The Past, Present, and Future of Jews and the Labor Movement in Los Angeles

About the Event

What drew Jewish immigrants to the labor movement? How did unions become distinctly "Jewish" spaces — and what happened when they changed? Join historians, organizers, and community leaders for a panel on Jewish labor activism in Los Angeles: from the open-shop battles of the early 20th century to today.

Unlike the urban centers of the Midwest and Northeast, where Jewish workers and unions were deeply embedded in industrial economies, Los Angeles developed as an "open shop" town hostile to organized labor. This panel will trace how Jewish engagement in the labor movement has shifted across industries and generations — exploring what political or religious commitments drove immigrant Jews to trade unionism, how labor activism exposed or reshaped socioeconomic divides within the Jewish community, and what the transformation of union demographics means for Jewish labor activists and the broader Jewish experience in Los Angeles today.

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