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Dear IRLE Community,
It has been a momentous year for organized workers. Major strikes by actors, writers, and hotel workers here in L.A., and a nationwide auto workers strike all resulted in life-changing new contracts for workers. The wave of organizing that began in the fall of 2021 with "Striketober," and the first Starbucks union election has only gathered momentum. With the beginning of a presidential election campaign this summer and the expiration of major contracts over the next few years, we can expect more to come.
As we wrap up the spring quarter amidst a strike and protests across the UC system, I’m thinking about our remarkable graduating seniors in the Labor Studies program. Many of them finished high school in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, experienced a protracted campus strike in 2022, and are closing out college in another dramatic moment. Coming of age under fire, metaphorically and literally, our students are more politically aware and organizationally minded than any generation since the 1970s. That can be a heavy weight to carry, but they do it with grace and style. If you’re looking to hire an organizer, communicator, or researcher with a newly minted UCLA degree, look no further.
But as one generation enters the fray, another departs. It is with heavy hearts that we mark the passing this week of Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr. A theorist and teacher of nonviolence, Lawson trained several generations of organizers who challenged racial and social injustices and also what he called “plantation capitalism” wherever they found it. For 20 years, Rev. Lawson taught a popular course on nonviolence and social movements at UCLA along with Kent Wong. He had a profound impact on everyone who encountered him and his teaching, and we will miss his wise counsel.
In Solidarity,
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Tobias Higbie
Director
Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
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LABOR STUDIES
UCLA Labor Studies co-hosts UFW labor rally for farmworkers
UCLA Labor Studies co-hosted a farmworker rally on April 24. The event brought together UFW President Teresa Romero, UFW Director of Organizing Roman Pinal and 18 farmworkers who traveled to the UCLA campus from Central California to increase student support for the UWF amid a rebirth of union growth. Participants heard worker testimonies and the ways students and organizers can support the UFW’s recent campaigns. Learn more.
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CARE AT WORK
Community Advocacy and Learning: Cade Johnson’s Journey with the Freedom Fellowship
Launched in the summer of 2021, CARE at Work’s Freedom Fellowship offers an experiential learning opportunity that aims to build a bridge between students, labor leaders, union members and field organizers in partnership with the Southern California Black Worker Hub and CARE at Work’s regional Black Worker Center (BWC) partners. Recent fellow Cade Johnson reflected on his experience in the fellowship and in CARE at Work’s cross-campus course, We Gon’ Be Alright: Developing the Next Generation of Black Organizers. Read the interview here.
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LABOR STUDIES
Labor@UCLA Research Showcase: Learn about this year’s labor studies student research projects
UCLA Labor Studies hosted its second annual Labor@UCLA Research Showcase, a virtual labor studies student research exhibit. The showcase formed part of UCLA’s Research Week, a week-long presentation where undergraduate students share their innovative and impactful research and creative inquiry, held May 20-24. Learn more about this year’s student labor research projects here.
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UCLA LOSH
Public Health Councils Initiative
LOSH has been proud to serve as a lead training and technical assistance provider for the innovative Public Health Councils Initiative in Los Angeles County since its inception in 2020.
Under the program, worker organizations receive certification from the LA County Department of Public Health to educate and support nonunion workers in dealing with COVID-related hazards, unsafe working conditions, and other labor law violations. Workers, in turn, are able to form Public Health Councils at their worksites to monitor employer compliance with relevant government regulations and to report concerns to the appropriate agencies. To learn more, visit the program’s website.
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After the Bell: A Portrait of High School Workers in California
The UCLA Labor Center recently released a new report: “After the Bell: A Portrait of High School Workers in California,” published on May 14. This study is part of the UCLA Labor Center’s “State of Young Workers in California” research initiative and it analyzes the demographics and work conditions of high school students who work using 2017–2021 American Community Survey data. Read the study here.
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The Role of Family, Friends, and Colleagues Supporting Workers and Learners Navigating College
On May 17, the IRLE published: “The Role of Family, Friends, and Colleagues Supporting Workers and Learners Navigating College,” an article co-authored by UCLA Labor Center Project Director and Labor Studies Co-chair Janna Shadduck-Hernández. The study investigated how workers and learners in Los Angeles County leveraged the wealth of knowledge and resources embedded in their familial and peer networks to strategically manage the demands of school and work. Read the study here.
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Hollywood Diversity Report 2024, Part 2: Streaming
Part of IRLE’s Entertainment and Media Research Initiative (EMRI), “UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report 2024, Part 2: Streaming” was released on May 23. Key takeaways: Women made up the majority of viewers for nine of the top 10 streaming films of 2023; Among creators, women and people of color still find more opportunities in streaming than in theatrical productions; Women reached proportionate representation as leads in films; People of color remain underrepresented behind the camera; among other findings. Read the full study here.
Related Stories:
Los Angeles Times | Women and people of color drive ratings for streaming films, UCLA diversity report finds
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Labor Studies Class of 2024 Commencement
🗓 SAT, June 15 at 2pm PST
📍 UCLA Covel Commons, Grand Horizon Room
The Labor Studies graduation ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 15 at UCLA Covel Commons. Learn more here.
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2024 UCLA Strategic Labor Research Conference
🗓 FRI-SUN, August 2-4
📍 UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Led by UCLA Labor Studies Faculty Chair, Chris Zepeda-Millan and hosted by UCLA Labor Studies, this annual convening of movement researchers will take place Aug 2-4 at UCLA’s School of Public Affairs. Application has closed, sign up to receive updates about future strategic labor research opportunities: here.
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Sin Fronteras Awards
🗓 SAT, August 17 at 3:30pm - 6pm PST
📍 Pico House, 424 N. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Please join us on Saturday, August 17 at Pico House for the second “Sin Fronteras Awards,” where we will honor the lives and contributions of outstanding individuals who have dedicated their lives for justice: Patricia Cordova Vellonweith, Peter A. Schey, Senator Maria Elena Durazo and Trade Unionists Xochilt Cobarrubias President of LCLAA, David Huerta President of SEIU USWW, Ernesto Medrano Executive Secretary LA/OC Building Trades. RSVP to Joel Ochoa here.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIES AT IRLE | |
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UCLA IRLE: Communications Specialist - Requisition #2768. Application deadline is June 15. Learn more here.
UCLA IRLE: Communications Specialist - Requisition #2769. Application deadline is June 15. Learn more here.
UCLA LOSH: Research Associate - Requisition #2791. Application deadline is June 15. Learn more here.
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This newsletter was published by IRLE's communications team. Media inquiries for the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and its labor experts can be sent to citlallichavez@ucla.edu.
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Read previous IRLE Newsletters here.
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