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The UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) is an interdisciplinary research unit within the College of Letters & Science, Division of Social Science, dedicated to research, teaching, and discussion of labor and employment issues. It was founded in 1945 as the UCLA Institute of Industrial Relations. It is one of the two industry research program, along with the UC Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor and Employment in the University of California system. The IRLE consists of four bodies: the IRLE Academic Unit, UCLA Labor Center, Human Resources Round Table, and the Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program.

University Extension Program
The University of California has been involved in workers' affairs as early as the 1920's as a small program within the University Extension. The University Extension program that was established to train union leaders and workers was jointly controlled by the UC and the California Federation of Labor, and by 1924, it came to association with the Workers' Education Bureau of America (WEB). As the only university-based workers' education program affiliated with the WEB, the University Extension Program kept the image of anti-radicalism to maintain a workers' education program within the University system despite individual political leanings.

Workers' education became an issue for the administrators during the Great Depression; it began as a small University Extension program where worker-students could gather and discuss the strikes and the growth of the labor movement around them. However, the University of California began to move away from this program under the criticism of conservative business leaders. The University of California continued to be involved with workers' education (albeit somewhat wary and even hostile), but it remained largely outside the university system. Even after its formal establishment as an academic department in 1945, the workers' education and research program would be under constant stress by conservatives politicians and business leaders.

During the 1930's, the political climate of California became increasingly more progressive. While Upton Sinclair's bid for governor and his End Poverty in California campaign ultimately failed, many of his progressive Democrat supporters won their seats in the California legislature. In 1939, under Governor Culbert Olson, Democratic legislators introduced the Labor Extension Bill. The bill proposed to provide $400,000 (adjusted to $6.5 million in 2012 dollars) each year for "a statewide program of education for labor leaders and wage earners through the University of California Extension. Despite the influx of funding, the University and the Extension program were wary of the necessity and the effectiveness of a specialized labor program. Ernest Schwartztrauber, director of the University of Wisconsin School for Workers, doubted that lecture-oriented instruction could hold the attention of adult wage-earners. However, it was the experimentation of labor education held in Wisconsin and other universities through funding provided by the Works Progress Administration that allowed for the eventual acceptance of the growing power of labor in California and the establishment of formal departments for labor studies.

Formation
The IRLE was initially founded as the Institute for Industrial Relations (IIR) in 1945. The IIR was established at both UC Berkeley and UCLA under Republican Governor Earl Warren as the Northern and Southern divisions of a joint unit. Clark Kerr and Paul A. Dodd were appointed as the first director of UC Berkeley and UCLA division respectively. Kerr later reminisced, “We came in as the very first effort of this big university to make contact with the trade unions. It was Earl Warren’s way of saying that the unions were recognized as an important part of California society.” Unlike the University Extension program, the IIR was intended to be under the control of university faculty and staff. While it operated as a "pro-labor" research institute, there was an increasing distance between labor unions and the IIR. The Institute no longer represented just the interests of the workers, but it researched the issues of labor and employment as a whole. Despite this separation and emergence as an academic department, conservatives continued to criticized the IIR for its political stance.

The detachment of the IIR from the labor movement soon became rebuilt with the establishment of the Center for Labor Research and Education in 1964. However, interest and support for labor studies began to decline during the 1970's and 80's. Budget cuts in the early 1990's eliminated over 50% of both IIR's funding, and by the end of the decade, UCLA IIR's budget was only half of Berkeley's. Restored academic interest in labor issues began in the 2000's, and the labor movement was revived under new leadership within the AFL-CIO in 1995. The state legislature opened the Institute for Labor and Employment (ILE), which was co-housed by UCLA and Berkeley IIR.

Defunding
In December 2003, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal state of emergency and called for a 150 million dollar budget cut. It eliminated ILE’s budget for the fiscal year was seen as a continuation of political attacks on "pro-labor" causes by Republican Californians. From 2000 to 2003, the ILE's budget was cut down by 33%. In early 2004, due to large public support, the University of California directly covered most of staff salaries through June 2004. In 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger used his line-item veto to reject a 3.8 million dollar fund for labor research at the University of California. Some conservatives groups, including the anti-union trade association Associated Builders and Contractors, have voiced their their criticism for labor studies programs, remarking that public funds should not advocate "pro-labor" causes. Labor unions defended labor research programs, citing their importance in understanding and improving issues that affect workers. Democrats have criticized Governor Schwarzenegger for singling out the labor program, but overall the California legislature voted to increase funding for the University system. Starting 2004 and 2005, the ILE was restructured to maintain statewide research funding on all UC Campuses through a new Labor and Research Education Fund. Activities continued in the UCLA and UC Berkeley Institutes, but both change names in 2007 to the current Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, along with the establishment of the Miguel Contreras Labor Program which supported UC-wide labor research programs.

In 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger put forth the Miguel Contreras Labor Program for line-item veto and rejected the 5.4 million dollar funding. The veto was a serious blow to the program; the Miguel Contreras Labor Program was the only program to receive a 100% cut in funding, which nearly eliminated both the UCLA and UC Berkeley Institutes. Governor Schwarzenegger have argued that the budget cuts were necessary in order to save money for the state, and the vetoes are not commentaries on the value of the programs. However, Chris Tilly, the current director of the IRLE, argued that saving 5.4 million from the 3.3 billion UC funding is insignificant; full funding cuts overburden faculty, staff, and students that worked hard to build up the UC labor studies program. After the support of more than 400 UC faculty and academic staff members, the University of California, Office of President agreed to continue funding the program for the fiscal year.

The UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment continues to support its programs through external fund-raising efforts in addition to campus, state, and federal level funding. Through these efforts, the UCLA IRLE has become the largest contract and grant recipient in the UCLA Division of Social Sciences.

Programs
The Institute offers a minor in Labor and Workplace Studies. The minor is fairly competitive, enrolling only 100 students annually. Students study contemporary and historical views of work, labor movements, and social policies. The Minor combines the traditional classroom setting with the workplace to give students a comprehensive experience of labor issues.

The IRLE also sponsors the Labor Occupational Safety & Health Program (LOSH) works with workers, unions, community organizations, and academic and health professionals in improving environmental health concerns. LOSH provides health and safety training to workers managing hazardous wastes or involved in emergency response release to environmental hazards.

The Human Resources Round Table (HAART) is a sub-division of the IRLE that connects academics and human resource professionals to discuss the challenges that meet human resources today. Founded in 1986, HAART is also associated with Anderson School of Management, Luskin School of Public Affairs, and the School of Law.

The UCLA Labor Center is a sub-division of the IRLE that focuses on applying research by the IRLE for advocacy in the workplace and education. The Labor Center hosts multiple programs that reaches out to minorities to address immigration issues, education, and equal opportunities at the work. The labor center works directly with unions to assist in improving conditions in low-wage work and advocate to strengthen the laws that protect these workers.

Major Publications
From the 1950's continuing onto today, IRLE continues to research the role of healthcare and welfare in the place; other research have examined resource maangement and the relationship between employers and employees. IRLE Publications during the 1970's focused primarily on the relationship between public sector and workplace relations; whereas private sector work has been granted by the federal government to collectively bargain, government jobs and other public sector work still lacked the power to unionize. The IRLE would continue their research of public sector employee rights well into the late 80's, due to the disastrous strike-breaking of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) in 1981. Today, the IRLE examines the phenomena of globalization and the impact it has on the workplace. Research for developing public policies focus on neither local nor national levels; rather it looks at global strategies to improve low-wage and atypical employment.

IRLE Research focuses on both local and global levels of labor issues. The IRLE accepts visiting scholars and graduate students to spend up to one year in residence to work on research and contribute to the IRLE Working Papers series. UCLA faculty and graduate student research on labor-related topics in multiple academic disciplines. The Working Papers series currently holds 71 publications published from 2006 to 2014.

From 2001 to 2004, the IIR published The State of California Labor, which examines the key developments in California labor. The journal includes discussions and research in trends of employment and the workforce and serves as a critical resource for academics, policy makers, union organizers, and the public.

On Labor Day, the IRLE annually publishes its "The State of the Unions" report. This report compiles a profile of union membership in the Greater Los Angeles Area, San Francisco Bay Area, California, and the nation as a whole. The report is based on the analysis of the U.S. Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group. It analyzes the effectiveness of unions in combating income equality and other labor issues; in 2014, the report summarizes "while unions can insulate lower educated workers from income inequality, they are less effective at combating living cost problems."