UAW Counselors Assist Crisis Intervention Team Following Navistar Shooting Tragedy; Union Says Ongoing Support Will Be Available to Melrose Park Workers

    DETROIT, Feb. 8 The UAW is working closely with the crisis
intervention team that was dispatched to Navistar's Melrose Park facility
following this week's shooting tragedy at the plant, union officials said
today.  Five people -- including the assailant -- were killed during the
shooting rampage on Monday, February 5, and four others were wounded.
    "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of this
terrible incident," said UAW President Stephen P. Yokich.  "We are shocked and
saddened at their loss, and we will do everything we can to assist those who
survived this tragedy."
    "We all need a shoulder to lean on at a time like this," said UAW Vice
President Nate Gooden, who directs the union's Heavy Truck and Engine
Department.  "We are fully committed to making sure every worker gets whatever
assistance he or she needs."
    Gooden said that the UAW's contract with Navistar includes an Employee
Assistance Program (EAP) that offers confidential assistance to any worker who
feels he or she needs help with a personal problem.  Two UAW members, trained
as peer counselors, work as EAP representatives in the Melrose Park plant,
where they are available to assist their co-workers on a daily basis.
    The UAW EAP representatives, Gooden said, are assisting the crisis
counselors who were brought to Melrose Park immediately following the
shootings.
    In addition, staff members from the International Union, including the UAW
Health and Safety Department, were in Melrose Park this week to assess the
incident and its aftermath.
    "We appreciate the effort that Navistar's management is making to address
this awful situation," said Vice President Gooden.  "It is fortunate, however,
that our contract provides for an ongoing Employee Assistance Program, because
one thing the experts in this field tell us is that these kinds of tragic
experiences may impact people's lives many weeks or months after the event."
    "We want all of our members to know that they can call on UAW EAP
representatives at any time in the future if they feel the need for counseling
or support as a result of this week's tragedy."
    Approximately 600 production and maintenance workers at International
Truck and Engine's Melrose Park facility are members of UAW Local 6, while
some 200 clerical and technical workers are members of UAW Local 2293.