9-14-05,8:50am
The day after Bush signed the executive order that allows contractors awarded federal money to help rebuild the Hurricane Katrina devastated Gulf Coast to pay substandard wages to construction workers, the U.S. Department of Labor waived most federal affirmative action laws for contractors. The affirmative action waiver applies to companies that do not have existing government contacts and are awarded federal relief work contracts. The waiver is for three months but could be extended.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney joins Houston local union and community leaders Sept.13 to launch a new Workers Center, open to all hurricane survivors. At the center, one of four opened by the AFL-CIO, hurricane survivors can learn about jobs, get instant access to computers, benefit from their unions’ health plans and find basic relief. The other centers are in Pearl, Miss., Mobile, Ala., and Atlanta, and two more are slated to open in Dallas and San Antonio. Union members are encouraged to use the new centers to help them connect with their unions, many of which are offering housing, grants, jobs and other assistance to their members.
AFGE reports that although some 160 Gulf Coast Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) workers are homeless and hundreds of others’ houses were severely damaged, they are volunteering to serve the recovery and relief efforts at other VA facilities. In addition, some 200 VA workers from around the county have been deployed as relief volunteers, another 200 are scheduled for deployment and another 700 VA workers have volunteered.
In Baton Rogue, the Plumbers and Pipefitters, Laborers, Sheet Metal Workers, Iron Workers and Carpenters have turned their Baton Rogue union halls into processing centers for evacuees. The Red Cross has provided food, cots and blankets, and the center has processed some 200 people on their way to more permanent shelters.
Along with its disaster relief fund, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) has established a toll-free hotline (1-800-240-1196) for members who have been impacted by Hurricane Katrina and who need financial assistance and help with job placement. The union is urging all ATU hurricane survivors to call.
The AFL-CIO and its unions are urging Congress to approve a disaster relief plan that includes improved Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA). Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the DUA program provided assistance to just a small number of workers who needed help and the current benefit level could be less than $100 per week for unemployed workers. In addition, there are serious health and safety needs that must be addressed for workers aiding in recovery and rebuilding efforts. The disaster relief package also should provide at least a year’s health care coverage for hurricane survivors under Medicaid and Medicaid funding for states must be increased. It also should restore the prevailing wage standards for federal reconstruction that Bush abolished Sept. 8. The aid package should include resources to address the immediate needs of children, teachers and schools and increase federal financial aid to states and communities that have opened their doors to Katrina survivors.
The French union SUD PTT, which represents telecommunication and postal workers, has donated to Hurricane Katrina relief funds and “supports all activities from unions in the world to help America’s workers, our brothers and sisters.”
AFL-CIO Community Service liaisons in the disaster area are working closely with, and are funded through, the United Way, a long-time partner with the AFL-CIO Community Services program.
In San Antonio, where many evacuees are housed, local unions have set up information tables at the shelters to help identify union members and provide information about available help through their unions.
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers President Frank Hurt has worked with BCTMG employers to provide food—significant amounts of bread, rolls, snack foods, cereal and other breakfast foods—to the (Washington) D.C. Central Kitchen for the more than 200 hurricane evacuees at the D.C. Armory.
The Fire Fighters have completed three field missions to provide member support services—including supplies, personnel and counselors—to the following cities in Mississippi: Biloxi, Gulfport, Pascagoula and Gautier, and to these Louisiana cities: Bogalusa, Slidell, Hammond and Mandeville.
The IAFF also is providing direct financial aid to members in need in the Gulf Coast region, as well as assessing housing needs and coordinating the deployment of several Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) teams and a housing repair team.
The immediate need for financial assistance remains a priority. Staff at the IAFF command response headquarters at the Zoar Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, La., have assisted thousands of fire fighters and their families since the storm and anticipates a long-term need for financial aid and other assistance to the more than 5,400 members working or living in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Those in areas hit by Hurricane Katrina and in need of immediate assistance, and those willing and able to directly assist with time, or by contributing materials, equipment, food, generators or transportation assistance, should e-mail hurricanerelief@iaff.org. The IAFF is tracking this information and will provide feedback to you on how you can be of the most assistance.
The Finishing Contractors Association (FCA), an organization representing many of the IUPAT employers, has pledged to raise $2 million from its membership and is well on its way to reaching that goal. It will assist not only IUPAT members but the many contractors who have been affected by this disaster as well.
In addition to the relief funds, IUPAT and the FCA are working together to create a national job bank for IUPAT members as well as provide shelter for those who must travel to work in these new jobs.
In Detroit, members of Laborers Local 1191, Operating Engineers Local 324 and SEIU Local 79 raised more than $30,000 to help New Orleans evacuees who were relocated to Monroe, La. Local 1191 Business Manager Jimmy Cooper, was born in Monroe—about 200 miles north of New Orleans—and was there when the hurricane hit and the evacuees began arriving. On the national level, LIUNA has established a Katrina relief fund to help members and their families.
The federal government’s Hurricane Katrina Recovery website has links to both government and private organization’s websites to help search for missing and found children and missing persons; find housing and other help; and get important health and safety information.
Using Boilermakers Local Lodge 112 in Mobile, Ala., as a distribution center, international officers and local lodge members delivered six 24-foot trucks and dozens of SUVs and pickup trucks packed with food, water and other essentials to several Mississippi and Louisiana towns ravaged by the hurricane. The union also has established a relief fund.
In Baton Rouge, La., five building trades locals are using their halls as 'processing centers' to connect displaced workers in shelters with new jobs. The Sheet Metal Workers, Boilermakers, Carpenters, Plumbers and Pipe Fitters and Iron Workers have contributed $100,000 to provide funds, transportation and moving assistance for workers and their families who relocate for work.
The Texas Federation of Teachers, (www.tft.org) an AFT affiliate, has set up call centers in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio—where many Katrina evacuees are being housed—to help what is believed to be thousands of the 15,000 AFT members from the hurricane area now in Texas. The centers not only provide information on immediate assistance that is available but will help AFT members connect to local school districts’ personnel offices for any available employment.
Pittsburgh union members pass the hat for hurricane survivors during Labor Day parade.
The Northeast Central Labor Council in Plattsburgh, N.Y., needs help to staff a truck the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters obtained to move supplies from North Carolina to Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. For information, call 518-561-6135.
Air traffic controllers and technicians are working nearly around the clock to coordinate rescue missions.
AFGE has partnered with the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund to provide support and direct assistance to hurricane victims.
The Union Privilege Credit Card Disaster Relief Fund offers cardholders facing financial hardship as a result of the hurricane an opportunity to apply for grants of $500 to $2,000. The money does not have to be repaid. Other special assistance for cardholders includes lower rates, fee waivers and other help.
IAFF President Harold Schaitberger traveled to the disaster area Sept. 1 to help coordinate the union's relief effort at the IAFF Command Response Center at the Louisiana AFL-CIO headquarters in Baton Rogue. “Our members in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are in dire need of assistance and support,” says Schaitberger. “These brothers and sisters and their families need the help of our entire union to get through this tragedy, and we must be there for them.”
Several Fire Fighters locals from around the country sent members for immediate rescue and recovery operations as part of urban search-and-rescue teams, including members of Local 112 in Los Angeles and Local 2068 in Fairfax County, Va. In addition, many of the local firefighters and paramedics working around the clock in the disaster areas are IAFF members.
NATCA is making plans to organize caravans of relief supplies, including food, water, baby wipes, bug spray, generators and other critically needed supplies.
