Labor Hall of Fame Adds Deceased 9/11 Union Members

The more than 600 union members who perished on September 11, 2001 as a result of the terrorists’ attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania were inducted collectively into Labor’s International Hall of Fame at the 2012 induction ceremony held recently at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, DC.

“We are extremely proud to be able to honor the legacy of these true heroes of American history,” said the executive board of Labor’s International Hall of Fame in a joint statement. “Many of those who perished on Sept. 11 were serving the American public and gave their lives in service. All who perished are missing in our hearts, but not in our memories. These heroes gave the ultimate price with their service.”

Approximately two dozen unions lost members on 9/11. The death toll among unionists was more than 20 percent of the 2,800 people killed by the attacks. Union members included 343 firefighters and 60 police officers who rushed into the World Trade Center to save others before the Twin Towers collapsed; another 73 workers, many of them unionists, died trapped in the restaurant on the top floor of the Trade Center’s North Tower; and 70 civilians and 55 military personnel died in the attack on the Pentagon. Flight attendants, pilots and other airline employees were among those killed on the four planes used as weapons by the hijacking terrorists.

This special group of union members will join more than 100 other individuals and groups enshrined since Labor’s Hall of Fame opened in 1973.

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