$25K AFGE 476 Donation to Help Members Hurt by Sequestration

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

To help its members affected by sequestration, AFGE Local 476 has donated $25,000 to the Community Services Agency’s Emergency Assistance Fund (EAF). “Any Local 476 member who’s experiencing financial difficulty because of sequestration, and has past due bills for emergency needs, is likely eligible for assistance,” says CSA Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy. “Union members are providing this relief because we are well aware that some in our union family cannot make mortgage and electrical payments because of the furlough,” said AFGE Council 222 President Eddie Eitches (left). “We are so pleased that CSA – which does such an excellent job year-round with the EAF -- will administer the fund, and should need exceed supply, Local 476 may very well vote to commit more funds.” Eitches added that his local has urged “Senate-confirmed appointees, who are exempt from the furlough, to donate what they make on the furlough days to CSA, and we expect that some will follow this path.” Local 476’s members work at the U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).