Katrina Relief

(Click here for additional information on Katrina Relief)

At least 25,000 union members affiliated with the Metal Trades Department are among the million or more Americans who have been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. We have many thousands of members employed at Avondale (New Orleans) and in Gulfport and Pascagoula as well as several smaller locations in the region. We are working with the AFL-CIO to identify the most effective way for union members to provide relief to the storm’s victims. At this time, it is impossible to say exactly how we can best help. I know that the immediate urge among members of craft and trade unions is to jump in a car and offer to pitch in. However, that may not be the most important help we can give right now because the area is largely inaccessible and the emergency personnel on duty in the area don’t need more lives to worry about at this time. Until the relief plan gets more organized and the needs become more clear we suggest that cash contributions to the American Red Cross earmarked for Katrina Relief is the most important thing that individuals can do.
God bless you all for your concern. We will keep you posted as we get further information.

In Solidarity,
Ron Ault,
President, Metal Trades Department

After the Storm

I am asking that we all take stock of where we are today... and then say a prayer for our Councils in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Mississippi and New Orleans and the thousands of Metal Trades workers and all the otherthat just like you and I in those storm stricken communities..."if but not for the grace of God, go I"....Let's not limit those prayers just to our members in that region. The stricken workers and their families are just exactly like us, with the exception that many have lost everything, including life, through no fault of their own. As I recuperate from surgery, I find myself glued to CNN coverage of the levee failure in Bucktown, an area of old Metaire I am very familiar with due to my personal involvement as the full time Justice At Avondale Campaign Coordinator from 1999-2001. I stood on the Lake Ponchatrain seawall many nights fishing for redfish and speckled trout to avoid another boring and lonely night in a hotel room 1000 miles from my home in Southern Maryland. I became fast friends with dozens of families in the New Orleans suburban areas of Kenner, Norco, Harrahan, Westwego, Raceland and Delacroie, LA, just to name a few...my heart aches in pain today as my friends in Sligo, Mandeville, Waves, Pass Christian, Ocean Springs, Gautier, Gulfport, Moss Point, Pascagoula, Mobile, Spanish Fort and Dauphin Island have been in harms way for days and I have no way to personally contact them. It is a helpless feeling.
May God bless America.
In Solidarity,
Ron Ault
President

Union Members Mobilize to Aid Working Families Devastated by Hurricane Katrina

Working families and their unions are rushing to bring relief, needed supplies and other assistance to the Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina.

“The labor movement has always been on the front lines in responding to these situations—and this situation demands an immediate and massive effort,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

• The AFL-CIO has created a special Hurricane Relief Fund as part of the Union Community Fund. Go to http://www.aflcio.org/hurricane to make a tax-deductible contribution and be part of the largest relief effort in the nation's history.
• Delegates to the CWA convention in Chicago voted to send up to $4 million in hurricane relief aid to help CWA families in the area.
• Several unions have established hurricane relief funds to aid their members' recovery. Visit their websites for more information: AFT (http://www.aft.org); Air Line Pilots (http://www.alpa.org); Fire Fighters (http://www.iaff.org); Machinists (http://www.iamaw.org); National Air Traffic Controllers Association (http://www.natca.org); and Postal Workers (http://www.apwu.org).
• AFGE has partnered with the Federal Employee Education & Assistance Fund to provide support and direct assistance to hurricane victims. Go to http://www.afge.org for more information or to http://www.feea.org to donate.
• The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors are asking members to contribute to the Actors' Fund of America or the Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund. Go to http://www.aftra.org or http://www.sag.org for more information.
• Go to http://www.aflcio.org/hurricane for information on other organizations that also are accepting donations for hurricane relief. Check that site regularly for updates.
• 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. Several IAFF locals from around the country sent members for immediate rescue and recovery operations as part of urban search-and-rescue teams. In addition, many of the local firefighters and paramedics working around the clock in the disaster areas are IAFF members.
• NATCA is planning to organize caravans of relief supplies, including food, water, baby wipes, bug spray, generators and other critically needed supplies.
  

Metal Trades Department, AFL-CiO • 815 16th Street, NW •Washington, DC 20006

Phone: 202-508-3705 • Fax: 202-508-3706 • email: metaltradesweb@gmail.com

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