LOHP Fall Newsletter 2022

LOHP Welcomes New Staff

We are happy to welcome Diana Razo Diaz, Liam Chavez, Néstor André Castillo, and Tenaya Lafore to our team!

Diana Razo Diaz, BA

Diana became interested in LOHP because the majority of her family works in labor or as domestic workers. She describes, “I have seen firsthand the consequences of not having the necessary tools or resources to perform your job safely and I truly admire that LOHP strives to provide and teach preventative measures.”

Before joining LOHP, Diana attended the University of California Merced where she double majored in Political Science and Sociology. She was the Lead Intern at the Peer Assisted Learning Support (PALS) which was a tutoring program that helped students achieve their academic goals. Diana was also a Government Relations Aide at the University of California Student Association where she helped fight for student rights across all UC campuses.

Liam Chavez, BA

Liam hopes to advocate for safer and more inclusive workplaces. He experienced discrimination and retaliation from former employers on the basis of his protected categories, and this has given him a greater understanding of how workplace culture contributes (or doesn't) to worker health and wellbeing. He says, “First of all, I was excited to join LOHP so I could work for my alma mater! My BA is in history, so I'm very aware of America's less-than-stellar legacy of labor rights and worker safety. I believe that ensuring worker safety and health is highly necessary and important, especially as workers navigate the unique challenges of what some call the 'second Gilded Age'."

Liam considers himself an educator at heart – he trained as a high school teacher and then worked as a tutor for kids with special needs.

Néstor André Castillo, MPH

Néstor’s interest in worker health and safety was first sparked when working as a union representative for janitors in San Francisco. He witnessed firsthand the multiple hazards workers faced, ranging from chemical exposures to sexual violence on the job to increasingly demanding workloads. He describes, “I’m excited to be a part of LOHP and to be able to contribute to the field of worker health and safety alongside my new colleagues. I will be leading the HAZMAT Disaster Preparedness Training Program and also happy to be working alongside janitors again to support their health and safety.”

Prior to joining LOHP, Néstor spent most of his early career organizing in social movements and the labor movement broadly. Most recently, Néstor was an adjunct faculty member of the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State where he taught courses across a variety of disciplines, including courses that centered on health education within ethnic studies. Néstor also serves as the Chair for the Alameda County Public Health Commission, which he has been a member of since 2017.

Tenaya Lafore, EdD

Before joining LOHP, Tenaya was a community college teacher, labor organizer, and adult educator working in a number of different sectors, mainly with frontline essential workers in hotels, restaurants, and factories–workers who deal with significant health and safety issues every day. She first learned about LOHP while volunteering with the hotel workers’ union in San Francisco, when LOHP staff did participatory research with room cleaners to identify the ergonomic impacts of their jobs as part of their union contract campaign. This research contributed to a reduction in the number of rooms they had to clean!

Tenaya says, “I also worked in hotels and restaurants myself, which gave me firsthand knowledge of how important it is for low-wage workers in particular to learn–and learn how to exercise–their rights to health and safety on the job. I am excited to join LOHP because it is a continuation of my work in and passion for adult and popular education. I’m looking forward to working in a program that has such a long history of giving workers, unions and community organizations essential tools and resources to create better conditions on the job!”

LOHP Receives Funding to Expand Labor Programs

The University of California’s labor centers and initiatives, including LOHP, have received significant funding from the state to advance their work. California’s 2022-23 budget includes $13 million to fund research, education, and public engagement on labor issues throughout the UC system. The allocation, which will be ongoing in future state budgets, is the single largest budget increase to UC labor centers since their establishment in 1964. The resources will be used to support existing programs as well as fund the establishment of up to six new labor centers at UC’s in California.

“We are excited to receive funding that will allow us to expand our work in supporting labor’s efforts to fight for safe and just working conditions,” says Laura Stock, LOHP Director. “In the next few months, LOHP will be reaching out to allies to gather input on priority issues and the best ways for us to serve the needs of workers and their organizations. We will expand strategies including training, technical assistance, research, and policy work, as well as efforts to educate and train the next generation of leaders through our student internships and classroom teaching. We look forward to collaborating with other new and existing UC labor programs as we build strong alliances and resources to support labor health and safety initiatives.”

This funding was made possible through the collective efforts of the California Labor Federation, key labor unions throughout the state, and elected officials including California State Senators Nancy Skinner and María Elena Durazo, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, and Assemblymembers Mike Fong and Ash Kalra.

Bay Area Solidarity Summer (BASS)

Bay Area Solidarity Summer (BASS) is a 5-day political action camp to cultivate South Asian American activists, ages 18–23. BASS was founded in 2011 by South Asian organizers committed to supporting and mentoring the next generation. Each summer, BASS helps activists strengthen their organizing skills by learning concrete skills like campaign strategy, sharpening their analysis of race, gender, and power and exploring the over 100 year history of South Asian activism in the U.S.

This summer, LOHP participated in BASS and used one story in our multi-media Taking Action Toolkit – Food Processing Workers and Jakara Movement – as a culturally relevant case study to explain campaign strategy. BASS participants were amazed to see their elders, speaking in their native language of Punjabi, working collectively to advocate for their health and safety rights and winning. Watch the full story here.

LOHP in the Field

Farmworker training with CRLA Foundation

Cypress Mandela training

Richmond Works

UFCW 770 training

Here is a glimpse at some of our recent work:

Carried out several workshops for farmworkers on heat and wildfire smoke hazards – with CRLA Inc. Santa Rosa and CRLA Foundation

Conducted two 24-hour HAZWOPER awareness courses with our partner, the Cypress Mandela Training Center, a construction pre-apprenticeship training program in east Oakland

Carried out 24-hour and 8-hour HAZWOPER courses for Cal/OSHA and other university safety professionals

Conducted a workshop on identifying and addressing hazards (focus on workplace violence) with Richmond WORKS – which provides a range of services to assist people with job training and opportunities

Trained skilled nursing facility and home care workers on airborne transmissible diseases, including COVID-19, and workers’ rights – in partnership with SEIU Local 2015

Collaborated with UFCW 770 of Los Angeles to train food processing workers on COVID-19 and workers’ rights

Hosted our first hybrid CA Young Worker's Partnership meeting, where we reviewed our Safe Jobs 4 Youth month campaign, the relaunch of the youngworkers.org site, the impact of our new factsheets about Teen Fatality prevention, and heard a presentation by the Unity Council, an organization that helps the Oakland community achieve their long-term educational, career, and financial goals.

Our mailing address is:

University Hall, Suite 451

2199 Addison Street

Berkeley, CA 94720-7360

Contact Info:

Email: lohp@berkeley.edu

Website: lohp.berkeley.edu

Interested in Training from LOHP?

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming trainings