Saba
@sabawa.bsky.social
Director at UCLA Labor Center, labor rights, research justice, schools to movement, short story writer, podcast reworkradio.org
Capitalism is a constantly evolving monster. The oligarchs keep finding new ways to exploit workers, which makes organizing and labor unions are more important than ever.
If you are a survivor of sexual violence, please know that there are people and resources available to support you.
This Women’s History Month, we invite you to listen to a story from India that often goes unheard. Meet Mohana Sundari, a woman who is part of a small but growing group of women driving auto rickshaws in Chennai. 🎙️ Please tune in at reworkradio.org or your preferred podcast platform.
RSVP Now! Join us on February 18 at 10am to hear findings from our newest report, Overworked & Under Pressure: A Study of Supermarket Workers in Los Angeles and Orange County Koreatowns. bit.ly/4r0QBsp 🔗
NEXT WEEK: This virtual panel will explore the findings of the upcoming UCLA Labor Center and El Centro report, Harm to Table: Vulnerability and Exploitation in Los Angeles County Meatpacking and Food Processing. ⚠️ RSVP now: bit.ly/4hbWf6O 🔗
We invite you all to read the Labor Center's official obituary for Kent Wong, published on our website. 🔗 bit.ly/kentwongobit...
Obituary: Kent Wong, 69, labor and immigrant rights champion and former director of UCLA Labor Center
Kent Wong, former director of the UCLA Labor Center from 1991-2023 and professor of labor studies and Asian American studies, died Oct. 8. He was 69. An esteemed community leader…
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Rest in eternal power, Kent.
This agenda directs harm on the very people the President and many Republicans say they are trying to help.
We remain committed to protecting immigrant and worker rights, regardless of the barriers in our path. For a full list of immigration resources, go to: bit.ly/immigrant-re...
Thanks to Jefferson High for having me during Workplace Readiness Week, and to UCLA Labor Center for a strong workers’ rights curriculum. As AB 800’s author, it was inspiring to see students learning their rights and leaving ready to stand up for themselves at work! labor.ucla.edu/workplace-re...
Workplace Readiness in Action
By: Jazmin Rivera For 12th-grade students at Thomas Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, the last week of March looked a bit different than their usual week of instruction. The UCLA Labor Center…
labor.ucla.edu
✨✨New report! ✨✨First ever comprehensive survey of cannabis workers in CA shedding light on the working conditions and demographics. The study was led by a dedicated team of cannabis workers and advocates, and offers recommendations on how to lift up the industry while empowering its workforce. 📣📣📣
UCLA Labor Center@uclalabor.bsky.social · last yr.Our new report is a collaboration between the Cannabis Worker Collab and the UCLA Labor Center that features a comprehensive, novel insight into the California cannabis industry. 📊 Read at: bit.ly/uclacannabis... 🔗
The UCLA Labor Center was honored to join the thousands of workers and allies coming together for May Day, with our director Saba Waheed @sabawa.bsky.social giving a powerful speech. Yesterday's motto will continue to ring true as a call to action. One struggle, one fight -- Workers unite!
UCLA Labor Center Director Saba Waheed @sabawa.bsky.social will join other workforce leaders for a panel discussion at the #NSCSkillsSummit in Washington D.C. this May. 💡
On March 21, the UCLA Labor Center partnered with Senator Lola Smallwood Cuevas to host the Workforce Equity Summit. The summit brought together leaders to explore strategies for equitable job growth in emerging sectors–green infrastructure, cannabis, and artificial intelligence. 🔥
Last Friday, UCLA Labor Center Director Saba Waheed @sabawa.bsky.social moderated a panel at the Thinking Gender 2025 Research Conference, “Gendered Labors & Transnational Solidarities”. 👏
”Lucero Herrera, a co-author of a @uclalabor.bsky.social report on nail salon workers published last year, expressed concerns that … ‘Extending the exemption under AB 504 could further erode worker protections and perpetuate precarity in the nail salon industry.’“ buff.ly/4gKjP95 #InTheNews
Worker rights? Racial bias? A law change for manicurists prompts debate, confusion
With a workforce mostly comprised of Vietnamese women, Assemblyman Tri Ta wants to reinstate an exemption for licensed manicurists that makes it easier for them to work as independent contractors.
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”Thousands of University of California healthcare, research and technical employees voted to authorize a strike, citing what they described as systemic and ongoing staffing shortages that erode patient care and hurt research operations.” buff.ly/3CSsQyQ #InTheNews
Thousands of University of California healthcare, research employees vote to authorize strike
The University Professional and Technical Employees CWA Local 9119, representing approximately 20,000 UC healthcare, research and technical employees, announced the results of a strike authorization v...
buff.ly
Our director Saba Waheed @sabawa.bsky.social will be part of this UCLA effort to provide Los Angeles civic leaders with research-informed policy recommendations for building safer, more resilient communities as the city takes on wildfire recovery efforts. luskin.ucla.edu/ucla-partner...
UCLA Partners With New Independent Commission for Climate-Resilient Fire Recovery
Experts will provide L.A. civic leaders with research-informed policy options for building safer, more resilient communities.
luskin.ucla.edu
Five people have been charged with murder in connection with the torture and death of Sam Nordquist, a transgender man from Oakdale.
Family hopes that Oakdale transgender man killed in New York is remembered for who he was, not how he died
Five people have been charged with murder in connection with the torture and death of Sam Nordquist, whose body was found Thursday.
startribune.com
Trump gutted the National Labor Relations Board and things are already getting grim. The new board’s first memo signal its intentions to hamstring organizing and worker mobility, allow captive audience meetings, and deny college athletes’ right to unionize. www.nlrbedge.com/p/acting-gen...
Acting General Counsel Rescinds Long List of Biden-Era Guidance
The new Trump era has truly begun.
nlrbedge.com
Re:Work podcast is a narrative storytelling show- cutting through rhetoric to remind you there are real people who are impacted. Listen to Ainee’s story and her experience with the immigration system two decades ago.
UCLA Labor Center@uclalabor.bsky.social · 2y agoThe Re:Work Podcast by the UCLA Labor Center has just released a new episode! Featuring Ainee Athar, this episode shares her personal journey into immigration rights advocacy, as well as her experiences with burnout and subsequent pivot to climate justice. Listen at: linktr.ee/UCLAReWork 🌿🎧
The UCLA Center for the Study of Women has highlighted our Re:Work podcast in their list of content relating to their 2025 focus, “Gendered Labors and Transnational Solidarities.” Check out the full list: buff.ly/4gErp4W 🔗
Thinking Gender 2025: Read, Watch, Listen
This year’s Thinking Gender theme, “Gendered Labors and Transnational Solidarities,” highlights the rich repertoire of organizing strategies as well as contemporary and historical examples of…
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🚨 BREAKING: The @aflcio.org, EPI, and four major unions have filed an injunction against DOGE and the Trump-appointed Acting Sec of Labor. They’re seeking a temporary restraining order to keep Musk’s minions out of the DOL’s data. More at @inthesetimesmag.bsky.social inthesetimes.com/article/elon...
This partnership marks an intentional step towards strengthening the collective power of labor. 👏 inthesetimes.com/article/seiu... 🔗
SEIU Joins AFL-CIO to 'Unleash a New Era of Worker Power' as Trump 2.0 Looms
"CEOs and billionaires want nothing more than to see workers divided, but we're standing here today with greater solidarity than ever," said AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler.
inthesetimes.com
Know Your Rights ⚠️ Senate Bill 1044 prohibits retaliation from employers in the case of an employee refusing to work due to an emergency condition (such as an evacuation order). Not all classifications of employees are covered by SB 1044*
“But Madera emphasized the importance of outreach efforts tailored to the community. ‘At the job center, something we always say is, Solo el pueblo salva al pueblo—only the community saves the community—bc we strongly believe the community knows the community.’” capitalandmain.com/as-los-angel...
As Los Angeles Burns, Immigrants Mobilize
Fearing little help from FEMA, they are clearing downed trees and marshaling support for their community.
capitalandmain.com
As the wildfires in Southern California continue and air quality worsens, it's crucial for workers to know their rights. 📢 Protect yourself and others by staying informed. ⚠ @uclalosh.bsky.social
This new generation of organizers is embracing all sorts of strategies, including one of the oldest tactics in the pro-union handbook: salting. Read more from @kimkelly.bsky.social ⤵️
How Undercover Organizers Are Energizing the Labor Movement
Let’s talk about “salting.”
teenvogue.com
“Some of the best studies of abuses in the nail salon industry are being conducted by the UCLA Labor Center, sometimes in collaboration with the Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative.” buff.ly/4gE0VS5
The High Price of Pretty Feet: Addressing the Plight of Nail Salon Workers
Nail salons are often hailed by labor economists as an immigrant success story. Well over half of the 200,000 salons nationwide – up from just 50,000 in
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