The California Budget has just passed and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken the opportunity to once again target the good folks at the UCLA Labor Center. For those of you unfamiliar with this organization, the Labor Center serves a vital role in advancing the rights of labor and all working class families. From their website:

As part of the university, the Labor Center serves as an important source of information about unions and workers to interested scholars and students. Through its extensive connections with unions and workers, the Labor Center also provides labor with important and clearly defined access to UCLA's resources and programs. An advisory committee comprised of about forty Southern California labor and community leaders (representing more than one million members in the public and private sectors) provides advice and support for the center.

As it states, the center provides critical research, information and statistics for the labor rights movement. Some of you may remember it's Executive Director, Kent Wong, speaking at our immigration forum in Los Angeles a few years back. The fact that Governor Arnold and his fellow Republicans have been targeting its demise for years should tell you how important of an institution it is. Please check out their email below and give a call to show your support.

Here's the letter:

Hi Community Folks, I am e-mailing to urge you to send a pre-written e-mail to Governor Schwarzenegger. In the recently passed California Budget Bill, the Governor had taken out the University of California’s Miguel Contreras Labor Program from the budget. The University of California will be funding the UCLA Labor until June, but both the UCLA and UC Berkeley Labor Centers face threats of shutting down after June because there is no funding allocation from the State. The University of California’s Miguel Contreras Labor Program is the ONLY UC program the Governor singled-out and vetoed funding for. PLEASE e-mail the Governor urging him to restore funding for this crucial program that works tirelessly with day laborers, car wash workers, sweatshop workers, and thousands of low-wage workers. The great work of the UCLA and UC Berkeley Labor Centers have ensured workers' rights to at least minimum wage and the living wage (a lot of places weren't even paying minimum wage!), the right to organize, and the basic human right to a better life for their families. Some of the people we work with will be impacted by the funding veto of the Labor Center. Visit this link and scroll to the bottom on how to send the e-mail: http://www.labor.ucla.edu/updates/fundingveto.html Also, if you have the time, can you also please write to UCLA's Chancellor Gene Block and urge him to take action by requesting the Governor to restore funding, his contact information is here: http://chancellor.ucla.edu/contact-information. A sample letter would be: "As an INSERT TITLE (alumni, faculty, student, community stakeholder, concerned resident of Los Angeles... etc) of UCLA (UC Berkeley, Los Angeles, California, etc.), I am deeply concerned about the impacts of the potential closing of the UCLA Labor Center on the Los Angeles community. I am writing to urge you to communicate with Governor Schwarzenegger on the critical need to restore funding for the University of California’s Miguel Contreras Labor Program. The tireless efforts of the UCLA Labor Center has improved the lives of thousands in Los Angeles. UCLA, a public institution, has a commitment to serving our communities. "

You know the drill. Get to it!