Shoe Workers (E. P. Reed)

Category: Union Workplace

Formerly located at 179 St. Paul Street, E. P. Reed’s new shoe factory opened in 1906 as the largest & best-equipped in the state, unsurpassed in working conditions with rest rooms, sanitary facilities, and fire fighting equipment. But, in 1922, E. P. Reed was among the Rochester shoe manufacturers who attempted to break the shoemakers’ union by locking out the workforce for two weeks. When they reopened they brought in strikebreakers after the union workers refused to work with non-union employees. Both the union and the shoe industry in Rochester were devastated by this conflict -- neither ever recovered.