Organized Labor
For almost 70 years the United Way and Organized Labor have been working together to better the community. 
The AFL/CIO Labor Advisory Committee serves as the primary advisor for the two United Way Board of Directors. The AFL/CIO Labor Liaison, William Jakobi, continues to help keep the movement going forward.
For more than 20 years, Organized Labor has not only supported the United Ways serving the Niagara Region financially, but also helped by giving their time and talent to support the much needed human service programs throughout the community.
Accomplishments of the AFL/CIO Council and the Labor Advisory Board were many:
- Annual National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive: Over the last seven years, the Western New York Branch 3 has collected more than 6 million pounds of food for the needy families of our area. In 2011, they collected almost one billion pounds of food and rank number 3 in the nation. Our thanks go out to the National Letter Association of Letter Carriers Branch 3 and the leadership of our local union members, Denise Fitzgibbon and Walt Wrazin. We would also like to thank the many volunteers that helped the day of the food drive and the thousands of people that took the time to place non-perishable food items by their mailboxes. We are proud to say our community is ranked number one in its spirit of generosity.
Workers Memorial Monument: Since 1992 this monument has been a tribute to the workers of our community who lost their lives in job-related accidents. Each year, more and more people come to the annual services to visit this memorial monument. United Way was a supporter of labor’s effort to make this - Union Counseling Courses: The Union Counseling Courses have produced over 250 Union counselors in more than 15 years. The workshops teach the counselors how to help people in the workplace as well as in the community.
- Special Events to the
- AFL/CIO- United Way Emergency Fund: Since 1995, more than 500 workers have been helped financially with hundreds of referrals being made to United Way and other community human service program providers. This program continues to help dislocated workers and their families through difficult times.
- Workers In Transition Program: This program was set up to help the hundreds of workers who are going through hard times due to plant closings and layoffs by helping them network the community for help as well as supplying them with information about retraining programs and jobs.
Although many do not realize it, the effort of such labor involvement does not go unnoticed. There are over 80 labor people who volunteer to serve on the committees and agencies of the United Way Board for these much-needed positions. The money donated from Labor to the United Way Community Care Fund make it possible for our agencies to provide the help that is needed in our local communities. The Labor Advisory Committees extend its appreciation to everyone in the labor movement who lends a helping hand to “Make a Difference” in our Niagara Region.