Sept. 11, 2011: A Day to Commit to Activism
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Today, all of us will remember the horror and anguish we experienced 10 years ago. Whether we lost loved ones ourselves—family members, union brothers and sisters—or felt the shock of a society that lost nearly 3,000 people and was forever changed, we need no reminding.
Instead, today, I would like to reflect on doors that were opened on Sept. 11, 2001, and what has come of them in the 10 years since.
Working men and women rushed through doors to danger and became America’s everyday heroes. Firefighters, construction workers, nurses and EMTs—all kinds of professionals and volunteers—were there not just on the fateful day but some for weeks and months and even years after. And we swore we would never forget.
Doors opened within us to each other. We came together. We flew the flag. We comforted one another. In our grief, we found the best in ourselves.
Union Heroes Made a Difference on 9/11
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As the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack approaches, the union movement remembers those who lost their lives, those who risked their lives to get others to safety and those who took part in the cleanup and rebuilding efforts that followed.
On the AFL-CIO website here, you can find a video we produced after the attacks of union members describing their efforts. Also on the site is a message from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and links to union websites about 9/11.
A member of AFGE Local 2004, Jeffrey Matthews was employed as a federal police officer with the Defense Protective Service (now called the U.S. Pentagon Police) on 9/11. His and other AFGE members’ stories are featured here. He says when he saw the TV broadcast of a plane flying into the World Trade Center, he jumped into his police uniform, grabbed his weapon, ran to his car and headed for the Pentagon.
Who Do You Love? Join Our ‘I Heart a Worker’ Labor Day Action
Starting today you can show a little love for the American worker who, between the economy, jobs crisis and attacks on workers’ rights, has had a real rough year.
So this Labor Day, we’re urging everyone to HEART a Worker via Facebook and Twitter and let the public know how important hardworking women and men are in our daily lives. Starting today on our Labor Day splash page at www.aflcio.org/iheart, you can share a message that answers the question: Who do you HEART this Labor Day?
We’ll offer suggestions such as I HEART Cooks, I HEART Firefighters or, if you’re in the north country, I HEART Snowplow Drivers. You also can customize the type of worker you HEART. After you select the worker you HEART, you can share the message on Facebook and via Twitter with one or two quick clicks.
Trumka: Nation’s Future ‘Begins and Ends’ with Jobs
The debate about America’s future “begins and ends concretely with the question of jobs,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said this morning in a speech outlining a working families’ vision for the nation.
In the address at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Trumka urged President Obama to make next week’s State of the Union address a “call to action, a call to invest in our future, to create jobs, to be the country we can and must be.”
We have just been through one lost decade—when America’s standard of living fell, when our wealth shrank, when millions lost their homes, when young people could not find work America cannot afford another lost decade.
Click here for the full video from the address.
Joined by a New York City firefighter veteran of the 9/11 World Trade Center bombing and an Ohio child care worker who will lose her freedom to have a union if Gov. John Kasich (R) has his way, Trumka said Stan Trojanowski and Ella Hopkins are examples of “American heroes”–
the hard-working everyday champions who make America great, and their lives illuminate the choices facing our nation as we enter a fourth year of economic crisis. The choice between coming together as a nation or turning on each other….Working people know we can build that future only if we act together to put America back to work—to educate our children, to build a clean energy future, to build a 21st century America.
After Nine Years, 9/11 Heroes Get Some Help
Nine years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, more than 10,000 heroes who were exposed to toxic debris during the cleanup of the World Trade Center will receive between $625 million and $712 million under a settlement agreement negotiated with New York City and its contractors.
The agreement was to resolve more than 10,000 lawsuits by 9/11 responders, thousands who became seriously ill as a result of their toxic exposures. The agreement became effective last Friday.
So far, 10,043 of 10,563 plaintiffs had signed on to the agreement, including 98 percent of those claiming the most severe injuries. The settlement includes a compensation fund to resolve personal injury and disease claims by police, firefighters and other rescue, recovery and cleanup workers at the site.
McConnell Leads Republican Opposition to 9/11 Health Care Bill
What’s holding up Senate action on the 9/11 health care bill that passed the House by a vote of 268 to 160 with bipartisan support in September? Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s opposition to the bill is the major stumbling block. McConnell has taken no public position, but in private, according to published reports, he has voiced opposition to the bill.
Reports John Toscano in the Queens Gazette:
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, from Kentucky, makes no effort to hide his anti-NYC feelings in opposing the 9/11 bill, even though many volunteers from outside the state volunteered their efforts to the Ground Zero cleanup and became sick as a result of it.
Washington sources reported McConnell’s opposition is the most serious impediment to passing the measure.
House OKs 9/11 Health Bill, But Senate Action Uncertain
The U.S. House today passed the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847) to provide long-term medical care and monitoring for the first responders, recovery workers and others exposed to the Ground Zero toxic mix of chemicals, jet fuel, asbestos, lead, glass fragments and other debris.
The bill passed 268 to 160, with 13 Republicans joining Democrats in support. Says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:
Taking care of those who bravely answered the nation’s call on 9/11 transcends partisan politics and tests the integrity of those serving in Congress, and we thank the 251 Democrats and the 17 Republicans who voted in support of the bill. But, the vast majority of Republicans and business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, chose to protect the status quo rather than help our heroes. Working families will not forget that choice this November.
In July, House Republicans blocked the bill. The bill’s fate is uncertain because the Senate must approve it and Republicans have the votes to mount a filibuster and block the bill. Also, both chambers will adjourn this week and not return until after the November elections.
Nine Years Later, 9/11 Heroes Need Help
Mike Hall contributed to this story.
Nine years ago, Vito Friscia was just one of the thousands of first responders who were heroes when he rushed to the scene of the Twin Towers collapsing on Sept. 11, 2001. A Brooklyn homicide detective, he was only a block away when the second of the Twin Towers fell. Engulfed in a perilous cloud, he put his life on the line to try to find survivors. Now, Friscia and thousands of other heroes of that tragic day are facing their own tragedy of serious illness.
More than 13,000 World Trade Center responders are sick and receiving treatment. Nearly 53,000 responders are enrolled in medical monitoring. Some 71,000 are enrolled in the World Trade Center health registry indicating that they were exposed to the toxins.
Friscia was exposed to the dangerous chemicals after he spent about a week at the site and then sifted through the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island. Today, he has a deep cough, chronic sinusitis and shortness of breath.
House Republicans Block Medical Help for 9/11 Heroes
House Republicans last night blocked a bill that would provide long-term medical care and monitoring for the nearly 60,000 Sept. 11 rescue and recovery workers and community members whose health is at serious risk from their exposure to the contaminated and toxic rubble at Ground Zero of the World Trade Center.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called the vote a deep disappointment and said:
Helping the thousands of 9/11 responders and others who are now sick as a result of their exposures at the World Trade Center should not be a partisan issue. But sadly, the majority of House Republicans voted against this bill.
The 255-159 vote in favor of the bill included 12 Republicans. But because the bill was on what is known as the suspension calendar used for non-controversial bills, it needed a two-thirds majority to pass. What’s controversial about helping Sept. 11 heroes who faced a toxic mix of chemicals, jet fuel, asbestos, lead, glass fragments and other debris?
9/11 Health Bill Clears Another Hurdle
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The nearly 60,000 rescue and recovery workers and community members whose health is at serious risk from their exposure to the contaminated and toxic rubble at the 2001 Ground Zero World Trade Center attacks are a step closer to receiving long-term medical care.
Yesterday the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health subcommittee approved by an overwhelming and bipartisan 25-8 vote the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847). The bill would establish a medical monitoring and treatment program for the Sept. 11 first responders and the community members at the site of the attacks.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y) one of the bill’s chief sponsors, along with Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y), says that while progress has been “painfully slow,”
today we are one important step closer to providing the brave responders and survivors of 9/11′s toxic aftermath the health care and compensation they need and deserve. Read the rest of this entry »
