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Happening today, 12 to 3 p.m.: the Worker and Tenant Rights Fair on the SRB North Lawn at UCSB. Learn your rights at work and at home and meet campus and local unions, tenant advocates and state agencies. Stop by the Blum Center table for a donut! #UCSB #BlumCenter
Logos of the unions, organizations and state agencies taking part in the Worker and Tenant Rights Fair, under the heading "Participating Unions and Organizations," with the line "Come connect, learn, and eat."
November 4, 2026 at 7:30 PM
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Shareholders elect the boards that set CEO pay. In 2024, CEOs at the 350 largest U.S. firms earned 281 times a typical worker's pay. At the median worker cooperative surveyed, where worker-members share the earnings, the highest-paid earned 1.44 times the lowest-paid. #UCSB #BlumCenter
Cooperatives Compared, Pay. Pay. Shareholders elect the boards that set chief executives' pay at large U.S. companies, and since the 1970s that pay has grown far faster than workers' wages. Worker cooperatives belong to their worker-members, who elect the leadership and decide together how to share the earnings. Cooperatives Compared, Pay. The distance between the highest and lowest pay. 281 to 1 CEO pay at the 350 largest U.S. firms compared with a typical worker's, 2024. 1.44 to 1 Highest to lowest pay at the median worker cooperative surveyed, 2024. Source: Economic Policy Institute, 2025; Democracy at Work Institute and U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, 2026. Cooperatives Compared, Pay. Who leads worker cooperatives. 72% women-led. 30% immigrant-led. 22% Black-led. Share of worker cooperatives responding to the national survey. Source: 2025 State of the Sector of Worker Cooperatives, 2024 data. Cooperatives Compared, Pay. Workers own the business. 79% of workers at U.S. worker cooperatives are member-owners. About 1,300 worker cooperatives and democratic workplaces employ about 16,000 people. Worker-owners elect the leadership and decide together how to share the earnings. Source: 2025 State of the Sector of Worker Cooperatives.
November 3, 2026 at 10:02 PM
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Chains open stores where they expect profits and close those that fall short. When a dollar store opens nearby, rural independent grocers become 5% more likely to close, about 3 times the urban rate. Shoppers who own a food co-op decide together whether their store stays open. #UCSB #BlumCenter
Cooperatives Compared, Groceries. Grocery stores. Families without a grocery store nearby have a harder time buying fresh food. Chains open locations where they expect profits and close those that fall short. When shoppers own a food cooperative, they decide together whether it stays open. Cooperatives Compared, Groceries. When a dollar store opens nearby. 3×. Rural independent grocers became 5% more likely to close, about three times the rate in cities. Their sales and jobs fell further, and the effect lasted. Source: Lopez, Marchesi and Steinbach, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 2023. Cooperatives Compared, Groceries. Where dollar stores open. 20,893 Dollar General stores, January 2026. In 27 U.S. metro areas, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores sat closer to Black, Latino and highly diverse neighborhoods than to white ones, after accounting for income and population density. Source: Jerry Shannon, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 2021; Dollar General, 2026. Cooperatives Compared, Groceries. Local activity from every $1,000 spent. $1,604 at food cooperatives, owned by their shoppers. $1,365 at conventional grocers. Food co-ops also created 9.3 jobs per $1 million in sales, compared with 5.8 at conventional grocers. Source: ICA Group study for the National Cooperative Grocers Association, 2012.
November 1, 2026 at 10:02 PM
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Farmers got 11.8 cents of each dollar Americans spent on U.S.-grown food in 2024; processors, shippers, stores, restaurants and others received the rest. Four beef packers handled 85% of steers and heifers in 2019. In 1,620 co-ops, farmers own the processing and marketing. #UCSB #BlumCenter
Cooperatives Compared, Farming. Farm income. Farmers grow the food, but processors, shippers, stores and restaurants receive most of what Americans spend on it. When a few companies buy most of a crop or herd, those buyers can push down the prices farmers receive. In a farmer cooperative, growers jointly own the processing plant or marketing business and share its earnings. Cooperatives Compared, Farming. Farmers' share of each dollar spent on U.S.-grown food, 2024. 11.8¢. Processing, packaging, transportation, wholesale, retail and food service took the other 88.2 cents. Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Food Dollar Series, March 2026. Cooperatives Compared, Farming. Four meatpackers. 85%. of U.S. steers and heifers went through the four largest beef packers in 2019, up from 36% in 1980. Ranchers have few buyers to sell to. Source: USDA Economic Research Service, 2023 and 2024. Cooperatives Compared, Farming. Farmers who own the processor. 1,620 farmer, rancher and fishery cooperatives. 1.7 million memberships. $248 billion in net business volume, 2024. Members own the dairies, packing houses and marketing operations together and share in the earnings. Source: USDA Rural Development, January 2026.
October 30, 2026 at 9:02 PM
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Shareholders own most of California's power utilities. Where private firms would not run lines, residents formed co-ops. In 2024, the Surprise Valley co-op charged homes 13.1¢/kWh; PG&E charged direct customers 39.6¢. In May 2026, 1 in 5 big-utility customers had past-due bills. #UCSB #BlumCenter
Cooperatives Compared, Electricity. Electricity. Nearly every household pays for electricity. Investor-owned utilities serve most Californians, and their shareholders collect the profits. Where private power companies would not run lines to remote ranches and towns, residents formed electric cooperatives that the customers themselves own. Cooperatives Compared, Electricity. Average residential price of electricity in California, 2024. 13.1¢ Surprise Valley Electrification, a member-owned cooperative. 39.6¢ Pacific Gas and Electric, owned by shareholders. Cents per kilowatt-hour, for homes buying power directly from the utility. Southern California Edison averaged 32.4¢ and San Diego Gas & Electric 43.6¢. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2024 retail sales data. Cooperatives Compared, Electricity. Behind on the bill. 2.4 million. customers of PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric were behind on their bills in May 2026, about 1 in 5, owing an average of $619. Source: Public Advocates Office, California Public Utilities Commission, July 2026. Cooperatives Compared, Electricity. Who collects the earnings. About 10% return on equity California regulators authorized for the three utilities' shareholders in 2026. $1.3 billion+ returned each year by U.S. electric cooperatives to their members. Source: CPUC Decision 25-12-043; National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 2026.
October 28, 2026 at 9:01 PM
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Congratulations to Nicole Meng, our student team leader, featured in The New York Times by @ronlieber.bsky.social, who also cites our People's Guide. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/25/business/california-colleges-costs.html?unlocked_article_code=1.LVE.TTCF.CyxZh5Lngfog #UCSB #BlumCenter
Photo of Nicole Meng above the words "Featured in The New York Times. Congratulations to our student team leader, Nicole Meng," citing Ron Lieber's October 25, 2026 article on the cost of attending the University of California. Nicole Meng's quotation from The New York Times: "After October, you start hearing, 'Have you found housing for next year?' All of my friends were like: 'What do we do? We're 18. We don't really have any resources. I'm first generation, low income, how am I going to come up with deposits? And I need to find roommates.'" Below it: Nicole Meng, Student Team Leader, UCSB Blum Center, and a note that she and her roommates split $2,988 in rent on a 450-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment. A slide headed "Blum Center research in the Times" showing the cover of the People's Guide to UCSB's Housing Crisis, which Lieber cites, and noting that he quotes Professor Gaye Theresa Johnson, Director of the Blum Center, on stable housing. An aerial photo of the UC Santa Barbara campus above "Read the full article at the link in our bio," the address guidetoucsbhousing.org and the Blum Center logo.
October 26, 2026 at 7:10 PM
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Banks earn interest and fees for shareholders. Credit unions belong to their members. In late 2025, credit unions charged 5.44% on a 60-month new car loan; banks, 7.41%. And 37% of Black consumers lived in a household charged an overdraft fee in a year, vs. 22% of white ones. #UCSB #BlumCenter
Cooperatives Compared, Banking. Banking and borrowing. Nearly all families keep their savings in a bank or credit union, and many borrow from one to buy a car or a home. Banks charge interest and fees, and their shareholders collect the profits. Credit unions belong to their members and return earnings to them as dividends and lower loan rates. Cooperatives Compared, Banking. Average rate on a 60-month new car loan. 5.44% Credit unions, owned by their members. 7.41% Banks. Source: National Credit Union Administration, rates for December 26, 2025. Cooperatives Compared, Banking. Who pays overdraft fees. 37% of Black consumers. 35% of Hispanic consumers. 22% of white consumers. lived in a household charged an overdraft or insufficient-funds fee in the past year. Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, December 2023. Cooperatives Compared, Banking. Members own credit unions. 146 million memberships in federally insured credit unions, June 2026. Members elect each credit union's board, and earnings return to them as dividends and lower loan rates. In May 2025, Congress repealed a federal rule that would have limited overdraft fees at large banks and credit unions. Source: NCUA, 2026; Public Law 119-10, 2025.
October 26, 2026 at 9:02 PM
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A cooperative is a business its members own. They finance it, elect its board with one vote each, and share its earnings. About 3 million cooperatives worldwide count more than 1 billion members. More than 1 in 10 people worldwide belong to one. #UCSB #BlumCenter
Cooperatives Compared, Cooperatives. A cooperative is a business its members own. Own Members finance the business together. Govern Each member has one vote in electing the board. Share Members decide how to use the earnings; none go to outside investors. Source: International Cooperative Alliance, Statement on the Cooperative Identity. Cooperatives Compared, Cooperatives. Five kinds of cooperatives. Consumer Customers own it: credit unions, food co-ops, REI. Worker Workers own it. Producer Farmers and makers own it: Ocean Spray, Organic Valley. Purchasing Independent businesses own it: Ace Hardware. Multi-stakeholder Two or more of these groups own it. Source: University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. Cooperatives Compared, Cooperatives. Cooperatives worldwide. 3 million cooperatives. 1 billion+ members, more than 12% of the world's people. 10% of the world's employed people work in or through cooperatives. Source: International Cooperative Alliance, 2026.
October 24, 2026 at 9:02 PM
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Cooperative economics means owning a business together with the others who rely on it. People form cooperatives when markets leave a need unmet: credit banks would not lend, power lines utilities would not run, groceries chains would not sell. #UCSB #BlumCenter
Cooperatives Compared, Introduction. Cooperative economics. Cooperative economics means owning a business together with the others who rely on it, whether they shop there, work there, sell through it or buy through it. The members, not outside investors, make the decisions and share the profits. Source: Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Collective Courage, 2014; International Cooperative Alliance. Cooperatives Compared, Introduction. People form cooperatives when markets leave a need unmet. Credit for farmers and neighborhoods banks would not lend to. Electricity for farms private utilities would not wire. Groceries for neighborhoods chain stores left. Housing near campuses where rents outrun student budgets. Source: Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Collective Courage, 2014; Living New Deal; Daily Nexus, 2025. Cooperatives Compared, Introduction. The forms it takes. Cooperatives credit unions, food co-ops, worker and farmer co-ops. Mutual aid societies and buying clubs that pool members' money. Land community land trusts and collectively owned land. Employee ownership workers who own shares of the company they work for. Source: Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Collective Courage, 2014; Thomas M. Hanna and Marjorie Kelly, Democracy Collaborative, 2021. Cooperatives Compared, Introduction. The questions it asks of any enterprise. Who owns it? investors, or the people it serves. Who decides? shares counted by the dollar, or one vote per member. Who benefits? earnings paid to investors, or returned to members and reinvested in the enterprise. Source: International Cooperative Alliance, Statement on the Cooperative Identity.
October 22, 2026 at 9:35 PM
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Meet Dr. Kashia Amber Arnold, Assistant Director of the Blum Center, who leads our Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative and Cooperative Economics initiative. A historian, she studies how globalization has distorted the way we value work and workers. #UCSB #BlumCenter #CCREI
Photo of Kashia Amber Arnold smiling in front of potted plants and wood paneling, with the text "Meet Our Team. Assistant Director Dr. Kashia Amber Arnold, PhD in History, UC Santa Barbara." Text slide headed "Globalization and how we value work" describing Kashia's research on the narratives about labor we have inherited, with her specializations: public policy, America and the world, globalization and the global distribution of resources. Text slide headed "Initiative leadership at the Blum Center" describing Kashia's leadership of the Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative and the Dr. U.S. Awasthi Initiative in Cooperative Economics, with the Blum Center logo.
October 21, 2026 at 8:02 PM
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Meet Haylee Oyler, a data consultant with the Blum Center's Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative. Haylee builds the data tools that show socioeconomic inequities across the region, so the numbers on housing, labor and environment reflect communities' lived experience. #UCSB #BlumCenter #CCREI
Photo of Haylee Oyler smiling in glasses against a gray backdrop, with the text "Meet Our Team. Data Consultant Haylee Oyler, Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative, UC Santa Barbara Blum Center." Text slide headed "Data justice on the Central Coast" describing Haylee's data tools and analysis for the Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative, with their areas of work: data justice, environmental data science and environmental justice. Text slide headed "People, nature and climate equity" describing Haylee's interest in environmental justice, climate transitions and community-based conservation, listing their degrees from UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley, with the Blum Center logo.
October 20, 2026 at 8:02 PM
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Add GEOG 121: The Geography of Housing to your Winter 2027 schedule. Professor Wenfei Xu of the UC Santa Barbara Department of Geography teaches the course on redlining, public housing, gentrification, eviction, homelessness and student housing. Mon/Wed, 2:00 to 3:15 p.m. #UCSB #BlumCenter
Aerial photo of the Pruitt-Igoe public housing towers in St. Louis above the title "The Geography of Housing," GEOG 121, Winter 2027, UC Santa Barbara, with the line "Add it to your Winter 2027 schedule" and a credit to Professor Wenfei Xu, Department of Geography. Text card headed "Housing is four things at once," listing shelter, the largest monthly cost for most households, the largest asset for most homeowners, and a location that sets access to schools, jobs, commutes and neighbors. Text card headed "Course topics," listing redlining and segregation, public housing, gentrification, homeownership, renting and eviction, housing supply, homelessness, student housing and international housing models. Text card headed "Schedule": Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:00 to 3:15 p.m., lecture in Ellison Hall 3621, lab in Ellison Hall 2616, Professor Wenfei Xu of the Department of Geography, with the Blum Center logo.
October 19, 2026 at 7:46 PM
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Meet Nicole Meng, a fourth-year History of Public Policy and Law major at UC Santa Barbara and a Blum Center Student Leader working on student housing needs. She studies colonialism, racial hierarchies and the history of modern inequality. #UCSB #BlumCenter
Photo of Nicole Meng smiling against a gray backdrop, with the text "Meet Our Team. Blum Center Student Leader Nicole Meng, History of Public Policy and Law major, UC Santa Barbara." Text slide headed "Colonialism, racial hierarchies and modern inequality" describing Nicole's academic interests, minor and campus activities, with her interests: colonialism, racial hierarchies and the history of inequality. Text slide headed "Student leadership at the Blum Center" describing Nicole's role on the Blum Center Student Leader Team, her work on student housing needs and her plans for law school, with the Blum Center logo.
October 19, 2026 at 8:02 PM
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Meet Dr. Gaye Theresa Johnson, Director of the Blum Center and Professor of Black Studies at UC Santa Barbara. A historian of freedom struggles and cultural politics, she advocates for farmworkers' rights, reproductive justice and housing justice. #UCSB #BlumCenter
Photo of Gaye Theresa Johnson smiling against a light gray wall, with the text "Meet Our Team. Director Dr. Gaye Theresa Johnson, Professor of Black Studies, UC Santa Barbara." Text slide headed "Freedom struggles and cultural politics" describing Gaye's scholarship, healing justice work and fellowships, with her areas of work: Black Studies, freedom struggles, cultural politics and healing justice. Text slide headed "Community-engaged scholarship and organizing" describing Gaye's leadership of the Blum Center, her advocacy and the Ventura Unified ethnic studies curriculum, listing her three books, with the Blum Center logo.
October 16, 2026 at 8:03 PM
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Meet Mary Michael, a Ph.D. candidate in Film and Media Studies at UC Santa Barbara and a Blum Center Graduate Student Assistant. She studies how migrants use e-governance technologies in Dubai and leads community listening for our Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative. #UCSB #BlumCenter #CCREI
Photo of Mary Michael smiling against a gray studio backdrop, with the text "Meet Our Team. Graduate Student Assistant Mary Michael, Ph.D. candidate in Film and Media Studies, UC Santa Barbara." Text slide headed "Migrants and e-governance in Dubai's smart city" describing Mary's research and media practice, with her specializations: migration and labor in the Middle East, histories of media and technology, critical data studies and bio/necropolitics. Text slide headed "Community listening at the Blum Center" describing Mary's outreach work for the Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative, with the Blum Center logo.
October 15, 2026 at 8:02 PM
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Meet Dr. Abby Cunniff, a Blum Center postdoctoral scholar who studies environmental justice, carceral geography and environmental labor. Their book on incarcerated firefighters is due from UC Press in 2027. Abby works on our Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative. #UCSB #BlumCenter #CCREI
Photo of Abby Cunniff smiling outdoors in front of green leaves and a brick wall, with the text "Meet Our Team. Postdoctoral Scholar Dr. Abby Cunniff, Ph.D. in Environmental Studies, UC Santa Cruz, 2025." Text slide headed "Incarcerated firefighters and California's environmental workforce" describing Abby's research and forthcoming book, with their specializations: environmental justice, carceral geography and environmental labor studies. Text slide headed "Regional equity research at the Blum Center" describing Abby's work on the Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative and listing five publications, with the Blum Center logo.
October 14, 2026 at 8:02 PM