RWDSU members in Salem, Ohio, have ratified a new four-year contract that brings numerous improvements and protects the health insurance plan. The progression has been greatly decreased from five years to only 18 months, meaning members can reach the full pay rate three and a half years earlier. There are annual wage raises in the contract, and a shift differential that will bring an extra $.25 an hour for the second shift and an extra $1.50 per hour for the third. Newly added benefits include a longevity raise for senior employees, and an extra week of paid vacation for all members. Maintenance workers will earn more money after completing training classes, and there are increases in the company 401K match and an extra $150 shoe allowance for warehouse workers.

The RWDSU membership at Bloomsburg Care & Rehabilitation Center in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania keeps growing, thanks to word of mouth and the hard work of RWDSU organizers. The maintenance unit at the facility joined RWDSU Local 262 in January, after seeing the difference union membership has made in the lives of the Certified Nursing Assistants there after they joined in 2019. Workers saw the difference the union made during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the RWDSU ensuring workers received hazard pay and proper PPE and bringing them a voice on the job. The maintenance workers saw the difference and wanted to become a part of the union.

Tomorrow, workers in Germany will go on strike at Amazon facilities in their own country. This comes less than a week after workers in Italy launched a successful national strike at their own Amazon facilities. These strikes, just like the workers’ push to form a union in Alabama, center on working conditions, fair treatment, respect and better pay as the company amasses billions during the global pandemic.

After a long, difficult battle with management for their first union contract, RWDSU Local 262 members at Bloomsburg Care & Rehabilitation Center in Pennsylvania have won numerous improvements.