Labor Studies at Cal is a collection of courses and programming that invites students to explore the histories and contemporary realities of the U.S. labor movement.
Drawing on the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s network of partners, we help students learn about labor issues while gaining hands-on experience in the field with unions, worker centers, and community organizations. Along the way, students discover how their academic and activist passions intersect with labor issues and career paths.
If you are interested in topics like income inequality, race and gender in the workplace, immigration, technology at work, environmental justice, healthcare and retirement — in short, the future of work for people and the planet — Labor Studies at Cal is the community for you.
If you’re looking to get engaged with Labor Center student programs and events, please email Sierra at snbarton@berkeley.edu.
Learn more about the Labor Studies program at Cal:
Dr. Anibel Ferus-Comelo’s undergraduate and graduate courses investigate the role of the U.S. labor movement in the fight for economic, racial, gender, and immigrant justice. Each class gives students the opportunity to learn about worker issues through lectures, discussion, guest speakers, and hands-on engagement with labor organizations in the community.
This course provides a broad, inter-disciplinary overview of the U.S. labor movement
A course for undergraduates/graduates who have an interest in social/economic justice, and seek to earn academic credit while gaining experience in organizing
Labor Research for Action and Policy (L-RAP). This course is an introduction to social science research methods connecting the Berkeley Changemaker L&S 12 to the discipline of public policy in the field of work and employment relations.
FALL 2024! An applied research and project-based seminar offers students the opportunity to develop and hone research skills
In addition to classes, Labor Studies at Cal offers internship and service-learning opportunities for undergrad and graduate students who are interested in labor and employment issues. Whether you are new to the labor movement or a seasoned organizer, we can help you get involved with the most pressing worker campaigns in California. Learn more about our Solidarity Spring, Labor Summer, and Labor Movement Apprenticeship Program (LMAP) below.
Undergraduates spend spring break learning firsthand about Bay Area labor during the 2025 Solidarity Spring at UC Berkeley.
The UC Berkeley Labor Center led a group of 20 students for the third annual Solidarity Spring–three packed days that immersed students in the local labor movement and connected them with active campaigns.
The challenges facing undocumented students at UC Berkeley, like Diana Ortiz Aguilar, extend beyond academic pursuits, impacting their financial security as well. She hopes the UC Regents will take action soon to ease that burden.
This multimedia presentation tells the story of the Spring 2023 undergraduate course “Labor Research for Action and Policy” (LRAP). The semester-long research project gave students the opportunity to explore issues facing young student-workers in Alameda County who are trying to get an education while facing personal and family economic insecurity.
One-hundred thirty-four students are participating in internships throughout California in the first UC-wide Labor Summer 2023 program.
The Student Advisory Committee (SAC) is the undergraduate student-led advisory body of the UC Berkeley Labor Center in the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE). The SAC aims to engage the broader campus community on the most critical issues facing workers through student outreach, organization, education, mobilization, and solidarity support. The SAC serves as a liaison between undergraduate students, the Labor Center, and the local labor movement, striving to create a diverse new generation of labor leaders through project-based endeavors.
Anibel Ferus-Comelo
Director of Community-Engaged Academic Initiatives
Bahaar Tadjbakhsh
Coordinator of Student Programs
Sierra Barton-Peterson
Program Coordinator
