The Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) was founded in 1944 when University of California President Gordon Sproul and California Governor Earl Warren together planned the inception of the Institutes of Industrial Relations to be founded at Berkeley and Los Angeles. Governor Warren asked President Sproul to enlarge the University's educational base in labor and industrial relations, and so facilitate, "open and honest labor-management relationships." The publications of IRLE capture a cross-section of viewpoints and perspectives about work and working life during the second half of the twentieth century, revealing policy and political objectives, the everyday experience of workers, and the key areas of interest for the faculty researchers associated with IRLE.

The origins of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) predate World War II, and could be considered to have begun in the 1920s. At the time, the University of California, Berkeley was home to the most influential labor economists of the day, including Ira Cross, Paul Taylor and Charles Gulick. Berkeley had one of the first Labor Education schools, and Berkeley faculty were especially active and influential in San Francisco's labor relations during the turbulent years of the 1930s.

1,213 items 1,213 digital objects

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head Librarian, The Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) Library, 2521 Channing Way, #5555, University of California, Berkeley 94720-5555. Consent is given on behalf of The IRLE Library as the owner of the physical items and does not constitute permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/library/digitalcollections/permissions.html