A new report, which was coauthored by labor research institutions across almost every University of California campus, has found that California labor unions grew by more than 100,000 members in 2025 \u2014 outpacing labor union growth nationally.<\/p>\n
The report, titled \u201cState of the Unions,\u201d analyzed data across California to examine trends in union membership, growth and bargaining in 2025. It also presented multiple case studies to demonstrate significant changes in labor unions and organizing.<\/p>\n
The report was a collaborative effort organized by UCLA\u2019s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, or IRLE, and included research from the UC Berkeley Labor Center. Nine out of 10 UCs either authored or contributed to the report, representing every campus except UC San Francisco.<\/p>\n
California union density, membership and representation grew in 2025, according to the report\u2019s first chapter, which was written by the UC Berkeley Labor Center. In 2o25, 16.7% of Californians reported having a union \u2014 a 0.4% increase from 2024\u2019s 16.3%. California\u2019s union density is higher than the national rate, although the national rate has also increased, according to the report.<\/p>\n
The report also found that even after a union has formed, it remains difficult for unions to ink a contract. From a pool of bargaining units formed in California in 2024, half of them had not secured a contract by spring 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the findings that surprised me was that union protest activity increased in 2025 a lot,\u201d said UCLA IRLE program director Justin McBride. \u201cWorkers have been willing to go out into the streets and protest more last year than in the previous year, and I think that\u2019s a positive sign of a healthy labor movement despite some of the challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report claims that California is a \u201cnational hub of strikes and worker protests.\u201d While Californian unions engaged in fewer strikes in 2025 than in 2024, they engaged in more protests that targeted federal policies and gained media attention, according to the report.<\/p>\n
The UC Berkeley Labor Center also wrote chapter 11, which focuses on a case study involving rideshare drivers who faced difficulties bargaining because of their status as independent contractors and lack of a defined workspace. However, an October 2025 state bill granted rideshare drivers the right to unionize, offering a new collective bargaining framework.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur rideshare chapter highlights a different but related development that I think is especially significant: workers who have traditionally been excluded from conventional collective bargaining structures are developing new pathways to worker voice,\u201d said a program director at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, Enrique Lopezlira, in an email.<\/p>\n
The report\u2019s authors plan to publish a similar report again next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor people from out of state, I think it\u2019s a good repository of different strategies that workers are using instate, where we do have fortunately a very strong and relatively successful labor movement,\u201d McBride said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new report, which was coauthored by labor research institutions across almost every University of California campus, has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[7,121341,180785,143,145,144,180783,5247,144811,15087,180784],"class_list":["post-458243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-california","tag-enrique-lopezlira","tag-justin-mcbride","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-state-of-the-unions","tag-uc","tag-uc-berkeley-labor-center","tag-uc-san-francisco","tag-ucla-institute-for-research-on-labor-and-employment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}