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Organized Labor and United Way

Since 1946, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and United Way of America have enjoyed a cooperative relationship through which they and state and local United Ways have provided services to members of organized labor, their families, and their communities.

United Way and organized labor work together to:

• Train union members to assist co-workers with information about available local services and to refer them to the appropriate organizations.
  
  
• Assist the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) in their annual, one-day, nation-wide food drive. In addition, letter carriers help elderly and disabled citizens maintain independent lives through the Carrier Alert Program, which instructs letter carriers to watch for signs, such as mail accumulation, that an elderly person may be in crisis.
  
  
• Recruit, train and help place members of organized labor on the decision-making bodies of health and human care organizations.
  
  
• Recognize labor leaders who have rendered outstanding United Way volunteer service by annually awarding the Joseph A. Beirne Community Services Award -- established in memory of that remarkable labor leader.
  
  
• Solicit letters of endorsement from AFL-CIO-affiliated unions and state federations supporting the United Way campaign to be sent to their respective membership. These annual letters are also distributed to United Ways and the entire AFL-CIO Community Services network for campaign support.
  
  
• Honor AFL-CIO central labor councils that have developed outstanding Community Service programs in cooperation with United Ways in Community Service regions and cities across the country.
  
  
• Provide a staff of more than 260 full-time AFL-CIO Community Services liaisons and labor agency personnel in the United States. These individuals serve as links between state and local United Ways, AFL-CIO central labor councils, and AFL-CIO state federations.
  

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