A first look at labor’s vision of what the future of AI and digital technologies should look like.

Updated September 2025. An overview of current U.S. public policy that regulates employers’ use of digital workplace technologies.

The report State of the Unions: California Labor in 2024 provides a snapshot of the California labor movement at a time of dramatic political and economic shifts nationwide. Led by researchers at the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) and the UC Berkeley Labor Center, the report analyzes the most recent publicly available data on union density, member demographics, and labor organizing activity in California and the nation.

A report from the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) and the UC Berkeley Labor Center that provides a snapshot of the California labor movement. It analyzes the most recent publicly available data on union density, member demographics, and labor organizing activity in California and the nation, and features case studies highlighting victories for workers in the fast-food, warehousing, and agriculture industries.

This factsheet highlights the characteristics of the private sector security guard workforce in NYC, home to a large part of the nation’s security guard workforce. With its scale and visibility, NYC has the potential to set a national standard for improving labor conditions in the security services industry, which has national revenues of $22.7 billion for unarmed guard services alone. The labor conditions of security guards are also foundational to broader questions of how cities achieve public safety.

Our program regularly compiles policy and research updates related to technology and work. See below. New material will be added every few months.

It is our assessment that the current proposed regulations do not provide the protections that consumers and workers deserve under the CCPA and that the law itself clearly intended.

A searchable inventory of contract provisions from over 175 union agreements showing how collective bargaining has been used to address workplace technologies, protect worker rights, and shape technology adoption, use, and oversight.

Across the country, cities and counties have become laboratories of policy innovation on labor standards. Before 2012, only five localities had minimum wage laws; currently, 65 counties and cities do. To help inform policymakers and other stakeholders, the UC Berkeley Labor Center is maintaining an up-to-date inventory of these laws, with details on wage levels, scheduled increases, and other law details, as well as links to the ordinances.

Rolling back Medicaid access through cuts and bureaucratic hurdles will have far-reaching and disproportionate impacts on older adults. In particular, the work documentation requirement poses an especially draconian barrier to older adults, given the steady dropoff in employment after age 50 due to deteriorating health, age discrimination, and increasing responsibility to provide care for aging family members.

Supporting early educators and expanding childcare access isn’t just morally right—it’s smart economic policy. Higher wages, stable programs, and affordable care options strengthen families and unlock economic potential across generations.

Joint letter in response to the California Privacy Protection Agency’s May 9, 2025, request for comments on the most recent draft of proposed regulations for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

This paper focuses on medical debt in California, and existing and potential policy solutions to ameliorate the ruinous financial effects of medical debt in the state.

A new case study released by the UC Berkeley Labor Center looks at the lessons for current elected officials, unions, and community groups from redeveloping the Oakland Army base 25 years ago.

This case study examines how Revive Oakland! (RO), a community-labor coalition, took a leading role in shaping the billion-dollar redevelopment of the Oakland Army Base (OAB) 25 years ago.

California’s historic expansion of coverage to undocumented individuals has not only brought the state closer to universal coverage, but has also reduced racial disparities in health coverage. However, this progress is at risk due to a new state budget proposal that would curtail Medi-Cal benefits for certain immigrants, ahead of additional severe federal cuts to Medicaid being considered.

Accessible, non-technical FAQ answering common questions about AI and other digital technologies in the workplace, how employers use them, and how workers are impacted.

Undergraduates spend spring break learning firsthand about Bay Area labor during the 2025 Solidarity Spring at UC Berkeley.

This page provides data on California health care employment by county and congressional district, including by sector and as a percentage of total employment, using estimates from IMPLAN input-output economic modeling software.

Republicans are considering major cuts to Medicaid to offset tax cuts. Depending on the specific mechanisms and timing for cutting Medicaid, California could expect to see between $10 billion and $20 billion fewer federal dollars per year coming to Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. These federal cuts would lead to significant job loss in health care and other sectors.