AFL-CIO Official Urges Members Donate to United Way

Saying that the needs of the homeless and unemployed in the region are greater than ever, a top labor official this week urged members of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, to “open their hearts and their pocketbooks” in contributing to this year’s United Way fund-raising drive.

William R. Robertson, executive secretary-treasurer of the federation, said letters will be sent to the group’s 700,000 members in coming weeks urging them to “be more generous than in the past.”

Pushed two months behind schedule by last summer’s revelations of financial irregularities at the charity, the local United Way campaign is trying to meet a record $90-million goal by June 30.

“The labor movement has a real stake in seeing that the United Way reaches the goal,” Robertson said. “In our judgment, the United Way has cleaned up its act (and) things are brutal out there for people in need. . . . I’m confident we can achieve the goal.”