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©2004
The Regents of the University of California
 

This institute survives and even thrives

by gary blasi

To borrow a phrase from Mark Twain, rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated. The UCLA Institute of Industrial Relations (IIR) has not only survived — it’s thriving.

IIR receives most of its funds from the UC-wide Institute on Labor and Employment (ILE), one of only two UC programs slated for elimination in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first budget. But thanks to an outpouring of support from the academic community, elected officials and the labor community, state financial support for ILE in the final budget was reduced by a modest 5%, to $3.8 million, enabling us to continue our mission of research and training to help brighten the future of California’s workforce.

Despite many uncertainties, our dedicated IIR staff have continued to do amazing work. We have brought nationally recognized scholars to the campus to meet with faculty and graduate students. We have developed, and continue to staff, an undergraduate interdisciplinary program in labor and workplace studies, and a course, “Work, Labor and Social Justice in the United States.” Our scholarly journal, The State of California Labor 2004, published by the UC Press, is in its final editing stages.

Our Center on Labor Research and Education, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in May, continues to be a unique bridge between UCLA and the labor community in Southern California and, increasingly, the world. This past summer, the center hosted the Summer Institute for Union Women, bringing together 150 women from the nation’s western states and six foreign nations. With a generous grant from the Rosenberg Foundation, we will facilitate in October a gathering of immigrant workers and labor unions.

Our Labor Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) Program has been in a flurry of new activity. Our Hazardous Waste Project is training women in nontraditional employment roles, as well as starting a “hazard communication” class with formerly homeless and incarcerated people working for Chrysalis, a nonprofit street-maintenance company. This past summer we celebrated the graduation of a class of worker occupational safety and health specialists at Felbro, Inc., a small manufacturing company in East Los Angeles, that had sought our assistance. In a larger-scale project, we are preparing to train 3,200 Los Angeles City office workers on ways to avoid workplace injuries.

Our Human Resources Round Table (HARRT) of senior executives continues to bring together UCLA faculty and students and the business community through HARRT’s expanded membership of top-tier executives. They come from a broad range of industries as well as from profit and nonprofit organizations. Workforce diversity, aging and development of skills to deal with changing economics and global competitiveness are issues being explored in HARRT’s discussions to support changes in business, organization and human resource strategies.

In short: Not only are we still here — we are breaking new ground in research, teaching and service to the community. IIR is evidence that the university continues to serve all the people of California, including the working people and families who are collectively, after all, the university’s largest financial contributors.

Blasi is acting director of the UCLA Institute of Industrial Relations.