End of the Hatters' Mad

In Norwalk, Conn, ten months ago, 1,400 members of the A.F.L. Hatters Union struck, in support of a principle, against the Hat Corp. of America (Dobbs, Knox, Dunlap and Cavanagh hats). They insisted that no company has the right to move any of its operations to other parts of the country without an O.K. from its union. The hatters demanded a no-move clause in their contract; the company refused. The A.F.L. executive council backed up the union, decided to make the strike a test of the "runaway shop" issue.

Last week, after three days of conferences in the chambers of Connecticut Judge Elmer W. Ryan, an agreement was finally worked out. The contract contained no promise that the company would not move. But in a letter to the local (not part of the contract and not binding on the company), President Frank H. James gave his assurance that Norwalk would continue to be the company's center of operations. To the men who had trod the bricks for ten months, it was a face-saving gesture--and a costly sop. During the strike the workers lost more than $4,000,000 in wages, and the union went into debt by floating a $500,000 bond issue to support the strikers.

Meanwhile, the company completed a move of its straw-hat division to Winchester, Tenn. and will open a new plant in Nevada, Mo.

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