The unemployment rate among building and construction workers in Los Angeles County is nearly 40 percent, which means many families face a bleak holiday. But one thing the workers can be thankful for is that they belong to a union and their union brothers and sisters will be there for them.
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor selected unemployed construction workers and their families as this year’s recipients of its annual holiday "Turkeys and Toys" campaign, which helps out working families in need. The federation and its affiliated unions bought the makings of Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, including a turkey, for 4,000 unemployed building trades workers.
More than 40 different unions contributed to the Thanksgiving turkey and food distribution, including grocery workers, truck drivers, hotel workers, sanitation workers, teachers and school employees, firefighters, college faculty, costume designers, telecommunications workers, courtroom clerks and more. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) also helped distribute food to the workers.
"We are glad to have the opportunity to show support and solidarity with these unemployed construction workers, especially those who are experiencing long-term unemployment," says Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.
However, what these highly skilled tradesmen and women really need are... good jobs that will produce the infrastructure and public transportation system that Los Angeles needs.
Says Jose Alaniz, the Los Angeles County Federation’s labor liaison for the United Way-Labor and Community Services:
Across the board, every trade is experiencing hard times. But the building trades have been hit the hardest. A lot of their contracts have expired and there’s no work. Most folks rely on unemployment [insurance] and disability. When unemployment benefits expire at the end of the month, they won’t have anything.
Helping out at Thanksgiving is just part of what unions do all year long, with union members giving generously to help those in need, at home and abroad. For example, this year union members have opened their hearts and wallets to victims of the earthquakes in Haiti and to jobless workers in their communities. The Letter Carriers collected a record 77.1 million pounds of food for local food banks in their annual "Stamp Out Hunger" drive.
This holiday season, in one of the largest efforts, some 150 volunteers in Cherry Hills, N.J., for the Thanksgiving FEASTival program provided food for nearly 700 disadvantaged men, women and children at the local Silver Diner. This is the 11th year for the FEASTival, sponsored by the Union Organization for Social Service (UOSS), a coalition of unions in the New Jersey area.
Here is just a sample of the hundreds of other activities this week as unions reached out to help those in need:
•America West flight attendants, represented by the Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), held a holiday food drive for flight attendants in need. "After furloughs and foreclosures, some of our members could not afford to feed themselves or their families," said AFA-CWA Council 66 Representative Erin McLoughlin. America West flight attendants have not had a wage increase since 2002.
•In Green Bay, Wis., United Steelworkers Local 1319 donated enough food to local food banks to feed 25 families.
•The Screen Actors (SAG) is urging all members to support U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq this holiday season by making tax-deductible contributions to provide soldiers with global pre-paid calling cards to help them call home. In that spirit, many board members have already made personal contributions to support Project: Hollywood Cares. You can find a link to Project: Hollywood Cares on the SAG website (www.sag.org) through Dec. 31.
•The Labor’s Community Service Agency in Portland, Ore., is giving away $40 Safeway gift cards to working families who have lost jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. Oregon ranks third in the nation for requests to food banks.