Funded by Californian taxpayers and the university since 1964,
the UCLA Labor Center’s purpose is to “bridge the
university and the Los Angeles labor community,” according to
director Kent Wong.
However, the center’s activities ““ one-sided
advocacy work for union interests ““ are inappropriate for a
department funded by the university which exists to benefit the
whole public.
The center regularly propagandizes with public funds; it puts on
partisan conferences, such as last year’s “Is Wal-Mart
Good for America?” panel, reported in the Daily Bruin.
Though the center’s Web site states the event was balanced
and that it “identified Wal-Mart’s strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats,” the
conference’s obvious bias was made clear by the closing
session, which taught participants campaign strategies for
preventing Wal-Mart stores from opening in their areas.
According to Wal-Mart representatives, Wal-Mart was invited by
the labor center just a month before the conference, and ““
unlike union members that attended ““ Wal-Mart was not
included in the planning of the conference or allowed to
participate in any of the workshop sessions.
In fact, the center’s resources have been used directly to
campaign against Wal-Mart in a Rosemead election, according to
Steven Ly, general area consultant in the pro-Wal-Mart
campaign.
Labor center representatives even went as far as appealing to
the local Catholic church (Saint Anthony’s) to oppose
Wal-Mart’s presence in the area.
“They were saying that if you’re a good Catholic,
you should be against Wal-Mart,” Ly said. Kent Wong refused
to comment.
The partisan nature of the research conducted by the labor
center is just as transparent; the center’s motto is
“Research for action. Education for change.” However,
the center’s own motto reveals that the research it conducts
is a sham, because it is carried out for the purpose of
“action.”
Of course, the university shouldn’t shy away from studying
political or divisive issues. Even though controversy may result
from academic endeavors, research should be shielded from the whims
of popular opinion.
But research and activism conducted to support a political cause
deserves no such exception.
The center’s activities are largely comprised of training
aspiring union activists. Even the center’s publications are
based on appeals for social change.
The extent of the center’s educational offerings is an
interdisciplinary minor (made up of courses in other departments)
and internships for “workplace studies.”
Yet unions have little to do with the American workplace. Across
the country, membership in unions ““ both public and private
““ has declined. In 2005, it had fallen to 12.5 percent, down
from 20.1 percent in 1983. Among private non-governmental workers,
union membership fell as low as 7.8 percent, according to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Workers ““ who are increasingly finding it against their
interests to participate in unions ““ don’t view the
workplace as a battle between unions and employers.
The center, in its attempts to justify the academic relevance of
its pro-union activism on the basis of workplace studies, finds
itself on shaky ground.
It is clear then that the labor center serves little purpose
other than to pander to union interests and promote political
agendas.
This is hardly a role fit for a public university, which exists
to further research and education, not partisan causes. Through its
activities, the center attacks business and consumer interests in
UCLA’s name.
The labor center, which derives its legitimacy from its
endorsement by the university, ultimately stains the UCLA’s
reputation. By financing single-minded, divisive activism under the
guise of scholarship, the university harms its image as a research
university.
UCLA would do well to distance itself from the labor center. Its
controversial pro-union activism ought to be paid for by those who
believe in its causes. By removing its name from the center, the
university would reveal its devotion to the pursuit of ideas rather
than partisan causes.
If unions get you hot and bothered, e-mail Lazar at
dlazar@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.