February 19, 2010
Customer service professional Carrie Nathan, a long-time Macy’s employee and RWDSU member, led the workshop. Carrie kept the class fun and interesting by sharing stories from her experience at Macy’s, facilitating role-play exercises, and inviting workshop participants to share their stories as both customers and retail workers. Her students learned the ins and outs of excellent customer service, including the importance of maintaining a positive attitude, teamwork in the workplace, listening to customers’ needs, and how to handle unruly customers and complaints.
The Customer Service Training also included an important segment on workers’ rights, hosted by RAP Coordinators Stephanie Basile and Pete Montalbano. Students formed teams in a trivia-style competition to test their knowledge on the legal rights that workers have in New York. Attendees then received a Retail Workers’ Survival Guide filled with important information about minimum-wage, overtime, and other labor laws.
The Customer Service Training is a joint effort sponsored by the Retail Action Project, the Consortium for Worker Education, and the Small Business Development Center of LaGuardia Community College.
RAP hosted its popular Customer Service Training this past week. The 10-hour training took place on Tuesday, Feb. 16 and Thursday, Feb. 18 from 4-9 p.m. at the office of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). The class of 25 students passed the course with flying colors, with every attendee earning a Certificate of Completion from LaGuardia Community College.