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Dear Friends,
Happy Labor Day! It's been a busy summer here at the IRLE. We kicked it off with our Labor Studies graduation ceremony where Cecily Myart-Cruz delivered an inspirational keynote address. This year we honored 58 students earning B.A. degrees in Labor Studies. Our students are passionate about labor rights and social justice, and they’re ready to take on the world.
In August, Labor Studies Chair Chris Zepeda-Millán convened the second annual Strategic Labor Research Conference. Nearly 200 researchers and organizers from unions, worker centers, environmental justice and community organizations gathered on the UCLA campus to gain skills to put to work in their campaigns. This year’s conference was supported in part by the AFL-CIO and the Sunrise Foundation to bring together labor and climate researchers to trade ideas and build professional networks. We also welcomed colleagues from our fellow UC labor centers and new labor centers in Mexico.
This fall we celebrate 60 years of transformational research from the UCLA Labor Center. On September 26, we'll gather at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in downtown LA to toast our new director Saba Waheed and her staff who are working hard everyday to advance worker justice. Since 1964, the UCLA Labor Center has been a key part of UCLA's public mission, serving working people with timely research and educational programs that build capacity for democratic engagement. Join us!
And just in time for Labor Day, the UCLA Digital Library released a powerful collection of photographs from the archives of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE). Documenting LAANE’s work across the 1990s and early 2000s, the photos show workers and community allies demonstrating the power of solidarity, calling out injustice, and changing Los Angeles through creative nonviolence. There is no better way to mark Labor Day than to remember the work of organizing that makes positive social change possible.
In Solidarity,
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Tobias Higbie
Director
Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
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UCLA MAGAZINE — A Perfect Union
Saba Waheed, Director of the UCLA Labor Center, was profiled in the Summer 2024 issue of UCLA Magazine. The profile traces Waheed’s commitment to labor advocacy, social justice and storytelling throughout her career and educational journey. In her interview, Waheed outlines her goals as Director of the Labor Center– including producing more community-driven research– and contextualizes the work of the Labor Center in the current social, economic and political climate. Read the full piece here.
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Workforce Warriors: Los Angeles Black Worker Center’s Bold Battle for Equity
This study from UCLA Center for the Advancement of Racial Equity (CARE) at Work and the Los Angeles Black Worker Center evaluates the City of Los Angeles’ Workforce Demonstration (WED) Project, which is a full employment model that codifies the City’s commitment to a pathway to pre-apprenticeship and on-the-job training for Black workers. The study found that the WED Project has excelled at convening community, worker, union and city partners to solve the Black jobs crisis in Los Angeles, with an 80% job retention rate for Black workers who accepted job offers. Learn more here.
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Remapping Realities: Navigating School and Work Commitments, Financial Pressures and Well-Being
Building on prior research on the experiences of “workers and learners,” workers who are also enrolled in college or university, this report analyzed the financial and emotional well-being of this population. The report suggested trends including an association between increased work commitments and decreased academic engagements and emerging interest in organizing among this population. Findings from this study are based on 151 surveys and 30 interviews collected from Los Angeles public college and university students in July and August 2022 by the Labor Summer Research Program student research team. Learn more here.
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Voices of UCLA Labor Summer Research Program 2024: | In this video, members of the LSRP 2024 team reflect on their experience participating in the summer program ahead of their final presentation. Follow @uclalaborsd on Instagram here and TikTok here. | |  |
UCLA Labor Center: 60 Years of Building Worker Justice: | UCLA Labor Center Director Saba Waheed is joined by Director of the UCLA Dream Resource Center (DRC), Ju Hong and Deputy Director of the DRC, George Chacon to put a twist on the iconic apple dance of summer 2024. Be sure to follow @uclalabor on Instagram here and TikTok here. | | |
UCLA Labor Occupational Health and Safety (LOSH) Training: | A keystone of LOSH’s Worker Occupational Safety and Health Training Education Program (WOSHTEP) is the multi-day Specialist course, an interactive educational leadership program, which prepares frontline workers to identify hazards in the workplace, serve on Health and Safety Committees, and integrate Health and Safety concerns into their collective bargaining efforts. Follow @uclalosh on Instagram here. | | |
UCLA Dream Resource Center’s Dream Summer: | The UCLA Dream Resource Center (DRC) held its annual Dream Summer Program, granting 8-week fellowships to immigrant youth. One aspect of the program centered holistic well-being. In this video, Jessica Bruny discusses community care. Follow @ucla_drc on Instagram for more here. | | |
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LAist | California Proposition 32: Statewide minimum wage, featuring senior researcher at the UCLA Labor Center, Brian Justie
The Atlantic | Trump’s strike-busting remarks could come back to haunt him, featuring IRLE Director Tobias Higbie
Daily Bruin | Statewide campaign seeks employment opportunity for undocumented students, featuring project director at the UCLA Labor Center, Kent Wong
Los Angeles Times | Doctors said cutting countertops destroyed his lungs. He had to fight for workers’ comp, featuring UCLA LOSH Director Kevin Riley
E&E News | Biden balanced unions and climate. Harris could too — in her own way., featuring UCLA Labor Center Director Saba Waheed
Marketplace | 15 years later, the federal minimum wage is still $7.25 an hour, featuring legal and policy research manager at the UCLA Labor Center, Tia Koonse
LAist | Disneyland strike vote, featuring project director at the UCLA Labor Center, Kent Wong
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: Environmental Health Chat Podcast | Heat Stress and Worker Health, featuring UCLA LOSH Director Kevin Riley
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education | Report Suggests Audiences Appreciate Diverse Casts, mentions Entertainment and Media Research Initiative
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Transit Belabored: Issues and Futures for the Transit Workforce
🗓️ Tuesday, September 10 at 9am - 12pm PST
📍 Virtual
In this virtual symposium, researchers, union organizers and transit workers will speak on the key workforce issues in the transit industry. Through presentations and breakout discussions, speakers and participants from the transportation and labor sectors will conceptualize how to improve transit work and secure it as a high-road job. Register here.
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Women of Color in the 2024 Election: Preferences and Power
🗓️ Thursday, September 19 at 11am PST
📍 Virtual
Join the Latina Futures 2050 Lab for a compelling discussion featuring leading scholars on the political impact of women of color in the 2024 general election. Discover how these influential voters are poised to shape the political landscape by leveraging their unique experiences and intersectional identities to drive change. Register here.
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HARRT EMBARK Series Session 2 – Talent Acquisition
🗓️ Sunday, September 22 at 12pm - 1pm PST
📍 Virtual
A part of EMBARK, HARRT’s topic-driven professional development series designed and led by HARRT Members, this session will dive into “Talent Acquisition” in a group discussion setting. The goal of this monthly series is to provide opportunities to network, exchange resources, and gain insight from fellow members. Learn more here.
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The UCLA Labor Center’s Anniversary event, Solidarity Shines: 60 Years of Building Worker Justice
🗓️ Thursday, September 26 at 5:30 - 9pm PST
📍 Sheraton Grand Los Angeles Hotel
Over the last six decades, solidarity has guided the UCLA Labor Center in advancing worker justice and immigrant rights across Los Angeles. Join the Labor Center at the Sheraton Grand Los Angeles Hotel to celebrate movement’s victories at their 60th anniversary celebration, “Solidarity Shines: 60 Years of Building Worker Justice.” Purchase a ticket or sponsorship 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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