The support and prayers of AFL-CIO members are with our Haitian brothers and sisters suffering across their country. We understand that tens of thousands of Haitian people may be dead, among them workers and trade unionists, especially in the locales of Carrefour, Cite Soleil, Leogane and Delmas.

Already struggling to recover from a food crisis and four devastating 2008 hurricanes, Haiti—the hemisphere's poorest country—is now confronting a new natural disaster of overwhelming magnitude.  The AFL -CIO calls on the United States and the entire international community, including our global labor movement, to do our utmost to aid our Haitian sisters and brothers in their moment of extraordinary need.

We are monitoring the situation and communicating with Haitian workers through the trade union movement.  The AFL-CIO Solidarity Center is sending a delegation of Haitian labor activists living in the Dominican Republic to Port au Prince immediately to make a vital needs assessment.  The Solidarity Center is working with unions in the Dominican Republic to establish a donation center with nonperishable goods that will be shipped to Haitian trade union counterparts.  More than 3,400 registered nurses who are members of National Nurses United have volunteered to assist in Haiti. Urban search-and-rescue teams made up of Fire Fighters from across North America are on their way to provide rescue operations, medical care and other emergency services. Members of Maritime Trades Department unions are crewing ships including the USNS Comfort that will provide aid. The Steelworkers and other unions are contributing and raising funds to help. For updates on union efforts, follow the AFL-CIO Now blog.

The AFL-CIO also is calling on Congress to grant humanitarian relief in the form of Temporary Protected Status to Haitians who are in the United States. It would be inhumane to send people back to a country utterly incapable of taking care of its own population. 

We are encouraging efforts from throughout the union family to provide in-kind volunteer assistance.  Donations can be made to the Solidarity Center Emergency Relief Fund to ensure that assistance reaches workers and their families.

Information on contributing to the Solidarity Center Emergency Relief Fund can be accessed from the Solidarity Center website at www.solidaritycenter.org 

Donations may also be made to:

• Partners in Health:  www.pih.org/inforesources/news/Haiti_Earthquake.html or send your contribution to Partners In Health, P.O. Box 845578, Boston, MA 02284- 5578.
  
  
• Doctors Without Borders: www.doctorswithoutborders.org, or toll-free at 1-888-392-0392.  USA Headquarters 333 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY  10001-5004.
  
  
• American Red Cross International Response Fund: www.redcross.org, or toll-free at 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions also can be mailed to American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC. 20013 or to your local American Red Cross chapter (specify if you want to make sure your donation will benefit Haiti).
  
  
• RN Response Network: www.NationalNursesUnited.org United Way Worldwide Disaster Fund: https://volunteer.united-e-way.org/uwwwdisaster/donate/ or mail checks with  the Fund reference to United Way Worldwide, P.O. Box 630568, Baltimore, MD 21263-0568. Those interested in providing volunteer assistance should contact the Center for International Disaster Information, at www.cidi.org and 703 -276-1914.

For Information: Devon Whitham (202) 637-5018