Executive Board Focuses on Organizing Strategies, Economy's Impact on Workers (11/21/08)

(l to r) AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, the Fiscal Policy Institute's James Parrott, and RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum at today's Executive Board Meeting.

 The RWDSU Executive Board today discussed the impact that the worsening economic crisis is having and will have on members.  AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka described how the U.S. economy has been structured to leave out workers and reward speculative investment since Ronald Reagan was in office.  

“We need to make the economy work for working people,” he said. One way to do that is to pass the Employee Free Choice Act which would make it easier for working people to form unions.

“The best economic stimulus plan would put more money into the hands of working people,” said RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum.  “And the best way to accomplish that is to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and give workers the tools they need to exercise their right to form unions.”

The Fiscal Policy Institute, a progressive economic think tank,  is completing a report commissioned by the RWDSU on the current state of  New York's retail workforce. FPI Deputy Director and Chief Economist James Parrott was on hand to report the organization's findings.

“Most retail work is already low wage,” said FPI Deputy Director and Chief Economist James Parrot, “with many workers in New York making less than $8.00 an hour.”

Ross Eisenbrey from the Economic Policy Institute was invited to the board meeting to give an overview of the flagging economy and the impact it is having on working people.

New York State AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes detailed how the economic crisis would affect New York saying, “the falling economy may force the state to pull back on important programs.”

Denis Hughes  

The excitement caused by the result of the November elections was a topic of discussion, as board members spoke about the hope that Barack Obama’s election had brought.  “The RWDSU was more active in this election than ever before,” said President Appelbaum, “and what we did made a huge difference. We now have unique moment in American history, and as a movement we must be prepared to take advantage of it."

Trumka also spoke about how we must focus on organizing strategies and a strategic vision as a result of this new political climate.

The board reviewed the union's strategies and activities for organizing retail workers, including the innovative Retail Action Project. The union has focused on developing alliances with community groups throughout New York.

The board also discussed the contract that was negotiated at Tyson’s in Shelbyville, TN, which included the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Fatr as a paid holiday. The historic agreement was the first union contract in the U.S. to recognize the holiday, and the board discussed the importance of fighting for the rights of the changing workforce and the controversy that erupted when the local media distorted intentions of the contract and its effect on non-Muslim members.

The board heard first hand from two members of the negotiating committee about how the union stood up for  workers' religious rights. Eid Al-Fatr  is one of the holiest days of the year for the large number of Muslim Somalian workers at the Tyson poultry plant, and the ability to maintain their faith while providing for their families was an important demand and a sign of respect.

(l to r) Tyson workers Ishak Rable and Gilbert Robinson  with RWDSU Alabama Mid-South Council Rep. Randy Hadley.

“This was something we all did together,” said Ishak Rable a Somalian immigrant and shop steward at the Tyson plant, who addressed the board along with fellow Tyson worker Gilbert Robinson, who provided support even though he is not Muslim. “Christian and Muslims working together as brothers made this possible,” he said.

UFCW Secretary-Treasurer Marc Perrone also participated in the meeting.