New York, NY –  Workers at Juicy Couture’s flagship store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan are drawing attention to the high-end retailer’s recent replacement of good full-time jobs with part-time positions as part of the Just Hours Campaign to address the underemployment crisis caused by corporate retailers’ unpredictable, part-time scheduling practices. According to a recent store schedule, just 19 of the store’s 128 employees are full-time, and workers report that all part time workers’ hours were capped at just 21 per week.

New York, NY - As Walmart CEO Bill Simon delivers the keynote address at the National Retail Federation’s BIG Show Tuesday, January 15th, retail workers with the Just Hours campaign are holding the retail industry leadership accountable for part-time jobs without predictable schedules, steady paychecks, paid sick days or health insurance. Workers say these scheduling trends make survival on poverty wages nearly impossible and are protesting in front of the Javits center at 9:30am.

New York, NY—Today the Retail Action Project (RAP) and Stephanie Luce of the City University of New York (CUNY)’s Murphy Institute released data that shows a dramatic gender gap in wages in the retail industry (see data sheet below). In a survey of 435 retail workers at national retail companies, the median gender gap between women and men is the difference between $9.00/hr and $10.13/hr. Women were also found to be less likely to receive benefits from employers, or receive promotions. Hit hardest were 53% of Black women and 77% of Latina women earning less than $10 per hour.

New York, NY:  On Thursday, December 20th, over a hundred current and former retail employees of Mystique Boutique will receive back wages through a $950,000 wage theft settlement obtained by the New York State Office of the Attorney General which investigated workers’ claims of non-payment of minimum wage and overtime.  This settlement includes funds for restitution as well as independent monitoring for ongoing compliance with wage and hour laws.

New York, NY –  Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year, generating massive revenues for the growing retail industry. But this year, retailers like Walmart, Target, Kmart, Lord & Taylor, Banana Republic, GAP, Old Navy, and Ann Taylor are opening on Thanksgiving Thursday, ruining America’s family holiday for thousands of workers and our families. Retail workers and community allies with the Sustainable Scheduling Campaign are standing for predictable and livable work hours, including the right to spend Thanksgiving with our families instead of working.

The Retail Action Project, a partnership of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and the Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), will hold a press conference and march in SoHo to celebrate the victory of a major settlement to recover unpaid wages and overtime pay for employees of Yellow Rat Bastard (YRB) stores and their affiliates.

Workers at the footwear retailer Shoe Mania won an historic victory together with RAP in a massive legal settlement of $1.15 million that followed public demonstrations, class-action lawsuits, and workers organizing.

NEW YORK, NY – The fashion police weren’t the only ones making arrests in SoHo this week. On Tuesday, Feb. 23, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced the arrest of David Cohen, owner of the Mystique Boutique retail chain, for allegedly failing to pay minimum wage and overtime as well as falsifying documents and intimidating and bribing witnesses. The Retail Action Project (RAP) applauds Cuomo’s decision in this step towards ending wage theft in New York.

Today, community groups, labor leaders and elected officials joined retail workers in a march against stolen wages and unpaid overtime. The March of Hearts, organized by the Retail Action Project (RAP), calls on two retail chains in SoHo—Shoe Mania and Mystique—to pay its workers millions of dollars in back-wages. The current and former employees at these stores say that legal restitution is just one step in a battle for workers’ rights and economic justice in New York City.

Stock and security workers regularly worked 50 to 60 hours a week but did not receive overtime pay. Some 15 workers were then fired when they complained about these violations. “Our break room was a boiler room in the basement. This is where we had to eat our lunch, change our clothes and even sleep,” said Romeo Ilboudou, who worked the job for five years.