Labor in the Community

Union members give back wholeheartedly to the communities where we live and work. It’s the union way. Massachusetts union members are loyal and enthusiastic supporters of charities that cure the sick, feed the hungry, provide heat to the cold, house the homeless, assist veterans, help those with mental and physical disabilities, and make a better future for our kids.

• We support our affiliates in their wonderful charitable and community service efforts. And we do our part with our signature charities: our statewide scholarship program and the yearly Walk to Cure Cancer. Through our community service program:
• We help coordinate and publicize the community service initiatives of our affiliated unions. We want the press and public to know about the tremendous work that union members do every day to help their communities. We’re also creating a clearinghouse of community organizations, with information to assist our member unions in their community service efforts.
• We sponsor our own signature charities in cancer research and higher education scholarships. Our Walk to Cure Cancer has raised over $5 million in the past 10 years to support our namesake cancer research center, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO Cancer Research Center at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. (See sidebar.) Our scholarship program, with the support of our affiliates, has provided college and vocational scholarships to Massachusetts high school seniors for more than half a century. In May 2008, in celebration of our 50th anniversary, the program awarded more than $1 million in scholarships for the first time in its history. In May 2009, we passed the $1 million mark yet again, bringing our total over the last decade to nearly $8.4 million.
• We partner with the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and of Central Massachusetts. We mobilize labor unions, union members, and employers to contribute to the United Way. We also work with the United Way’s AFL- CIO Community Services Liaisons across the state to help displaced workers and those in need gain access to services such as food banks, family counseling, and layoff assistance.
• We value and foster diversity. We support the work of progressive labor organizations, including the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) and the Gay and Lesbian Labor Action Network (GALLAN). Our own policies open pathways to leadership for talented labor activists regardless of race, faith, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, or immigrant status. Recently, we expanded our commitment to diversity by starting a Futures Program for young labor activists, strengthening our retirees program, and adding a dedicated seat on our executive council for a GALLAN representative. And we are part of the Commonwealth Compact, a coalition of civic, labor, and business leaders committed to making Greater Boston a desired destination for people of color, immigrants, and women, in the belief that their contributions will be crucial to the region’s social and economic future.