10 years after 9/11, everyday heroes now ‘vilified’

Please take a moment to visit the AFL-CIO page commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks.

The video posted there is a poignant reminder of the everyday working people who performed amazingly heroic deeds that day — many of whom lost their lives in the process.

The accompanying statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka notes how far we have come in 10 years, from the sense of unity we shared in honoring those everyday heroes to today’s attacks on those very public servants:

The unity that had helped us survive faded as divisiveness took root. I look around today in amazement at just how far apart our nation has become — the endless possibilities that came with our unity have all but vanished.

Just 10 years after 9/11, despite our vows, the public servants, construction workers and others who lost their lives or still suffer with the cancerous remnants of the Twin Towers haven’t just been forgotten. They’ve been vilified. The extremist small government posse has turned them into public enemy No. 1, as though teachers and firefighters, EMTs and nurses and union construction workers ruined America’s economy.

Please visit the AFL-CIO 911 remembrance page and ask yourself what you can do, what commitment to action you can make, to change the nation’s course and restore the sense of unity America’s working people desperately need right now.