Union Volunteers Build 300th Wheelchair Ramp
This is a cross-post from the Machinists.
A Seattle-area veteran who served his country in Vietnam was the recipient of another kind of service recently when volunteers from the Machinists (IAM) union built a wheelchair ramp to help him get in and out of his Tukwila home.
The ramp represented a major milestone for both Dan Olson, the veteran who got the ramp, and for the members of the Machinists Volunteer Program (MVP) who built it. It was the 300th ramp that the MVP has built for Puget Sound-area residents since their program launched in 1997.
“We’ve done a lot of projects that have helped a lot of great people over the years,” said Robley Evans, the chairman of the MVP Committee. “But our 300th ramp was really rewarding, because we were helping a veteran who has also been a fellow union member.”
Seattle Theaters Showcase Union Support
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With workers under attack across the nation, all the major theaters in the Seattle area affirmed their support for workers everywhere to organize and bargain collectively. In a statement, 24 theatrical, sound and stagecraft employers, who all have contracts with the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 15, said:
We are proud to be a union employer. We are committed to bargain fairly and in good faith with our employees, and to maintaining our history of respect for, and cooperation with, the labor community.
IATSE President Matthew Loeb said:
There are plenty of good employers out there that understand the value of unions to their employees, and respect the bargaining process. It’s encouraging when they say so and I am grateful for their support in these trying times.
Local 15 President Andrew Willhelm added:
This says loud and clear that Seattle is still a union town. Just as in Wisconsin, the public supports labor. We’re doing all we can to make sure that corporate interests don’t hijack our government, the way they have in Wisconsin.
Green Labor Journal Highlights Seattle Training Program
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| Frank Benish, apprenticeship coordinator for the Western Washington Cement Masons, instructs a student in the SODO program. | |
South Seattle Community College’s Georgetown campus is creating new training programs to meet the growing needs for job training with a focus on environmental sustainability. The Georgetown campus also houses the largest regional apprenticeship training program in the Pacific Northwest, representing more than 25 programs with strong labor and management commitment.
The April 2011 online edition of the Green Labor Journal spotlights the Georgetown campus for its green jobs training programs in construction and manufacturing, ranging from weatherization training to commercial energy auditing.
In partnership with the apprenticeship training programs, the college also has created new opportunities for disadvantaged youth and adults to learn about the trades and receive industry-valued safety certifications through the Seeking Opportunities Developing Occupations (SODO) program.
AFT Members Help Children Before Getting Down to Convention Business
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Before delegates to AFT’s national convention get down to business July 8 in Seattle, they will do what teachers do best and give of themselves, their time and energy to help children. One day before the convention opens, the teachers will help AFT members in Seattle who work with young children by joining together for a day of community service. They also are collecting supplies to help homeless students.
Before each convention, AFT members take time to give back to the community where they are meeting, says AFT spokesperson Cynthia Garza.
More than 50 delegates have volunteered to help move the Tiny Tots Development Center in Seattle, where members of AFT’s Washington Educators in Early Learning work with young children. They’ll take on several projects, including moving the center to a new location, setting up classrooms, landscaping, making building and roofing repairs, helping teachers as they work with the children and leading arts and crafts time. Read the rest of this entry »
