Through teaching, research and outreach, ILR generates and shares knowledge to solve human problems, manage and resolve conflict, establish best practices in the workplace and inform government policy.
Worker Institute
The Context: Who Gets to Be American?
Apple Podcasts
Patrica Campos-Medina, executive director of ILR’s Worker Institute, discusses problems with immigration, labor and democratic systems in the U.S. – how these problems are connected and how to fix them.
NYC dismisses Haitian employees who lost their TPS status, Mamdani says
Newsday
This article cites a report by ILR’s Worker Institute, saying that New York state has 98,250 workers with Temporary Protected Status, with most coming from Haiti and Venezuela; the report is called “We Are Home: Workers with TPS Belong Here.”
Employers Fear Labor Shortage as Many Immigrants Lose Protected Status
The New York Times
“They have devoted their entire years of productivity to this country,” says Patrica Campos-Medina, executive director of ILR’s Worker Institute – and co-author of the report “We Are Home: TPS Workers Belong Here” – describing the contributions to the U.S. of Central Americans with Temporary Protected Status.
Cornell study shows impact of immigrant workers on New York economy and communities
WBNG
The economic and community impact of immigrant workers with Temporary Protected Status in New York state is the focus of a new report from ILR’s Worker Institute, called “We Are Home: Workers with TPS Belong Here.”
Cornell report shows immigrant, temporary workers contribute to NY economy
FingerLakes1.com
A new report from ILR’s Worker Institute found that immigrants in New York with Temporary Protected Status have strong attachments to their New York communities, are highly engaged in civic and political organizations and view the United States as their home.
Workers With Temporary Protected Status Aid NYS’s Economy, Society
Cornell Chronicle
Central Americans with TPS status make significant contributions to New York’s economy and civic and political organizations, an ILR School report says.
Morning Report: A rough start to the new U.S.-Iran deal
Marketplace
“Diversity is always good business practice, because you bring different voices to a problem … That’s what we’re missing by not being able to track it,” says Patrica Campos-Medina, executive director of ILR’s Worker Institute, about the dropped EEOC requirement for federal agencies to report certain demographic data.
A report from ILR’s Worker Institute is quoted in this article about how the use of artificial intelligence by Rainbow, a fashion retailer, has impacted models.
NYC building trades launches peer support network for construction workers
America’s Workforce Union Podcast
This podcast describes the essential role played by ILR’s Worker Institute in creating and supporting the new NYC Building Trades Peer Support Network, and it discusses the need for the network and how it will reduce suicide attempts and improve the mental health of construction workers.
Up to 4,000 graduate students at Harvard are poised to strike Tuesday
Boston Globe
Risa Lieberwitz, ILR professor of labor and employment law, provided expertise on the negotiating position of the Harvard graduate workers union, noting that it goes beyond a finances; for example, the union is asking for expanded protections for international students.
Harvard University’s plan to expand writing class size draws union objection
The Times of India
Risa Lieberwitz, ILR professor of labor and employment law, shared her expertise, saying that increasing class size amounts to increasing workload, and even if increasing from 10 students to 15 students falls within an employer’s discretion, the change’s impact may require Harvard to negotiate with the union.
New NY Union Peer Network Brings Construction Suicide Prevention to Jobsites
ENR East
ILR’s Worker Institute is noted as a partner of the new Building Trades Support Network, which will train peer supporters to assist with improving the mental health of New York City construction workers.
Women farmworkers who built their own fight against sexual assault cope with Chavez allegations
AP News
“I can imagine when she was trying to co-create this union with him, how much it would have cost her to speak up,” said Patrica Campos-Medina, executive director of ILR’s Worker Institute, commenting on allegations of sexual abuse within the United Farm Workers movement.
Gary LaBarbera, president of the NY Building and Construction Trades Council, speaks on the suicide 'epidemic'
The Chief
Gary LaBarbera says the Building and Construction Trades Council was “especially lucky” to have worked with Arianna Schindle and Jeff Grabelski, both from ILR’s Worker Institute, when developing a new peer support network aimed at improving construction workers’ mental health.
New York construction council launches peer support network to combat worker suicide
New York Construction Report
ILR’s Worker Institute is mentioned as a partner in the development and delivery of the curriculum for the new Building Trades Peer Support Network, which aims to train approximately 1,000 workers in the NYC construction industry as peer supporters, in order to improve mental health and reduce suicide rates.
‘It’s not weak to speak’: NYC construction unions launch mental health initiative
Construction Dive
ILR’s Worker Institute, which is a partner in the new Building Trades Peer Support Network, contributed to the network’s approach by confirming that peer-to-peer interventions work better for improving construction worker mental health than top-down interventions.
Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute at Cornell, served as co-chair of the Jobs, Opportunity, and Prosperity for All action team, which was tasked with developing job and economic growth strategies for New Jersey.
Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York Launches Peer Support Network to Prevent Suicide
LaborPress
ILR’s Worker Institute is mentioned as a partner in the new Building Trades Peer Support Network, which aims to improve construction workers’ mental health by training approximately 1,000 workers throughout the trades and across job sites in New York City as peer supporters.
ILR, Unions Offer NYC Construction Workers Innovative Emotional First Aid
Cornell Chronicle
The ILR School’s Worker Institute and unions have launched an innovative peer support initiative to destigmatize mental health and reduce suicide in New York City’s construction industry.
Trades Council Launches Peer Network To Curb Construction Suicide Rates
Harlem World
“This is precisely the kind of initiative that Cornell ILR supports as we pursue our public service mission,” said Patrica Campos-Medina, executive director of ILR’s Worker Institute, about the institute’s contribution to the Building Trades Peer Support Network curriculum, which aims to improve NYC construction workers’ mental health.
NY Construction Peer Network Targets Worker Suicide
Occupational Health & Safety
ILR’s Worker Institute is mentioned as a partner in the development of the new Building Trades Peer Support Network, an initiative to destigmatize mental health and reduce suicide in New York City’s construction industry by leveraging relationships within unions.
Profit Over People: U.S. policy deliberately traps immigrant workers in poverty, danger
NJToday.news
A new book, “Legalized Inequalities: Immigration and Race in the Low-Wage Workplace,” is profiled in this article. The book was co-authored by ILR researchers Kate Griffith, Shannon Gleeson and Patricia Campos-Medina, along with Darlène Dubuisson of the University of California, Berkeley.
Experts from the ILR School met with Senator Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Harry B. Bronson, New York State Chairs of the Committee on Labor, to discuss the current state of labor in New York.
The Hidden Cost of Convenience: How NYC’s Delivery App Economy Exploits Workers While Promising Innovation
WebProNews
A report from ILR’s Worker Institute is referenced in this article about how delivery apps contribute to problems faced by gig workers in New York City’s food delivery industry.
More Gig Workers Could See Rights Without Status Change
Law 360
Patrica Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute, suggests next steps for protecting the labor rights of gig workers, following recent changes in New York City to how grocery delivery workers are compensated and food delivery platforms encourage tipping.
Blogcast #113: Stories of Belonging and Worker Power
Power at Work
In this blogcast, Patrica Campos-Medina, executive director of ILR’s Worker Institute, explores migration, belonging, worker power and the everyday people shaping the future of immigrant worker justice with Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris.