Strike Possible This Week at Bloomingdale?s Main Store
Bloomingdale?s storied window displays in New York City could soon be obscured by an unusual sight: picketing workers. Employees and executives at the department store?s giant 59th Street location in Manhattan are girding for a possible strike after failing to reach agreement on a new labor contract over the last two months. The existing four-year contract expires Wednesday night and members of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union have voted to authorize a work stoppage, which would be the first at the store in 40 years. The union, which represents sales clerks, shelf stockers and clerical workers at Bloomingdale?s flagship store, has not set a strike date and both sides say they are working to avoid such a showdown.
See "Strike Possible This Week at Bloomingdale?s Main Store", Michael Barbaro, The New York Times, April 28, 2008