Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Workers Union
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| Full name | Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1937 |
| Members | 60,522 (2014) |
| Head union | UFCW |
| Affiliation | AFL-CIO |
| Key people | Stuart Appelbaum (president) |
| Office location | New York City, United States |
| Country | United States |
| Website | rwdsu |
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) is a labor union in the United States that is a semi-autonomous division of the United Food and Commercial Workers. The division represents service, clerical, sales and maintenance workers as well as employees in the citrus, food processing, tobacco, jewelry, novelty and toy industries.
RWDSU was created in 1937 as the United Retail Employees of America by the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).
Clarence Coulter, then general secretary-treasurer of the Retail Clerks International Association (RCIA), was a strong supporter of craft unionism and had suspended a number of RCIA's New York City locals for opposing this policy. The suspended locals formed the United Retail Employees of America and affiliated with the CIO. The union experienced significant growth in the 1930s, primarily in New York State.
In 1938, the union changed its name to the United Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. But despite the union's successes, many of the locals within the union criticized the national leadership for insufficient militancy.
In 1941, the union struck Gimbel's department store and won a 40-hour work week. Many large department stores in the city followed suit.
In 1943, the union struck Montgomery Ward & Co. after management refused to comply with a War Labor Board order to recognize the union and institute the terms of a collective bargaining agreement the board had worked out. The strike involved nearly 12,000 workers in Jamaica, New York; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; St. Paul, Minnesota; Denver, Colorado; San Rafael, California; and Portland, Oregon. Ward's then cut wages and fired many union activists.
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