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Teamsters Joint Council 75 and Allies Continue Hurricane Michael Relief Efforts
(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) – Following the devastation of Hurricane Michael, Teamsters Joint Council 75 is working the Florida AFL-CIO, the American Red Cross and a variety of other organizations to assist union members and their communities with rebuilding after the storm hit the Florida Panhandle.
“We estimate about 400 of our members have been affected,” said Joint Council 75 and Local 512 President Jim Shurling. “I’d like to thank all of the union volunteers, both from our Teamsters and AFL-CIO affiliates, who are out here and have stepped up like we’ve never seen before to make things happen on the ground.”
The labor coalition’s disaster relief operation is in the process of wrapping up the first phase of its emergency management plan and is beginning the second phase of recovery for the area –stabilization. Teamsters Disaster Relief is working to secure drop-off locations for supplies throughout communities in the affected areas and assist with the process of getting victims of the hurricane back into their homes so they can rebuild their lives.
We’ve been working and people know that the labor movement is out here; people know that the labor movement cares,” Teamsters Joint Council 13 Human Rights Coordinator Roy Gillespie said. “Us being in a right-to-work state, we even had some people sign up as new members when they saw us out in the community.”
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The Teamsters Human Rights Committee is asking locals unions and Joint Councils to assist with Teamsters Disasters Relief by sending trucks full of supplies to the Florida Panhandle. If you’re an elected or appointed officer at a Teamsters local or Join Council and you would like to send supplies to communities that have been affected by Hurricane Michael, please contact Roy Gillespie at (314) 302-5981.
To make a donation to the Teamsters Disaster Relief, go to http://tdr.teamster.org/. You can also mail a donation to the following address:
Teamsters Disaster Relief Fund
c/o International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.