Dr. Gary Hytrek and the Labor Institute
We are pleased to recognize a distinguished faculty member from our Geography Department. The following article was originally prepared by the CLA Monday Memo team and highlights their accomplishment contributions to our university community. We are grateful to the CLA Monday Memo team for sharing this well-deserved recognition.
The Claudine Radisich-Ajeti Labor Institute has begun operations at Cal State Long Beach with two research projects and plans to expand student and faculty involvement.
Director Gary Hytrek said the institute's mission is to advance worker justice and student learning by bringing together faculty, students, and labor and community leaders around a shared research and teaching agenda.
"In an era of increasing concentration of economic power, the labor movement remains one of the principal institutions through which working people can exercise collective power," Hytrek said. He said the institute can fill a regional gap in labor research and worker-justice infrastructure while integrating labor issues into the university's teaching, research and community engagement.
Faculty and students are working on two projects. The first is an economic and social analysis of the local and regional impact of Long Beach's Cambodian community. The second, the Tradeswomen Retention and Advancement Research Initiative, examines how effectively community-based workforce organizations advance gender equity in the building trades and other nontraditional career pathways.
The institute's regional focus covers Long Beach, the South Bay and the Gateway Cities. Hytrek said CSULB's location and student population position it to lead labor research in the area.
"With our diverse student body and our location at the center of one of the nation's most important labor and logistics regions, CSULB is uniquely positioned to become a regional leader in labor research, labor education, and engagement with the labor movement," he said.
Students are central to the institute's work and were a priority for Ajeti, Hytrek said. He said one of her goals was to train the next generation of labor leaders by giving students the skills needed for research, advocacy and organizing. Students will develop those skills through coursework, research projects, leadership programs, workshops and partnerships with workers and labor and community leaders.
Hytrek said the institute will contact faculty about opportunities to participate as it continues to establish itself. Events are planned for the spring semester, with details to be announced.
The institute is named after Claudine Ajeti, a graduate of CSULB from the class of 1959. She dedicated her career to education and public service, working with the California Department of Social Services and serving as the principal of adult education for the Los Angeles Unified School District. A strong advocate for labor issues and public higher education, Claudine established an estate gift of $2 million that would fund the institute upon her passing. She died in 2024 at the age of 86.
