Natural Society – by Julie Fidler
Government officials put the lives and safety of Flint, Michigan, residents in jeopardy to keep a dollar in the bank and save face, but the story of what hundreds of plumbers did to help those residents will restore your faith in humanity.
The day began at 7 a.m. at the UA Local 370 Union Hall. Armed with the faucets and plumbing supplies, as well as Brita water filters capable of removing lead (which were provided by the state), the group set out on a mission to make life a little bit easier – and a lot safer – for many people in need of assistance.
“PMI is proud to join with its members and the UA to put our vision of safe, responsible plumbing into action,” said Barbara C. Higgens, PMI CEO and executive director in a statement. “We appreciate the generosity of our members, the UA plumbers, IAPMO and everyone else that is helping to assure safe drinking water for the residents of the Flint area.”
In fact, people from all over the country have been chipping in to help those affected by obscenely-high levels of lead in the water system, and pipes that were corroded by the heavy metal.
“People from all over the country, Canada, Cher, tons of organizations are sending trucks loads of waters and filters to us,” said Lawanda Asa, 70. “I’ve even lost count on how many people are sending us water,” she said. “It just goes to show how giving American people are. People that don’t even know us, have never heard of flint before are at our side. We’re so very blessed that the American people have such big hearts.”
PMI and the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry (UA) teamed up to coordinate the humanitarian effort. All of the faucets and plumbing supplies were donated by PMI. [1]
“A lot of our members live here in the community,” said Jeff Peake, organizer at Local 370. “We have a responsibility to pay back to the community.” [2]
MSNBC has a timeline of how the Flint water crisis unfolded, for anyone who has been living in a cave.
Needless to say, Flint residents desperately needed to be reminded that there are still kind, caring people in the world, after being lied to and sickened by the very people elected to protect them. It’s hard to believe a United States city would allow its children, in particular, to be harmed in such a negligent way.
Sources:
[1] MLive [2] GoodRead more: http://naturalsociety.com/300-plumbers-help-flint-michigan-water-crisis-68177/#ixzz3ywgPmJXu
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Feb 2, 2016
Clusterf#@k continues, with government doing as little as possible with funds diverted to be used in the ongoing ‘war on terror’.
These UA Local Union 370 members volunteering to
put water filters in homes in Flint MI homes makes me
proud to be a retired lifetime member of UA Local 447.
Our local used to do food drives, as well as clothing drives
for low income families in the Sacramento area. I worked
on one back in the 70’s. It made me feel good to be involved
in giving some time to help the less fortunate. Along with
canned goods and donated produce, we gave out cases
and cases of turkeys and hams…Good for these guys! I
doubt that many of them have drawn a decent paycheck
with the economy the way it is, but they are willing to give
some time and skill to help out the people who have been
betrayed by criminal politicians…IAPMO, (International
Association of Piping and Mechanical Organizations stepping
in makes it all the better. Kudos to the United Association
of Plumbers & Pipefitters of the United States and Canada!
From a retired Pipe Welder who has done plumbing and
refrigeration work as well. A tough trade, with a MUCH
higher accident rate than the tenderfoot cops have to deal
with…
“…It’s hard to believe a United States city would allow its children, in particular, to be harmed in such a negligent way.”
Hard to believe unless you know that some folks running cities and the state governors where these cities are located are just like the folks running the nation–psychopaths!