Unions and community allies demand Trump and Congress provide relief for Puerto Rico

Unions and community allies will join DC-area Puerto Ricans at a protest in front of the White House at noon today (see Calendar above) “to demand immediate and sufficient aid to relieve and rebuild Puerto Rico,” says SEIU 32BJ. The protest is part of a day of action in several cities across the country to highlight the plight of 3.4 million US citizens in Puerto Rico who have no electricity and drinking water, face shortages in fuel and food and are dealing with severely crippled telecommunications. Yesterday, AFGE called on President Trump and Congress to expedite the pace of recovery efforts, saying that residents on the islands “desperately need our help.” AFGE represents more than 5,000 federal employees who work in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
​THIS JUST IN: Some 275 volunteers – pilots, mechanics, flight attendants and other workers – are due to take off from Newark International Airport this morning on a union-sponsored relief mission to hurricane-smashed Puerto Rico, the AFL-CIO announced. Some 50 unionized registered nurses, members of National Nurses United, flew in from San Francisco yesterday (above) to join the mission.

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