Labor & Employment Law

Union Members Generously Give for the Holidays

By Mike Hall

Missouri Painters and Allied Trades members Margo Webb, Bill Crowely, Bill Reape and Jim Wolfe ring for holiday donations.

Throughout the holiday season, union members have spread more than a sleigh full of holiday cheer, from helping Santa answer kids? letters, to food and toy drives and reuniting families. Here are just a few of the holiday highlights.

For six years, the Atlantic and Cape May (N.J.) Counties Central Labor Council has brought far-flung families back together with its ?Fly Home for the Holidays? program. The council takes requests from area residents who want to fly home two relatives, but need help. Along with the airfare, comes a $500 holiday shopping spree and other goodies.

Says council President Roy Foster:

Being in a labor movement is about meeting and helping people in the community. If we can help in some small way, especially at this time of the year, then we’re fulfilling our mission.

Fred Slunt III, a 35-year-old school custodian, is this year?s winner. His parents, both of whom have serious health issues, will be flown from their Las Vegas home to see their granddaughter for the first time ever and their son and daughter-in-law for the first time in several years.

This year, Foster says the council received more requests than ever.

It makes you see how tough it can be for people out there. If we can provide that little bit of joy during this season, all the better.

Read more here.

In Tucson, Ariz., members of Letter Carriers (NALC) Local 704 filled in for Santa to help answer children? letters to St. Nick. Although usually addressed to the North Pole, the U.S. Postal Service relies on organizations and volunteers like Dan Versluis to read and answer the letters.

While some ask for the expected latest toy sensation or fashion must have, Versluis says some that he read asked Santa Claus to pray that the family doesn?t lose their home and all another child asked for was for her mother to get better. ?Some really wanted to yank your heart out.?

In National Football League cities around the nation, NFL Players Association (NFLPA) members took part in numerous toy, book and food drives for local charities and community organizations, signing autographs in exchange for donations.

Several members of the Pittsburgh Steelers pitched in at the 9th Annual Pittsburgh Celebrity Toy Drive for Children?s Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.  Said linebacker LaMarr Woodley:

I am really excited to be a part of this toy drive again for my fourth year now. Anytime I can give back to the community, I try to be there. We are hoping that the toys collected here can help make the kids at Children?s Hospital have a better Christmas this year.

In the Washington, D.C., area, Helmets to Hardhats, the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) and the AFL-CIO spearheaded a Toys for Tots Drive that collected more than 1,500 toys and raised more than $20,000 in donations.

In San Bernardino, Calif., Fire Fighters (IAFF) from Local 891 dug deep into their pockets and donated $10,000 to stock a tractor trailer full of holiday foods and staple items for Mary?s Mercy Center, a non-profit organization that provides food and other services to those in need.

After the food was delivered to the center, firefighters worked with the center’s staff to distribute filled boxes to the hundreds of people waiting in line. Local 891 President Scott Moss says, ?We have a lot of generous members in our local.? They sure do.

In New Mexico, Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 480 and New Mexico Women in Film collected hundreds of coats, sweaters, pairs of gloves and scarves in a warm clothing drive.

Members of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 2 in St. Louis traded their brushes for bells throughout the holiday season to help collect donations at the iconic red Salvation Army Kettles. Click here for more photos.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on December 24, 2010 (boomark / email).