Earthquake Leaves Hundreds of Union Members Homeless. You Can Help

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/09/10/earthquake-leaves-hundreds-of-union-members-homeless-you-can-help/

By Esperanza Avalos

Esperanza Avalos of the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center reports on union efforts to help survivors of last month’s devastating earthquake in Peru.

On the morning of Aug. 15, Pablo Grimaldo Roque, secretary general of the Civil Construction Workers Union (CGTP) in Pisco, Peru, left his home on a business trip not far from his small community. That was the last time he saw his family.




At ­­­­about 3:30 in the afternoon, a devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit Peru. Grimaldo hurried home to learn that a local cathedral where his family was celebrating Mass had collapsed, killing all of the worshippers.

The earthquake killed 5,000 people and left more than 1,000 injured. It destroyed 40,000 homes and partially damaged more than 6,000. Hardest hit were some of the poorest areas in Peru, south of the capital Lima. Thousands of Peruvians are now living in the streets, battling cold and hunger in the harsh winter weather.

Although communication networks are down and roads and bridges into the area are in ruins, reports are trickling in to the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center’s local staff representative in Lima. The CGTP labor center reports that many union members lost family members and homes. Grimaldo, despite his personal loss, is helping other union members in the recovery efforts. The homes of more than 50 percent of the union members who work at the Funsur factory, affiliated with the mining federation, were totally destroyed or so damaged they are uninhabitable.

Other unions whose members lost family and homes are: the Potable Water Workers Unions of Emapica and Pisco; the Light and Power Union; the Social Security Workers Union of Pisco; the Steelworkers of Arequipa, whose union hall was destroyed; and the Textile Workers Union of COTOR-SUR, Pisco.

Among those reported missing is the former secretary general of the CGTP, Teodulo Hernandez. In Chincha province, members of these unions were injured and also lost family and homes. The secretary general of the Potable Water and Waste Water Workers Union in Pisco, Luis Izarra, has written a personal appeal for assistance because the city’s entire infrastructure has been destroyed.

FULL story at link.