Strengthening the labor movement for a sustainable, inclusive economy.

Enrique Lopezlira, director of the low-wage work program at the Labor Center, discusses how the so-called “labor shortage” isn’t quite a shortage.

A new report from Berkeley is a rare piece of good news for American labor—and a bracing reminder of what real organizing looks like.

Low wages and exploitative practices in the resident construction industry cause profound hardship for workers and their families. It also costs the public. This analysis finds almost half of families of construction workers in California are enrolled in a safety net program at an annual cost of over $3 billion. By comparison, just over a third of all California workers have a family member enrolled in one or more safety net program.

Meet the Labor Center’s Labor Summer 2021 intern class! Now in its third decade, Labor Summer is a rare paid educational internship that connects students with the labor movement in California.

The goal of the C.L. Dellums African American Leadership School is to train union and community members active in the Black community so they can strengthen relationships between the Black community and the labor movement.

A report by Jane McAlevey and Abby Lawlor, illustrates best practices for building the power to win in today’s challenging union climate and features a series of case studies in collective bargaining during the four years under Trump. They cover four key employment sectors: teachers, nurses, hotel workers, and journalists. In each case, workers used high transparency and high participation approaches in contract campaigns to build worker power. Each victory points a path to raising workers’ expectations of what is possible to win at the negotiations table today.

What should workers do when they are threatened with or actually subjected to investigations, interrogations, and discipline and discharge? This book provides explicit guidance and advice for workers and those that represent them in dealing with these situations. Written and updated by labor lawyers, “Hey the Boss” reviews the law on the workers’ right to representation on the job and provides concrete details on how those rights can be implemented. A “must have” book for workers, shop stewards, labor lawyers, and anyone else concerned about workers’ rights.

A series of briefs summarizing the recommendations for some of the critical climate sectors addressed in the Jobs and Climate Action Plan for 2030: electricity generation, energy efficiency, electric vehicle manufacturing and charging infrastructure, public transit and infill development, trucking, and waste.

The Labor Center is working to provide research on how California is experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic; analysis of new policies, what they offer the state’s workers and businesses, and what is still needed; and curated lists of resources, information, and tools for workers and their advocates.