UC Regents Vote to Name Labor Institute After Late Labor Leader Miguel Contreras

(San Francisco) – At the request of the Speaker of the California State Assembly Fabian Núñez, Regents of the University of California unanimously voted today to name the University of California Labor and Employment Research and Education Program after late Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Miguel Contreras. The program will now be referred to as the Miguel Contreras Labor Program. The University of California Los Angeles and Berkley Labor Centers will also carry his name.

Miguel always viewed the UC labor program as a partner in educating and training the next generation of union organizers and labor leaders,” said Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. “To now have this program and labor centers named after Miguel is not only a tribute to what he stood for and fought for, but a great honor.”

The Miguel Contreras Labor Program will support the systemwide Labor and Employment Research Fund and Labor Studies Development Program. The Contreras Program will also provide funding for research programs through the Institutes of Industrial Relations at the Berkley and Los Angeles campuses, and also support the educational programs conducted in the Centers for Labor Research and Education located within each of the Institutes of Industrial Relations. While the 2007-08 state budget includes cuts to the program, Speaker Núñez has vowed to work to get it restored in the Assembly’s version.

The Miguel Contreras Labor Institute is a fitting tribute to arguably one of the best labor leaders in California’s history,” Speaker Núñez said. “The research, education and service provided by the Institute will lead to meaningful improvements in the lives of working families. And that’s what Miguel Contreras fought for all his life.”

Contreras began his career in the labor movement at the tender age of 17 in Dinuba, California, where he and his family became United Farm Worker (UFW). Due to his strong leadership skills and natural organizing ability, he caught the eye of UFW founder Cesar Chavez, who asked Contreras to join his union staff - eventually leading him to become a union negotiator. During the years, Contreras moved up the ranks, becoming International Trustee of H.E.R.E. Local 11 in Los Angeles, and eventually the first Latino Executive Secretary - Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. It was under his leadership, that the door was opened for low wage workers, such as janitors and hotel workers to become active in the movement - leading the federation to become one of the strongest and most politically effective in the country.

Contreras is survived by his wife Maria Elena Durazo, two sons Mario and Michael, his mother Esther and his five brothers.