GA Gov. Candidate Stacey Abrams Stands with RWDSU and Union Members
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams delivers a personal message to RWDSU members in a new video released by her campaign. Abrams voices her support for the labor movement, and its importance in creating a better economy for all Georgians.
Early voting is open in Georgia through Friday, November 2. And Election Day is Tuesday November 6. If you need help getting to the polls, please call 888-730-5816.
RWDSU is also hosting a Tele-Town Hall with Stacey Abrams on Saturday, November 3rd at 7:00pm. All you need to do to particpate is call in at the number provided below.
Georgia members (along with friends and family) are invited to volunteer to get out the vote on Saturday November, 3rd. There are two events in both Atlanta and Columbus. If you are interested in attending, please call RWDSU Deputy Political Director Edgard Laborde at (917) 593-3838. Info for the events is below:
ATLANTA501 Pulliam St SW, 3rd Floor, Atlanta, GA9:00AM - 1:30PM
COLUMBUS502 1st Avenue, Columbus, GA2:PM to 4:00PM
Statement From RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum On The Proposed Federal Anti-Transgender Policy
Today, President Stuart Appelbaum of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) denounced a proposed federal policy, first reported by the New York Times, to redefine gender under Title IX in a way that will cause tremendous harm to the transgender and gender non-conforming community.
“The members of the RWDSU come from all walks of life—from every race and ethnicity, young and old, gay and straight, immigrant and native born. We are proud to represent all of them, and to stand with them when they are targeted and scapegoated," said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU)."We are also proud to count amongst our membership those in the transgender and gender non-conforming community. We read with alarm recent reports that the Trump administration is considering a change to the definition of the protections under Title IX that would essentially take basic human rights away from transgender people. We strongly reject this cruel and unnecessary proposal. Trans and gender non conforming people have the right to live free from discrimination. We have always said that trans rights are workers’ rights and we will continue to stand with the transgender community. And a message to our members who are trans: the RWDSU will continue to fight alongside you. You will not be erased.”
Ohio Leathermakers Win Gains
RWDSU members employed at Hugo Bosca Leather in Springfield, Ohio, ratified a new contract that brings good yearly raises, increases retirement benefits, and protects health care coverage without any cost increases to members.
Local 379 members at Hugo Bosca manufacture high end leather products for retailers including Macy’s.
Big RWDSU Win for DHL Workers in Georgia
Workers at DHL in Union City, Georgia, overwhelmingly voted in favor of the RWDSU today, rejecting the company’s union busters and their lies and misinformation. The workers saw through the company’s anti-union campaign and are celebrating their huge victory as they have officially won their RWDSU union election.
The workers at the DHL International Shipping distribution center in Union City, Georgia, voted to join the RWDSU Southeast Council, the latest in a string of organizing victories for workers and the RWDSU in Georgia.
Workers at DHL joined the union for a number of reasons, including unfair scheduling and forced overtime, health and safety, and rampant favoritism. Most of all, they joined because of an astounding lack of respect by management. The workers today won a voice on the job, the right to negotiate a union guaranteed contract, and the respect they are entitled to.
The campaign wasn’t easy, as the company fought hard against the workers’ efforts to win their union voice. The workers, however, stood strong in the face of the anti-union campaign and the union-busting anti-worker “consultants” the company hired to misinform and intimidate them.
Big Commission Gains Highlight new Saks Chicago Pact
RWDSU Members at Saks Fifth Avenue in Chicago employed in the Jewelry Department have ratified their first union contract, a two-year agreement which raises commission pay significantly. The increase could result in members’ pay increasing thousands of dollars a year.
In addition to the commission rate increase, a benefit package is established with paid time off including holiday, vacation, jury duty, and bereavement time. Health insurance and a retirement plan are also included in the new contract.
In addition to the Jewelry Department, the RWDSU also represents non sales employees, warehouse, display and order workers at Saks.
The Negotiating Committee included Ryan McIntyre, President Local 291, John McBarron, Local 291 Steward, Lisa Russell, CJB President and Ken Brown, RWDSU Representative.
Amazon Wage Increases Only the First Step
The following Op-Ed, by By Christy Hoffman and RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, appears in today's New York Daily News.=
Amazon’s plan to raise wages for nearly 400,000 of its workers in the United States and the United Kingdom is a positive step. However, as the dust settles and the details become known, it is clear that there is still much more to do for the internet commerce giant to be considered a global leader in good employment practices.
A profitable, trillion-dollar corporation headed by the richest man in the world should be more than able to pay employees well above the minimum wage, and it should also be able to include its workforces’ concerns in its decision-making
In the United States, warehouse workers face unrealistic and inhuman work quotas. These demands have left them with illnesses, injuries and sometimes even hospitalization because of cruel working conditions.
Contracted workers — such as those making “last-mile” deliveries — describe a disturbing pattern of the pressure and disregard for their wellbeing. These couriers say the job is so demanding that they cannot take bathroom breaks and often feel compelled to drive dangerously.
In the United Kingdom alone, there have been 600 ambulance calls to the online retailer’s warehouses in the past three years, and, according to a study by the GMB union, roughly 80% of workers experience pain on the job. Workers in Germany say that pressure on the job is so high, both physically and psychologically, that they are getting sick.
In fact, the very day these raises were announced, German Amazon workers in six of the country’s “fulfillment centers” were striking for the basic human right to have a union contract. This simple demand, to have a real say in working conditions and the security of a collective agreement, is not just being denied to employees in Germany.
None of Amazon’s roughly 600,000 employees around the world have a comprehensive labor agreement. For years, workers have held strikes and other workplace actions in Spain, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States, yet Amazon has aggressively squashed workers’ efforts to gain a union contract globally.
Just look at the horrible anti-union training video at Amazon-owned Whole Foods, which leaked the week before the raises were announced.
Given all this, it is not shocking that labor unions around the world have a real fear that the pay increase will only fix a mere symptom of a deeper sickness in the company’s culture.
For Amazon to be a “leader,” as it claimed to be when announcing the raise, it must allow workers to freely choose if they want a union — without intimidation. Workers should not be subject to anti-union propaganda and intense pressure when they are trying to organize for better working conditions.
Jeff Bezos must now do more than listen; he must engage in a true dialogue.
Let’s get to the root of Amazon’s workforce problems. Let’s fix the company together and make it the example we know it can be of a truly decent employer.
Hoffman is general secretary of UNI Global Union. Appelbaum is president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
RWDSU, UNITE HERE Local 100 and Local 1102 RWDSU Herald Port Authority’s New Inclusive Wage Increases
***PORT AUTHORITY STATEMENT***
RWDSU, UNITE HERE Local 100 and Local 1102 RWDSU Herald Port Authority’s New Inclusive Wage Increases – Airline Catering Workers Will Finally Be Included in Wage Policy
(NEW YORK NY) – Today, Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), Bill Granfield, President, UNITE HERE Local 100, and Alvin Ramnarain, President of RWDSU Local 1102 lauded the vote by the Port Authority to enact a new wage resolution. In addition to increasing wages, the new policy includes the nearly 5,000 airline catering workers who were excluded from the Port Authority’s previous wage policy.
The long-delayed vote, which was strongly opposed by the airline industry, would steadily increase airline catering and airport concessions workers base wages, many of whom were receiving the respective states’ minimum wages, to $19 per hour by 2023. RWDSU and UNITE HERE represent over 7,600 workers at LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports, but implementation of the proposal could impact tens of thousands of workers at area airports in the largest sector-based minimum wage increase in the country. Workers at Port Authority airports will start seeing these pay increases on November 1.
Joint Statement from: Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), Bill Granfield, President, UNITE HERE Local 100, Alvin Ramnarain, President of Local 1102 of the RWDSU:
“Today, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey increased wages for tens of thousands of airline catering and concessions workers. This increase will categorically change the lives of the hard-working people who make our airports run every day and will begin November 1, despite strong opposition from the airline industry. Service workers at LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty, are key to the success of our region’s airports. The new wage floor of $19 per hour by 2023 shows tens of thousands of workers that they are valued by the people of New York and New Jersey and will allow hard working men and women to finally support themselves and their families with their airport job. Crucially, we were happy to see that the Port Authority’s resolution covers all airport service workers. This remedies an oversight in the previous policy, passed in 2014, which did not include airline catering workers. We thank the Port Authority for approving this resolution unanimously, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy for their support.”
“I have been a driver for the airline catering company Gate Gourmet at La Guardia airport for 26 years. Despite my hard work and dedication, I don’t earn enough to support my family. To make ends meet, I pick up extra shifts and overtime every week, but this means that I work long hours that keep me from being with my family. Raising the minimum wage at the airport to $19/hour will allow me and my co-workers to earn enough to support our families,” said Franz Vieux, a RWDSU Local 1102 Member who works for Gate Gourmet at LaGuardia Airport.
“This is a moment that I and many other airport workers in New York and New Jersey have spent years fighting for,” said Nelly Etienne, a UNITE HERE Local 100 member who works for United Airlines in the airline’s Newark Airport catering kitchen. “For me, a raise to $19 per hour will mean that I can provide a better life for my four children. We’ll finally be able to move into a home of our own.”
New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento said, “This is what happens when working men and women stand together and speak with one voice. I’m proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters of RWDSU, UNITE HERE Local 100 and RWDSU Local 1102 who never wavered in their fight for a fair day’s pay for an honest day’s work. This is just the beginning. The Labor Movement remains committed to making sure workers continue to have an opportunity for a better life for themselves and their families.”
“When working people come together we win together,” said Vincent Alvarez, President of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. “Increasing wages for thousands of workers at our area airports was a challenging undertaking, and together the RWDSU, UNITE HERE Local 100, and RWDSU Local 1102 closed a glaring gap in the 2014 wage order for workers in catering and concessions. Organized Labor and workers are coming together to improve their lives, and most importantly 7,600 union workers and tens of thousands of workers across two states will finally earn a fair wage for their work.”
Strong First Contract for New Jersey Parking Authority
The first union contract for parking enforcement officers in Morristown, New Jersey, bring employees excellent benefits including a dental plan, three new paid holidays including MLK Day, Good Friday, and the Day after Thanksgiving, and three additional personal days.
All members will also receive wage increases, and a starting rate of $15 per hour – with guaranteed pay above the minimum wage should it rise – has been established.
The contract also ensures that workers will be provided with foul weather gear when necessary and allows workers to be reimbursed for unused sick days or carry them over if desired.
NJ Nursing Home Workers Ratify Strong First Contract
When workers at Genesis Woodlands Center, a nursing home in Plainfield, New Jersey, joined RWDSU Local 108 last year, they wanted change, and most of all, respect.
“We knew we deserved better and decided that we needed change, representation, a voice on the job and job security,” said Marie Joseph, a Genesis Woodlands certified nursing assistant.
Now, with their first contract, they’ve gotten that voice on the job and more.
The contract – which was unanimously ratified – brings workers a 60 percent reduction on their health plan as well as annual wage increases. For the first time, Genesis workers will receive shift and weekend differentials, and four additional paid holidays.
The Genesis Woodlands facility is owned by Genesis Healthcare Inc. which operates over 500 skilled nursing facilities nationwide. Genesis Healthcare Inc. had an estimated revenue of $5.73 billion in 2016. The RWDSU/UFCW currently represents hundreds of Genesis Healthcare nursing home employees throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Time's Up for Low Wage Workplace Harassment
The Time’s Up Legal Defense fund, an arm of the celebrity-backed Time’s Up initiative unveiled in January to help fight workplace sexual harassment in Hollywood and beyond, is taking a major step toward its mission.
The organization announced on Tuesday that the Time’s Up Legal Defense fund has awarded $750,000 in total grants to 18 different nonprofit organizations that all work to support workers who experience sexual harassment and sexual violence in the workplace. The organizations that received Time’s Up grants include the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, the National Domestic Worker’s Alliance and the Florida-based Voces Unidas, which serves low-wage immigrant women in South Florida.
read more at Mic.com