US Unions Shame Trump's Efforts with Aid for Puerto Rico

While the U.S. President, Donald Trump was busy complaining about Puerto Rico messing up the budget, a group of U.S-based unions were organizing a team of high-skilled workers to send to the hurricane-hit territory. 

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At least 300 people including doctors, nurses, engineers, electricians and carpenters have arrived to help rebuild and restore the island to normalcy. 

"I put out the call for help, and who listened? The unions," Carmen Yulin Cruz, San Juan's mayor, said. "Increasingly painful to undestand the American people want to help and US Gov does not want to help," she said in a tweet. 

"Our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico need help and this is a race against time. The ALPA pilots of United Airlines are honored to fly these skilled workers and medical professionals to San Juan today and will continue to support the humanitarian efforts going forward", chairman of ALPA United Airlines, Captain Todd Insler, said in a statement. 

"We applaud these brave volunteers who are dedicating their time, selflessly leaving their homes and families, and answering the call to help," he added. 

Trump has faced widespread criticism for his disparaging remarks about Puerto Rico's crisis but the unions have responded with generosity. 

"When our union sisters and brothers see a need in our national or international community, we don't ask if we should act, we ask how," Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said in a statement. 

"Tears streamed down the faces of many volunteers. We felt both a sense of relief and also anxiety about what we would see and how quickly we could get to work," Liz Shuler, Secretary-Treasurer of AFL-CIO said in a statement. 

“The working families of Puerto Rico are our brothers and sisters. And this incredible partnership will bring skilled workers to the front lines to deliver supplies, care for victims and rebuild Puerto Rico,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement.   

The vast majority of the island is still without power, with most hospitals running on generators. Instead of offering help, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA removed statistics on Puerto Rico's water and power supply from its website. 

The latest figures show about half of the population has no access to potable water while only around 10 percent of the island has electricity.

Where the U.S. government has failed to respond to Puerto Rico's crisis, the unions have shown support and solidarity.