United Department Store Employees Union, Local 101 of the United Retail Employees of America, CIO, was chartered on June 1, 1937. In 1940, the name of the parent organization was changed to the United Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Employees of America, and later shortened to Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). The Local's offices were at 1001 Keenan Building, 643 Liberty Avenue, until 1948 when they were moved to 134 Market Street. Local 101's first success was the unionization of Rosenbaum's Department Store in downtown Pittsburgh. A first contract, providing for a forty-hour week, took effect November 29, 1937. The union then organized Frank and Seder's and, in September 1938, warehouse and non-sales employees at Kaufmann's. Subsequently, the sales employees at Kaufmann's were also brought into the local, although some sales departments were organized by the local's AFL rival, the Retail Clerks International Association (RCIA). As a CIO affiliate, Local 101 was a member of the Steel City Industrial Union Council and the Pennsylvania Industrial Union Council. For many years, Milton Weisberg, business agent, was spokesperson and leader of the local. Ernest Burberg, formerly president of the local, then secretary-treasurer, and Howard Fedor, business agent after Weisberg, were other pivotal figures. Women were significantly represented on the executive board and among the officers and were widely represented on the stewards councils, reflecting their large numbers in the retail sales workforce.
From the description of Records of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Local 101 (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 1937-1976. (University of Pittsburgh). WorldCat record id: 55740132
