General Questions
This year, Labor Summer will start on Monday, June 16, 2025 and end on Friday, August 8, 2025. This includes a mandatory orientation during the first week of the program (June 16-20, with Thursday, June 19 off for the Juneteenth holiday) as well as a mandatory closing retreat August 7 and 8th.
Yes, interns will be paid $22 per hour.
Applications are available here and are due Sunday, February 9th, 2025 at 11:59pm.
No, interns are responsible for providing their own housing.
Yes, interns are responsible for their own transportation to their host site during workdays. Be advised, some host sites may require access to a car to visit worksites, interview workers, or attend meetings not accessible by mass transit.
Yes, a mandatory in-person orientation will be held at UCSB from June 16-20, 2025 (with June 19 off for the Juneteenth holiday). These four full days of orientation will include trainings and workshops covering the basics of labor organizing, history of unions, and provide opportunities to develop skills before you are sent to your placement. This will also be an opportunity to get to know other interns in your cohort and UCSB Community Labor Center staff who will be available to support you throughout the program. Orientation week may include off-campus day trips to visit partner organizations, in which case travel would be provided.
Many intern alumni go on to work in the labor movement full time.
Email our Academic Coordinator, Fabienne Doiron at fdoiron@ucsb.edu.
Eligibility
Applicants must be undergraduate students, including graduating seniors, and must be enrolled at UC Santa Barbara. Applicants should have demonstrated a clear interest in contributing to social and economic justice issues with unions or community-based organizations.
Yes, students graduating in spring quarter of 2025 are eligible to apply.
No, students from all majors are welcome. What is important is your interest in working on social justice initiatives with labor organizations and to be able to articulate this interest within your application.
Applications are due Sunday, February 9th, at 11:59 p.m. PST. We recommend not waiting until the deadline and submitting your application as early as possible.
No, interviews will take place on Zoom.
We will send invitations to interview towards the end of February and anticipate holding interviews in early March.
We will be contacting students accepted into the program in late March / early April.
Placement
Summer 2025 placements will be at labor unions and community organizations located in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo County. Your work location will depend on which host site you are matched with -- questions in the application form are designed to help us find a suitable match between host sites and students who reside nearby or are willing to commute.
A mandatory in-person orientation will be held at USCB from June 16-20, 2025 (with June 19 off for the Juneteenth holiday). These four full days of orientation will include trainings and workshops covering the basics of labor organizing, history of unions, and provide opportunities to develop skills before you are sent to your placement. This will also be an opportunity to get to know other interns in your cohort and UCSB Community Labor Center staff who will be available to support you throughout the program. Orientation week may include off-campus day trips to visit partner organizations, in which case travel would be provided.
The selection committee considers the needs of host sites, such as languages, location, and any specific software/research skills, and try to match interns who meet requirements and have similar interests to the host sites.
At this time, we are planning for all 2025 placements to be in-person.
You will participate in a mandatory week-long orientation training designed to prepare you for your summer internship. This training will cover the basics of labor organizing, history of unions, and provide opportunities to develop skills before you are sent to your placement. This will also be an opportunity to get to know other interns in your cohort and UCSB Community Labor Center staff who will be available to support you throughout the program.
Once at your host organization, you will be assigned a supervisor at your host site who will manage your work assignments and provide training within the field. Additionally, interns will have a weekly group zoom meeting with the Community Labor Center's Academic Coordinator to discuss learnings as well as any challenges that are coming up in their placements and will come together in person for a midway check-in in mid-July. UCSB Community Labor Center staff will also check in with interns periodically throughout the program to ensure that everything is on track.
Time Commitment
Labor Summer 2025 runs from June 16th to August 8th, 2025.
Summer interns should expect to work approximately 40 hours per week. Interns are not permitted to work over 40 hours per week.
No, Labor Summer is a full-time commitment, requiring student interns work 40 hours per week, often during typical class time. In addition, financial aid guidelines means that UCSB students would not be able to enroll in summer coursework during the program.
No, Labor Summer is a full-time, 40-hour-per-week commitment with hours that can vary depending on the needs of your host site. Additional outside jobs are not permitted for the duration of the program.
Yes, Labor Summer interns will have Juneteenth (June 19th) and July 4th off as holidays. Generally, interns will have weekends off. If a host site requires you to work on the weekend, you will receive a day off during the week.
In general, we expect Labor Summer interns to be available for the entire 8 weeks of the internship. If you need to be absent from the program for a short time (no more than a few days), please get in touch with the Center's Academic Coordinator (fdoiron@ucsb.edu) to discuss this further. These decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
Student interns are required to commit to the full eight weeks of the program with their host organization. If you cannot stay the entire summer, we encourage you to apply in a future year when you are able to commit to the entire program.