Today, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the planned legalization of cannabis in New York State. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) currently represents workers in the medical marijuana industry. John Durso, President of Local 338 of the RWDSU and Stuart Appelbaum, President of the RWDSU issued the following joint statement.

The RWDSU joined community activists and elected officials today at City Hall in New York City to push back against the Amazon HQ deal in Queens that sees one of the world's richest companies set to receive billions of dollars in subsidies and handouts. The press conference was held ahead of City Council hearings on the Amazon HQ deal.

Today several prominent opponents of Amazon’s HQ2 deal for New York City dismissed Quinnipiac’s new poll on Amazon as meaningless. They noted that opposition to the HQ2 deal continues to grow every day and that the $3 billion backroom deal to help Amazon open a new corporate headquarters in New York City has been widely criticized for weeks.

"Today, Amazon put warehouse workers in the hospital – again and one is fighting for their life in the ICU right now. Amazon's automated robots put humans in life-threatening danger today, the effects of which could be catastrophic and the long-term effects for 80+ workers are unknown. This is another outrageous example of the company putting profits over the health and safety of their workers, and we cannot stand for this. The richest company in the world cannot continue to be let off the hook for putting hard working people's lives at risk. Our union will not back down until Amazon is held accountable for these and so many more dangerous labor practices," said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).