If you are a union member who participates in certain Union Plus programs and have been affected by the California wildfires, you may be eligible for financial assistance through the Union Plus Disaster Relief Grant program.1

Union Plus Disaster Relief Grants of $500 are available to eligible participants of one of the following programs:

• Union Plus Credit Card Program
• Union Plus Life Insurance
• Accidental Death Insurance
• Union Plus Auto Insurance or
• Union Plus Mortgage Program

OPEIU local unions and individual members have been extremely generous and responsive to our calls for support of the OPEIU Relief Fund for those affected by recent hurricanes. The funds you have donated have been quickly distributed to those OPEIU members in greatest need in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

Despite these efforts, we still have many OPEIU members in great need of help to rebuild following these storms, particularly in Puerto Rico where the destruction has been overwhelming and has affected nearly all residents of the island. We also anticipate there will be a tremendous need for assistance from members affected by this week’s wildfires in California, where 40 people have died, more than 150 are still missing and hundreds of homes have been destroyed.

(NEWARK, N.J., October 4, 2017) – Today, three Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) nurse members joined more than 300 working men and women who volunteered to travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico from Newark, N.J. to help with Hurricane Maria’s relief efforts.

The flight – a Boeing 777-300ER, which was volunteered by United Airlines for a business and labor partnership – was a response to the urgent need for highly skilled workers to come to Puerto Rico to assist with the rebuilding effort and help people in need of medical and humanitarian assistance.

OPEIU members joined other members from, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), and United Airlines who teamed up to fly the more than 300 first responders and skilled volunteers -- including nurses, doctors, firefighters, electricians, engineers, carpenters and truck drivers -- to help with relief efforts and the rebuilding of Puerto Rico.

GSAF/OPEIU Local 100 Executive Board Member Luiz Morizot, left, lends a hand to the Hurricane Irma relief effort by delivery supplies to a shelter set up at the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exhibition Center.

This month, the Trump administration announced it was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provided temporary permission for over 800,000 undocumented young people brought to the United States as children to live and work in the country. The young people covered by DACA include teachers, journalists, entertainers, behavioral health specialists, and many other young professionals. As the place in the labor movement for professionals, the Department for Professional Employees’ (DPE’s) affiliate unions’ members bring to the table a diverse array of backgrounds, nationalities, and immigration experiences — including Dreamers.

If you are a union member who participates in certain Union Plus programs and have been affected by Hurricane Irma, you may be eligible for financial assistance through the Union Plus Disaster Relief Grant program.1

Union Plus Disaster Relief Grants of $500 are available to eligible participants of one of the following programs:

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Negotiations have begun with Search and Rescue cabin crew (SAR CC) and pilots represented by OPEIU at Cougar Helicopter Inc. (CHI), located in St. John’s Newfoundland Labrador Canada.

Pictured are the negotiating committee members on August 14, left to right, GHPA/OPEIU Local 103 President Luke Yosca, OPEIU DAG 110 SAR Pilot Scott Ferguson, OPEIU DAG 110s SAR CC President Cody Neal, OPEIU DAG 110s SAR CC Negotiator Steve Pettie, and OPEIU DAG 110s SAR CC Vice President Sean Matthews.

These members with Cougar work in some of the world’s worst weather conditions. The SAR pilots and cabin crew are currently negotiating for their second collective labor agreement. Dispatchers, weather observers and radio operators are now bargaining for their first union agreement. All three groups have negotiators selected from their different units, and are assisted by OPEIU Senior International Representative Patt A. Gibbs.

 

If you are a union member who participates in certain Union Plus programs and have been affected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas, you may be eligible for financial assistance through the Union Plus Disaster Relief Grant program¹. 

Union Plus Disaster Relief Grants of $500 are available to eligible participants of one of the following programs:

• Union Plus Credit Card Program²
• Union Plus Life Insurance
• Accidental Death Insurance
• Union Plus Auto Insurance or
• Union Plus Mortgage Program

Participants who live in the following counties may be eligible for individual assistance: Aransas, Bee, Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Goliad, Harris, Jackson, Kleberg, Liberty, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Victoria and Wharton.

OPEIU members have always been there to help their sisters and brothers in need. From the devastation in Louisiana caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, to the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 in New York and New Jersey, we are proud to say that OPEIU members came forward and did all they could to help those affected.

Now our sisters and brothers in Texas need our help. Hurricane Harvey is probably the largest natural disaster ever faced in Texas. The resulting downpours have caused untold damage in Houston, Galveston Island, Corpus Christi, Beaumont-Port Arthur, parts of central Texas and many areas in between. And, as we all know, things could get much worse over the days ahead as heavy rains continue to fall.

Union workers go on strike around Seattle from time to time. But what happens when office administrators who serve union workers go on strike?

On Wednesday, a local union whose members handle pension and health-care benefits for about 250,000 unionized workers in the Puget Sound region and across the West announced it was fed up with negotiations with its members’ employer and went on strike.