Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
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Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1937, the RWDSU represents about 60,000 workers in a wide range of industries, including but not limited to retail, grocery stores, poultry processing, dairy processing, cereal processing, soda bottlers, bakeries, health care, hotels, manufacturing, public sector workers like crossing guards, sanitation, and highway workers, warehouses, building services, and distribution.
History
Montgomery Ward strike (1940s)
In 1943, the union organized a labor strike at the
On April 26, 1944, President
The workers again chose (via a
Despite the federal government's intervention, RWDSU never did achieve a firm foothold at Montgomery Ward. Union membership at the company dropped to zero by 1948.
The Montgomery Ward strike only strengthened the criticism coming from the union's locals, who accused the national leadership of incompetence in the planning and conduct of the strike.
Post-war period of merger and disaffiliation
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
In 1954, the Distributive, Processing, and Office Workers of America (itself formed from the merger of the
In 1969, ten of the largest local unions (representing 40,000 members) belonging to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union disaffiliated from that international union, formed a new union (the
In 1974, the
1199: The National Health Care Workers' Union was, for a time, affiliated with the RWDSU.
Merger with UFCW (1993 to present)
In 2017, the House of Representatives
In 2019, Amazon cancelled its plans to build a corporate headquarters, HQ2, in Queens, New York City, after strong opposition from some local politicians, activists, and the RWDSU. The day before Amazon announced pulling out, union personnel met with Amazon executives to ask Amazon to remain neutral toward unionization at its new Staten Island distribution center, where employees were attempting to unionize. According to The New York Times, "There is no evidence that the union issue was the primary factor in Amazon’s decision."[12]
In 2020, workers at an Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, petitioned to form a bargaining unit representing the facility's 1,500 employees. If the petition is successful, the union formed would be the first to represent Amazon employees in the United States.[13][14] Workers at the Amazon facility voted over 2-to-1 against the unionization drive according to preliminary calculations, and the RWDSU has alleged improprieties by Amazon.[15]
Presidents
- 1937: Samuel Wolchok[16]
- 1949: Irving Simon[16]
- 1954: Max Greenberg[17]
- 1976: Alvin Heaps[18]
- 1986: Lenore Miller
- 1998: Stuart Appelbaum
See also
- RWDSU v. Dolphin Delivery Ltd.
- R.W.D.S.U., Local 558 v. Pepsi-Cola Canada Beverages (West) Ltd.
- Impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on the meat industry in the United States
- 1984–85 Eaton's strike
References
- ^ US Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. File number 000-071. Report submitted March 31, 2015.
- ^ James Grant, Money of The Mind: Borrowing and Lending in America from the Civil War to Michael Milken, New York: Macmillan, 1994. p. 26
- ^ "FDR seizes control of Montgomery Ward".
- ^ "Statement on the Seizure of Montgomery Ward Co. Properties | the American Presidency Project".
- ^ "FDR seizes control of Montgomery Ward Dec. 27, 1944". Politico.
- ^ a b US Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. File number 000-071. (Search)
- ^ "Guide to the United Automobile Workers of America, District 65 Records WAG.006". Retrieved 2021-09-12.
- ^ Mitchell, James P. (1955). Directory of Labor Unions in the United States. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Labor.
- ^ Stetson, Damon. "Local Union of Retail Workers Is Near Split With Parent Body." New York Times. March 21, 1969; "New Union Is Formed." Associated Press. May 25, 1969.
- ^ "Archives of the Cigar Makers' International Union". University of Maryland Libraries. 2007. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
- ^ Legislative Reforms to the National Labor Relations Act: Hearing before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, 115th Cong. (2017) (Testimony of Karen Cox).
- New York Times. Archivedfrom the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Selyukh, Alina (25 November 2020). "Amazon Warehouse Workers In Alabama Petition To Unionize". NPR. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Greene, Jay (23 November 2020). "Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama file to hold unionization vote". Washington Post. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Laura Hautala (2021-04-09). Amazon union loses election: Alabama warehouse workers reject historic organizing bid. cnet.com, accessed 2021-04-21
- ^ a b Madsen, Chris (2017). "Social Democrat Space on Vancouver's Contested Waterfront: Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (CIO) Organizing Amongst Sugar and Grain Workers 1946-1949". Northern Mariner. 27 (2).
- ^ "GREENBERG ELECTED BY C. I. O. STORE UNIT". New York Times. January 28, 1954. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "Alvin Heaps, 67, Dies; Retail Union President". New York Times. September 9, 1986. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
Further reading
- Fink, Gary M. Biographical Dictionary of American Labor. Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1984.
- Fink, Leon and Greenberg, Brian. Upheaval in the Quiet Zone: A History of Hospital Workers' Union, Local 1199. Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1989. ISBN 0-252-06047-4
- The Reminiscences of Moe Foner (1915–2002), labor union organizer. Oral History Research Office. Columbia University. [1]
- Guide to the United Automobile, Aircraft, and Vehicle Workers of America. District 65 Records 1933–1992. Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Archives. Elmer Holmes Bobst Library. New York University. [2]
- Linder, Walter. District 65 RWDSU, AFL-CIO, an analysis. New England Free Press: Boston, 196?.
- Opler, Daniel. For All White-Collar Workers: The Possibilities of Radicalism in New York City's Department Store Unions, 1934–1953. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2007.
- O'Neill, Stephen. "The Struggle for Black Equality Comes to Charleston: The Hospital Strike of 1969." The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association (1986): 82–91.