Labor Union Blog

In a letter to local United Way chapters across the country, Brian A. Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way World Wide, urges the local offices to join with local labor councils and state federations as they mobilize for the AFL-CIO’s America Wants to Work campaign.

He notes that unemployment is at 9 percent and 46 million people in the United States are living in poverty and says, “These figures point to an eroding middle class and a lower standard of living for millions of families across the country.”

The AFL-CIO is working to address America’s jobs crisis with their national mobilization effort, America Wants to Work jobs campaign. Like us, the AFL-CIO America Wants to Work jobs campaign supports the infrastructure bank, workforce training and extension of unemployment supports. We are working together toward the same goal of creating a better life for everyone.

He also says that since 1946, the AFL-CIO and the United Way have worked together to provide “services to members of organized labor, their families and their communities. At the same time, the AFL-CIO and its members have been among our strongest supporters.”

I urge you to engage with your state and local labor councils and consider where the work of your United Way aligns with the America Wants to Work campaign. Please support your AFL-CIO as they have supported our work in communities across the nation for the last 60 years.