While some consumer spending studies suggest a light at the end of the country's bleak financial tunnel, the reality for many American retailers like Macy's -- which recently announced plans to close 11 stores nationwide -- is that things may still get worse before they get better. Concerned that retailers are in a situation direr than the cyclical downturns of the past, Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU, UFCW), is urging "immediate congressional action."

In a statement on the RWDSU Web site (www.rwdsu.info), Appelbaum notes: "Against the backdrop of the collapsing housing and credit markets, even unprecedented holiday discounts failed to revive what were already sagging sales. In 2008, roughly 148,000 stores closed their doors before the holiday shopping season even began. In November alone, 91,300 retail jobs were lost."

Appelbaum goes on to say that cheap consumer credit alone will not rescue America's retailers. He points to the median annual income of the American family, which in 2007 had fallen to $50,233 from $50,557 in 2000. What our retail economy needs, he says, is a "dramatic increase in family income and purchasing power."

To increase household income, the RWDSU is urging immediate congressional action in two areas: "First, Congress must follow President-elect Obama's lead and support his $800 billion investment and recovery program," says Appelbaum. A move the RWDSU predicts will save and create as many as three million U.S. jobs, which in turn will stimulate new investment and expand consumer buying power. "Second, Congress must also approve the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)." An expansion of unionization will aid growth, says the RWDSU, noting a recent study of Los Angeles County by the nonprofit Economic Roundtable, which found that the 17 percent of the local labor force that is unionized earns an additional $7.2 billion in wages annually.

To read the entire statement, visit www.rwdsu.info.