Member Update: Thursday, January 6, 2005

Unions worldwide rally to aid of tsunami survivors

EDMONTON — With tens of thousands of people dead and hundreds of thousands homeless, unions and union members worldwide are rallying to the aid of the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

On Dec. 31, 2004, for example, AUPE announced it would donate $15,000 to the Canadian Red Cross and its relief efforts following the deadly earthquake and tsunami that devastated countries throughout the region on Dec. 26.

The LabourStart on-line news service — found at www.labourstart.org — has created a special Web page at www.labourstart.org/tsunami/ featuring ongoing coverage of the disaster and the response by unions.

“ We in the trade union movement have a special responsibility to mobilize our resources and dig deep into our pockets,” says LabourStart editor Eric Lee.

“ Our brothers and sisters in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, India and elsewhere need our help and they need it right now.”

Among the stories on the LabourStart page:

• In Sweden, the metal workers union has pledged 100,000 Euros and called on other unions around the world to make similar donations.
  
• A union in Cyprus has made a contribution of £2,000 to express its solidarity with the working people of Sri Lanka.
  
• In Tamil Nadu, India, the Southern Railway Mazdoor Union distributed food pockets, clothes and medicines to victims.
  
• In Sri Lanka, the Norwegian trade union aid agency’s mine clearance program was severely hit. The fate of its 650 local mine clearers is not yet known.

In addition to covering news, LabourStart will list links to places where union members can donate, with the emphasis being on trade union linked relief agencies.

On Dec. 31, AUPE President Dan MacLennan encouraged all AUPE locals and members to open up their hearts and wallets to the suffering people of Southeast Asia.

“As a labour organization that fights for human rights, we now have an opportunity and a responsibility to help those who have been victimized by a catastrophe of such enormous magnitude,” MacLennan said.

“It is incumbent upon us to act quickly to financially assist the many aid organizations that are attempting to deliver essentials such as clean water, food and clothing to the survivors of the tidal-wave-battered regions.”