WHEREAS:
On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the U.S. at the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon with hijacked commercial airliners and attempted to use a fourth plane to attack Washington, D.C., but were thwarted by passengers, resulting in a fatal crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In all, 2,977 victims were killed, including nine AFSCME members and more than 600 members of the Firefighters, Police, Flight Attendants, Building Trades and other unions. Thousands of AFSCME members lost loved ones that day; and
WHEREAS:
Almost immediately, reports of heroism and sacrifice emerged from the sites of the attacks. Father Mychal Judge, a Fire Department of New York (FDNY) chaplain and an AFSCME District Council (DC) 37 member, was the first named victim. He was praying with and for other victims and rescuers when he was struck and killed by debris from a collapsing World Trade Center tower. Countless other AFSCME members helped victims as part of their jobs, like NYC EMS workers or Long Island ferry operators, or just because the people near them needed help. Hospital workers in and around New York City urgently prepared to receive survivors who, tragically, never came; and
WHEREAS:
In the aftermath of the attacks, members from AFSCME and other unions jumped in without hesitation to lead the recovery effort and the clearing of debris from the disaster sites, demonstrating solidarity with their fellow union members and all Americans. Union members and others who rescued victims, searched for the dead, collected evidence and cleared the sites unfortunately became victims themselves, through the psychological trauma of the work and from contamination of the disaster sites from asbestos, mercury and other toxins. The number of people who have died of 9/11-related health conditions has far surpassed the number of people who died on the day of the attacks; and
WHEREAS:
DC 37’s headquarters was situated adjacent to Ground Zero, suffering power outages and water damage. The New York Police Department (NYPD) and FDNY used the building’s ground floor as an emergency operations center, and the district council had to operate from borrowed quarters in the days and months to come; and
WHEREAS:
Congress created the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund to provide cash benefits to those affected by exposure to debris or toxic substances in the aftermath of the attacks. The fund was reopened in 2011 and has provided over $16.8 billion to over 71,000 responders and victims since that time; and
WHEREAS:
In 2010, Congress created the World Trade Center Health Program to provide medical monitoring and treatment for certain conditions to workers and volunteers who performed rescue, recovery and cleanup at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Shanksville and to victims present in the New York City disaster area on and in the months after Sept. 11. In 2026, the program was finally extended and funded to ensure continuing coverage for 9/11 responders and survivors through 2092. Unfortunately, staffing cuts of one-fifth or more to the program by the Trump administration hamper the program’s operation and put rescuers’ and survivors’ health at risk; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME created the September 11th Relief Fund in the aftermath of the attacks so that members, locals and councils from all over the country could help and make contributions. That fund has since become known as the Fallen Heroes Fund, which assists members and their families experiencing natural disasters as well as injury and death on the job.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in Manhattan, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and remembers our fellow members, our loved ones and all the union members who lost their lives that day a quarter-century ago. We honor the members of AFSCME DC 37, CSEA and other unions who gave their lives trying to save others; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME mourns the thousands of responders and victims who have died from the health effects of exposure to toxins at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Shanksville. We applaud the 9/11 memorial organizers for adding a moment of silence for these victims at the 25th anniversary commemoration next month, and we thank the legislative leaders and other champions who, through years of advocacy, finally helped secure permanent, full funding of the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides medical monitoring and treatment for Sept. 11-linked conditions; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will continue to maintain the Fallen Heroes Fund to provide members and their families assistance at their lowest moments: when they are experiencing natural disasters as well as injury and death on the job.
SUBMITTED BY:
International Executive Board