As the holiday shopping season is underway, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), issued the following statement urging workers be treated with dignity and respect from in-store shopping to e-commerce warehousing, from farm to table and everything in between: “The holiday season has always been a time of great pressure on retail workers. This year, that pressure is compounded by new challenges. Soaring economic uncertainty, aggressive use of AI in scheduling and inventory, continued issues of theft and violence, and shrinking seasonal hiring despite rising demand have created a perfect storm for workers. While retailers and shoppers brace for tariffs and supply chain issues, it’s frontline workers who absorb the stress and danger. Retail workers are not to blame, and they must not be left unprotected…

Today, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) issued a new report on how “the H-2B visa program has ballooned without being fixed.” Suggesting that “expanding it to year-round jobs like meatpacking would lower wages and revenue.” Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which represents over 15,000 poultry workers at facilities across the southern United States, as well as meatpacking and processing workers in other parts of the country issued the following statement…

Congressman Brad Finstad (MN-01), recently introduced the American Protein Processing Modernization Act, which would provide a permanent framework to increase poultry and pork line speeds, a clear danger to workers and America’s food supply. Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which represents over 15,000 poultry workers at facilities across the southern United States, as well as meatpacking and processing workers in other parts of the country issued the following statement:

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.