April 2025

Greetings Brothers and Sisters, I have been allotted some space to introduce myself to those of you I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting, as well as talk about our partnership between Labor and the United Way.

I was honored to be asked by our local CAP Council, as well as the local Labor Councils to fill the role as your Labor Liaison. I’ve been involved in community service all my adult life and see the impact of what we, as Union Members have in the communities in which we live.

Most of you have campaigns that you participate in through your workplace, such as Old Newsboys and Toys for Tots, as well as all of the non-profits we all support outside of those because of their meaning to us personally. Having assisted in some of those campaigns when I was the Community Service Chair at UAW Local 652, I saw firsthand the work you all do to make our communities a better place.

In my role, I am first and foremost, a support person for all of you if you are in a time of need. I’ve been able to participate in new hire orientations, attend meetings with members at their facilities and meet a lot of members individually.

My role also provides me with the opportunity to ask for our members to donate to the United Way. I get to see exactly how every penny our members give impacts people. Be it through our support of the 211 system, our VITA free tax service and all the local nonprofits we help fund through these campaigns. All the donations go directly to the local community.

Soon we will be running our campaigns in your workplace, for those who have not participated yet. To those who have, I want to thank all of you for your generosity. This partnership was established in 1942 and continues to this day.

If anyone wants to contact me, my email address is f.thomas@uwscmi.org. I want to thank you all for your time and for all you do every day. Be safe on those roads out there. In Solidarity,

Fred Thomas

AFL-CIO Community Services
Labor Liaison

United Way of South-Central
Michigan