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Exploring the Struggle for Social Justice
Ruth Milkman explores the evolving trends that make Los Angeles a catalyst for change in the American labor movement.
In the small Maryland town where sociologist Ruth Milkman grew up in the 1950s, discussions about the American labor movement were far from commonplace. But Milkman credits her mother with instilling in her an understanding of the vital role of the workplace in the struggle for social justice.When I was a young child, she introduced me to the idea of unions and what the labor movement was all about," said Milkman.
In a career that spans more than a quarter-century—the last 19 years at UCLA—Milkman has become a leading academic voice on issues relating to the changing sociological dynamics of work and labor organizing. A professor of sociology and director of the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Milkman works to explain trends in the U.S. labor movement—research that led her to study, among other emerging issues, immigrant workers and their prominent role in the transformation of Los Angeles from a city once seen as an anti-labor company town into a hotbed of union activity.
In L.A. Story: Immigrant Workers and the Future of the U.S. Labor Movement, published in 2006 by the Russell Sage Foundation, Milkman analyzed the forces driving this change. She also looked into the conditions under which immigrants—particularly those who are undocumented—can be organized.
Her conclusion was one she didn't expect to reach before undertaking the research: far from resisting organized labor's overtures, immigrants have been more receptive to unionism than many other worker groups—which goes a long way toward explaining organized labor's recent success in Los Angeles.
A decade ago, the conventional wisdom was that immigrants from Mexico or Central America were unlikely to be discontent with even minimum-wage jobs, figuring those jobs paid better than what they had earned before coming here," Milkman said. Many thought that undocumented immigrants would be reluctant to take the kinds of risks involved in union organizing. They thought that a ‘sojourner mentality'—the idea that immigrants were just here to make some money for a couple of years before returning home—would keep them from getting involved in a long-term struggle for unionization."
L.A. Story, which examined the plight of workers in four industries in Los Angeles (building maintenance, trucking, construction, and garment production), showed that these assumptions were unfounded. Tighter border enforcement has increased the likelihood that immigrant workers will be here for the long haul.
As for the issue of risk, Milkman concluded that most immigrants have had experiences—crossing the border among them—that make the potential perils involved in union organizing seem minimal by comparison. Far from being reluctant participants, the mostly Latino immigrant workers—who filled jobs that worsening conditions had caused native-born workers to leave—were predisposed to see their fate as being linked to their community. And they were able to tap into the tightly knit social networks they had already developed as a means for daily survival.
Los Angeles has emerged as a beacon of progress for the labor movement. Milkman notes that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which led the city's successful Justice for Janitors campaign and is widely considered the labor movement's most active growth engine, has always had a stronger presence here than in other parts of the country. Unions in Los Angeles have also successfully employed what Milkman sees as key ingredients in the labor movement's resurgence: new leadership, latitude to experiment with organizing techniques, and a willingness to embrace new strategies.
Sharp declines in union membership since the mid-20th century have led many observers to dismiss organized labor as irrelevant. Today's unions face daunting challenges that include competition from global markets where labor is cheaper and worker rights fewer, significant opposition in the political arena, and a poor reputation among many working people.
While acknowledging these problems, Milkman also believes organized labor's demise has been exaggerated.
The manufacturing unions that were once so central to the labor movement are not doing well," she said. But when you take a broader look at unions like SEIU and you look at what's going on in the low-wage sector among janitors and hotel workers—people struggling for living wages—there's a lot more activity than people realize.
Given that California tends to be a trend-setter, there's reason to think that some of the labor-related trends that are emerging here, where unionization rates are holding steady during a national decline, might spread to other parts of the country."
Milkman has also seen growing academic interest in labor issues on the UCLA campus over the years, stoked by the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, which supports faculty and graduate student research on employment and labor topics, sponsors public programs, and is home to the undergraduate minor in Labor and Workplace Studies.
In addition to supporting research from multiple disciplines on a variety of topics, the institute, which Milkman has headed since 2001, serves as a bridge between the university and the labor community.
This work is beneficial to both sides," she said. We open a door so that labor can get access to university knowledge and resources, and our faculty and students gain access to what's occurring on the ground, in the community."
The institute is also housing Milkman's newest research undertaking, supported by a grant from the Haynes Foundation, which seeks to document the extent and types of labor-law violations taking place in unregulated settings involving low-wage and immigrant workers.
At the undergraduate level, Milkman was instrumental in starting Work, Labor and Social Justice in the U.S.," a course in the College's General Education Cluster Program. I perceive much more interest among students in these issues than when I first came to UCLA," Milkman observed.
As for unions, despite the challenges, she has no doubt that they will always play a significant role in this country.
As long as we have a capitalist economy," Milkman said, workers are going to look for ways to organize in their own interests."
