Justin McBride – Project Director 

With 15 years of experience in the labor movement, working as an organizer with UNITE and SEIU and as a campaign director with the AFL-CIO, Justin McBride joins the UCLA Labor Studies Program as a project director and will support the newly established UCLA Strategic Research Lab. McBride will also teach and provide public-facing labor education training. As a former labor organizer, McBride played a key role in the CLEAN Carwash Campaign (CLEAN), a collaborative initiative aimed at improving working conditions for carwasheros in Los Angeles. Under his leadership, CLEAN successfully signed more than 40 collective bargaining agreements with local car wash owners.

McBride’s academic research focuses on the intersection of worker organizing and policy, as well as public and private finance and strategic labor research, which he will cover in courses such as: “Southern California Regional Economy,” “Sectoral Analysis,” “Labor Research Methods” and “Strategic Campaigning.” 

As a co-organizer of the UCLA Strategic Labor Research Conference, hosted by UCLA’s Labor Studies Program, McBride joins the program during a time of growth in the area of strategic labor research. 

“UCLA labor studies not only prepares the next generation of leaders to build power for workers and their communities but also expands its support for the labor movement through initiatives like the Strategic Labor Research Conference—with more to come,” he said. “I’m excited to be part of this growing and dynamic team as we advance our mission.” 

McBride achieved his Ph.D. in Urban Planning from UCLA and holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University.

Paula Winicki Brzostowski – UCLA Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow

Paula Winicki Brzostowski, a UCLA Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow housed in the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE), specializes in labor, race, immigration and social movements. Her dissertation, “The Power of Organizing: Immigrant, Formerly Incarcerated, and Temp Workers on Strike,” explores the impact of labor campaigns on workers’ trust in labor organizations and their outcomes.

As a postdoctoral fellow, Winicki Brzostowski is extending her current research project by completing additional follow-up interviews with workers about the outcome of a campaign to organize precarious warehouse workers. In particular, she is investigating the impact of a failed labor campaign: how this outcome shapes the workers’ trust in labor organizations, collective action and labor rights, as well as the implications for their future involvement in the labor movement. 

Mentored by Labor Studies Chair Chris Zepeda-Millán, she is excited to contribute to the program’s mission of supporting worker rights and social justice.

Winicki Brzostowski obtained her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.A. in City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Heather Berg – Associate Professor of Gender Studies and Labor Studies

A feminist studies scholar specializing in labor, sexuality, and social struggle, Heather Berg joins UCLA this fall as an Associate Professor in Gender Studies with a joint appointment in Labor Studies. Her award-winning book, “Porn Work: Sex, Labor, and Late Capitalism,” explores the experiences and strategies of workers in the U.S. adult film industry, highlighting their navigation of precarious labor conditions. The book received the C.L.R. James best book award from the Working Class Studies Association. Berg’s current project, “Lumpen Theory: Notes from the Sex Worker Left,” examines the role of sex workers in radical political thought. 

Professor Berg previously taught in the Gender and Sexuality Studies Department at Washington University in St. Louis. Her popular courses have explored feminist theory and research methods, economies of desire, gender and social justice, and the sex work industry. Berg’s scholarship, teaching, and public policy engagements challenge traditional conceptions of work, labor movements and labor studies itself.

“I can’t wait to think with students about how working-class movements help us survive this world and build another one,” she said. 

Berg earned her Ph.D. in Feminist Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, holds an M.A. in Women Studies and Public Policy from George Washington University and bachelor’s degree in individualized studies from New York University’s Gallatin School.

Kristoffer (Kit) Smemo – Unit 18 Faculty Member 

Kristoffer (Kit) Smemo joins the UCLA Labor Studies Program as a Unit 18 faculty member with expertise in labor history, politics and popular culture in the U.S. His research and teaching focus on the interactions between working-class movements and public policy under racial capitalism, and the social history of punk rock. 

His first book, “Making Republicans Liberal: Social Struggle and the Politics of Compromise,” examines how working people in the mid-20th century influenced political compromise and policy outcomes. Smemo is currently working on “Black Flag’s Amerika: A Countercultural History of the New Right,” which delves into the politics of punk in post-industrial Southern California. 

Smemo credits his early understanding of worker solidarity to his upbringing in a union household. “I learned early on to appreciate all that workers could win when they stick together. I’m thrilled to join a community of students, scholars, and activists thinking together about how to help build solidarity and advance working peoples’ freedom struggles,” he said. 

Professor Smemo received his Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, M.A. in History and Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from Hamline University.

Alex Caputo-Pearl – UCLA Labor Movement Fellow

Alex Caputo-Pearl joins the UCLA Labor Studies Program as a UCLA Labor Movement Fellow, bringing decades of experience in union leadership and public education. After teaching for 22 years in South Los Angeles, he led United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) as president, steering a transformative shift in the union’s approach to social justice and power-building. His leadership influenced education policy at local, state and national levels.

Currently working with LAUSD’s Community Schools Initiative, Caputo-Pearl collaborates with teacher unions nationwide on union transformation. During his fellowship, he will focus on being a guest speaker in labor studies courses and writing a book about his experiences leading UTLA.

“The program’s emphasis on supporting research, writing and training that uplift public education and working-class communities is what brought me here,” he said.

Alex Caputo-Pearl earned his M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA, a teaching credential from California State University Dominguez Hills and a bachelor’s degree from Brown University.