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Dear IRLE Community,
As we rush toward the end of this turbulent year and prepare for the uncertain future ahead, let's take a moment to take stock of how far we've come together.
This past year we hosted the second annual Strategic Labor Research Conference and launched the Strategic Research Lab under the direction of Labor Studies Chair Chris Zepeda-Millán. The conference brought together over 200 researchers from unions, environmental justice organizations, and universities in the U.S. and Mexico to hone their skills and build relationships. The continued success of this conference demonstrates a strong demand for continuing education among the staff members of unions and civil society organizations, and the Strategic Research Lab aims to meet that demand with year-round programming.
Our colleagues across the IRLE are busy supporting various initiatives to improve the working lives of the people of Los Angeles and California. LOSH staff provided training and technical assistance to the Public Health Councils initiative of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, while the Center for Racial Equity at Work (CARE at Work) evaluated the City of Los Angeles’ Workforce Demonstration (WED) Project, a full employment model that codifies the City’s commitment to a pathway to pre-apprenticeship and on-the-job training for Black workers. Researchers in the Labor Center also released an important study of automation at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The Entertainment and Media Research Initiative released more editions of their Hollywood Diversity Report series, drawing attention to hiring issues both in front and behind the camera. Their newest report focuses on streaming television. Our Human Resources Roundtable convened top human resources executives to discuss topics ranging from mental health in the workplace to the impact of AI-associated technologies.
Our international programs have also been quite active this year. The Labor Center’s Global Solidarity group organized a tour through Central California of Indigenous farmworker organizations from San Quintín, Mexico. Co-sponsored by the Latina Futures 2050 Lab, the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and the IRLE, this initiative aimed to bridge the gap between farmworker communities across borders and foster solidarity through political education and community dialogues. In the fall, staff from the Labor Center, Labor Studies, and IRLE participated in a conference of new university labor centers in Mexico convened at the UC's Mexico City center, Casa California. Organized in collaboration with the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center, conference participants shared new research on Mexican workers, migration and trade issues, and heard from representatives of independent unions in the region.
We lost a giant of the global and local movement for justice this year, Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr. He was a teacher and mentor to many of our students and staff during his more than 20 years teaching at UCLA. In the 1950s and 1960s, Lawson was key to spreading the gospel of nonviolent direct action to young civil rights and labor advocates across the South. Although his role as an advisor to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was widely hailed in obituaries, Lawson left a lasting imprint on the Los Angeles labor movement. After moving to L.A. in 1974, Lawson became a trusted advisor to progressive unionists here and led countless seminars on nonviolence that prepared leaders and rank-and-file activists for thoughtful and effective action.
No one can replace Rev. Lawson, but we are lucky that Professor Robin Kelley of the UCLA History Department will be taking up the challenge of teaching the class Rev. Lawson taught for many years with Kent Wong. A celebrated historian of Black radicalism, jazz, and social justice organizing, Kelley is also a transformational teacher who will draw on his wide experience and knowledge to reinterpret this iconic Labor Studies course.
In closing, I'd like to congratulate our Director of Strategic Communications, Citlalli Chávez-Nava, who is leaving us to take a job managing communications for the UCLA Division of Social Sciences. Citlalli has been an invaluable part of our leadership team, mentoring junior colleagues and facilitating impactful media engagement for the IRLE and all its units. We wish her the best!
And to all of you receiving this message, may you be able to pause and recharge for the challenges to come. The Institute, its staff and community partners have lived through many difficult times. As we look ahead, I am mindful of the heroic work of those who came before us to sustain the work of the IRLE and its units over many decades. We make the road by walking together.
Yours for a better world,
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