When it started bargaining last fall on a new contract, the New England unit (around 12,000 members) of the C.I.O.'s United Shoe Workers of America loudly demanded a raise of 15¢ an hour. Last week it quietly signed a contract with 90 Massachusetts factories without a boost in pay, thus became the first big union to forgo a raise this year.
United Shoe Workers' about-face was caused by the serious slump in the industry. A dozen smaller Massachusetts plants had closed or moved out of the area in the last few months. Part-time production schedules were spreading; many operators talked...
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