Organization Sign-On Letter: Save UC-Based Labor Research & Education

Update: $13 Million State Funding Restored for UC Labor Centers

On Saturday, June 22, the California legislature and governor agreed to protect all $13 million in recurring funding for the nine University of California (UC) Labor Centers and Labor Occupational Health programs in the final state budget for 2024-2025.

Over the last month, many assembly members and senators, more than 230 union and community allies, and more than 400 faculty signed letters championing our budget. Thanks to their unwavering support, the UC Labor Centers will continue to provide our rigorous, path-breaking labor research and education programs that contribute to an economy that benefits all Californians.

We are deeply grateful to our communities for their resolute support of the UC Labor Centers. Without them, our worker-centered research and programs would not be possible.

The Labor Centers provide critical training and education, data-driven research and policy analysis on workplace standards, sector development strategies, workforce development, equity initiatives, and myriad other efforts that promote economic opportunity and protections for Californians. Our technical assistance and expert testimony have significantly informed legislative committees and state, local and federal agencies.

Thank you to everyone who rallied relentlessly in support of the UC Labor Centers. With your partnership, we look forward to addressing vital issues for California’s workers in the years to come.

Sincerely,

UC Labor Centers Staff and Faculty

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Re: Opposition to Proposed Cuts to University of California Labor Centers, Research, and Education

Dear Honorable Electeds:

We write to oppose the proposed cut of all $13 million in recurring annual funding for labor centers, research, and education at the University of California. The future of our state’s economic well-being depends on this historic investment in economic research and labor education.

Refined, proactive economic and industry forecasting, cutting-edge labor standards research, career pipelines for young people, and new workforce development initiatives should come from public institutions. Low-road approaches to economic development such as subcontracting, temporary, and gig work have boosted profits, but lowered wages and reduced workers’ economic security and bargaining power. There is increased worker exposure to critical and emerging health and safety hazards such as heat, wildfire smoke, infectious disease and workplace violence. It is no coincidence that we face historic wealth and housing inequity. These challenges demand evidence-based policy solutions that center working people.

Labor centers and the labor safety and health programs boast distinguished track records of research excellence, deep community engagement, and careful financial management that include:

Black Worker Centers;
Minimum wage increases and labor standards enforcement;
California’s Secure Choice retirement program;
A Jobs and Climate Action Plan for 2030;
High Road Training Partnerships;
Expanded Medi-Cal to all Californians regardless of immigration status;
Expanded California Earned Income Tax Credit for undocumented immigrant worker households;
Research support for passage of cutting edge occupational safety and health protections; and
The California Dream Act and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

The COVID-19 pandemic amplified long-standing income and employment disparities for Black, Latinx, low-wage, immigrant, and women workers. The $13 million augmentation supported established institutes, including labor centers at UC Berkeley, UC Merced, and UCLA at $3 million each, and $1 million to UCLA’s Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program and UC Berkeley’s Labor Occupational Health Program. The final $3 million created new programs at UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and UC Davis.

Since the augmentation, the nine UC labor centers have hired new directors and staff, secured space and facilities on campuses, and are providing data and technical assistance to support policies related to agriculture, fast food, garment, nail salon, domestic, health care, and other rapidly-growing sectors that cannot be outsourced. They have published research critical to the California Worker Outreach Project.

Massive shifts in automation, lithium mining, goods movement, and agriculture threaten to dramatically alter California’s employment sector. University of California labor research and education supports 21st century economic policy in the Inland Empire, the Sacramento region, the Santa Cruz/Monterey region, the Central Coast, San Diego, Orange County and all of California in partnership with our UC campuses. Legislation requires fact-based analysis from public universities on the ground.

These proposed cuts to UC labor research and education threaten to dismantle years of investment and institutional knowledge that cannot be easily rebuilt. The labor centers have become a pivotal resource providing evidence-based analysis and counsel that state legislators across California rely upon to craft sound workforce and economic policies. Numerous ongoing research projects and collaborations with various state agencies, including but not limited to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, as well as city and county agencies, will be impacted. The labor centers serve as a leading voice underpinning workplace standards, sector development strategies, equity initiatives, and myriad other efforts that promote economic opportunity and protections for California’s workers. We urge you to sustain this modest but impactful allocation so the University of California can continue fulfilling its obligation to uplift all Californians through path-breaking labor research and education.

Sincerely,

State, Regional, and International Labor Organizations

California Labor Federation

SEIU California

California State Building and Construction Trades Council

AFSCME California

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

California Federation of Teachers

California Nurses Association

California Teachers Association

California Teamsters Public Affairs Council

California State Association of Electrical Workers

Coalition of Labor Union Women – California State Chapter

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)

National Union of Healthcare Workers

SMART Western Council

UFCW Western States Council

UAW Region 6

United Steelworkers District 12

Workers United Western States Regional Joint Board

Writers Guilds of America/Writers Guild of America West

Central Labor Councils and Building Trades Councils

Alameda Central Labor Council

Central Coast Central Labor Council

Contra Costa Central Labor Council

Fresno Madera Tulare Kings Counties Central Labor Council

Inland Empire Central Labor Council

Kern Inyo Mono Central Labor Council

Los Angeles County Federation of Labor

Monterey Bay Central Labor Council

Napa-Solano Central Labor Council

North Bay Labor Council

Orange County Labor Federation

San Diego County Building & Construction Trades Council

San Francisco Central Labor Council

San Francisco Building & Construction Trades Council

San Mateo Central Labor Council

South Bay Labor Council

San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council

North Valley Labor Federation

Local Unions

AFT Guild, Local 1931, San Diego and Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College Districts

American Federation of Teachers 1493

American Federation of Teachers 1533

American Federation of Teachers 2121

American Federation of Musicians Local 7

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1277

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1278

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1704

Cabrillo College Federation of Teachers

Carpenters Locals 701, 1109 and 9083

CWA Local 9588

Equity Strippers United

IATSE 504

IATSE Local 122

IBEW 440

IBEW Local 465

IBEW Local 569

IBEW 617

IBEW Local 1245

International Longshore & Warehouse Union, Northern California District Council

International Union of Painters and Allied Trades DC-16 Local 294

Ironworkers Local 416

Ironworkers Local 433

IUEC Local 8

Lompoc Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 3151

Oakland Education Association

OPEIU LOCAL 277

Orange County Employee Association

San Diego Education Association

Teamsters Local 396

Teamsters Local 665

Teamsters Local 856

Teamsters Local 986

Teamsters Local 2010

Tradeswomen Sisterhood

UAW Local 230

UAW 4811

UAW 4811 Santa Cruz

UC-AFT Local 1474

UDW/AFSCME Local 3930

UFCW Local 5

UFCW 8 – Golden State

UFCW Local 770

UFCW Local 324

United EMS Workers

United Educators of San Francisco

United Teachers Los Angeles

UNITE HERE Local 2

UNITE HERE Local 11

UNITE HERE Local 19

United Steelworkers Local 183

United Steelworkers Local 675

United Steelworkers Local 7600

Workers United Local 50

Labor Allied Organizations and Worker Centers

A People’s History of the I.E.

Amado Khaya Initiative

APALA (Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance)

Athena Coalition

Bay Rising

Blue Green Alliance

CA Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative

California Alliance for Retired Americans

California Domestic Workers Coalition

Central Valley Partnership

Chinese Progressive Association

Centro Laboral de Graton/Graton Day Labor Center

CLEAN Carwash Worker Center

Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice

Day Worker Center of Mountain View

East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy EBASE

Equal Rights Advocates

Filipino Advocates for Justice

Garment Worker Center

Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network

Inclusive Action for the City

Inland Empire Black Worker Center

Jakara Movement

Jobs to Move America

Korean Immigrant Worker Advocates (KIWA)

Labor’s Training & Community Development Alliance

LCLAA Los Angeles

Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE)

Los Angeles Black Worker Center

Los Angeles Worker Center Network

Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund (MCTF)

Mujeres Unidas y Activas

National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)

National Domestic Workers Alliance

National Employment Law Project

Nuestras Manos

PowerSwitch Action

Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California

Pomona Economic Opportunity Center

Restaurant Opportunity Center – Los Angeles

Rising Sun Center for Opportunity

San Diego Black Worker Center

Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition

Southern California Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health (SoCalCOSH)

Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE)

TechEquity Collaborative

Tech Workers Coalition San Diego

Trabajadores Unidos Workers United
United Taxi Workers San Diego

Ventura County Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-VC)

Wage Justice Center

Warehouse Worker Resource Center

Center for Workers’ Rights

We Rise SF

Working Partnerships USA

Worksafe

Farmworker Organizations

California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation

Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE)

Centro Binacional (CBDIO)

Lideres Campesinas

Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP)

North Bay Jobs With Justice – North Bay

TODEC Legal Center

Valley Voices

Central Valley Empowerment Alliance (CVEA)

West Modesto Community Collaborative (WMCC)

Immigrant Rights Organizations

California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC)

Central American Resource Center (CARECEN)

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant

Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice

National Immigration Law Center

Partnership for Advancement of New Americans

Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice

Community Organizations

350 Bay Area

ACLU California Action

Alliance San Diego

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Civic Empowerment (AAPI FORCE)

Asian Solidarity Collective

Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative

Bet Tzedek Legal Services

California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

California Transit Works!

Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County

Community Bridges – Puentes de la Comunidad

Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto

Davis Phoenix Coalition

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) San Diego

Dolores Huerta Foundation

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Employee Rights Center

Empowerment Center

Equitable Food Initiative

FUND for Santa Barbara

Green America

Health Access California

Inland Empire DSA

Indivisible San Diego Persist

Koreatown Youth & Community Center (KYCC)

New Energy Nexus

Pillars of the Community

South Bay People Power

South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN)

The Earthlodge Center for Transformation

The FUND for Santa Barbara

The Laban Ethnic Media Collaborative

The Ring of Democracy

TURN-The Utility Reform Network

UnidosUS

Universidad Popular

Research and Policy Organizations

Data & Society Research Institute

Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)

In the Public Interest

Turkopticon

Upturn

Workforce Development

Building Skills Partnership

Inland Empire Labor Institute

JVS Bay Area

Labor’s Training & Community Development Alliance

SEIU UHW-West & Joint Employer Education Fund

West Oakland Job Resource Center

Education and Faculty Organizations

Council of University of California Faculty Associations

California Faculty Association – Dominguez Hills Chapter

Innovation Foundry

Labor Studies Department, California State University, Dominguez Hills

UC San Diego Faculty Association

University of MA Dartmouth Labor Education Center

UCLA Center in Race & Digital Justice

UCLA School of Law, Center for Immigration Law and Policy

UCSB Blum Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy

UCSC Center for Economic Justice and Action

UCSC Faculty Association

UCSD Institute of Arts and Humanities

City College Labor Studies Program

San Diego City College Labor Studies Program

Labor Studies Program, San Francisco State University

The Labor Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

University of Massachusetts Lowell Labor Education Program

CC:

Stewart Knox, Labor and Workforce Development Agency, Secretary

Christine Aurre, Governor’s Office, Legislative Affairs Secretary

Mary Hernandez, Chief Deputy Legislative Secretary

Joe Stephenshaw, Department of Finance, Director

Cesar Diaz, Policy Consultant, Office of Senate President Pro-Tempore

Monica Henestroza, Special Assistant to the Speaker, Office of the Assembly

Tim Rainey, Special Assistant to the Speaker, Office of the Assembly

Mark Martin, Assembly Budget Subcommittee #3 on Education Finance, Consultant

Christopher Francis, PhD, Senate Budget Subcommittee #1 on Higher Education, Principal Consultant

Last updated with additional signees: May 30, 2024 at 9:54 A.M. PT