FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2022 Contact: Chelsea Connor | [email protected] | 347-866-6259   RWDSU STATEMENT ON SCOTUS DOBBS v. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION DECISION “This is a sad day for America. And it is a wakeup call that every one of our freedoms is at risk. We cannot delude ourselves into believing that something can’t happen here – because it is happening right now, and it happened today. Each of us needs to stand up and join together collectively to protect our freedoms,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).  # # # The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) represents 100,000 members throughout the United States. The RWDSU is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). For more information, please visit our website at www.rwdsu.org, Facebook:/RWDSU.UFCW Twitter:@RWDSU.

After the NYS Senate passed the Warehouse Worker Protection Act on June 1, 2022 and the NYS Assembly passed the same bill on June 3, 2022, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum released the following statement: "The warehousing industry is one of the most dangerous as well as one of the fastest growing in New York. Amazon alone opened an additional 30 facilities over the last twelve months, and we know that the serious injury rate at Amazon is 54% higher than the state’s entire warehousing industry. High injury rates and dangerous work quotas, especially at Amazon, simply need to be addressed and thankfully the Warehouse Worker Protection Act helps address this urgent problem. The RWDSU congratulates the New York legislature for passing this important bill, which will improve the lives of countless workers and families by making sure that those who work in warehousing get home safe. We thank Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie as well as the bill sponsors Senator Ramos and Assemblywoman Joyner for their leadership on this important bill and look forward to seeing it signed into law." 

RETAIL, WHOLESALE AND DEPARTMENT STORE UNION ENDORSES CONGRESSMAN MONDAIRE JONES NY-10 (NEW YORK, NY) – Today, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) endorsed Congressman Mondaire Jones. The RWDSU represents 100,000 workers in a wide range of industries, including retail, grocery, pharmacy, food service, food processing, distribution, cannabis, building services, warehousing, nursing homes, non-profit and car wash workers. “In the two years he has spent in Congress and on the House Labor Committee, Mondaire Jones has been a relentless champion for labor as well as for other progressive causes from voting rights and housing justice to social security expansion and LGBTQ rights. He has stood up time and again for the right to organize a union, workplace violence prevention programs, the Pregnancy Fairness Act to address workplace discrimination, and many other crucial legislative campaigns. Importantly, he introduced the Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act with Senator Elizabeth Warren, which would transform childcare affordability and address a significant national issue that is a pressing concern for many RWDSU members. We know that his impressive first term is just the beginning for Mondaire Jones. The RWDSU is proud to endorse Mondaire Jones for re-election to Congress. We know that he has the experience, record and promise to continue being a leading voice not only for all New Yorkers but also for workers and their families across the entire country,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).  “It’s simple: unions built the middle-class and built this country. The RWDSU has been a leading voice for working New Yorkers for decades. From organizing Housing Works, REI and New York City’s car wash workers to taking on Amazon, the RWDSU has a proud tradition of organizing and representing those most in need of a union. I am thrilled to receive the RWDSU’s endorsement in my reelection campaign. Since being elected to Congress, I’ve worked tirelessly to fight for the right of our nation’s workers to unionize, and be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the RWDSU in these efforts. Many of the RWDSU’s members were frontline heroes who steered us safety through the pandemic and I am especially proud and honored to have their support as the first union endorsement for my campaign,” said Rep. Mondaire Jones. # # # The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) represents 100,000 members throughout the United States. The RWDSU is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). For more information, please visit our website at www.rwdsu.org, Facebook:/RWDSU.UFCW Twitter:@RWDSU.

Protect New York’s Warehouse Workers Now! By Stuart Appelbaum, President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, UFCW. Twitter: @sappelbaum Warehouse workers are the backbone of the modern ecommerce economy, yet regulations protecting workers and communities affected by this new industry have lagged far behind its rapid growth. When New York’s warehouse and distribution center workers leave for work every day, they face a job that sees them three times more likely than the average private industry worker to suffer an injury or illness. That’s why New York needs to pass the Warehouse Worker Protection Act (WWPA – A10020/S8922), which helps protect workers from inhumane quotas at companies such as Amazon. A Dangerous Job New York’s warehouse industry has alarmingly high injury rates, and nowhere is this more apparent than when reviewing the data at Amazon, which has opened over 70 new facilities in New York State since 2018. Amazon workers are injured at a rate of six per 100, which is five times the average in New York. While all warehouse work is dangerous, Amazon warehouse workers are 54 percent more likely than others in the industry to get sick or hurt on the job. Research shows that many of these injuries and illnesses are preventable and are the result of management philosophies at these facilities that prioritize speed over workers’ safety. Unsafe work speeds, unreasonable work quotas, dangerous work, and insufficient breaks all contribute to the skyrocketing rate of injuries in the industry. Amazon workers have told RWDSU representatives that their productivity is monitored so closely that they are afraid to take bathroom breaks. While Amazon is the highest-profile offender, workers throughout the industry suffer from higher-than-average injury rates, and many of the same dangerous policies and lack of protection. Addressing the Warehouse Industry Injury Epidemic The WWPA, modeled after similar legislation signed into law in California last year and targeting large facilities and employers, would create important guardrails to protect warehouse industry workers from the brutal line speeds and quotas that are driving injuries and sickness at New York’s warehouses. These inhumane and abusive quotas, and the fear of being disciplined for not making them (even though workers aren’t told and don’t know exactly what they are), pressures workers into denying their basic needs and over-exerting themselves to the point of injury or illness.  The WWPA creates transparency for the often arbitrary and ever-changing quotas that many workers at large warehouses are subjected to. The law would inform workers on what their quotas are, and prevents workers from being disciplined if they fail to meet these quota requirements because they need to exercise basic human rights such as going to the bathroom when they need to. New York’s warehouse workers are getting injured because there is no reason for unscrupulous employers to respect their basic humanity. The WWPA would change that, and these workers deserve passage of this important legislation that forces large employers like Amazon to reform the way it treats employees.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 12, 2022 Contact: Chelsea Connor | [email protected] | 347-866-6259   STATEMENT ON THE REPORT BY THE HOUSE'S SELECT SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS “The RWDSU demanded early on in the pandemic that poultry and meat processing companies do a better job in protecting their workers. We swiftly condemned the utilization of the Defense Production Act.  “As we said then, we only wish that the Trump Administration cared as much about the lives of working people as it did about meat, pork and poultry products, when we wanted poultry plants to shut down for deep cleaning and to save worker’s lives. If the Trump Administration had developed meaningful safety requirements for workers early on as they should have, this would not have even become an issue. We demanded that employers and government do better throughout the pandemic; and that saved lives. These employers must be held accountable for the consequences of their blatant disregard of the safety and lives of their employees.  “Today's report is just one step towards accountability, but much more must be done to prevent corporations from putting profits over people's lives in the industry,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 7, 2021 Contact: Chelsea Connor | [email protected] | 347-866-6259 RWDSU FILES NLRB ELECTION OBJECTIONS Union Holds Amazon Accountable for Illegal Conduct in Union Election Again, Demands Full Review (NEW YORK, NY) – Today, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) filed Objections to the conduct of Amazon during the union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), charging that Amazon interfered with the right of its Bessemer, Alabama employees to vote in a free and fair election; a right protected under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. The RWDSU has requested that the NLRB Regional Director schedule a hearing on its Objections to determine if the results of the election should be set aside because conduct by the employer created an atmosphere of confusion, coercion and/or fear of reprisals and thus interfered with the employees' freedom of choice.  The RWDSU filed Objections, which the union believes both separately and cumulatively constitute grounds to set the election aside. The election in 2021 was set aside by the NLRB after the agency found that Amazon had acted illegally under the NLRA. The objections filed yesterday have the potential to do so again and will be heard by the NLRB alongside the parties’ arguments surrounding 416 ballots challenged by the parties during the vote tabulation last week. The hearing has yet to be scheduled by the NLRB.  The Objections filed yesterday constitute conduct which prevented a free and uncoerced exercise of choice by the employees, undermining the Board’s efforts to provide “a laboratory in which an experiment may be conducted, under conditions as nearly as ideal as possible, to determine the uninhibited desires of the employees.”  In re Jensen Enterprises, 339 NLRB 877 (2003) (citing General Shoe Corp., 77 NLRB 124 (1948)).  Some Objections include:  Termination of & Retaliation Against Union Supporters: The Employer unlawfully and/or discriminatorily suspended an employee whose photograph and open support for the Union appeared in Union campaign literature distributed to all eligible voters. The Employer unlawfully and/or discriminatorily terminated an employee who spoke in support of the Union during captive audience meetings and who appeared in pro-Union literature distributed to all eligible employees. The Employer’s agent and supervisor discriminated and retaliated against employees for wearing pro-union buttons or expressing support for the Union. The supervisor told one pro-union employee not to speak with her because “she’s with the devil.” This supervisor created the impression of surveillance and/or actively engaged in surveillance of the protected activities of employees under her supervision. Intimidation:  The Employer identified and removed workers from mandatory captive-audience trainings who supported the union.  The Employer unlawfully and/or discriminatorily suspended an employee who openly supported and campaigned in favor of the Union for conduct during a captive audience meeting.  The Employer unlawfully and/or discriminatorily threatened or warned an employee with disciplinary action for campaigning in support of the Union.  The Employer’s agents unlawfully and/or discriminatorily singled out an employee wearing a pro-union button in front of other employees during a break and requested the employee’s name.  The Employer unlawfully and/or discriminatorily threatened an open and strong supporter of the Union that if he had another argument with a co-worker regarding the organizing campaign that he would be terminated. As a result of the threat and/or unlawful imposition of a work rule, the employee refrained from talking to co-workers about supporting the Union. During the critical period before the due date for receipt of mail ballots and throughout the election, the Employer required all eligible voters to attend anti-union meetings. Surveillance:  The Employer’s agents engaged in surveillance and/or created the impression of surveillance of employees engaged in protected concerted activities in the employee parking lot.  The Employer’s agents engaged in surveillance and/or created the impression of surveillance of employees engaged in protected concerted activities in the employee break room and/or other non-work areas.  The Employer’s agents followed and/or otherwise engaged in surveillance of Petitioner’s organizers as they visited employee homes. The Employer unlawfully and/or discriminatorily applied a rule prohibiting employees from discussing the Union with co-workers during working hours and/or in working areas:  The Employer unlawfully interfered with an employee engaged in protected activities in the employee break room. Promulgation of new rules and removal of pro-union literature:  The Employer discriminatorily applied a rule prohibiting the posting of campaign literature in work areas.  The Employer’s agents unlawfully and/or discriminatorily removed literature supporting the Union from non-work areas.  The Employer knowingly permitted employees opposing the organizing drive to post anti-union messages in work areas but denied employees supporting the union from posting pro-union messages in the same work areas.  The Employer discriminatory enforced a rule prohibiting non-employee organizers from engaging in campaign related activities in the employee parking lot.  The Employer unlawfully and/or discriminatorily imposed a new access rule prohibiting employees from arriving at BHM1 30 minutes prior to the start of their shift or remaining on the premises of BHM1 more than 30 minutes after the end of their shift. Voter List Discrepancies: The Employer provided the Union with a voter list that contained substantial errors. Approximately twenty percent of the addresses of eligible voters listed on the voter list were incorrect. Threatening of Facility Closure: The Employer unlawfully threatened an employee with plant closure if the Union was voted in as the collective bargaining representative of the employees. These are some of the Objections the union has filed. Click here for the full list and details.  Workers fighting for a voice and fair treatment in the workplace will await the results of the hearings on the objections and on the 416 ballots, which were challenged during the tabulation process to determine the final outcome of their union vote. After enduring an intensive anti-union campaign designed by Amazon to intimidate and manipulate, workers are seeking to finally have a right to fair representation, a seat at the table and a real chance to fix the litany of issues that workers at Amazon have faced for far too long. Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) issued the following statement on the objections and related charges the union is filing: “Workers at Amazon have endured a needlessly long and aggressive fight to unionize their workplace, with Amazon doing everything it can to spread misinformation and deceive workers. The company violated the law in the first election, and did so again in this re-run election, without any doubt. We will continue to hold Amazon accountable and ensure workers' voices are heard. We are filing objections on Amazon’s behavior during this election, which include countless attempts to intimidate workers, even going so far as to terminate and suspend workers who supported the union. Amazon’s behavior must not go unchallenged, and workers in Bessemer, Alabama must have their rights protected under the law. We urge the NLRB to carefully review our objections and ensure no company, not even with the bottomless pockets of Amazon, is allowed to act above the law.”  # # # The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) represents 100,000 members throughout the United States. The RWDSU is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). For more information, please visit our website at www.rwdsu.org, Facebook:/RWDSU.UFCW Twitter:@RWDSU.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 7, 2022 Contact: Chelsea Connor | [email protected] | 347-866-6259   RWDSU STATEMENT ON NLRB MEMO ON CAPTIVE AUDIENCE TRAININGS REVIEW (NEW YORK, NY) – Today, in response to NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo’s Memo on Captive Audience and Other Mandatory Meetings, Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) issued the following statement on today’s memo: “Captive audience meetings must be declared illegal. We filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on February 22, 2022 opposing the use of captive audience meetings in union elections. They are the major weapon employers use to spread disinformation, intimidate workers and interfere with their choice as to whether they want union representation. The question of whether workers want a union should be the workers’ choice – not the employers’ – free of intimidation and interference. Captive audience meetings make that impossible.”  # # # The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) represents 100,000 members throughout the United States. The RWDSU is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). For more information, please visit our website at www.rwdsu.org, Facebook:/RWDSU.UFCW Twitter:@RWDSU.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 31, 2022 Contact: Chelsea Connor | [email protected] | 347-866-6259   BESSEMER, ALABAMA AMAZON UNION VOTE HANGS ON 416 CHALLENGED BALLOTS WORKERS AWAIT OUTCOME IN BID TO BECOME AMERICA’S FIRST UNIONIZED AMAZON WAREHOUSE WORKERS Workers Look to Secure Right to a Union After Year-and-a-half-long Battle (NEW YORK, NY) – The results of the re-run vote to determine if the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) will represent workers at Amazon in Bessemer, Alabama hinges on 416 ballots challenged by the parties. Amazon workers fighting for a voice and fair treatment in the workplace now await a hearing to determine the fate of the challenged ballots, which may have the ability to bring the workers the victory that they have sought for so long. After enduring an intensive anti-union campaign designed by Amazon, not once, but twice, to intimidate and manipulate, workers are seeking to finally have a right to fair representation, a seat at the table and a real chance to fix the litany of issues that have long hurt workers at Amazon.  In response to the current tally of the union vote in Bessemer, Alabama, Stuart Appelbaum, President of the RWDSU issued the following statement:  “Every vote must be counted. Workers at Amazon endured a needlessly long and aggressive fight to unionize their workplace, with Amazon doing everything it could to spread misinformation and deceit. We will hold Amazon accountable and we will be filing objections on their behavior.  The tenacity and courage of these workers never wavered in this unnecessarily long process. Workers will have to wait just a little bit longer to ensure their voices are heard, and our union will be with them at every step to ensure their voices are heard under the law. What we do know is that this moment is historic, and the workers in Bessemer, Alabama,  have inspired working people all over the country and all over the world to fight for change at their workplaces, including other organizing at Amazon around the country. This fight is the spark of the 21st century labor movement, and we know it will forever transform how Americans view unions in this country. This union election continues to show that the best way for working people to protect themselves and their families is to join together in a union.” VOTE NUMBERS:  Total Ballots Counted so far: 1,868 Union Yes Votes: 875 Challenged Ballots: 416 Voided Ballots: 59  The re-run vote to unionize by workers at Amazon in Bessemer, Alabama, was conducted by mail-in vote, with ballots due to the National Labor Relations Board for tabulation on March 25, 2022. This re-run election is the result of the company’s illegal conduct under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) during the first election, conduct which the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) concluded interfered with employees’ rights to a free and fair election. RWDSU is seeking to represent approximately 6,100 workers at the e-commerce giant. The workers in the bargaining unit would include certain full-time, part-time and seasonal workers at the warehouse.   # # # The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) represents 100,000 members throughout the United States. The RWDSU is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). For more information, please visit our website at www.rwdsu.org, Facebook:/RWDSU.UFCW Twitter:@RWDSU.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 26, 2022 Contact: Chelsea Connor | [email protected] | 347-866-6259 WORKERS KEPT AT THEIR STATIONS FOR HOURS AMID HEALTH AND SAFETY INCIDENT AT BESSEMER, ALABAMA FACILITY Unknown Vaporized Substance Spread Throughout the Warehouse (BESSEMER, AL) – Midday yesterday, a compressor in the Bessemer, Alabama Amazon facility malfunctioned spraying excessive amounts of what workers thought at the time was smoke, but now understand to potentially be vaporized oil, into an air vent that rapidly clouded the air on the third floor of the warehouse.  At approximately 1:30 PM CT, workers on the third floor of the warehouse were told to clock out and go on Voluntary Time Off (VTO), which is unpaid, and evacuate. Meanwhile workers on other floors were neither notified of this, nor told to stop working and the substance spread through the air vents.  At approximately 4:30 PM CT, workers on the first floor of the facility began to see what they thought at the time was smoke. No facility alarms or notifications to workers via Go screens, the A to Z app, text messages or otherwise went out to workers at any time during the day.  At approximately 5:45 PM CT, workers began to quietly leave the facility via word of mouth, with no specific notice from managers. When they exited the building, some limited fire and police service vehicles were on the scene and HR managers began scanning badges and telling workers to clock out of day-shift.  Shift change at the facility is between 5:30 PM CT and 7:00 PM CT, and overnight-shift workers began to arrive at the facility while day-shift workers were waiting for more information. At 7:00PM CT, workers were verbally told to re-enter the building and begin their shifts, with cloudiness still in the air inside the facility.  Workers have notified the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) of the incident, and are awaiting further investigation into the matter. It is unclear if the vaporized substance will cause any health issues or if it is caustic.  “At first, I thought my glasses were just smudged, but then the air got thicker, and my co-worker said he thought it was smoke and we should leave. Everyone was very confused, and the lack of information made us feel very unsafe. We didn’t know what was happening and many of us sought safety in our cars and tried to get as far away from the building as possible. When I heard from my co-workers on the third floor that they were VTOed so many hours earlier I was shocked why they would have the rest of us keep working, and why there was no notification or alarm sounded for all those hours. I don’t know what I was breathing in for that long, and I don’t know if it’s still in the air at work today either. I feel very unsafe and I wish management would treat us like humans and care about our safety in a real way. Accidents happen, but there’s no reason why thousands of workers should have had to keep working breathing in what we thought was smoke for hours. Why is my health less important than a package getting shipped? Yesterday was the anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, which happened over 100 years ago; in 2022 workers shouldn’t have to fear dying in a fire at work,” said Isaiah Thomas, Amazon worker in Bessemer, Alabama.  “Amazon knowingly kept workers at their stations for hours during the incident, failed to properly evacuate the facility, and told workers to go back to work before any clarity on the safety of the vapor in the air was known. It is unconscionable that Amazon would keep workers at their stations when there is a known health and safety issue. Workers' lives should never be put in jeopardy for profits, something Amazon has an inexcusable history of doing. Workers did the right thing leaving when they felt unsafe yesterday, and in reporting this to OSHA, who must investigate this fully. Amazon must be held accountable for this. We hope the substance workers were inhaling for hours has no long-term harmful effects, but the simple fact that workers were in that situation demonstrates Amazon’s blatant disregard for the health and safety of their employees,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).   # # # The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) represents 100,000 members throughout the United States. The RWDSU is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). For more information, please visit our website at www.rwdsu.org, Facebook:/RWDSU.UFCW Twitter:@RWDSU.