FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 31, 2022
Contact: Chelsea Connor | cconnor@rwdsu.org | 347-866-6259
RWDSU STATEMENT: LABOR DAY 2022
“The true strength of any union is defined by its values and convictions, and whether it sees itself less as an institution and more of a movement: A movement that isn’t afraid to stand up for decency and dignity and respect, a movement that fights for racial and economic justice, a movement that never loses its sense of outrage at injustice around it.
“At our core, we are a movement for justice, a movement to help lift up those who have been weakened by indifference and neglect, a movement that speaks out for those whose voices too often go unheard, a movement that provides strength for each and every worker, a movement that isn’t willing to accept exploitation as the price of living in a global economy, a movement that isn’t afraid to stand up for a country where dignity and respect and justice will prevail for all working people.
“We are currently in a moment where young workers are fighting back and actively leading campaigns that are inspiring working people across the entire nation. Young workers who have lived through the pandemic are tired of being treated as dispensable by employers who are making billions of dollars off their backs. Just as the Occupy Wall Street movement and the movement for Black lives engaged millions of young people, young people are now taking their activism to the workplace to demand a better life.
“Union approval ratings are at their highest since the 1960s and we owe it to this new wave of organizing for shifting this narrative. We owe it to the Amazon workers in Bessemer Alabama who stood up to Jeff Bezos and shocked the nation. We owe it to the Amazon Labor Union who won their election in Staten Island, the Starbucks workers sweeping the country, REI workers from coast to coast, and every worker who in this moment embodies the phrase ‘enough is enough.’ We know that workers around the country are demanding more and think more positively of unions than they have in decades. It’s up to us in the labor movement to work together with newer generations to change our labor movement to be one that can grow through strong worker militancy, for many decades to come,” 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.