USW Texarkana Locals Offer Emergency Shelter for Hurricane Gustav Victims

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/usw-texarkana-locals-offer-emergency/story.aspx?guid={577CC6EC-9807-41AF-A9BD-5E91DFD32403}&dist=hppr

Last update: 4:34 p.m. EDT Sept. 1, 2008
TEXARKANA, Ark., Sept 01, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Three locals of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Southeast Arkansas with union halls in-and-around Texarkana have offered emergency shelters to union members and their families who were evacuated from the Hurricane Gustav storm in the coastal areas of Louisiana and Texas.

Mickey Breaux, USW District 13 Director in Baytown, TX, announced the availability of the union halls in cooperation with the employers represented at the manufacturing plants of Cooper Tire, Domtar and International Paper. "As a matter of emergency outreach on this Labor Day, we've notified FEMA, the Red Cross, the AFL-CIO community services and local authorities that we can accommodate union families and others who have no where else to go as evacuees affected by Hurricane Gustav."

The USW director said, "We can provide overnight sleeping accommodations, some food and shower facilities at the nearby manufacturing plants." Breaux explained that similar arrangements by the USW locals have been made in the past for catastrophic storms affecting the Gulf coastal area. "It's the generosity of working families who know what it means to have a helping hand when crisis strikes."

The locations of the USW union halls and contacts for each are as follows:
-- USW Local 752L (Cooper Tire), 3600 Washington St., Texarkana, AR; Contact: Don Davies, USW Staff Rep. 501-778-3617; 870-403-6238

-- USW Local 1148 (Domtar), 2151 County Rd 3129, Domino, TX; Contact: Barney Kreps, USW Local 1148 Pres. 903-293-3414
-- USW Locals 1329; 1329-C; and 1327 (Int'l. Paper), Hwy. 71, South; Ashdown, AR; Contact: Don Davies, USW Staff Rep. 501-778-3617; 870-403-6238

According to Breaux, the three USW local unions represent more than 3,000 workers employed at the Arkansas and Texas paper and rubber tire plants.

Contact: Ben Lilienfeld, 832-373-9754
SOURCE United Steelworkers

http://www.usw.org/

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