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Dignity factory workers producing shirts for overseas clients, in Accra, Ghana

Housed in the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, the Global Labor Institute (GLI)—formerly the New Conversations Project—is dedicated to independent quantitative research and action on a new generation of strategies that the evidence says measurably improves labor conditions for large numbers of workers in global production.

To get there, the Global Labor Institute pulls together fragmented constituencies—brands and retailers, manufacturers, unions, farmers, civil society organizations, regulators, investors—for evidence—based conversations and decisions. 

GLI 2024: Change or Groundhog Day? What new research tells us about what works in global labor governance

Feb 2, 2024 | Conference

Join us in New York City to discuss three big topics: climate breakdown and global production, due diligence and lead firm liability, and identifying forced labor.

Workers walking across a precarious bridge over scant water
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Higher Ground? Fashion’s Climate Breakdown

Impacts of climate change on global apparel production

In partnership with Schroders, we report the impacts of climate change on global apparel production. In our first report, we track climate change impacts at the global, national, and factory levels. We map fashion's climate vulnerabilities across production centers, and estimate future economic damages from extreme heat and flooding. Our second report examines company-level climate risk, cost, and financing for adaption and just resilience.

Textile workers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Read the reports

Latest News and Events

Higher Ground? In the News

See highlights of coverage for the Higher Ground? reports authored by the Global Labor Institute and Schroders.
Flooded Street
Higher Ground? In the News

SDG Insider: Bridging corporate reporting and the sustainability agenda

In an ever-evolving labour landscape, how can businesses ensure they respect the rights and prioritise the well-being of their workforce?
SDG Insider
SDG Insider: Bridging corporate reporting and the sustainability agenda

Global Labor Institute Conference 2024: New Research

Upcoming Event
570 Lex Winter
Global Labor Institute Conference 2024: New Research

GLI Welcomes New Board Members

The Global Labor Institute is pleased to welcome seven new members to our advisory board—Kalpona Akter, Mick Bride, Sarah Dadush, Tenisha Elliott, Duncan Scott, Jill Tucker and Mi Zhou. Please visit the Global Labor Institute’s people page to learn more about them.
Anna Burger at podium
GLI Welcomes New Board Members

Higher Ground + Trade Realities

OECD Garment Forum Side Session with Katalyst Initiative (Amsterdam), Cornell GLI (New York) and Home Based Women Workers Federation (Karachi)
Land and Sea - OECD
Higher Ground + Trade Realities

OECD Due Diligence Session -- Sarosh Kuruvilla

GLI’s Sarosh Kuruvilla is sharing our new framework for hard measures of labor outcomes as part of the main OECD session “Assessing RBC due diligence implementation: Reflecting a risk-based approach".
Logo OECD
OECD Due Diligence Session -- Sarosh Kuruvilla

Has Fashion Learned Anything From Covid? (You Already Know the Answer.)

Female garment workers wearing masks.
Has Fashion Learned Anything From Covid? (You Already Know the Answer.)

Op-Ed Fashion’s Business Model Isn’t Fit for Climate Change

This op-ed by Jason Judd and Sarosh Kuruvilla explores how the business model of fashion is failing to meet the complex problems posed by climate change.
A man walks through rain and dye outside a dyeing factory in Bangladesh. (Getty)
Op-Ed Fashion’s Business Model Isn’t Fit for Climate Change

Everybody wants strong social protection systems. Who pays for them?

A new paper by Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute concludes that while the industry agrees more social protection is a must, nobody wants to pay for it, say Jason Judd and Matthew M Fisher Daly, co-authors of the report.
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Everybody wants strong social protection systems. Who pays for them?

Announcing the Global Labor Institute

NCP is now the Global Labor Institute at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
GLI Logo
Announcing the Global Labor Institute

Many Lessons, Difficult Path to Solutions

A new working paper by the Global Labor Institute delves into the lessons learned by the apparel industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores how to better handle future crises.
garment workers in a factory
Many Lessons, Difficult Path to Solutions

Ship Detained After ILR/ILO Workshop on Labor Abuse Among Fishers

A recent training by the ILO, in collaboration with Cornell’s New Conversations Project, has resulted in the South African government detaining a foreign-flagged fishing vessel suspected of engaging in labor abuses.
Jason Judd (left) on the docks with a member of the South African Maritime Authority
Ship Detained After ILR/ILO Workshop on Labor Abuse Among Fishers

Wages trump safety standards for global apparel workers

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factory workers
Wages trump safety standards for global apparel workers

Video: Thea Lee’s 2022 Conference keynote speech

USDOL Deputy Undersecretary lays out changes for labor provisions in U.S. trade policy and agreements
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Thea Lee, Deputy Undersecretary, U.S. Department of Labor
Video: Thea Lee’s 2022 Conference keynote speech

Is private regulation working? Book launch with Sourcing Journal on May 25

New Conversations Project and the Sourcing Journal presents a live book launch and debate on Sarosh Kuruvilla's new book, Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains on Tuesday, May 25.
Sarosh Kuruvilla Book Cover
Is private regulation working? Book launch with Sourcing Journal on May 25

2022 keynoter Lara Wolters: “Time of ‘I didn’t know’ is over”

Sourcing Journal logo
Lara Wolters (center), Member of the European Parliament (Netherlands) and Jason Judd, Cornell University
2022 keynoter Lara Wolters: “Time of ‘I didn’t know’ is over”

Video: Sarosh Kuruvilla’s Conference keynote speech

GLI Academic Director brings new data and analysis of private regulation of labor practices
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Sarosh Kuruvilla, Cornell University
Video: Sarosh Kuruvilla’s Conference keynote speech

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