FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 6, 2020

Contact: Chelsea Connor | cconnor@rwdsu.org | 347-866-6259

STATEMENT FROM RWDSU PRESIDENT STUART APPELBAUM HOSPITAL CLOSURE - RWDSU TO FILE WARN ACT SUIT

(FAIRMONT, WV) – On March 19, 2020 Alecto announced the company would close Fairmont Regional Medical Center without any warning, in direct violation of the federal WARN Act. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which represents 120 workers at the facility announced today that it intends to file suit against the company in the coming days.  

Stuart Appelbaum, President of the RWDSU issued the following statement on the closure of this critical medical facility in Fairmont, West Virginia: 

“We are in the middle of a pandemic the likes of which our country has never witnessed. We are opening field hospitals across the country to ensure we have enough beds for potentially hundreds of thousands of patients who will succumb to the COVID-19 virus. It is outrageous that Alecto would choose to close this facility now, with no warning, in the middle of this national crisis. 120 critical care professionals who need to be on the front lines of this epidemic aren’t able to care for their now hospital-less community. 

“Our union will not stand for this, and we are swiftly filing suit against this company for failure to follow a just path to closure under the WARN Act. This community will need a hospital, and I am hopeful that with the support of local elected officials we can ensure this community keeps its healthcare facility through this pandemic,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. 

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 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.