Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
From Near and Far, CWA Members Lend a Hand
More than the suffocating ash, more than the utter devastation of the scene, what Margaret Brahan remembers most about the day she spent as a Salvation Army volunteer in lower Manhattan were the “thank yous.”
As she handed sandwiches, pizza, candy bars and bottled water to exhausted rescue workers, she was awed by their kind words. “They kept saying, ‘Thank you. We really appreciate you being here,’” she said. “And all we could say was, ‘No, thank you.’ The horror of what they’re going through and they’re grateful to us.”
Brahan, a chief steward for Local 1022, was one of CWA’s hands-on volunteers in the tragedies’ aftermath. But thousands of other members, as well as entire locals, districts and CWA sectors, have given generously to victim funds.
The donations include $100,000 from CWA and another $100,000 from IUE-CWA to the Union Community Fund, the AFL-CIO’s relief fund, as well as $10,000 each from the three IUE-CWA districts. The Japanese union NWJ also contributed $10,000 to CWA’s relief fund.
IUE-CWA Local 416 members were some of the first volunteers at the World Trade Center, rushing to the site with coveralls, dust masks and other materials to help protect rescue workers. IUE-CWA Local 249 quickly sent socks, clothes and water to the scene. In addition to the national IUE-CWA’s contribution, members were able to double their donations through employer matches from General Electric Co. and General Motors. Other CWA employers offering matches include Verizon, SBC and Lucent Technologies.
Some of CWA’s nurses were on the front lines. CWA Local 1104 represents about 180 registered nurses at New York University Downtown Hospital, the closest hospital to the scene. Many of the first victims, as well as injured rescuers, poured into the emergency room.
Nurse Josephine Scott saw the burning towers from the hospital’s second floor. “Nothing I had ever seen in my life could compare to what I was looking at,” she said. “Shortly afterwards, EMS workers and rescue workers were transporting trauma patients into the emergency room and every hospital employee was ready to care for each and every one of them.” She said she took care of a man with shoulder and abdominal injuries who awoke from anesthesia and asked her what happened. She gently told him. “I was glad I was able to help him through this critical time,” she said.
Her colleague, nurse Marilyn Mazzarise described taking care of a man who needed surgery on one arm and had bruises all over his body. “He told me he climbed down countless flights of stairs. He was so worried about his co-workers,” she said. “I told him I would pray for him and his co-workers. He looked up and smiled. I will never forget him.”
Far from the scene, CWA members eagerly gave not just money but time. Late in the day Thursday, Sept. 20, telephone call centers across the country got word that service representatives were needed to take calls for the benefit telethon that ran on all networks and some cable stations the following night.
“Within 90 minutes in our building in Andover, more than 400 people volunteered,” Local 1400 President Melissa Morin said, noting that scores of the local’s other members throughout New England also participated. Throughout the country, nearly 6,000 CWA members staffed phones at their local call centers, each talking to dozens of emotional donors.
“Some of our members were crying,” Morin said. “They needed to take a break after a while. A lot of the victims’ families were calling in. One woman from New Jersey said she’d lost four friends, or relatives, and she wanted to donate. Another woman called whose brother died at the Pentagon. We also took a lot of calls from firefighters and their families.”
Donations ranged from $10 to $50,000, with most in the $50 to $200 range, Morin said. The telethon generated more than 175,000 calls to the Verizon call centers alone and raised $150 million.
In addition to Local 1400, the locals involved in the telethon included Local 6171 in Dallas, Local 4371 in Marion, Ohio and three California locals, 9573 in Santa Monica, 9586 in Long Beach and 9576 in Oxnard.
In another gift of time, CWA members and staff joined more than 100 other unionists Sept. 15 in Washington, D.C., knocking on doors of union households to raise funds and provide information about donating and volunteering.
“One of the most productive things we were able to do was simply talk with people who had been alone trying to deal with this,” said Carrie Biggs-Adam, CWA’s international affairs representative. “We found that people really wanted to talk.”
The door-to-door relief effort had been mapped out weeks earlier as a door-to-door drive to encourage people to participate in peaceful demonstrations during the World Bank’s planned meetings in Washington, D.C. The meetings and protests were cancelled after Sept. 11.
In New York, so many people volunteered to help at the rescue and recovery scene that coordinators had to turn most of them away. But some workers with special skills were asked to assist, including Dawn Mele, area vice president for Nurses United, CWA Local 1168, in Buffalo, N.Y.
Mele, who represents technical and clerical workers at Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital, works in pathology and has a background as a funeral director. She was called on by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to work at the morgue, helping to identify victims and interview families to collect identifying information.
Mele arrived in lower Manhattan on Sept. 12 and began working 14-hour shifts. She stayed through the end of the month and may be called back again. She kept in touch with Local 1168 colleagues by phone and e-mail. “She’s been amazed at the success of DNA testing,” said the local’s newsletter editor, Suzanne Kocieniewski. “She said they’ve identified a lot of victims through DNA from toothbrushes, hair brushes and other personal items.”
The emotional stress on volunteers is enormous but Mele, she said, was able to take comfort in the presence of therapy dogs. “Dawn is quite a dog lover,” Kocieniewski said. “She said, ‘Just petting them, I’ve realized I almost forgot what it feels like.’”
Brahan, the Salvation Army volunteer, got the opportunity to help because of her work as a member of the United Way board of Greater Mercer County in New Jersey. Her group headed to New York City before dawn on Sept. 13 and arrived home after midnight.
She was assigned to a Salvation Army food service truck parked at the medical examiner’s office, providing meals for doctors and police. Later in the day, she was one of a handful of volunteers able to ride in patrol cars to the scene to hand out food to rescue workers.
“The ash was unbelievable. Everything was gray. The air was gray,” she said. “We were told not to take off our masks under any circumstances.”
Some of the rescue and recovery workers hadn’t eaten for more than a day when the volunteers approached. Brahen said they didn’t realize they were hungry until they started to eat, “then they were voracious.” Always smiling and gracious, they gobbled up Hershey bars, pizza, bologna sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly.
“It was the best volunteer experience I’ve ever had,” Brahan said. “And it was the most emotional. Not that day, but after. That day, you just did it.”
As she handed sandwiches, pizza, candy bars and bottled water to exhausted rescue workers, she was awed by their kind words. “They kept saying, ‘Thank you. We really appreciate you being here,’” she said. “And all we could say was, ‘No, thank you.’ The horror of what they’re going through and they’re grateful to us.”
Brahan, a chief steward for Local 1022, was one of CWA’s hands-on volunteers in the tragedies’ aftermath. But thousands of other members, as well as entire locals, districts and CWA sectors, have given generously to victim funds.
The donations include $100,000 from CWA and another $100,000 from IUE-CWA to the Union Community Fund, the AFL-CIO’s relief fund, as well as $10,000 each from the three IUE-CWA districts. The Japanese union NWJ also contributed $10,000 to CWA’s relief fund.
IUE-CWA Local 416 members were some of the first volunteers at the World Trade Center, rushing to the site with coveralls, dust masks and other materials to help protect rescue workers. IUE-CWA Local 249 quickly sent socks, clothes and water to the scene. In addition to the national IUE-CWA’s contribution, members were able to double their donations through employer matches from General Electric Co. and General Motors. Other CWA employers offering matches include Verizon, SBC and Lucent Technologies.
Some of CWA’s nurses were on the front lines. CWA Local 1104 represents about 180 registered nurses at New York University Downtown Hospital, the closest hospital to the scene. Many of the first victims, as well as injured rescuers, poured into the emergency room.
Nurse Josephine Scott saw the burning towers from the hospital’s second floor. “Nothing I had ever seen in my life could compare to what I was looking at,” she said. “Shortly afterwards, EMS workers and rescue workers were transporting trauma patients into the emergency room and every hospital employee was ready to care for each and every one of them.” She said she took care of a man with shoulder and abdominal injuries who awoke from anesthesia and asked her what happened. She gently told him. “I was glad I was able to help him through this critical time,” she said.
Her colleague, nurse Marilyn Mazzarise described taking care of a man who needed surgery on one arm and had bruises all over his body. “He told me he climbed down countless flights of stairs. He was so worried about his co-workers,” she said. “I told him I would pray for him and his co-workers. He looked up and smiled. I will never forget him.”
Far from the scene, CWA members eagerly gave not just money but time. Late in the day Thursday, Sept. 20, telephone call centers across the country got word that service representatives were needed to take calls for the benefit telethon that ran on all networks and some cable stations the following night.
“Within 90 minutes in our building in Andover, more than 400 people volunteered,” Local 1400 President Melissa Morin said, noting that scores of the local’s other members throughout New England also participated. Throughout the country, nearly 6,000 CWA members staffed phones at their local call centers, each talking to dozens of emotional donors.
“Some of our members were crying,” Morin said. “They needed to take a break after a while. A lot of the victims’ families were calling in. One woman from New Jersey said she’d lost four friends, or relatives, and she wanted to donate. Another woman called whose brother died at the Pentagon. We also took a lot of calls from firefighters and their families.”
Donations ranged from $10 to $50,000, with most in the $50 to $200 range, Morin said. The telethon generated more than 175,000 calls to the Verizon call centers alone and raised $150 million.
In addition to Local 1400, the locals involved in the telethon included Local 6171 in Dallas, Local 4371 in Marion, Ohio and three California locals, 9573 in Santa Monica, 9586 in Long Beach and 9576 in Oxnard.
In another gift of time, CWA members and staff joined more than 100 other unionists Sept. 15 in Washington, D.C., knocking on doors of union households to raise funds and provide information about donating and volunteering.
“One of the most productive things we were able to do was simply talk with people who had been alone trying to deal with this,” said Carrie Biggs-Adam, CWA’s international affairs representative. “We found that people really wanted to talk.”
The door-to-door relief effort had been mapped out weeks earlier as a door-to-door drive to encourage people to participate in peaceful demonstrations during the World Bank’s planned meetings in Washington, D.C. The meetings and protests were cancelled after Sept. 11.
In New York, so many people volunteered to help at the rescue and recovery scene that coordinators had to turn most of them away. But some workers with special skills were asked to assist, including Dawn Mele, area vice president for Nurses United, CWA Local 1168, in Buffalo, N.Y.
Mele, who represents technical and clerical workers at Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital, works in pathology and has a background as a funeral director. She was called on by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to work at the morgue, helping to identify victims and interview families to collect identifying information.
Mele arrived in lower Manhattan on Sept. 12 and began working 14-hour shifts. She stayed through the end of the month and may be called back again. She kept in touch with Local 1168 colleagues by phone and e-mail. “She’s been amazed at the success of DNA testing,” said the local’s newsletter editor, Suzanne Kocieniewski. “She said they’ve identified a lot of victims through DNA from toothbrushes, hair brushes and other personal items.”
The emotional stress on volunteers is enormous but Mele, she said, was able to take comfort in the presence of therapy dogs. “Dawn is quite a dog lover,” Kocieniewski said. “She said, ‘Just petting them, I’ve realized I almost forgot what it feels like.’”
Brahan, the Salvation Army volunteer, got the opportunity to help because of her work as a member of the United Way board of Greater Mercer County in New Jersey. Her group headed to New York City before dawn on Sept. 13 and arrived home after midnight.
She was assigned to a Salvation Army food service truck parked at the medical examiner’s office, providing meals for doctors and police. Later in the day, she was one of a handful of volunteers able to ride in patrol cars to the scene to hand out food to rescue workers.
“The ash was unbelievable. Everything was gray. The air was gray,” she said. “We were told not to take off our masks under any circumstances.”
Some of the rescue and recovery workers hadn’t eaten for more than a day when the volunteers approached. Brahen said they didn’t realize they were hungry until they started to eat, “then they were voracious.” Always smiling and gracious, they gobbled up Hershey bars, pizza, bologna sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly.
“It was the best volunteer experience I’ve ever had,” Brahan said. “And it was the most emotional. Not that day, but after. That day, you just did it.”