Printer Friendly Page

Sweeney statement on Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund grant (9/15)

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has issued the following statement, which also is available on the AFL-CIO web site HERE Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund Grant to Louisiana Center for Workforce Recovery September 15, 2006 Louisiana’s working families are still reeling from the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, even a year after the storms hit, and desperately need the tools – such as jobs and training – to rebuild their lives. Many families have found those tools through the Louisiana Center for Workforce Recovery (LCWR), which has been front and center in rebuilding efforts, helping to reintegrate hurricane victims into the workforce. The $300,000 grant from the Bush-Clinton Katrina fund announced today is a welcome support for this vital organization’s work and a much-needed boost to Louisiana’s working families. The union movement has been instrumental in speeding recovery in the Gulf. The AFL-CIO’s Housing Investment Trust and its Building Investment Trust have begun a $1 billion investment program in the Gulf region for affordable housing, commercial development and health care. This is the first major infusion of private capital into the region since Katrina. The Louisiana Center for Workforce Recovery is a project of the Louisiana Human Resource Development Institute (LHRDI), a nonprofit union-sponsored organization with nearly 20 years experience helping the working people of Louisiana. LCWR’s main constituencies are union members, their families, and government workers affected by the Hurricanes. Through its special partnership with the Louisiana AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions, the Center has been able to match up workers with jobs, helping to build a workforce that can rebuild Louisiana. The Louisiana Center for Workforce Recovery is playing a key role in making real our nation’s wishes and hopes for the Gulf region, and their work on behalf of working people will be strongly supported by the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund grant received today. ###