Stuart Applebaum
President
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
Stuart Appelbaum became President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union on May 1, 1998. He was reelected in 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014. He also currently serves as an Executive Vice-President of the 1.3 million-member United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
Appelbaum previously served as International Secretary-Treasurer, Vice-President, Executive Board Member, Assistant to the President and Coordinator of Special Projects for the union.
Appelbaum is a Vice-President of the national AFL-CIO and a member of the federation’s Executive Council. He also currently serves as a vice president of the New York State AFL-CIO and the New York City Central Labor Council.
He serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store International Union and Industry Benefit Funds.
Appelbaum is the President of the Jewish Labor Committee.
He is an officer of two global union federations: IUF (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations) and UNI (Union Network International). He is a Vice President of the Consortium for Worker Education.
Appelbaum was appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo to the Regional Economic Development Committee for New York City, where he serves on the Executive Committee.
Appelbaum previously served as Chief House Counsel of the Democratic National Committee. He also previously worked for the Michigan State AFL-CIO and as Executive Assistant to the Secretary of the State of Connecticut.
Appelbaum is a member of the Democratic National Committee, and serves on the DNC’s Executive Committee and the DNC's Resolutions Committee. He also serves as the Vice-Chair of the DNC Labor Council. Appelbaum was elected a delegate to the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Democratic National Conventions and an alternate delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention. In 2008, he served as a member of the Electoral College as an Obama elector from New York.
Appelbaum is a summa cum laude graduate of Brandeis University, where he was named a Louis Dembitz Brandeis Scholar and was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the bar of the State of Connecticut.