Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Data Economies and Futures: An In-Depth Dialogue
2025-02-12 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | 3312 Murphy Hall
Join UCLA Data X for a discussion on how data and digital ecosystems have reshaped our world, intertwining technology with entrepreneurial and economic outcomes, and changing the way people live and think on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 3312 Murphy Hall, 12 pm panel and Q&A, 1 pm lunch.

What ethical and practical questions does this shift raise?
What skills do students need now to remain relevant in an AI-driven job market?
What policies must be in place to ensure our economic security?

Moderator:
Ramesh Srinivasan
Professor of Information Studies and Design|Media Arts departments; Director, UCLA Digital Cultures Lab; Community Engagement, UCLA DataX
Panelists:
Tobias Higbie, Professor of History and Labor Studies and Director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UCLA College, Social Sciences
Velibor Misic, Associate Professor of Decisions, Operations and Technology Management, UCLA Anderson School of Management
Shreya Shreya, Easton Fellow, MBA Candidate, UCLA Anderson School of Management

Book Talk: Post/Revolutionary Conditions: Renewed Visions of the Iranian Freedom Struggle with author Alborz Ghandehari
2025-02-27 15:00 - 16:30 | 2125 Rolfe Hall
Join the UCLA IRLE and CSW|Streisand Center’s Transnational Gender and Labor Working Group for a book talk on Post/Revolutionary Conditions: Renewed Visions of the Iranian Freedom Struggle with author Alborz Ghandehari on February 27, 2025 at 3 pm at 2125 Rolfe Hall.
The discussion will offer an intersectional analysis of how radical and progressive movement builders have re-envisioned liberation in the post-’79 era, despite new forms of oppression under the Islamic Republic and from US and other foreign imperial powers. Post/Revolutionary Conditions shows how potent reimaginings of a radically democratic future have been shaped by multiple generations of protest and kindred struggles globally.
About the author:
Alborz Ghandehari is an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Utah. His research centers social movements in Iran and Southwest Asia/North Africa, as well as movements in the region’s diasporas.
To RSVP to attend the talk and book signing, click here

Visualizing Oral History
2025-03-04 15:00 - 18:00
Los Angeles-based artist Phung Huynh, whose work centers on Southeast Asian refugee experiences, will discuss labor issues through an immigrant/refugee lens.
She’ll share insights on her Metro public art commission, the 1990 Century City janitor strike, and Professor Virginia Espino’s oral history work on No Más Bebés. Together, they’ll explore how oral history and visual storytelling can shape meaningful community projects.

Date: March 4, 2025
Time: 3:30 – 6 pm
Location: Boelter Hall 2760

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The UCLA CSW|Barbra Streisand Center presents Thinking Gender 2025: "Gendered Labors and Transnational Solidarities"
2025-03-07 08:30 - 18:00 | Collins Alumni Conference Room at UCLA James West Alumni Center
Join the UCLA Center for the Study of Women|Barbra Streisand Center for their 35th annual graduate research “Thinking Gender” conference. The event will feature engaging student presentations and a keynote address by labor rights organizer Adriana Paz Ramirez (International Domestic Workers Federation). The UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment is a proud cosponsor of this year’s conference.
The 2025 Thinking Gender theme, “Gendered Labors and Transnational Solidarities,” highlights the rich repertoire of organizing strategies as well as contemporary and historical examples of campaigns led by precarious workers around the world. We are bringing together feminist, queer, and BIPOC scholars, artists, and organizers to reflect upon the meanings of labor solidarity and care to imagine a more livable society.
Event Details

Date: Friday, March 7, 2025
Time: 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM PST
Location: James West Alumni Center, The Collins Conference Room, Los Angeles, CA
To RSVP: CLICK HERE

A Labor Studies Book Talk with Professor Eric Blanc
2025-04-29 13:00 - 15:00 | Online – Zoom
The UCLA Labor Studies program and Department of History will co-host a Labor Studies Book Talk with Eric Blanc, assistant professor of labor studies at Rutgers University. He is the author of We are the Union (UC Press, 2025) and will be joined by Alex Caputo-Pearl, UCLA Labor Movement Fellow and former UTLA president, and Mel Deorsola of Starbucks Workers United.
Blanc is also the author of Red State Revolt: The Teachers’ Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics (Verso, 2019). His research focuses on worker-to-worker organizing, strikes, digital labor activism, and working-class politics.
Join us for a conversation on how worker-to-worker organizing is revitalizing labor and winning big.
Event Details:

Date: April 29, 2025
Time: 1:00PM – 3:00PM Pacific Time
Location: Zoom

For those attending, please click here to RSVP.

A Labor Studies Book Talk with Professor Cedric de Leon
2025-05-07 13:00 - 14:30 | UCLA Bunche Hall 6275
Join us for a Labor Studies Book Talk with Cedric de Leon, professor of Sociology and Labor Studies at UMass Amherst, as he discusses his latest book, Freedom Train:Black Politics & the Story of Interracial Labor Solidarity. This special event is in collaboration with the UCLA History Department and Sociology Department.
Drawing on a rich history of Black-led organizing, de Leon offers a powerful account of how multiracial labor coalitions were built—and what lessons they offer today.
Event Details:

Date: May 7, 2025
Time: 1:00PM – 2:30PM Pacific Time
Location: Bunche Hall, Room 6275

For those attending, please click here to RSVP.

Creating & Optimizing Your LinkedIn Account
2025-05-14 11:00 - 12:00
Join the UCLA Labor Studies program for a Spring Quarter Week 7 Career Development Presentation focused on “Creating & Optimizing Your LinkedIn Account.”
This virtual workshop will be hosted and presented by the UCLA Career Center and will take place on Wednesday, May 14, from 11:00am–12:00pm via Zoom.
(The Zoom link will be emailed to registered participants one day before the event.)
The presentation will provide students and alumni with practical tips on how to build a strong LinkedIn profile, showcase their skills and experiences, and leverage LinkedIn for career opportunities.
RSVP BELOW:
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2025 Labor@UCLA Research Showcase
2025-05-23 12:00 - 14:00
UCLA Labor Studies Faculty and Staff are excited to invite you to our third annual Labor@UCLA Research Showcase, taking place on Friday, May 23, 2025, from 12:00–2:00 PM.
This event is part of Undergraduate Research Week—UCLA’s largest undergraduate conference—celebrating student research and creative work across campus. Now in its tenth year, Undergraduate Research Week will run May 19–23, 2025.
Students who were selected will be presenting on past or current work developed for a capstone, honors theses, or other Labor Studies and related classes (both approved and related).
If you have any questions, please feel free to follow-up with Elizbeth Espinoza, espinoza@irle.ucla.edu or Caroline Luce, cluce@irle.ucla.edu.
Event Details:
Date: May 23, 2025
Time: 12:00–2:00 PM
Location: Public Affairs 2343 & Zoom
RSVP HERE
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Coffee & Cookies with our Labor Studies Student Affairs Officer
2025-10-08 12:30 - 14:00
Join us for an informal meet-and-greet with Gloria Chan, Labor Studies Student Affairs Officer (SAO)! Whether you’re curious about the Labor Studies major or minor, missed new student orientation, or are a returning student wanting to catch up on what’s new, this is the perfect opportunity to connect.
Drop by to:

Learn about program requirements and opportunities
Explore how Labor Studies might be the right fit for you
Ask questions about courses, advising, and career pathways
Enjoy coffee, cookies, and good conversation with Gloria

📅 Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2025🕧 Time: 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM📍 Location: Bunche Hall 9246

2025 Labor Studies Open House!
2025-10-15 12:30 - 14:00
Discover all that Labor Studies at UCLA has to offer. At this event, you’ll have the chance to:

Meet our incoming Chair, Professor Jennifer Chun
Learn about the Labor Studies Major and Minor requirements
Explore our courses, programs, internships, and student opportunities
Connect with Labor Studies faculty and staff who are here to support your academic journey
Network with prominent labor organizations on campus during our mixer and tabling session

*LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED
📅 Date: Wednesday, October 15⏰ Time: 12:30 – 2:00 PM📍 Location: Bruin Reception Room🔗 RSVP: CLICK HERE!
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Labor Studies 10 Talk: Social Movement Unionism and Immigrant Worker Organizing with SEIU-USWW and CLEAN
2025-10-15 17:00 - 18:30 | Haines Hall, Room 39
Labor Studies 10 Talk
Social Movement Unionism and Immigrant Worker Organizingwith SEIU-USWW and CLEAN
Join us for an engaging discussion on how worker centers and unions are collaborating to advance immigrant worker organizing and the growing movement of social movement unionism.
Featuring:

David Huerta, President, SEIU-USWW and SEIU California State Council
Flor Rodriguez, Executive Director, CLEAN Carwash Worker Center

📅 Date: October 15, 2025
🕔 Time: 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
📍 Location: Haines Hall, Room 39
🔗 RSVP: bit.ly/LS10TALK

Labor Studies Now Series - Labor and Right in the U.S., Then and Now
2025-10-30 12:00 - 14:00 | History Conference Room, 6275 Bunche Hall
During the 2025-26 academic year, the newly formed Labor Studies Department will convene a series of public dialogues and research workshops on the theme, “Labor Studies Now.” Conversations will bring together faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, community leaders, and members of the public at-large to discuss urgent issues facing workers when it comes to social and economic inequality, environmental disaster, housing and food insecurity, and political turmoil.
The first conversation in the series features Kristoffer (Kit) Smemo, who explores whether organized labor can shape U.S. politics or is destined to play a junior role in a two-party system. In his new book, Making Republicans Liberal, Smemo shows how unions and the civil rights movement during the mid-twentieth century forced Republican leaders like Earl Warren, George Romney, and Nelson Rockefeller to swing left to win the votes of organized workers.
Date: Thursday, October 30
Time: 12 – 2:00 PM
Location: History Conference Room, 6275 Bunche Hall
RSVP HERE!

Labor Studies Now Series - Film Talk with Director Jennifer Cárcamo and Professor Leisy Abrego
2025-11-05 17:00 - 19:00 | Dodd Hall 121
Join us for a discussion of Eternos Indocumentados: Central American Refugees in the United States (2018), followed by a Q&A with Director Jennifer Cárcamo and Professor Leisy Abrego (UCLA Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies).
In July 2014, mainstream US media became flooded with images of what they termed “unaccompanied Central American children.” Most of these children—many coming with their parents—were fleeing from the violent consequences of U.S. intervention in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Once in the United States, they were detained in what migrants have come to label “hieleras” (ice boxes) in makeshift detention centers around the country. Rather than providing asylum to these refugees, the Obama Administration used this “humanitarian crisis” to expand the previously defunct practice of family detention. By the spring of 2015, more than 3,000 refugee women, children, and members of the LGBTQI community were illegally detained. Based on interviews with recently arrived Central Americans as well as interviews with organizers leading the struggle on the ground in Central America, this film captures the stories of Central American refugees and explores the root causes of forced migration.
This event is organized in conjunction with Prof. Jennifer Chun’s IDS 110 course: Culture, Power, and Development.
Speaker bios:
Jennifer A. Cárcamo is an independent filmmaker and scholar. She is currently a University of California President’s and Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Irvine in the Chicano/Latino Studies Department, where she is completing her book manuscript Historias Prohibidas del Istmo: Central American Communists during the Rise of Twentieth Century Fascism, 1920-1940. She holds a PhD in History from UCLA and an MA in Documentary Film and History from Syracuse University.
Leisy J. Abrego is Professor in Chicana/o and Central American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Trained in sociology, she is a law & society scholar who studies the intimate consequences of U.S. foreign and immigration policies for Central American migrants and Latinx families in the United States.
Date: November 5 , 2025
Time: 5 – 6:45 pm
Event Address: Dodd Hall 121

RSVP HERE!

Labor Studies Now Series - Historias Prohibidas del Istmo: Central American Communists during the Rise of Twentieth Century Fascism
2025-11-06 14:00 - 15:30 | Bunche Hall 10383
Building from Dr. Jennifer Cárcamo’s current book project, this talk explores the historical and ideological origins of Central America’s communist parties, specifically in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica, from 1920-1940. Cárcamo chose this period precisely because it preludes the revolutionary war period of the late twentieth century in Central America (1960-1996), an era that has received exceptional attention from scholars.
While Cárcamo’s book makes three central arguments regarding the development of both fascism and communism in Central America, for the purposes of this talk, she focuses on an excerpt from chapter 4, Bananas and (Wo)men: Communist Schoolteachers, Black Migrant Laborers, the Threat of Fascism in Costa Rica, which discusses the development of the first Communist Party of Costa Rica. Ultimately, in this chapter, Cárcamo argues that women, particularly schoolteachers, were influential figures in the formative and developing years of the first Communist Party of Costa Rica.
Speaker bio:
Jennifer A. Cárcamo is an independent filmmaker and scholar. She is currently a University of California President’s and Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Irvine in the Chicano/Latino Studies Department, where she is completing her book manuscript Historias Prohibidas del Istmo: Central American Communists during the Rise of Twentieth Century Fascism, 1920-1940. She holds a PhD in History from UCLA and an MA in Documentary Film and History from Syracuse University.
Date: November 6 , 2025
Time: 2 – 3:30 pm
Event Address: Bunche Hall 10383
RSVP HERE!

Labor Studies Is Headed to the L.A. Ports
2025-11-07 07:45 - 16:00
Join us to meet key players from the Port complex, including union members from the docks and environmental hazard clean-up crews, a former POLA Harbor Commissioner, and a terminal operator.
The trip features a tour of an automated port terminal, a boat tour of the port narrated by an ILWU Local 13 member and retired dockworker, and a visit to the ILWU Local 56 union hall!
Seats on the field trip bus are limited and will be allocated on a first-come come first-served basis.
Details:

Depart UCLA at 8 am sharp
Return by 4 pm
Bring your own lunch — or eat at the San Pedro Fish Market during our lunch break!
The tour does include an hour-long boat ride in the port, so be prepared to ride a boat!
The port terminal is a secure space; all attendees must have a government-issued ID (DL, passport, or matricula-type cards are all fine) and pre-register with Labor Studies

Date: November 7, 2025
Time: 7:45 AM – 4 PM
Pick Up Location: Wyton South Stop, near roundabout
RSVP HERE!

Career Foundations Series: Resume & Cover Letter 101
2025-11-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Join the UCLA Labor Studies Department and the UCLA Career Center for a virtual workshop designed to help you craft effective resumes and cover letters.
Learn how to highlight your skills, experiences, and accomplishments to stand out to employers. Whether you’re applying for an internship, job, or fellowship, this session will provide practical tips and feedback to strengthen your application materials!
Date: November 13th, 2025
Time: 12 – 1 pm
Location: Zoom (link provided upon registration)
TO RSVP, CLICK HERE!

Drop-In Hour with Our Labor Studies SAO
2026-01-21 11:00 - 12:00 | Bunche Hall 9246
Join us for an informal meet-and-greet with our Student Affairs Officer. Whether you’re new to Labor Studies or a returning major or minor, this is a great opportunity to connect, ask questions, and enjoy coffee, bagels and fruit while learning more about program opportunities.
Date: January 21st, 2026
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Location: Bunche Hall 9246

Labor Studies Now - The U.S. Labor Movement in the 2020's: Achievements and Challenges
2026-01-29 12:00 - 13:30 | Haines Hall 130
Ruth Milkman is one of the world’s foremost sociologists of labor and labor movements, having written extensively on various topics related to work and organized labor in the United States, past and present. Her most recent books are Immigrant Labor and the New Precariat (Polity, 2020) and On Gender, Labor and Inequality (Illinois, 2016).
She was the 2016 President of the American Sociological Association and director of the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment from 2001 to 2008, when she was on the faculty in the Department of Sociology. She is currently Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center and at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, where she chairs the Labor Studies Department.
Date: January 29 , 2026
Time: 12 – 1:30 pm
Location: Haines Hall 130
RVSP HERE!

Immigrant Rights & Community Care Teach-In
2026-02-18 11:00 - 12:30 | Moore Hall 3340 & Zoom
Join Labor Studies for an Immigration Know Your Rights Teach-In focused on supporting immigrant students and communities during a rapidly changing political time.
This teach-in will provide a Know Your Rights overview, share recent developments in local and state policy, and offer updates on immigrant justice efforts in California, including the ICE Out of California coalition. Participants will have space to ask questions and explore how students, faculty, and staff can show up in meaningful ways.
Date: February 18
Time: 11:00 AM–12:30 PM
Location: Moore Hall 3340 & Zoom
RSVP HERE!

Ace Your Interview Workshop
2026-02-25 12:00 - 13:00 | UCLA Career Center Studio
Ace Your Interview is an interactive workshop co-hosted by the UCLA Labor Studies Department and the UCLA Career Center designed to help Labor Studies students feel confident and prepared for their next interview. Participants will learn how to effectively communicate their skills and experiences, answer common interview questions, and make a strong impression on employers.
Whether you’re interviewing for internships, jobs, or graduate programs, this workshop will offer practical tips and strategies to help you stand out.
Date: February 25th
Time: 12 – 1 PM
Location: UCLA Career Center Studio
RSVP HERE!

Labor Studies Now - Frame Backfire: The Trouble with Civil Rights Appeals in the Contemporary United States
2026-03-05 12:00 - 13:30 | Rolfe Hall 2125
Frame Backfire: The Trouble with Civil Rights Appeals in the Contemporary United States
While many scholars and activists consider civil rights to be a powerful, effective way to frame diverse causes in the United States, little is known about the contemporary resonance of civil rights appeals. In this talk, I will argue that civil rights can be understood in three non-mutually exclusive ways: as a “master” frame that appeals to core American ideals, as a reference to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, and as racialized messaging. Drawing on survey experiments conducted at two different points in time, I will show that respondents express highly positive views of civil rights and broad agreement that civil rights are about equal rights. Yet, framing a person’s contemporary problems—including unequal treatment at work—as civil rights violations reduces support for government intervention. Civil rights framing is counterproductive across diverse issues, beneficiaries, and audiences. These findings complicate dominant assumptions about frame resonance, cannot be adequately explained through a racialized backlash account, and carry implications for collective memory scholars and activists. In closing, I will reflect on why the public responds negatively to civil rights appeals despite positive sentiment toward the abstract idea.
Speaker biography: Kim Voss is professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in the study of labor, social movements, inequality, and higher education. In addition to publishing in academic journals in sociology, political science, and demography, she has written or edited six books, including Rallying for Immigrant Rights (2011, with I. Bloemraad), Hard Work: Remaking the American Labor Movement (2006, with R. Fantasia), Inequality by Design: Cracking the Bell Curve Myth (1996, with five Berkeley colleagues), and The Making of American Exceptionalism: The Knights of Labor and Class Formation in the Nineteenth Century (1993). She is currently working on a book about immigration and social movements.
Date: March 5 , 2026
Time: 12 – 1:30 pm
Location: Rolfe Hall 2125
RSVP HERE!

UCLA Industry Power Research Bootcamp
2026-03-16 - 2026-03-20
Industry Power Research Bootcamp
Convened by the UCLA Strategic Research Lab
Join the labor and other social movement researchers from around the country to learn the best ways to approach industry-based research and apply your findings to build industry-wide power.
As the NLRB continues to come under attack, unions and other labor groups that organize are increasingly looking at industries, not companies. To succeed, we need to understand how industries work and what powers and limitations come with a sectoral approach to campaigning.
In this five-day training, you will learn the basics of how to research an industry and explain your findings to members and other staff. We will bring expert campaigners to discuss key aspects of sectoral research, including:

Bounding your industry and understanding the product
How to think about supply chains
Spatial concentration and its effects on bosses and workers
Intersections between your industry and government regulators and policymakers
Considerations behind sectoral standards campaigns

The camp is designed for any movement researchers, strategic campaigners, activists, or organizers wanting to better understand how to think about sector-wide strategies.
The 2026 Industry Research Power Bootcamp applications window has closed. Stay tuned for information about future camps offered by the UCLA Strategic Research Lab and our annual Strategic Labor Research Conference!

About The UCLA Strategic Research Lab:
The UCLA Strategic Research Lab is a capacity-building training hub and network for researchers from labor and community-based organizations. As a research unit of a public university, the SRL seeks to train strategic researchers for the common good. Besides the Coding Camp for Union Research, the Strategic Research Lab also holds its annual Strategic Labor Research Conference, one of the largest annual convenings of labor and movement researchers in the nation.
Sign up for email updates for other Strategic Research Lab events and trainings here.

UCLA Coding Bootcamp for Union Research
2026-06-08 - 2026-06-12
The UCLA Strategic Research Lab will hold a five-day intensive training in using the power of Python coding to simplify tasks for union research. The camp will be held from June 8-12, 2026, and applications will open in late February.
Stay tuned and join our email list to be the first to know when applications for Coding Bootcamp are live!
The Coding Bootcamp is an intense and challenging experience! Come ready to jump feet first into a weeklong journey towards simplifying your work, discovering new data sources, and automating your most routine research tasks!
Key Training Topics:

Dynamically combine files and fuzzy match different data sources
Automate the updating of periodically disclosed data
Use APIs to bulk download data (e.g., contact information for worker lists or open government data)
Build web scraping tools to collect information such as:

Property listings
Company information
Government data
PDFs or data sets that cannot be downloaded directly

Clean, merge, and deduplicate data (e.g., worker lists, property records, company information)

No prior knowledge of Python is required. The training will start with the basics of Python on Monday, and by Friday, you will be building your own web scraping tools and compiling complex data sets.

Advice From the 2025 Coding Bootcamp Cohort:
“You should definitely attend this program if you’re thinking about it! This program really helps make coding feel so much more accessible no matter how much experience you have coming in. I have learned so many different ways to use coding to make my work so much more efficient and comprehensive.”
“It is like drinking out of a firehouse. That’s just the way this sort of thing works. Keeping a good attitude and accepting that you will be challenged is extremely crucial to being successful.”
“I have learned so much and feel so much more capable in the work I do.”

Event Details:

Dates: June 8-12, 2026
Time: Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm
Location: UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center, Los Angeles
Cost: $850 (includes training materials & refreshments)
Meals: Not included, but local dining options are available

Email srl@irle.ucla.edu for more information or if you have any questions.

About The UCLA Strategic Research Lab:
The UCLA Strategic Research Lab is a capacity-building training hub and network for researchers from labor and community-based organizations. As a research unit of a public university, the SRL seeks to train strategic researchers for the common good. Besides the Coding Camp for Union Research, the Strategic Research Lab also holds its annual Strategic Labor Research Conference, one of the largest annual convenings of labor and movement researchers in the nation.
Sign up for email updates for other Strategic Research Lab events and trainings here.
