Why apply to the Labor Summer Internship Program?

Are you willing to knock on doors and talk to complete strangers about their working conditions in order to build worker power? Do you enjoy interacting with people and are you curious about how you can support their taking action to improve their working conditions and day-to-day lives? Have you participated in some level of social justice work, organized or facilitated a meeting, event, action or protest for a community you cared deeply about? Are you graduating and searching for a full-time job after graduation in the labor movement? If your answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then Labor Summer is for you!

Through Labor Summer, college and university students learn about and work on some of the most important issues affecting workers in California today – during this exciting period of renewed energy and activism in the labor movement!

Labor Summer participants will develop and hone their skills alongside people working on the ground to address some of these critical challenges facing workers: low wages, wage theft, discrimination, health and safety violations, and a lack of voice and power in the workplace.

Read about our 2024 Labor Summer interns

Hear from host sites and interns from 2023

How it works

Labor Summer is a PAID full-time internship for graduate and undergraduate students. By the end of Labor Summer, students will have gained valuable organizing skills that will support their success in future labor-related jobs. This is a great opportunity for graduating students who are ready to work full time in the labor movement: Labor Summer interns are added to our alumni listserv where job announcements are posted, and some host sites may be hiring at the end of the summer!

Details:

• All interns will attend a week-long orientation together from Monday, June 16 to Friday, June 20, 2025. This does not include June 19, in observance of Juneteenth. The orientation will cover topics related to the U.S. labor movement (with a focus on California labor issues), provide specialized training to develop organizing skills, and present opportunities for interns to build relationships with their fellow cohort members and host sites.
• Interns will then spend seven weeks (40 hours/week) at a union, worker center, or community-based organization, where they will put their basebuilding skills to work supporting local campaigns and workers’ rights.
• The program concludes with a graduation ceremony at which interns share their experiences and learnings from the program and reflect on what they have accomplished over the summer.
• Students must produce a short presentation and provide an evaluation of the program before graduation on August 8, 2025.

Requirements to participate in Labor Summer

• Interest in working on social and economic justice issues with unions, worker centers, or community-based organizations.
• Ability to work with diverse communities.
• Availability for the entire length of the internship: eight weeks from Monday, June 16 to Friday, August 8, 2025.
• Must be rising juniors, rising seniors, graduating seniors, or graduate students, and must be enrolled at a college or university in the United States. Please note: we prioritize graduating seniors and graduate students from colleges and universities in the Bay Area.
• Since this is a full-time internship, interns are not permitted to take summer classes during the work week.
• Some placements will require proficiency in a specific language, such as Spanish or Cantonese, as well as access to a vehicle and a driver’s license.
• Participating students must be housed in the Bay Area during the entirety of the Labor Summer 2025 internship.

Compensation

All interns will be paid $22 an hour.

Should I apply if I am a freshman or sophomore?

If you are a freshman or sophomore we encourage you to check out our Labor Studies page for more information on how you can get involved in other labor related opportunities with the Berkeley Labor Center.

If you have any questions regarding the Labor Summer program after reading each page, including Frequently Asked Questions, please reach out to Brianna Velasco at bavelasco@berkeley.edu.