Amid the wave of labor strikes and unionization campaigns that have swept the nation in recent years, a new UCLA program will bring labor leaders, organizers and researchers to present public talks and classroom lectures while working on individual labor research projects stemming from their field experiences.
Modeled as a quarterly residency, the Labor Movement Fellows Program will be anchored by the UCLA Labor Studies interdepartmental degree program, which is known for connecting students to engaged learning opportunities in worker and social justice organizations across Los Angeles.
“UCLA’s Labor Studies Program has an excellent reputation for its ‘school to movement pipeline,’” said Chris Zepeda-Millan, professor of public policy and Chicana/o and Central American studies and holder of the labor studies chair, who is leading the initiative. “With the Labor Movement Fellows Program, we’re flipping that strategy around and bringing the labor movement to our university — it will be an experience students can’t get from their usual readings, lectures and seminar discussions.”
The inaugural Labor Movement Fellows are Jollene Levid, a regional organizer at United Teachers Los Angeles who helped coordinate the 2019 Los Angeles Unified School District strike; and Susan Minato, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, the union of hotel workers currently on strike in Los Angeles.
Read the full story about the Labor Movement Fellows program at the Institute for Research on Labor & Employment website.
