“Social Security is a bedrock,” Nari Rhee, director of UC Berkeley Labor Center’s Retirement Security Program, testified at a federal hearing last year. But “the current average benefit of $1,500 a month is insufficient to cover basic needs for most retirees, given the cost of living.”

“I think that creating a more sustainable economy creates good-paying jobs for workers who already have those skills,” said Enrique Lopezlira, a labor economist at the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.

A study by the UCLA and UC Berkeley labor centers found almost two-thirds of fast-food workers have experienced wage theft, and more than half have faced health and safety hazards on the job. Of the workers who raised concerns with their employers, about a third reported that their employer did nothing to resolve the issue, while 25% experienced retaliation, the study found.

Just 21% of California workers operating home-based day cares reported having some form of retirement savings, according to the center. Comparatively, 46% of Californians working in the private sector have a retirement plan, according to a report by the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

“The thing that really struck us is how this is a very modest proposal,” Jacobs said. “The costs are extraordinarily small for very meaningful benefits for the families who gain higher wages.”

“It makes it so it’s very disheartening to take away these extra subsidies that have been really crucial in improving affordability for folks,” Miranda Dietz said.

Miranda Dietz, a research and policy associate at UC Berkeley Labor Center, said the significant increase in the number of Californians with health insurance over the last two years would be in jeopardy without the federal subsidies.

One hurdle CalSavers faces, Rhee said, is making small employers aware of the June 30 deadline. They need to be told what their obligations are, she said, but they’re the hardest group to reach.

“We have a fairly tight labor market right now and low unemployment,” said Jessie Hammerling, a researcher at the UC Berkeley Labor Center. “And I think that helps give workers greater confidence to stand up.”

Here’s the truth: Truck drivers, notably the short-haul drivers who carry goods from the ports to regional warehouses or other transportation depots, are among the most abused workers in our economy.

According to a 2019 study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center, more than 60% of private sector workers in this state who were 25 to 64 years old had no company-supplied plan to build savings for retirement by deferring some income (as in a pension) or redirecting part of their paychecks into investments (as in a 401(k) plan).

The rise to a $15 hourly wage has had a “real, measurable effect on workers’ pay in the state,” said Ken Jacobs. Still, “costs have continued to rise.”

Annette Bernhardt, Lisa Kresge, and Reem Suleiman of the UC Berkeley Labor Center argue that companies should be required to reveal “which activities will be monitored, the method of monitoring, the data that will be gathered, the times and places where the monitoring will occur, and the purpose for monitoring and why it is necessary.”

Carol Zabin said she and her team — which included a chemical safety expert — found little difference between the cost of a solar system installed by a firm using certified electricians and a firm not using certified electricians.

A study by UC Berkeley’s Labor Center projected that the added subsidies will enable 135,000 Californians to obtain insurance in 2022, and would cut the costs faced by an additional 1.5 million enrollees — about 150,000 of whom had not qualified for subsidies before because their incomes were above the previous cutoff.

“Is it strong enough to build the momentum to win some part of labor law reform that would allow for greater success in organizing?” said Ken Jacobs, chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education. “That’s the real question.”

“They’re put through a gantlet by employers who make all sorts of threats,” said Ken Jacobs, chair of UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education. Growers will sometimes fire organizers, even though that’s illegal; penalties are modest and rarely enforced.

Race is part of the debate over AB 701. Latino and Black employees constitute 66% of warehouse staff, although workers of color account for just 37% of the total U.S. labor force, according to a UC Berkeley study.

“It’s great that the state saw a sixth consecutive month of 100,000-plus job growth. But many workers are still on the sidelines. Employers need to improve the quality of jobs, not just wages.”

“When the labor market does its thing, we produce tremendous wage inequality and tremendous growth in low wage jobs,” said Carol Zabin, who directs the Green Economy Program at UC Berkeley’s Labor Center.

California should be encouraging the creation of blue-collar jobs with good pay and benefits. Residential construction used to be a solid middle-class career, but now the work can pay near-poverty wages.

Converting to a single-payer system would cause enormous upheaval, however, and the Legislature has balked at bills to mandate it. Instead, in 2019 it created the Healthy California for All Commission to study its feasibility. That work is starting to bear fruit.

Latino workers have the highest rate of employment in essential frontline jobs, where there’s a higher risk of exposure to the coronavirus, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

The country’s three largest grocery providers, Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons, together earned an additional $6.8 billion in profit in the first three quarters of 2020 compared to 2019 — an average increase of 98%. “The industry is doing extraordinarily well in the pandemic,” said Ken Jacobs, chair of the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

Latino workers have the highest rate of employment in essential front-line jobs, where there’s a higher risk of exposure to the coronavirus, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center.