Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

State of the Unions: California Labor in 2025 Webinar— Part I
2026-09-09 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online – Zoom
In 2025, the Trump administration unleashed a series of anti-labor and anti-immigrant policies that dramatically impacted working families in the U.S. and in California. Coming soon from the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE), the “State of the Unions” report tracks how workers and unions responded to this critical moment.
The UCLA IRLE invites you to join labor experts and organizers for a timely panel discussion on how workers and unions fought back against threats to organizing rights at the NLRB in 2025 and continued to grow their ranks.
Date: September 9, 12 – 1:30 pm PST
Location: Zoom
RSVP HERE!
This is the first installment of a series of webinars on the “State of the Unions.” Stay tuned for more details on Part II.
Memo Durgin: Guillermo “Memo” Durgin is the Organizing Director for the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO. Prior to joining the Federation, Memo worked as a union organizer for twenty-five years with multiple unions, representing teachers, state workers and immigrant service workers. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Chicano Studies from the University of California Davis, and completed a master’s program in Ethnic Studies at California State University Sacramento.
David Rosenfeld: David Rosenfeld has been practicing union-side labor law since his graduation from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1973, where he also taught labor law courses for many years. He has argued approximately 250 cases before federal and state courts of appeal, the United States Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court and the National Labor Relations Board. Rosenfeld is an author of preeminent reference guides for workers and unions, including “California Workers’ Rights,” “Hey, the Boss Called Just Called Me Into the Office,” published by UC Berkeley and “The Campaign Guide: Organizing and Contract Enforcement in the Construction Industry,” published by the North America’s Building Trades Unions.
Amber Gonzalez: Amber Gonzalez is a worker organizer with Starbucks Workers United. Gonzalez has worked at Starbucks for 4 years in Riverside, CA, where she and her coworkers won a union election in summer 2025, then joined a months-long national strike protesting Starbucks’ unfair labor practices. She is currently completing her undergrad in political science at UC Irvine.
Justin McBride: Justin McBride is a project director at the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) and a main author of the “State of the Unions: California Labor in 2025” report. McBride is a labor studies scholar who writes about public finance and the intersections between public policy and worker organizing. He received his PhD in Urban Planning from the UCLA Department of Urban Planning and has worked for over 15 years as a labor organizer.

State of the Unions Part II: The Fight for a First Union Contract
2026-09-23 12:00 - 13:30
Successful drives to form new unions may generate buzz and media attention, but the most meaningful change happens after that first battle is won—in employer negotiations. For many workers, forming a union is only the beginning of a longer battle to improve work standards and conditions.
Just 1 in 2 bargaining units formed in California in 2024 had achieved a union contract by Spring 2026, according to a new study from a team of researchers at UC Labor Centers. The study is included in the annual “State of the Unions” report from the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE).
The UCLA IRLE and UCLA Labor Center invite you to join labor experts and organizers for an illuminating panel discussion on workers’ prolonged fights to secure a first union contract.
Date: September 23, 12 – 1:30 pm PST
Location: Zoom
RSVP HERE!
This is Part II of a series of webinars on the “State of the Unions.” Learn more here.
