California workers and unions made gains in 2024—but what’s next for labor under Trump?
New “State of the Unions” report provides portrait of the labor movement in CA and the nation
Willa Needham | August 26, 2025
A new report from researchers at the University of California gives readers insight into the California labor movement. “State of the Unions: California Labor in 2024” provides data on union membership, strike activity and organizing trends in California and the nation.
The report is led by researchers at the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) and the UC Berkeley Labor Center and features a chapter from the Inland Empire Labor and Community Center at UC Riverside (IELCC).
The “State of the Unions” shows an active labor movement in the Golden State, holding strong and steady in the months leading up to the second Trump administration.
This edition of the “State of the Unions” reprises a report series that the UCLA IRLE released annually from 2005 to 2015. The “State of the Unions” returns this year at a moment of great uncertainty for workers around the nation. In the months since January’s inauguration, the federal government has initiated an onslaught of harmful policy changes and proposed massive rollbacks to worker protections.
“We are just beginning to feel the effects of recent political shifts in the nation on working Californians and the labor movement,” said Justin McBride, project director of the UCLA IRLE’s Strategic Research Lab and a co-author of the report. “Our report provides baseline data as we continue to assess how dramatic changes in national policies around immigration, international trade and labor law will affect California’s unions and workers.”
Many consider California to be a leader in dissent against the Trump agenda—during President Trump’s first term, the state sued the federal government at least 123 times and won two-thirds of cases. Meanwhile, the California labor movement is a significant engine of nationwide efforts to build worker power.
California unionization rates held steady, despite nationwide decline
The “State of the Unions” 2024 report shows that California accounted for 14.0% of all new union petitions filed nationwide last year, higher than the proportion of California residents to the rest of the United States. California unions filed over 300 new union petitions, covering more than 25,000 workers. The report also finds that union density rates in California have remained stable over the past two decades, despite nationwide decline. The share of workers covered by a union contract in California has held steady at around 16% while falling to 11% in the country as a whole.
The confluence of California’s strong labor movement and its readiness to defend against the federal agenda signals that California workers and unions may continue to make gains over the next few years despite the obstacles they face at the federal level. But worker wins like increased wages and improved safety regulations don’t happen by accident—they are the result of strategic organizing campaigns.
New organizing in the private sector is concentrated
The “State of the Unions” highlights that much of the new union organizing in California’s private sector can be attributed to a handful of organizations. Three unions filed over half of all petitions for new union recognition (RC petitions) in California in 2024: the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Teamsters and the International Association of Machinists (IAM). The new unions originated from campaigns to organize workers in specific industries, like Starbucks Workers United and United Healthcare Workers-West, which are both affiliated with SEIU.
The concentration of California’s successful union organizing campaigns reveals where capacity was built in the past year and where gaps remain. This knowledge may be useful to workers and organizers as they develop strategies moving forward.
What’s next for the California labor movement?
The “State of the Unions” arrives at an uncertain moment for organized labor, yet the findings offer readers a hopeful reminder of the labor movement’s resilience in the most populous and diverse state in the nation.
“While California’s unions and workers do face challenges, the report reveals that they have many strengths as well,” said McBride. “As we continue to produce these annual reports, we’ll soon have a collection of data that labor leaders can use to inform their organizing and representational strategies in the years ahead.”
Despite facing a uniquely challenging organizing landscape, workers in California and beyond will continue to build power in the years to come. And the “State of the Unions” report will return to assess the wins, obstacles and opportunities of this moment.
Learn more about the “State of the Unions” 2024 report here. Download the full report here.
The UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) advances labor research and education for workplace justice. Through the work of its units – the UCLA Labor Center, the Labor Occupational Safety and Health program (LOSH), the Strategic Research Lab, the Human Resources Roundtable, and its academic program, UCLA Labor Studies – the Institute forms wide-ranging research agendas that carry UCLA into the Los Angeles community and beyond.
