Unions express dismay over Arizona shootings

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4726

Unions express dismay over Arizona shootings
9 January 2011

PHOENIX - Union officials expressed shock and dismay over the shootings Saturday in Tucson, Arizona, that critically injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, killed six people and injured 19 others.

In what authorities are saying was an assassination attempt, a gunman shot Giffords in the head at point-blank range as she met with constituents in a grocery store parking lot. The gunman then shot into the crowd before being apprehended. Those killed included a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge.

“Congresswoman Giffords has always been a dedicated servant to the working families of her community, and it is heartbreaking to hear that she was shot as she was meeting with her constituents to listen to their concerns,” said Rebekah Friend, executive director and secretary-treasurer of the Arizona AFL-CIO. “This senseless attack on a leader like Congresswoman Giffords and working Arizonans has no place in a democratic society like ours.

“From reports I have received from United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99 President Jim McLaughlin, it appears that no Safeway grocery store workers represented by UFCW 99 were hurt in the shooting.

“Today, I and other leaders in the labor movement are asking union members and all Arizonans to keep Congresswoman Giffords, the other victims and their families in their thoughts and prayers.”

FULL story at link.