Unions help Alabama tornado survivors

Some of the very first responders after the devastating tornadoes that hit Alabama at the end of April were union members. Within hours union locals had opened their halls to the communities, organized relief work and began collecting funds to provide food and water for those whose homes had been demolished by the monster storms.

Since then, the unions have provided ongoing assistance to survivors of the tornadoes, helping demolish hopelessly damaged homes and clear the debris.

Right after the tornadoes struck, the Steelworkers of Fairfield, Ala., went into action, collecting more than $30,000 at factories to help survivors. They provided people power, ice and other supplies to the Pleasant Grove/Concord area. USW Local 2122 opened its union hall to the community.

Other locals also set up relief centers. Building trades volunteers performed relief work as well as cleanup. More than 150 union volunteers helped clean up the damage, bringing their own chain saws, back hoes, a boom truck “and their collective generous spirit.” (National Organized Labor Journal, May)

Electrical Workers (IBEW) collected, cooked and delivered food throughout the region.

Members of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union also cooked and provided food in Pratt City.

Locals of the American Federation of Teachers brought supplies, while members of the Communication Workers staffed phones and helped deliver food.

Terry Davis, the AFL-CIO community services liaison for Central Alabama, said, “I’ve been in the labor movement since 1998 and seeing more than 150 of my union brothers and sisters come together to help one another and their communities is the proudest moment of my union life.”

As of May 21, reports Davis, the union halls were still open to share collected food and other items with the communities. On that Saturday, the unions organized another work day, and at least 150 people turned out in Pleasant Grove and Pratt City to do debris removal.

On June 9, a town hall meeting in Bessemer, Ala., at which federal officials fielded questions from the public “quickly became heated,” reported the Birmingham News.

“One man said the Federal Emergency Management Agency had done nothing for him. Another man said he keeps getting different answers to questions as he shuttles between various federal relief agencies.”

Just another reason why the workers need to run this country, not the bankers, bosses and their paid-for politicians.