California is home to the largest population of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN) in the country. To better understand the social and economic forces affecting low-wage AIAN workers in the state, our Low-Wage Work in California Data Explorer includes analysis on this group.
UC Berkeley Labor Center and partners produce resources for all high schoolers.
The Data Explorer shows that workers of color, women, and immigrants are overrepresented among the 5.6 million workers paid a low wage. A clear understanding of these demographic patterns in low-wage work is essential to addressing economic inequality in the state.
Who is paid low wages in California? The UC Berkeley Labor Center just updated its Low-Wage Work in California Data Explorer, which provides a wide range of data on the state’s 5.6 million workers who are paid low wages.
What does it take to build a union at the world’s largest coffee chain? Jaz Brisack is trying to get it down to a system.
The Labor Center sat down with Practitioner in Residence Alex Caputo-Pearl to delve into some of the work he’s completing during his residency, his role during the 2019 UTLA teacher’s strike, and his upcoming book about the teacher’s labor movement in recent years.
Blog post exploring the factors surrounding a proposal to expand Covered California to undocumented Californians by creating a “mirror marketplace.” This would give undocumented Californians, who are prevented by federal law from participating in Covered California, the ability to shop, compare, and enroll in health plans.
At the latest Labor Center Lead Organizer Training 19 organizers strengthened their organizing skills and learned to cultivate new leaders within their organizations. The frontline leaders from teacher, grocery, and flight attendant unions, and Black, Latino, and Filipino worker centers, among others, learned to adapt different leadership approaches to different circumstances.
Last week, the UC Regents suspended for one year a proposal to allow undocumented students to be employed in campus jobs. The announcement comes after months of protests and a hunger strike by over 20 students.
Until the state can make much-needed improvements to its property and commercial tax structure, officials will continue to propose drastic service cuts. Eliminating or freezing vacant positions in state and local budget processes may be a convenient way to cut expenses, but without substantive staffing analysis the impact of leaving those positions empty could pose a severe burden on existing staff, Californians, and the economy.
We outline core principles for how government action on AI can benefit public and private sector workers, and comment on how two recent executive orders reflect those principles. Our goal is to help inform the significant work that lies ahead for federal, state, and local governments in their efforts to model responsible use of AI.
Workers and their unions took center stage in 2023 by negotiating landmark agreements that address emerging workplace technologies. Alongside establishing fundamental rights regarding the adoption of new technologies, unions negotiated protective measures for workers, provisions ensuring workers share in the benefits of these advancements, and even reined in certain technological applications. Here’s a closer look at some of the major technology bargaining agreements reached this year.
Teachers’ willingness to strike represents not just a resurgence of union power, but also their determination to call attention to the dire consequences of decades of California’s underinvestment in K-12 education.
The University of California Board of Regents was expected to devise a plan to eliminate University hiring restrictions for undocumented UC students by November, but that didn’t happen.
Labor Center 2023 Practitioner in Residence Sam Appel is urgently looking at how the transition to a sustainable and green economy can be anchored in equity for workers and communities in California.
In a groundbreaking move, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 800 into law on September 30, an initiative that equips high school students with the knowledge to safeguard their workplace rights and defend against potential abuses.
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.
Monterey County has some of the highest hospital costs in the state, and working families are struggling to pay their health care bills. To better understand why health care costs are so high in this Central Coast county, there is an urgent need to collect and analyze data that can help point to causes and solutions to the problem.
The Labor Center sat down with Seema Patel to ask more about the work she is passionate about, what she’s been working on during her residence, and what “movement lawyering” really means.
Union membership today is different than a generation ago. It’s not your grandfather’s union anymore.
