AFL-CIO President John Sweeney called on the Department of Labor, in a letter to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, to protect the health and safety of rescue and recovery workers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, to provide employment assistance to displaced workers, and to ensure that the relief, recovery and rebuilding jobs conform with wage and labor standards.
Sweeney also asked for a meeting with Chao on these issues.
"Gulf Coast residents have been physically, emotionally and financially devastated by this disaster," reads the Sweeney letter. "We ask for your immediate action and response?so that workers are protected and the tragedy that has already occurred is not compounded by further loss of life and unnecessary delays in providing needed assistance."
Sweeney told Chao that the Labor Dept. has the authority to take immediate steps to protect workers, provide needed unemployment benefits, and protect vital labor standards and preserve affirmative action, and that the Administration must use it.
Sweeney called on Chao to:
? Coordinate a comprehensive safety and health plan in order to avoid many of the workers' health and safety problems seen after the September 11 tragedy;
? Expand unemployment insurance and disaster unemployment assistance ? which also did not work in post-Sept. 11 efforts;
? Provide comprehensive reemployment services;
? Restore community wage standards for hurricane relief through Davis- Bacon and retain standards in the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act. The community wage standard for the New Orleans area is one of the lowest in the nation at about $9 an hour.
In addition, the AFL-CIO is calling on Congress to take immediate steps to protect workers including: improving the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program; safeguarding worker and public health and safety; providing emergency health care through Medicaid; restoring community wage standards; providing extra help to the U.S. Department of Education to help the affected children; and increasing federal financial assistance to states and communities that have opened their doors to Katrina survivors.
Meanwhile, the unions of the AFL-CIO have continued to reach out to Katrina survivors through seven workers' centers throughout the Southeast, through various union funds which have collected millions of dollars, and a toll free number which Katrina survivors can call to reach their union and union-provided relief (877-AFL-CIO9).
For more information
More on the the unions' response to Katrina can be found on the AFL-CIO website, www.aflcio.org
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AFL-CIO President John Sweeney called on the Department of Labor, in a letter to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, to protect the health and safety of rescue and recovery workers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, to provide employment assistance to displaced workers, and to ensure that the relief, recovery and rebuilding jobs conform with wage and labor standards.
Sweeney also asked for a meeting with Chao on these issues.
“Gulf Coast residents have been physically, emotionally and financially devastated by this disaster,” reads the Sweeney letter. “We ask for your immediate action and response?so that workers are protected and the tragedy that has already occurred is not compounded by further loss of life and unnecessary delays in providing needed assistance.”
Sweeney told Chao that the Labor Dept. has the authority to take immediate steps to protect workers, provide needed unemployment benefits, and protect vital labor standards and preserve affirmative action, and that the Administration must use it.
Sweeney called on Chao to:
? Coordinate a comprehensive safety and health plan in order to avoid many of the workers’ health and safety problems seen after the September 11 tragedy;
? Expand unemployment insurance and disaster unemployment assistance ? which also did not work in post-Sept. 11 efforts;
? Provide comprehensive reemployment services;
? Restore community wage standards for hurricane relief through Davis- Bacon and retain standards in the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act. The community wage standard for the New Orleans area is one of the lowest in the nation at about $9 an hour.
In addition, the AFL-CIO is calling on Congress to take immediate steps to protect workers including: improving the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program; safeguarding worker and public health and safety; providing emergency health care through Medicaid; restoring community wage standards; providing extra help to the U.S. Department of Education to help the affected children; and increasing federal financial assistance to states and communities that have opened their doors to Katrina survivors.
Meanwhile, the unions of the AFL-CIO have continued to reach out to Katrina survivors through seven workers’ centers throughout the Southeast, through various union funds which have collected millions of dollars, and a toll free number which Katrina survivors can call to reach their union and union-provided relief (877-AFL-CIO9).
For more information
More on the the unions’ response to Katrina can be found on the AFL-CIO website, www.aflcio.org