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Dear IRLE Community,
It has been a whirlwind fall quarter! We officially launched the UCLA Labor Studies Department and welcomed a new interim Chair, Jennifer Chun. The department’s speaker series, Labor Studies Now, explored how labor movements in the U.S. and Latin America contended with conservative politics in the past. Students also enjoyed a campus visit by union leader David Huerta and a field trip to the Port of LA.
The Labor Center released two impactful reports this fall. The first explored the impact of deunionization on the Los Angeles meatpacking industry, documenting widespread wage and hour violations, the role of temporary staffing in recruiting and replacing workers, and the negative impacts of piece rate pay systems. The Labor Center also issued a report on the cannabis industry seven years after legalization. The report found evidence of significant wage and hour violations, experiences of sexual harassment, a desire among workers for more training, and relatively high unionization rates.
Our other units were also very active this fall. LOSH partnered with the Labor Center at LA Trade Tech College and SoCalCOSH to offer a three-day worker safety and health leadership course, and continued their outreach and training for workers rebuilding after the January wildfires.The Human Resources Round Table (HARRT) hosted their annual retreat this fall with a focus on the impact of AI on workers and human resource managers.
Finally, the entire IRLE community mourned the passing of Kent Wong earlier this fall. Kent’s tenacious vision of a university that serves all the people of California inspired many colleagues, students, staff, and unionists. We compiled a memorial album of photos documenting some of Kent’s work at UCLA and beyond.
In solidarity,
Toby Higbie
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Toby Higbie
Director, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
Professor of History and Labor Studies
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In September, UCLA Labor Studies celebrated its elevation to an academic department, making it the first of its kind at the UC. As a department, Labor Studies will broaden its course offerings, appoint faculty and eventually offer a master’s degree program.
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On October 14, the LAUSD school board implemented AB 800, a measure to mandate labor education for all high school students. The UCLA Labor Center and the Young Workers Education Project built a five-day, standards-based curriculum based on AB 800 to be taught in World History, U.S. History, Government, Economics, and Ethnic Studies courses.
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High Stakes: The State of the California Cannabis Workforce
UCLA Labor Center
This report from the UCLA Labor Center and the California Cannabis Worker Collab analyzes the experiences of cannabis workers in California across agriculture, manufacturing, retail and transportation. The first comprehensive examination of California’s cannabis workforce, the report details important trends that confirm the potential of cannabis to contribute to California’s growth, well-being and environmental change, as well as challenges that must be addressed head-on.
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Harm to Table: Vulnerability and Exploitation in Los Angeles County Meatpacking and Food Processing
UCLA Labor Center
This report from the UCLA Labor Center examines the social and economic harms associated with the systematic deregulation of the meatpacking industry. Among other findings, the report notes that workers in both meatpacking and poultry processing regularly experience numerous forms of wage theft. In addition, workers reported a pervasive culture of verbal abuse from supervisors.
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LAist | After court forces release of Trump's billion-dollar settlement demands, UC opposition groups turn to next goals, featuring Caroline Luce, IRLE project director
Huffpost | New Trump Policy Could Make Thousands Of Immigrants Vulnerable To Losing Their Jobs, featuring Victor Narro, UCLA Labor Center project director
The Guardian | Trump gutting protected status for immigrants will strain US healthcare, Democrats warn, featuring Chris Newman, UCLA Labor Studies faculty
Los Angeles Times | ‘No vamos a tener miedo’: más de 150 contingentes participarán en desfile mexicano de Los Ángeles, featuring Gaspar Rivera Salgado, UCLA Labor Studies faculty
NPR | A play about the revolt of human workers — not machines — gave us the word 'robot', featuring Toby Higbie, UCLA IRLE Director
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Labor Studies Now with Ruth Milkman: The U.S. Labor Movement in the 2020s: Achievements and Challenges
🗓️ January 29 at 12:00-1:30 pm
📍 TBD
Join the UCLA Department of Labor Studies for the next installment of their “Labor Studies Now” series to discuss the labor movement today with one of the most preeminent labor scholars of this era. Ruth Milkman is a sociologist of labor and labor movements who has written on a variety of topics involving work and organized labor in the United States, past and present. She taught at UCLA for 21 years and served as Director of the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment from 2001 to 2008.
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UCLA LOSH HAZWOPER Trainings
🗓️ Multiple Dates
📍 Virtual via Zoom
UCLA LOSH offers Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) training courses to public and private sector workers engaged in work involving hazardous substances, including hazardous waste. Register Here.
Upcoming 40-Hour Training Dates: January 26th – 30th 2026; March 2nd – 6th 2026 (Price: $650). Upcoming 8-Hour Annual Refresher Training Dates: February 24th 2026 (Price: $150)
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Industry Power Research Bootcamp
🗓️ March 16 - 20, 2026, 9:00 am-5:00 pm
📍 TBD
Join the UCLA Strategic Research Lab to learn the best approaches to industry-based research for organizers. As the NLRB continues to come under attack, unions and other labor groups are increasingly looking to industries, not companies, as sites to build worker power. The camp is designed for any movement researchers, strategic campaigners, activists or organizers wanting to better understand how to think about sector-wide strategies.
Only accepted applicants will be admitted to the Industry Power Research Bootcamp. Applications close on December 19, 2025.
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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 willaneedham@g.ucla.edu.
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