Work boots too tight

Love your foreman.

Get them thoroughly wet, put them on, and walk in them till they are dry. Repeat if necessary. When you are done they will fit better, but that's asking for a lot of stretching. Also, when you are done, the boots will look like hell. So will your feet.

Take them to a local shoe repair shop and ask them to do what they can to stretch them for you.

It will save the wear and torment on your feet if you try to do it as suggested by others.

A half size might be able to be stretched.., but stretching 3 sizes and to go from EE width to EEEE is impossible. Furthermore, safety boots can't be stretched well at all...due to steel toe and metal arch etc.

Those boots are not something your can wear. Doubt you could get them on your feet.

Sorry but haven't you got a union representative? C'mon what's missing here from this story? You're a construction worker with no safety boots prior to this?

If you wear a 15 EEEE size, there's no way to make those 12 EE boots fit. Can't happen.

What have you been wearing up until now? You may have to wear boots that you purchase yourself if they don't have your size. A reasonable situation would be they'd reimburse you. The Human Resources dep't person and/or union rep can advise you what to do.

What does HR or union rep say about this?

It would be unhealthy and bad for your feet to wear boots that are so small.

Tell your foreman to get in some 15EEEE boots for you or you're going to sue the company.

What are you? An indentured servant?

I have to wonder what other kinds of shananigans this foreman is up to.

If the foreman had spoken to me like that I would have put his lights out.

Place one of your gigantic hands on either side of foreman's head.
Lift slowly until he changes his mind,
Repeat, as necessary.

Or, so long as you have bought their boots, what prevents you from wearing your boots?

That's an interesting idea to bring up.
Might not get anywhere, though.

My view is - don't wreck your feet for a job. Life is long. I understand having a family to feed, and how stressful that is.

Also, whoever mentioned a union suing about this may well be right, but there might be other agencies to check in with. This smells of illegality.
Consider a non-profit attorney group.

MacGyver!