compiled by the Norwood Historical Society, with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini.