RWDSU joined hundreds of advocates at the Georgia State Capitol on January 12, 2026, for the opening day of the legislative session, standing alongside the ACLU of Georgia and a broad coalition of community organizations to press lawmakers on priorities for working families. The “Pack the Capitol” mobilization made clear that workers, civil rights advocates, and grassroots groups plan to remain visible and engaged throughout the 40-day session.

In the early hours of December 26, 2024, a gas line to a boiler exploded at Tyson Foods’ poultry plant in Camilla, Georgia. The plant, where workers are represented by the RWDSU Southeast Council, quickly filled with smoke and confusion as the emergency unfolded. Two RWDSU members were severely injured in the blast, suffering life-altering harm. The explosion was sudden, but the danger was not. More than six-months later we learned this was a preventable tragedy, caused by Tyson’s failure to follow critical safety protocols.

“What we’ve learned today is that Tyson Foods was in fact at fault for our member’s near life ending injuries, but a worker's life can never be monetarily valued, and it certainly cannot be valued at a few thousand dollars. OSHA’s decision to issue only modest fines in the wake of the devastating boiler explosion at Tyson’s Camilla, Georgia poultry plant is the true embodiment of a broken system that lacks the teeth to protect workers….

Overnight, there was an explosion at Tyson’s Camilla, Georgia poultry plant represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Stuart Appelbaum, President of the RWDSU, which represents over 15,000 poultry workers at facilities across the southern United States and Edgar Fields, President of the Southeast Council of the RWDSU, issued the following joint statement: