The campaign urges the University of California to provide students equal access to campus job opportunities, regardless of immigration status. | |
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Dear IRLE Community,
As I begin my third month as IRLE director, I continue to be inspired by the work of our researchers, faculty and staff.
Last week our newest unit, the Entertainment and Media Research Initiative (EMRI) published the latest edition of their Hollywood Diversity Report generating widespread media attention. In October, the UCLA Labor Center hosted a week-long visit by a delegation of Mexican trade unionists that followed the launching of a new Labor Center in Querétaro, Mexico. And in September, UCLA Labor Studies kicked off its fourth year as a major degree program under the leadership of a new faculty chair, Chris Zepeda-Millán.
These are challenging times for organized and unorganized workers alike. As the momentum of new union organizing continues across the U.S., workers face an intensifying cost-of-living crisis. We can expect increased strike activity in the near future, including a possible nationwide strike of railroad workers, growing worker unrest in logistics and warehousing, and a likely job action in November by nearly 50,000 academic workers across the University of California.
With all that going on you might forget this is a big election coming up on November 8. If you're eligible to vote, be sure to make a plan and make your vote count.
Sincerely,
Tobias Higbie
Director, UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
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On October 27th, the Entertainment and Media Research Initiative (EMRI) housed in UCLA IRLE, released the UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report 2022, Part 2: Television. This is the ninth in a series of annual reports that examines independently gathered information about the race, ethnicity and gender identity of entertainment industry workers on screen and behind the scenes. The latest report in the series studies the 2020-21 television season for broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. View the full report here. Learn about the report's key findings in this UCLA Newsroom story and this Twitter thread by report co-author Ana-Christina Ramón.
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On October 19, the UCLA Labor Center, the UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy, and undocumented student organizers at the University of California launched "Opportunity for All," a new campaign demanding that the UC system provide equal access to campus job opportunities to all students, regardless of immigration status. Read the press release here. | |
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The UCLA Labor Center has received a $125,000 grant from the Stuart Foundation to fund innovative research on California’s young workers and advance understanding about their social and economic well-being. The grant will aid in expanding the research and findings of our 2020 report, “Young Workers in California: A Snapshot,” which focused on young people working across the state. We invite you to learn more here.
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In January, the Labor Center, Labor Studies and MIT CoLab will offer a 6-month course in shared learning & applied research on homecare worker rights.
Apply by Nov. 15:
➡️ Students can apply here.
➡️ Community members can apply here.
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The UCLA Labor Center ReWork research team members flew to Santa Cruz for UCSC Institute for Social Transformation All-In Co-Creating Knowledge for Justice conference, which brought together community-based research practitioners from around the country and world. They presented their findings and recommendations focused on workers and learners—students who work and workers who study. Students Brittany Montaño, Qianyi Loo and Lesly Pérez spoke on a panel highlighting their 2022 focus group study on student worker experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, researchers Saba Waheed and Michele Wong with Mindy Chen of LA Community College District's Dolores Huerta Labor Institute presented their findings on workers and learners as well as the methods and research process in engaging students in the project. To learn more about the ReWork team's research on workers and learners, visit the UCLA Labor Center website to read their reports.
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CARE at Work’s Black Worker Summit, held this September at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, was launched to create a united space where community advocates and stakeholders could collaborate to address solutions for establishing justice and creating equity for Black workers. At the Summit, a panel of Black workers shared stories about their struggles with employment and the key resources and advocacy needed to help Black people succeed in the workforce.
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Also during the Summit, State Senator Sydney Kamlager joined UCLA CARE at Work Director Lola Smallwood-Cuevas for a discussion about the importance of Black Worker Centers and community-based organizations providing effective plans for their region’s Black workers while holding state legislators accountable for ensuring that state policies truly benefit Black workers.
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UCLA LOSH (Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program) | |
The LOSH WOSHTEP team participated in the annual Vision y Compromiso conference in October, where they facilitated a training for community health promoters (CHPs). During the session, CHPs learned how to identify and control hazards they are exposed to as they carry out their work in the community. They also learned about their rights at work and resources available to them. LOSH thanks all the participants for joining them! | |
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On October 13th, Manuel Rosaldo from the Pennsylvania State University presented his latest research, “Is Formalization the Answer? Is Informality the Problem? Waste Picker Rights Policy in São Paolo and Bogotá." Professor Rosaldo talked about informal waste picker activism and the consequences of government and private attempts to formalize their labor.
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On October 31st, labor studies instructor Trevor Griffey hosted a Symposium on Academic Labor, "Graduate Student Unions and the Fight for Living Wages at UC,” in his LBR STD 188: Labor and Public Higher Education: Campus Workers, Working Students and Public Good class. Guest speakers included representatives from UAW 2865. | |
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UCLA Labor Center Director Kent Wong spoke with The New York Times on the campaign to demand that the UC system employ undocumented students. Wong spoke on the negative impacts of being unable to hire undocumented students as researchers and teaching assistants.
CalMatters spoke with UCLA Labor Center Legal and Policy Research Manager Tia Koonse on issues with prosecuting wage theft. Koonse argued that it’s less likely for an owner to pay their workers if they’re criminally prosecuted and convicted.
A new Hollywood diversity report was released by the Entertainment and Media Research Initiative (EMRI) at UCLA. Los Angeles Times spoke with EMRI director Ana-Christina Ramón and UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt on the lack of diverse casts for TV shows on and behind the camera.
NBC LX spoke with UCLA Labor Center Director Kent Wong on the impact of immigration on American society. Wong spoke on capitalism and the tendency to scapegoat immigrants when there is economic dislocation.
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Symposium on Academic Labor: On Wednesday, November 2, UCLA Labor Studies will host a webinar with representatives from UAW 2865 and Higher Education Labor United who will answer questions about how labor activism on college campuses can contribute to the development of a more militant labor movement in the U.S. RSVP here.
Death and Dying in Diaspora: Book Talk with Allan Isaac (Rutgers University) - On Tuesday, November 8, UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies and Department of Asian American Studies will host an in-person book talk, co-sponsored by the UCLA Labor Center and Labor Studies, at 10383 Bunche Hall with Allen Isaac and his new book Filipino Time: Affective Worlds and Contracted Labor. RSVP here.
Labor Speaker Series | “Roots of Resistance: A Story of Gender, Race, and Labor on the North Coast of Honduras” Book Talk - On November 10, UCLA Labor Studies will host an in-person book talk at the UCLA Young Research Library with Suyapa G. Portillo Villeda and their new book Roots of Resistance: A Story of Gender, Race, and Labor on the North Coast of Honduras. RSVP here.
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Biden Proposal Could Lead to Employee Status for Gig Workers | The New York Times, October 11, 2022
In this piece, reporter Noam Scheiber explains the Labor Department’s proposal for a new version of a test for classifying workers as employees or independent contractors. Although the proposal would only apply to laws the department enforces, such as the federal minimum wage, many employers and judges will take this proposal as a guide for worker classifications. While the Labor Department is still taking feedback to improve the proposal, it could be a potential blow to gig companies who classify workers as independent contractors. Read more here.
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From the Memory Work Los Angeles Files | |
Memory Work Los Angeles is a project of UCLA IRLE. We bring the past to the present to highlight the diverse experiences and perspectives of working people in southern California, the changing world of work, and the continuing struggle for equality. | |
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A clipping of a 1990 La Opinion article describes a Justice for Janitors training held in front of the Los Angeles Police Department. Janitors were preparing to use non-violent civil disobedience in their strike on Bradford Building Services in November of that year. Learn more here.
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We hope you enjoyed This Month at IRLE edited by Lesly Ayala.
Media inquiries for the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and its labor experts can be sent to vanessacodilla@ucla.edu.
Did someone forward you this newsletter, want to sign up to received IRLE regular updates? Sign up here.
Read previous IRLE Newsletters here.
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