For nearly fifty years, the Labor Education and Research Center (LERC) at the University of Oregon has been connecting workers and their unions together with students, faculty, and policymakers to address the most critical issues facing working-class Oregonians.

The UO Labor Center continues to be a critical source of applied research, hands-on training, and technical assistance for policy-makers, unions, and community advocates in Oregon and beyond.

The UO Labor Center remains the only program in Oregon’s higher education system that examines work and the economy with a focus on the needs, interests, and priorities of workers and working-class communities.

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  2025 Collective Bargaining Institute
  Registration is now open for the 2025 Collective Bargaining Institute, December 7-12 at the University Place Hotel in Portland. The program provides a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of effective negotiations. …
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  Farmworker Overtime
  In 2022, the Oregon state legislature passed HB 4002 which mandates overtime pay for farmworkers. In this policy brief, LERC Research Associate Mary Follo assesses the primary research cited by Oregon growers in opposition to the legislation. She finds a number of methodological problems with this research that cast doubt on their conclusions….
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  A State of Immigrants
  LERC announces the release of a new report: “A State of Immigrants: A New Look at the Immigrant Experience in Oregon.” The book was edited by LERC Director, Bob Bussel and produced by LERC Staff, with contributions from scholars across the state….