Stories that feature our work amongst our communities in New York, the US, and the world, and invitations to join the change we're making to the world of work.
Collective Representation and Worker Voice
New Conversations Project Partners with ILO on Grant
Improving working conditions in the dangerous and largely unregulated commercial fishing industry is the focus of the project.
“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.
Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute, says, “Rather than create excitement within the more progressive part of the electorate — its young, Black, and brown and immigrant voters — it’s easier to focus on white, middle-class voters who always vote
Teamsters set to elect successor to Hoffa's son. Here's why it matters to you
CNN
According to ILR Dean Alexander Colvin, the current tight labor market, with more job openings than job seekers, is one factor leading rank-and-file union members to take a more militant position.
Cathy Creighton, director of Buffalo Co-Lab, says unions can actually help a company because workers who are better paid are more stable and less likely to leave.
New York Times: In a ‘Workers Economy,’ Who Really Holds the Cards?
This article reference the ILR School’s Labor Action Tracker, which provides a comprehensive database of strike and labor protest activity across the United States in order to better inform and support labor movement activists, policymakers, and scholars.
Wall Street Journal: Deere’s Labor Dispute Resurrects Talk of Inflation Adjustments
Striking Deere & Co. employees this week are expected to vote on a contract with more protections against rising inflation that resurfaced as an issue in negotiations for the first time in years.
Biden on the sidelines of 'Striketober,' with economy in the balance
NBC News
President Biden supports the workers’ right to strike, but White House officials say he doesn’t plan to get involved in ongoing labor disputes. Associate Professor Ariel Avgar suggests this is because work stoppages come at an economic cost to employers, and therefore, the economy.
How long could Mercy Hospital strike last? Progress so far has been elusive
The Buffalo News
Director of the Buffalo Co-Lab, Cathy Creighton, says the wage and staffing discussions at Mercy Hospital are closely related, as some of the lower-skill jobs pay as little as $13 an hour, making it easy for those workers to switch fields and chase higher wages.
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.
NYC Food Delivery Workers Face a ‘Harrowing World’
Cornell Chronicle
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.
Unions split on vaccine mandates, complicating Biden push
AP News
The labor movement is torn over vaccine requirements, but according to Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director for the Worker Institute, mandatory vaccination is such an obviously important public health policy that she expects unions to ultimately accept it.
As we celebrate Labor Day, we at The Worker Institute honor workers by recommitting ourselves to our founding mission to advance collective bargaining rights and collective worker power through our applied research, training, and policy innovation on critical issues facing workers today.
UN calls IPCC climate report ‘code red for humanity’ -- how an equitable, resilient, climate jobs movement can save us
Cornell’s Labor Leading on Climate research team addresses findings from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report and highlights the opportunity for workers and their unions to tackle climate change and reverse inequality through high-quality, union job creation.
A strike at Nabisco is testing the power of unions in the pandemic
Quartz
Since Aug. 10, about 1,000 union Nabisco workers across five states have been on strike over contract disagreements. Patricia Campos-Medina, the executive director at The Worker Institute, says the tight labor market gives workers and unions more power.
“Once in a Generation Moment” Discussed in Webinar
The course of labor could change dramatically during the Biden administration. On Monday, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez and Dean Alex Colvin discussed what’s at play.
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.
The Scheinman Institute's work with the American Federation of Teachers has helped the AFT develop confident and effective leadership who have a comprehensive understanding of collective bargaining as a tool for positive change.
Beyond Resilience… How Collective Bargaining Creates Conditions For A Sustainable Positive Work Environment
Director of Healthcare and Partner Programs John August explores strategies that organizations can use to foster a positive work environment post pandemic.
Labor and Employment Law Program Hosts New NLRB Chairman, Lauren McFerran
The Labor and Employment Law Program recently held a webinar, “A Conversation with NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran.” Respondents were former NLRB Chairman Philip A. Miscimarra, Partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, who represents management, and Alyson Belovin, Partner at Levy Ratner PC, who represents unions.
