Los Angeles City Council honors 60th anniversary of UCLA Labor Center
Councilmembers Soto-Martinez and Hernandez praised the center’s commitment to serving Los Angeles working-class communities
By Emily Jo Wharry
On Sept. 27, 2024, Los Angeles city councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez (CD-13) and Eunisses Hernandez (CD-1) presented a formal resolution to the UCLA Labor Center’s staff, honoring 60 years of research, youth leadership development and policy support.
Councilmembers spoke to the UCLA Labor Center’s pivotal role across a variety of worker issues, including research that supported the Fair Work Week Ordinance, wage theft awareness campaigns and the establishment of the first-in-the-nation statewide fast food council, as well as the founding of the first Black worker center in the nation, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) and Dream Resource Centers across California.
The UCLA Labor Center’s work has been cited in hundreds of city council motions and reports, as well as at least one Supreme Court argument by the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Soto-Martinez shared.
“For six decades, the UCLA Labor Center has provided critical research and programming that has shaped the history of the city, and in my opinion, the entire country,” said Soto-Martinez.
Hernandez, whose district includes MacArthur Park, the home of the UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center, spoke to the center’s longtime impact as a strategic base and safe haven for labor organizers and immigrant rights activists.
“I’ve seen firsthand the impact of their programs. I’ve seen the community campaigns there that have led to campaigns that shifted the way our city moves around thriving wages and housing justice,” said Hernandez. “Community keeps community safe, thriving wages keep community safe, and this center keeps community safe.”
Labor Center Director Saba Waheed and Jessica Olivares, Dream Resource Center project coordinator, received the honor and spoke to Los Angeles’ legacy as a city where economic, racial and immigration justice take center stage, as well as the ways their center has shaped local policy campaigns.
“At the Labor Center, we know that the fight for immigrant rights is the fight for workers’ rights, and that immigrant communities are the backbone of our city,” said Olivares. “The Labor Center is a testament that Los Angeles thrives because of folks committed to this work, folks that are willing to expose that we are currently the capital on wage theft and push for change.”
Waheed spoke about how the UCLA Labor Center’s work remains guided by those on the front lines: workers, labor unions, worker centers, community organizations and city officials.
“Make no mistake: Los Angeles is a union town,” she said. “Our city is setting a national example, showing what it looks like to uplift worker voices, pass strong labor policies and fight for economic equity for all.”
Councilmembers Tim McOsker (CD-15), Imelda Padilla (CD-6), Nithya Raman (CD-4) and Kevin de León (CD-14), as well as city council president Marqueece Harris-Dawson (CD-8), joined Soto-Martinez and Hernandez in sharing their appreciation for the UCLA Labor Center’s research and programming.
For Harris-Dawson, the UCLA Labor Center is a testament to the power of community solidarity.
“The Labor Center is a product of struggle. It was a struggle to get it, and it was a struggle to keep it,” he declared. “The Labor Center is a demonstration of what we can build together when we struggle together. With that, we thank you on behalf of the people of the city of Los Angeles and beyond.”
