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TORONTO, Oct. 5 - United Steelworkers' (USW) National Director
Ken Neumann
announced a contribution by the Steelworkers Humanity Fund of $10,000 to assist people left homeless due to flooding caused by Typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines.
Neumann, who is also president of the Steelworkers Humanity Fund, said "The emergency aid will be channelled through Développement et Paix/Development and Peace. Development and Peace has long-standing connections in the Philippines and we are confident the working through their Philippine partners aid will reach affected people."
Typhoon Ketsana - locally known as Ondoy - struck the northern Philippines on Saturday September 26, dumping more than a month of rain in just 12 hours and triggering the worst flooding to hit the country in more than 40 years. The flooding forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and destroyed an estimated 180,000 tons of paddy rice.
Founded by the United Steelworkers union in 1985, the Steelworkers Humanity Fund is a registered charitable organization. Steelworker members contribute to the Fund through clauses negotiated into collective agreements, which most commonly provide for a contribution of $20 per-year, per-union member. In a number of important collective agreements matching contributions have been negotiated from employers.
The mandate of the Steelworkers Humanity Fund is to address issues of hunger and poverty, primarily in the developing world, through development assistance and emergency aid.
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For further information: Ken Neumann, USW, (416) 487-1571, (416) 558-2510; Doug Olthuis, Humanity Fund, (416) 544-5957
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