These are some noteworthy labor headlines we read this week.

Weekend Labor Reads:

TOP NEWS

In labor-friendly California, 2025 ushers in more worker protections. Here’s what to know

2025 has brought in new laws that strengthen protections for California workers. Among the legislation is a bill forbidding punishment of employees who refuse to attend anti-union “captive audience” meetings, a benefit boost for lower-income workers using paid family leave, new safeguards against abuse of performers' AI-generated likeness, expansion of sick leave for farmworkers and a broadened understanding of identity based discrimination at work.

Los Angeles Times

Suhauna Hussain



UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS

‘I don’t feel safe anywhere.’ California moves to aid undocumented students as fears surge

Los Angeles Times

Howard Blume and Olivia Sanchez

UNIONS

SEIU Joins Forces With AFL-CIO Ahead of New Trump Era



The New York Times

Noam Scheiber and Lisa Lerer

UNIONS

Massive port strike averted, as shippers and union reach tentative agreement

The Washington Post

Lauren Kaori Gurley

WORKERS RIGHTS

Businesses sue state over new workplace law

CalMatters

Jeanne Kuang

IRLE In The News:

EDUCATION

Why Generation Z Gives These Professors Hope

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Beth McMurtrie

Ft. Tobias Higbie, IRLE Director

UNIONS

Unions make waves across Southern California campuses, learning from each other as they go

LAist 

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

Ft. Tobias Higbie, IRLE Director

Featured Resource:

UCLA LOSH Infographic: Protecting Workers from Wildfire Smoke

In California, workers are entitled to protections against wildfire smoke. This infographic from the IRLE's Labor and Occupational Safety & Health Program (LOSH) explains the Cal/OSHA Protection from Wildfire Smoke standard (Section 5141.1), including legal requirements for employers to reduce hazardous exposure for workers when the Air Quality Index (AQI) for PM2.5 reaches 151 or higher for one continuous hour or longer per shift. View the full infographic in English here o lea en Español aquí.

Memory Work Los Angeles:

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.

Let Justice Roll Down; The Working Poor: Challenge to the Religious Community



What is the responsibility of people of faith when confronted with the poverty of working people in a wealthy country? That question is posed by Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) in this 2000 video featuring the testimony of working people, faith leaders, academics, and activists. Speakers include Kent Wong, Maria Elena Durazo, Madeline Janis-Aparicio, Richard Gillett, Anthony Thigpen, and others. Learn more about CLUE on the Memory Work Los Angeles website.

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UCLA's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) advances labor research and education for workplace justice. Through the work of its units – the UCLA Labor Center, the Human Resources Roundtable, the Labor Occupational Safety and Health program (LOSH) and its academic program, UCLA Labor Studies – the Institute forms wide-ranging research and agendas that carry UCLA into the Los Angeles community and beyond.