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Second cohort will take part in full-time paid posts
Twelve UC Irvine students have been selected as this year’s Labor Summer interns. They make up the second cohort of interns from UCI since the UCI Labor Center opened last year.
The students will participate in the seven-week, full-time, paid internships with labor organizations throughout Orange County beginning June 17. The participants include two graduate students and 10 undergrads:
- Patrick Acuña, senior social ecology major. Internship site: UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) 324
- Ruby Dewar, junior criminology, law and society major. Internship site: OCEA (Orange County Employees Association)
- Vanessa Garcia, senior political science major. Internship site: Workers United Local 50
- Diana Hernandez, sophomore political science major. Internship site: Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice
- Rachel Hillman, sophomore criminology, law and society major. Internship site: OCEA (Orange County Employees Association)
- Ellie Irianto, freshman psychological science major. Internship site: Orange County Labor Federation (OCLF)
- Liam McCarthy, senior environmental science and policy major. Internship site: Unite Here Local 11
- Jacob Ramos, sophomore criminology, law and society major. Internship site: Workers United Local 50
- Eliza Razdan, senior environmental science and policy major. Internship site: Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice
- Laila Reshad, master’s student in global studies. Internship site: Orange County Labor Federation (OCLF)
- Samuel Schulman, sophomore Jewish studies, economics and history major. Internship site: Unite Here Local 11
- Manaal Subhani, master of public policy student. Internship site: UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) 324
“I’m passionate about the historical arch of the protections championed by unions,” says Acuña, who plans to pursue a J.D. after completing her bachelor’s degree. “I look forward to learning about worker’s needs and labor law.”
Ramos, who is returning for a second internship, shared his experience last summer when he was part of the hotel worker strike. “I really learned that this is a real movement that affects real people and our actions are very consequential,” he said at the end of his first Labor Summer internship.
Like last year’s interns, this year’s group will be recognized at an Aug. 9 ceremony at the completion of Labor Summer.
“Labor Summer sets students on a path of experiential exploration and learning,” says Virginia Parks, professor of urban planning and public policy and faculty director of the UCI Labor Center. “Students have a lot to offer — they have a chance to put their talents in service of workers, their communities, and the broader public.”
The UCI Labor Center, established last year, builds upon previous campus efforts to investigate low-wage worker sectors in Orange County. It aims to boost the power of working people in Orange County and beyond by promoting, defending and expanding workers’ rights.
Through research, advocacy, policy innovation, education and outreach, the center supports unions and worker organizations in their endeavors to create a fair and racially just worker-centered economy.
— Mimi Ko Cruz
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