Les Pickets A Auburn, Le Messager, Lewiston, Maine, April 2, 1937. Courtesy of the Maine State Library.
Les Pickets A Auburn, Le Messager, Lewiston, Maine, April 2, 1937. Courtesy of the Maine State Library.
The Auburn Police force along with 56 State Police barred workers from picket lines. When 40 strikers decided to march in defiance of the order, they were arrested and fined $40 each, a hefty sum for the time. By prohibiting picketing within 500 feet of any factory, authorities effectively made it illegal to demonstrate at factory sites in violation of the National Labor Relations Act, also known as the "Wagner Act." The shoe workers carrying signs in this photograph ask to "Stop the Police Intimidation We Demand the Right to Picket."