DETROIT -- A new Center for Workplace Issues to be established at Wayne State University will be named for internationally known labor leader and former UAW president Doug Fraser.

Creation of the Douglas A. Fraser Center for Workplace Issues in WSU's College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs will be announced at a

6:30 p.m. Nov. 12 dinner program in Fraser's honor at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dearborn.

The Fraser Center will provide opportunities for workers, employers and scholars to come together for discussion, training and research on workplace eissues. Programs will address such topics as employment security, the labor movement, ethical behavior, collective bargaining and labor-management cooperation.

Planners anticipate the following activities for the center:

* technical assistance to employers, unions and other organizations;

* seminars and workshops examining critical workplace issues;

* basic and applied research covering a range of worker-employer issues;

* a publication dealing with issues affecting the workplace;

* training on various aspects of workplace relations and leadership development tailored to the specific needs of clients; and

* an annual conference on a timely issue involving the workplace.

Other activities will be identified as the new unit evolves.

An advisory board representing labor, management, civic leaders and scholars will be appointed to make recommendations and set overall direction for the center. A center director will report to the dean of the college.

Fraser retired as UAW president in 1983 after some 40 years of union leadership at the local, national and international levels. He continues his keen interest in labor issues and community service as university professor of labor studies at WSU, where he teaches an undergraduate seminar course in labor studies.

Formation of WSU's newest community service and research unit was made possible by support totaling $2.5 million from the UAW, United Steel Workers of America, General Motors Foundation, Ford Motor Company Fund, Chrysler Corporation Fund, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan and Health Alliance Plan. The UAW took the lead with a $1 million pledge.

The dinner program will feature comments by UAW President Stephen Yokich; Peter Pestillo, executive vice president for corporate relations with Ford; and WSU President David Adamany. A testimonial film about Fraser will be shown.

Tickets are $75. For reservations call Kim Gladstone at WSU's College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs at (313) 577-2156.