The UCLA Labor Center hosted a homecoming celebration in honor of Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles) for her recent election to the California State Senate. Before winning her election in November, Senator Smallwood-Cuevas spent 15 years working for the UCLA Labor Center, where she directed the Center for the Advancement of Racial Equity (CARE) at Work and co-founded the Los Angeles Black Worker Center, the nation’s first Black Worker Center. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas is the only Black woman in the California State Senate and a champion for all working families.
Press Releases
Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles) has introduced SB 749 to eliminate the deadline to apply for reducing old low-level, non-violent crime felony convictions to misdemeanors under voter-approved Proposition 47.
Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), along with workers and advocates from the California Coalition for Worker Power (CCWP), have announced the introduction of SB 497 – The Equal Pay and Anti-Retaliation Protection Act – that protects workers who report labor violations from being fired, bullied or harassed.
Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles) has partnered with the California Labor Federation to announce SB 627 – the Displaced Worker Transfer Rights Act. Authored by Senator Smallwood-Cuevas, the legislation will discourage corporate chain employers from using store closures in a discriminatory or retaliatory manner by giving workers opportunities to work in other stores. The bill requires large chain businesses to notify workers 60 days in advance of closure of their workplace and grants workers transfer rights within the company.
Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles) has introduced SB 16 – Local Enforcement of Fair Employment and Housing – that would provide authority to local civil and human rights departments to adjudicate workplace discrimination cases in partnership with the California Civil Rights Department. The bill would give a voice to all Californians who encounter discrimination by empowering them to file complaints with local departments in the cities where the discrimination occurred.
Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles) today has introduced a package of legislation to better empower working Californians. In her first year in office, Senator Smallwood-Cuevas introduced a bill package that addresses the compounded poverty and onramps to prosperity through good jobs and social safety net programs. The Senator’s bill package centers the needs of working families, and protects the right to collective bargaining.
Longtime labor organizer and civil rights leader Lola Smallwood-Cuevas celebrated her election win as the new State Senator for the 28th District at a special swearing-in event held on Saturday for the local community. Elected in November, Senator Smallwood-Cuevas was sworn-in before a crowd of nearly 200 community leaders, stakeholders and supporters.