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CWA Members Rush to Help Hurricane Survivors
Heartsick and stunned by the devastation in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast, CWA members are giving generously while union leaders assess the shattering toll on CWA families, from their health to their homes to their jobs.
"To our members and their families suffering through this disaster, please know that you are uppermost in the hearts and minds of your CWA brothers and sisters," CWA President Larry Cohen said. "At the national level, we will be distributing millions of dollars of aid from our relief funds. Meanwhile, our locals and individual members are donating money, water, food, clothing and other supplies and are eager to help in every way possible."
CWA leaders don't yet know if any members of the union family have died or lost loved ones in the disaster. National and local staff and officers are trying to determine how many members have been displaced from their homes and their jobs, and what their long-term needs will be.
CWA District 3 Vice President Noah Savant said he's asked locals to provide them detailed information as quickly as possible but for now all that's known for sure is "that there's so much devastation."
Members can help by donating to the CWA Disaster Relief Fund, adding to the $4 million that delegates to the CWA convention voted Aug. 30 to designate for hurricane relief.
To donate online, click here, or follow the link from the CWA home page ga.cwa-union.org. Donations can also be made to the Union Community Fund through the AFL-CIO. Go to www.aflcio.org.
The Union Privilege Credit Card Disaster Relief Fund will also be helping hurricane survivors, providing grants of $500 to $2,000 that don't have to be repaid. Learn more at www.unionpriv.org.
CWA Representative Janine Brown, who coordinates the union's relief efforts, emphasized that 100 percent of donations to the fund go to direct aid to members. She said she'd been overwhelmed by phone calls and e-mails Friday from union members wanting to help, even some offering to shelter newly homeless CWA families. "The response has just been fantastic," Brown said.
CWA locals are also reaching out. Among efforts, the AFL-CIO established a relief center at CWA Local 3511's hall in Jacksonville, Miss., and Local 6222 in Houston set up a drop-off center for people to leave food and supplies.
Displaced workers include Bell South call center employees in New Orleans and Cingular call center workers in Ocean Springs, Miss., each site with several hundred CWA members, Savant said.
All Bell South workers are being paid this week. Those who have family members who have died or are missing will receive an extra week of paid time off. Workers whose offices are shut down will be offered temporary transfers, leaves of absence or can use accrued paid leave. Savant said Bell South phone numbers to help workers learn more about the policies are listed on the District 3 website, http://district3.cwa-union.org. On Friday the local was still trying to gather information about Cingular's pay policies during the crisis.
Bell South has set up tent cities in Baton Rouge and Covington, La., and in Gulfport, Hattiesburg and Jackson Mississippi, for workers and their families who have lost their homes or are unable to return to them. The company, which also plans to offer emergency loans to workers in need, estimates that 1,400 employees have homes that are now uninhabitable. More than 1,390,000 phones were out of service on Sept. 2: 900,000 in the New Orleans area and 490,000 throughout Alabama and Mississippi.
The CWA News wants to keep track of what all of our locals are doing to help hurricane victims. Please e-mail information about donations and activities to writer/editor Janelle Hartman at jhartman@cwa-union.org.
"To our members and their families suffering through this disaster, please know that you are uppermost in the hearts and minds of your CWA brothers and sisters," CWA President Larry Cohen said. "At the national level, we will be distributing millions of dollars of aid from our relief funds. Meanwhile, our locals and individual members are donating money, water, food, clothing and other supplies and are eager to help in every way possible."
CWA leaders don't yet know if any members of the union family have died or lost loved ones in the disaster. National and local staff and officers are trying to determine how many members have been displaced from their homes and their jobs, and what their long-term needs will be.
CWA District 3 Vice President Noah Savant said he's asked locals to provide them detailed information as quickly as possible but for now all that's known for sure is "that there's so much devastation."
Members can help by donating to the CWA Disaster Relief Fund, adding to the $4 million that delegates to the CWA convention voted Aug. 30 to designate for hurricane relief.
To donate online, click here, or follow the link from the CWA home page ga.cwa-union.org. Donations can also be made to the Union Community Fund through the AFL-CIO. Go to www.aflcio.org.
The Union Privilege Credit Card Disaster Relief Fund will also be helping hurricane survivors, providing grants of $500 to $2,000 that don't have to be repaid. Learn more at www.unionpriv.org.
CWA Representative Janine Brown, who coordinates the union's relief efforts, emphasized that 100 percent of donations to the fund go to direct aid to members. She said she'd been overwhelmed by phone calls and e-mails Friday from union members wanting to help, even some offering to shelter newly homeless CWA families. "The response has just been fantastic," Brown said.
CWA locals are also reaching out. Among efforts, the AFL-CIO established a relief center at CWA Local 3511's hall in Jacksonville, Miss., and Local 6222 in Houston set up a drop-off center for people to leave food and supplies.
Displaced workers include Bell South call center employees in New Orleans and Cingular call center workers in Ocean Springs, Miss., each site with several hundred CWA members, Savant said.
All Bell South workers are being paid this week. Those who have family members who have died or are missing will receive an extra week of paid time off. Workers whose offices are shut down will be offered temporary transfers, leaves of absence or can use accrued paid leave. Savant said Bell South phone numbers to help workers learn more about the policies are listed on the District 3 website, http://district3.cwa-union.org. On Friday the local was still trying to gather information about Cingular's pay policies during the crisis.
Bell South has set up tent cities in Baton Rouge and Covington, La., and in Gulfport, Hattiesburg and Jackson Mississippi, for workers and their families who have lost their homes or are unable to return to them. The company, which also plans to offer emergency loans to workers in need, estimates that 1,400 employees have homes that are now uninhabitable. More than 1,390,000 phones were out of service on Sept. 2: 900,000 in the New Orleans area and 490,000 throughout Alabama and Mississippi.
The CWA News wants to keep track of what all of our locals are doing to help hurricane victims. Please e-mail information about donations and activities to writer/editor Janelle Hartman at jhartman@cwa-union.org.