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Public Impact

Strikes up 52% in 2022: Labor Action Tracker

The ILR School database that documents U.S. work stoppages informs journalists, policymakers, activists, scholars and the public about labor activism and unrest.
Labor action tracker map
Strikes up 52% in 2022: Labor Action Tracker

Climate Jobs Institute Launch Celebrated

Union leaders, elected officials, non-profit organizations and others across the nation are lauding the growth of the ILR School initiative.
Lara Skinner, center
Climate Jobs Institute Launch Celebrated

Bigler Reappointed Chair of NYS Council

The New York State Apprenticeship and Training Council will be led through 2025 by Esta Bigler.
Esta Bigler
Bigler Reappointed Chair of NYS Council

Fewer Than 40% of New Yorkers Earn a Living Wage

Cornell Chronicle logo
The Cornell ILR Wage Atlas, a new tool out of the Buffalo Co-Lab, shows who in New York state earns living wages and where, helping policymakers and other stakeholders to understand patterns of inequality.
A screen shot of the Cornell ILR Wage Atlas
Fewer Than 40% of New Yorkers Earn a Living Wage

Co-Lab Builds on Research

The “Good Jobs for All?” summit focused on barriers faced by workers in Ithaca, where ILR faculty, students and community members have been investigating joblessness, wage inequality and related issues.
Althea Brennan ’23
Co-Lab Builds on Research

Student Receives Grant to Study Strike Impact

Johnnie Kallas started the ILR Labor Action Tracker, which tracks labor strikes across the country, and is now also studying their effectiveness.
Johnnie Kallas
Student Receives Grant to Study Strike Impact

Living Wage Study Reveals Racial Disparities

Ian Greer, Ithaca Co-Lab director and other ILR researchers have found that living wage legislation would have a dramatic impact on the earnings of many Black workers in Tompkins County.
A graphic showing how living wage connects to basic needs
Living Wage Study Reveals Racial Disparities

New York at Work 2022 Published

Research-based data and policy analysis on a range of issues impacting New York’s workers, unions and employers are the focus of the ILR School’s second annual Labor Day report.
New York State Impact
New York at Work 2022 Published

Advice to Novice Debaters: “Lean Into It”

The Cornell International Summer Debate Camp invites local students to join teens from around the world July 30 through Aug. 7 to learn about debate, a civil discourse skill.
Sean O'Neil
Advice to Novice Debaters: “Lean Into It”

Ask Help Desk: If I take a remote job, can I be forced into an office?

The Washington Post
Patricia Campos-Medina, senior extension associate at the ILR Worker Institute, says, “If you don’t accommodate your workers, you’ll lose them,” and “to attract more talent, more employers have to be more flexible.”
Ask Help Desk: If I take a remote job, can I be forced into an office?

Racial profiling in Buffalo traffic enforcement hard to gauge with imperfect data

WIVB.com4 logo
WIVB worked with the Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab to analyze stop receipt data to determine if there are disparities in who gets stopped.
Racial profiling in Buffalo traffic enforcement hard to gauge with imperfect data

The Devastating Economic Impacts of an Abortion Ban

The New Yorker
The gender pay gap begins to widen once women become mothers: research by Prof. Francine Blau.
The Devastating Economic Impacts of an Abortion Ban

What Happened at the Amazon Warehouse on Staten Island?

When a union-free tech giant was upended by a worker-founded union at a Staten Island warehouse April 1, the world was shocked. ILR experts are contextualizing what led to the surprise win and what’s next.
Amazon headquarters in Seattle, Wash.
What Happened at the Amazon Warehouse on Staten Island?

NYS Cannabis Workforce Initiative Surveys Industry

Cornell Chronicle logo
Cannabis employers see lack of training and skills, as well as lack of awareness of career opportunities, as two of the largest obstacles to achieving social equity in the adult-use market.
A young woman tends to plants
NYS Cannabis Workforce Initiative Surveys Industry

Climate Jobs Plan Published

A new Worker Institute report details how Rhode Island can create a clean-energy, worker centered economy.
A windmill on the ocean
Climate Jobs Plan Published

ILR, Weill Cornell Medicine Researchers Publish Findings

Study on paid home care workers in New York state has federal policymaking implications.
A home healthcare worker checks a patient's blood pressure
ILR, Weill Cornell Medicine Researchers Publish Findings

Buffalo Co-Lab Studies Child Care Crisis

Low wages have driven an 11% drop in the child care workforce in Erie County and have resulted in economic repercussions for families and the local economy.
A teacher interacts with students at a daycare.
Buffalo Co-Lab Studies Child Care Crisis

Research Project on Worker Organizing Announced

“Achieving Greater Worker Voice, Equity, and Mobility: A Multi-Industry Study of Organizing Efforts and Their Outcomes,” will be led by Labor Education Research Director Kate Bronfenbrenner and MIT Professor Thomas A. Kochan.
Kate Bronfenbrenner headshot
Research Project on Worker Organizing Announced

Creighton, Saleh are 2021-22 Engaged Learning Fellows

Cornell Chronicle logo
Cathy Creighton, Buffalo Co-Lab director, and Matthew Saleh, Yang-Tan Institute research associate, have been named two of Cornell’s 2021-22 Faculty Fellows in Engaged Learning.
Photo: Ithaca Campus
Creighton, Saleh are 2021-22 Engaged Learning Fellows

Dean Colvin Shares Research with Policymakers

Forced arbitration reduces access to justice, suppresses claims and undermines enforcement of employment laws, ILR Dean Alex Colvin said in a congressional hearing Thursday.
Alex Colvin
Dean Colvin Shares Research with Policymakers

Cultural Audits Support Workplace Equity

Basic training isn’t enough to stem sexual harassment in the workplace, cultural audits are needed to measure the “pulse” of organizations, according to KC Wagner.
A woman cringes as her co-worker places a hand on her shoulder
Cultural Audits Support Workplace Equity

Karhan Testifies Before NYS Assembly

Recommendations to improve employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities were provided to lawmakers by Yang-Tan Institute Co-Executive director Andrew Karhan.
Andrew Karnhan
Karhan Testifies Before NYS Assembly

ILRie Joins Ithaca Common Council

“I am incredibly thankful for this opportunity and look forward to serving the 4th Ward and the City of Ithaca,” Patrick Mehler ’23 said after becoming an alderperson.
Patrick Mehler '23
ILRie Joins Ithaca Common Council

Campos-Medina Receives Award

The Latino Coalition of New Jersey has honored Worker Institute Executive Director Patricia Campos-Medina for her work on behalf of laborers, undocumented immigrants and domestic workers.
Patricia Campos-Medina in NYC
Campos-Medina Receives Award

Avgar and Doellgast Promoted

Cornell Provost Michael Kotlikoff has confirmed the promotion of two ILR faculty members to full professor.
Ives Hall Cupola
Avgar and Doellgast Promoted

NYC Food Delivery Workers Face a ‘Harrowing World’

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New York City’s app-based delivery workers regularly face nonpayment or underpayment, unsanitary or unsafe working conditions and the risk of violence, according to a new ILR School report.
A biker making a delivery
NYC Food Delivery Workers Face a ‘Harrowing World’

Report: Ithaca Economy Shouldn’t Return to Business As Usual

Cornell Chronicle logo
An ILR faculty-led report offers nine recommendations that seek to reduce racial disparities and wage inequalities, remove barriers to work and promote living-wage jobs in growth areas.
The Ithaca Commons
Report: Ithaca Economy Shouldn’t Return to Business As Usual

Disability Studies Applied in NYC

ILR credit internships at OPEN DOORS also help students gain professional experience in the arts, grassroots organizing and justice initiatives.
Group of people in NYC holding a night vigil holding signs that say, "Nursing Home Lives Matter".
Disability Studies Applied in NYC

Labor Action Tracker Launches on May Day

The tool enables a better understanding of the scope of labor unrest across the U.S. by tracking labor actions involving two or more people and distinguishing between protests and strikes, said project lead John Kallas, Ph.D. ’23.
Screenshot of ILR's Labor Action Tracker
Labor Action Tracker Launches on May Day

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