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, 56 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.

The California Legislature has passed AB257 and it now heads to the Governor’s desk. The FAST Recovery Act provides a way for the state’s fast-food workers to have a voice in the development and implementation of labor standards in their industry.

Our minimum wage and living wage tools and resources includes our Inventory of US City and County Minimum Wage Ordinances and a table of current local minimum wages in California.

The Living Wage Act is a proposed ballot measure to increase the California minimum wage to $18 an hour by 2025. This report examines which workers stand to benefit from the proposed increase.

New research finds that an $18 minimum wage would give five million California workers a pay raise; the ballot initiative would help lift 3.5 million Californians out of poverty.

This blog post highlights some of the findings from our just-released update to our chartbook “California’s labor market in the times of COVID-19,” which explores labor market trends in California over the past two historic years.

Today, the UC Berkeley Labor Center released an update to its data tool, “California’s Labor Market Two Years into the Pandemic: 2022 Chartbook.” The chartbook provides researchers, policymakers, journalists, and the public with an in-depth look at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers and the labor market in California based on the most recently available data.

This data tool tracks the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers in California, and how the state is recovering from these effects. The pandemic left millions of Californians out of work, and while the economy has begun to recover in recent months, some workers continue to struggle. This resource will be updated periodically, as new data becomes available, to allow users to monitor the progress of labor markets in the state. Last updated May 18, 2022.

The Labor Center is working to provide research on how California is experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic; analysis of new policies, what they offer the state’s workers and businesses, and what is still needed; and curated lists of resources, information, and tools for workers and their advocates.

Amazon recently announced a new policy on freedom of association under international standards, saying it would comply with International Labor Organization and United Nations principles on union organizing and collective bargaining. This assessment shows that Amazon’s freedom of association policy, on its face, is non-compliant with international labor standards, and Amazon management’s conduct before and after issuing the policy continues to violate international standards.

Amazon’s just-announced “freedom of association policy” fails to comply with international human rights standards for workers involved in union organizing, finds a report published today by the UC Berkeley Labor Center and Berkeley Law’s Center for Law and Work.

In this blog we will use the Low-Wage Data Explorer to dispel some myths about the one-in-three workers in California who are paid low wages.

The Low-Wage Work in California Data Explorer provides users with graphics, tables, research summaries, interactive visualizations, and downloadable data. Use this site to explore a wide range of data on California’s low-wage workers: numbers of workers, demographics, job quality, occupations, industries, economic security indicators, geography, and more.

The UC Berkeley Labor Center has released an update to its Low-Wage Work in California Data Explorer, which provides researchers, policymakers, journalists, and the public with an in-depth look at the people who make up California’s low-wage workforce.

In this research brief we provide estimates of safety net use among families of construction workers in Arizona. We find that 45% of families of construction workers in Arizona are enrolled in one or more safety net programs at a cost to the state and the federal government of over $700 million per year. By comparison, among all Arizona workers, 32% have a family member enrolled in one or more safety net programs. Over one-third (36%) of construction workers lack health insurance, almost three times the rate for all workers in Arizona (13%).

In this research brief we provide estimates of safety net use among families of construction workers in Georgia. We find that 44% of families of construction workers in Georgia are enrolled in one or more safety net programs at a cost to the state and the federal government of approximately $400 million per year. By comparison, among all Georgia workers, 33% have a family member enrolled in one or more safety net programs. Nearly half (49%) of construction workers lack health insurance, more than three times the rate for all workers in Georgia (15%).

In this research brief we provide estimates of safety net use among families of construction workers in Michigan. We find that 35% of families of construction workers in Michigan are enrolled in one or more safety net programs at a cost to the state and the federal government of almost half a billion dollars per year. By comparison, among all Michigan workers, 30% have a family member enrolled in one or more safety net programs. Twenty percent of construction workers lack health insurance, almost three times the rate for all workers in Michigan (7%).

In this research brief we provide estimates of safety net use among families of construction workers in Nevada. We find that 42% of families of construction workers in Nevada are enrolled in one or more safety net programs at a cost to the state and the federal government of over a quarter of a billion dollars per year. By comparison, among all Nevada workers, 33% have a family member enrolled in one or more safety net programs. Over one-third (35%) of construction workers lack health insurance, compared to 13% of all workers in Nevada.

In this research brief we provide estimates of safety net use among families of construction workers in New Hampshire. We find that 22% of families of construction workers in New Hampshire are enrolled in one or more safety net programs at a cost to the state and the federal government of $48 million per year. Among all New Hampshire workers, 19% have a family member enrolled in one or more safety net programs. Twenty-three percent of construction workers lack health insurance, almost three times the rate for all workers in New Hampshire (8%).

In this research brief we provide estimates of safety net use among families of construction workers in New Jersey. We find that 33% of families of construction workers in New Jersey are enrolled in one or more safety net programs at a cost to the state and the federal government of $325 million per year. By comparison, among all New Jersey workers, 26% have a family member enrolled in one or more safety net programs. Thirty percent of construction workers lack health insurance, three times the rate for all workers in New Jersey (10%).