Strengthening the labor movement for a sustainable, inclusive economy

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Spotlight

Scales of justice overlaid with '50 CA PERB'
Sep 19

PERB Past, Present & Future

PERB, the Public Employment Relations Board, turns 50 this year! Join us September 19 for a half-day conference celebrating public workers, their unions, and PERB!

Image from the flyer for the film Partners, featuring young workers with fists raised and Starbucks United signs.
Sep 23

Partners: Film Screening and Panel

Join us for a screening of the short film Partners: How Starbucks Baristas Started a Labor Revolution, followed by a dynamic panel and Q&A with labor organizers and workers in the coffee and retail industries—including those in the film!

A large group poses together in a brightly lit workshop room with tables, sticky notes, and a yellow ladder in the background.
Dec 1

Lead Organizer Training/Capacitación para Organizadores Principales

This four-day, in-person workshop is offered to lead organizers in labor unions and community-based organizations who want to strengthen their skills in effectively managing their teams to win campaigns. Ofrecemos esta capacitación de 4 dias en persona para organizadores principales en uniones y organizaciones comunitarias quienes quieren fortalecer sus habilidades de dirigir sus equipos para ganar campañas.

A large group of people holds signs and a blue banner reading “UCLA Labor Center” outside a building during a gathering or demonstration.
Savannah Hunter,Enrique Lopezlira,Jenifer MacGillvary,Patrick Wade,Justin McBride,Chris Zepeda-Millán,Marissa Brookes,Ellen Reese,Jason Whisler,Iza Camarillo,Elda Solomon UgochukwuandRalph Armbruster-Sandoval

State of the Unions: California Labor in 2025

A report from the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, including research from the UC Berkeley Labor Center. This edition of the “State of the Unions” report offers readers insight into how California unions are faring in the face of an unfriendly federal administration, a militarized deportation campaign, and a continuing cost-of-living crisis.

Blue and green toned illustration of solar panels and wind turbines with the logo from the Roosevelt Institute.
Betony Jones

The Three Failures Threatening America’s Clean Energy Industrial Strategy and How to Fix Them

This Roosevelt Institute report identifies 15 policy changes that could put the US on a trajectory to a high-road, resilient clean energy economy. These include specific incentives, regulations, technical assistance, clarifying existing statutes, and improving coordination both within and beyond government. Underpinning all is attention to building the high-road advantage the US will need to succeed, and supporting broad distribution of the gains it delivers.

Commentary by Nari Rhee in Sacramento Bee

Social Security isn’t just a safety net. It’s California’s economic bedrock

Social Security isn’t just a “safety net” for the elderly; it is California’s economic bedrock. In 2024, the program injected almost $138 billion into our state—more than the gross domestic product of California’s computer and electronics manufacturing sector, and more than double the economic output of the motion picture and television industry and agriculture.

Logo for Just Tech
Mishal Khan

Co-opting or Centering the Human Worker in the Digital Age? An Overview of Human-in-the-Loop Legislation in the United States

SSRC’s Just Tech program. What does it mean to have a “human-in-the-loop”? Including examples from the 2026 legislative session, in this piece published by SSRC’s Just Tech Platform, senior researcher Mishal Khan dives into the many different HITL provisions being proposed in legislatures across the country today, highlighting their impacts on workers.

Several group of college students sitting at tables and chatting.

Fall 2026 Student Events at the Labor Center

Join the UC Berkeley Labor Center this Fall! Find out more about the labor movement and social justice work by attending our panel discussions, free film screenings, partner event talks, and more.