Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Shout outs to the Teamsters for Sandy relief and clean-up work

Unloading supplies on Long Island.

CNBNews posted a story we like about our Teamster brothers and sisters in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut who worked long hours with the Red Cross on helping Superstorm Sandy victims. It starts out:
Weekends on the Red Cross Hurricane Sandy relief effort call for an extra push – food and water to stock, comfort and clean-up kits to load, and trucks of all shapes and sizes to drive from the warehouses to the Red Cross staging sites. 
Someone’s got to do it, even if it causes a little trouble at home. 
“Some of our guys get only one day off, and their wives already had jobs lined up for them,” said Rich Caldwell, a Teamster from Milford, PA and one of the dozens of Teamsters helping out on the Red Cross Sandy mission. “My wife said go on, get out of here!” 
Hurricane Sandy has fomented a unique partnership between the Tri-State Teamsters and the American Red Cross combing the union’s logistics expertise with the agency’s resources. Teamsters, a group of unionized drivers living and working across the region, prepositioned goods, operated the forklifts, and drove 16-foot box trucks loaded with urgently needed supplies from the New Jersey warehouse to the far-reaching areas devastated by the worst hurricane to hit New York in years.
The story goes on to describe how Teamsters also identify stricken communities that hadn't been served and brought order to the warehouses. Read the whole thing here.

Our sanitation brothers also got a shout out from Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer in the New York Daily News. The story announced a FEMA grant of $26.3 million to cover overtime costs for cleaning up Sandy:
The storm left New York City’s roads debris ridden and our amazing sanitation workers worked around the clock in this massive cleanup effort. They are the best and they deserve our heartfelt thanks and support,” said Schumer... 
Said Gillibrand: "Our city roads and infrastructure suffered enormous damage while our city sanitation workers were on the front lines tirelessly removing debris in the aftermath of the storm. These necessary reimbursements are an important step as we continue the effort in Washington to fully fund New York's needs for recovery and rebuilding.”
Way to go, brothers and sisters!