NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | December 18 , 2015 | PAGE 13
Teamsters establish fund to aid families of San Bernardino victims
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.
(PAI)—Teamsters Local 1932 in
San Bernardino, Calif., and its
parent Joint Council 42 have es-
tablished a memorial fund to aid
the families of Local 1932’s vic-
tims of the Dec. 2 terrorist
shootings in San Bernardino,
Calif. The setup of the fund fol-
lowed a memorial vigil on Dec.
9, which attracted widespread
union support from across
Southern California.
A husband-and-wife team
pledged to jihadist ideology
opened fire with an arsenal of
weapons during a Dec. 2 holiday
party in San Bernardino. They
killed 14 people and wounded
21, and later died in a police
shootout.
Ten of the 14 people killed
were members of Service Em-
ployees International Union
(SEIU) Local 721, and three
were members of Teamsters Lo-
cal 1932. Several more union
members were wounded.
Local 1932 represents more
than 11,000 San Bernardino
County employees working at
hospitals, in public works, health
services departments, correc-
tional facilities and in dozens of
other public positions through-
out the county. Workers voted to
join the Teamsters in April, and
just days before the shooting had
ratified their first-ever union
contract.
In a posting on the local’s
website, Local 1932 General
Manager Diedre Rodriguez said
the memorial vigil “for the
County employees really was
beautiful and heartfelt.
“We’ve been getting a huge
outpouring of support from other
unions, and we’re very grateful
— not just the families, but also
our members and staff” who also
suffer, Rodriguez told Press As-
sociates Union News Service. “It
means a great deal to them.”
Checks can be sent to Team-
sters Joint Council 42 Charities,
earmarked “1932 Victims” at the
council’s headquarters, 981 Cor-
porate Center Drive, Suite 200,
Pomona, Calif., 91768.