When Romney Attacks Unions He's Attacking Military Veterans Rebuilding the WTC

[jtown1123]

Rebuilding the World Trade Center: Veterans Trade Helmets for Hard Hats with Union Training

William Plotner waited for his daughter’s second birthday to enroll in the military on Sept. 11, 2004—three years after the World Trade Center twin towers fell. He wanted his daughter to remember the significance of her birth date. But most of all, he wanted her to think of him as a hero. Now Plotner, a U.S. Army veteran and member of Laborers (LIUNA) Local 79, is rebuilding the World Trade Center.

Says Plotner:

On 9-11-04 I swore in. And now I get to work here. It brings, like, another sense of pride.

Plotner landed his job through the building trades’ Helmets to Hardhats initiative—a national labor-management program that connects transitioning members of the military with career training and job opportunities within the building and construction industry. The high unemployment and homelessness rate among veterans makes Helmets to Hardhats such a vital program.

Helmets to Hardhats was created by the unions of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department and several national construction industry employer associations. It is sponsored by the 15 building trades.

Anne Trenkle, New York state director of Helmets to Hardhats, says:

Helmets to Hardhats helps transitioning military personnel to gain entry into the apprenticeship programs with the building trades and they become a member of the union. It’s not just transitioning into a job. It’s transitioning into a career, and they will be able to provide for their families in a wonderful way.

[JaneQPublic]

1. GOPers have no qualms with attacking 911 heroes or victims

Remember all the nasty names they called the widows of those who died in the WTC, once those women voiced their criticisms of the Bush Administration?

The only thing they hold sacred is the Republican Party.

[jtown1123]

2. Yep. Just awful n/t