The Worker Institute brings together researchers, educators and students with practitioners in labor, business and policymaking to address issues related to confronting systemic inequality and building a fair economy, robust democracy and just society. We will share opinion, analysis, research, data, insights and training from our faculty and staff.
Worker Institute in the News
New York Delivery Drivers Face Low Pay Even as Risks Mount
Bloomberg
fter accounting for expenses like electric bikes and batteries, the median hourly wage for delivery workers in New York City is $7.94, excluding tips, according to a study conducted by advocacy group Worker’s Justice Project in partnership with Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Unions split on vaccine mandates, complicating Biden push
AP News
“Labor unions are a microcosm of the society we live in,” said Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of Cornell University’s The Worker Institute. “The same political divide we have right now exists within the rank and file of unions.”
A strike at Nabisco is testing the power of unions in the pandemic
Quartz
“Workers have more power to demand more rights, and unions have more power to demand more from employers like Nabisco,” says Patricia Campos-Medina, the executive director at The Worker Institute at Cornell University.
Trumka era ends, and union tactics may be in for a makeover
Politico
"People have all of these new issues at work all of a sudden," said Ileen DeVault, academic director of The Worker Institute at Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations School.
‘Everyone Wants a Good Job’: The Texas Unions Fighting for a Green New Deal
At the Texas AFL-CIO annual convention, unions voted in favor of a green jobs plan. The proposal was written by the Texas Climate Jobs Project, “a project of the state labor federation and ILR's Worker Institute in consultation with 27 unions statewide.”
Today’s special: Angry diners. What’s a restaurant to do?
The Christian Science Monitor
“The fundamental shift and reckoning of the hospitality industry is happening because the pandemic actually changed the perception of those jobs” to something more valued and necessary, says Patricia Campos-Medina, a labor expert at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York
Sexual harassment at work can cost survivors up to $1.3 million over a lifetime
Market watch
New report from Worker Institute partner , Times Up! identifies the financial and economic tolls that workplace sexual harassment takes on survivors themselves
Why Texas fossil fuel unions signed onto a climate plan
Grist
Skinner, Labor Leading on Climate Director, says “there’s been a real focus on the carbon impact of proposals and not enough emphasis on what type of jobs are these activities going to create, what are the quality of these jobs, are they actually going to help reverse inequality.”
Zach Cunningham, from the Cornell ILR School’s Worker Institute, proposes focusing on making the transition to renewable-energy sources one that provides good-paying jobs, rather than a narrative of “good jobs versus the environment.”
Energy transition could create 1.1 million jobs in Texas, report says
Lara Skinner, Director of Cornell’s Labor Leading on Climate Initiative, provided insight into the number of jobs that could be created in various aspects of growing the renewable energy and climate tech industries in Texas.
Laundry workers essential in pandemic but shut out from benefits
A report released this week on the working conditions of retail laundry workers found that many lack knowledge of their workplace rights and have been victims of wage theft, discrimination and unsafe working conditions.
‘WE ALL QUIT’: How America’s Workers Are Taking Back Their Power
VICE News
"It's an act of protest against abuses and exploitative conditions," said Patricia Campos Medina, executive director of the Worker's Institute at Cornell University. "It’s a sense of empowerment that workers don’t have to tolerate that kind of abuse."
Many businesses in varied industries, along with organizations such as the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, turned to Nellie Brown for guidance on adjusting practices and policies during the pandemic.
Lara Skinner, Director of the Worker Institute's Labor Leading on Climate, provides insight on the importance of including labor standards on clean energy work.
National Labor Leadership Initiative (NLLI) alum, MaryBe McMillan, President of the North Carolina State AFL-CIO, was interviewed by franknews and Payday Report on organizing and collective bargaining in the South.
Biden Gender Policy Council leaders: We must fix the caregiving crisis COVID has created for women
Fortune
Op-ed in Fortune by the co-chairs of the White House Gender Policy Council cites the Foundations for a Just and Inclusive Recovery report by the Worker Institute.
Fighting Back: Apps Kept City Restaurants and Gig Workers Afloat During the Pandemic, But Now They Want More
wnyc
The Worker Institute's Maria Figueroa speaks to WNYC about how New York City restaurants became heavily reliant on third-party delivery services during the pandemic.
Behind the Camera with Tsering Lama: Documenting Domestic Workers Fight for Rights
Profile of New York State AFL-CIO/Cornell Union Leadership Institute (ULI) and WE RISE graduate Tsering Lama on CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies Blog.
The Ithaca Voice's Guide to Tompkins County school reopening
The Ithaca Voice
“Schools are not accustomed to looking at their buildings from the standpoint of communicable disease,” says Nellie Brown, Director of Workplace Health and Safety Programs at the Worker Institute in an interview with the Ithaca Voice.
Returning Workers Still Question Workplace Safety As Pandemic Continues
With more workers making their way back to their jobs, some provided an update about their recent experiences during a joint panel discussion and press event hosted by The Worker Institute and ROC United.
Little known unemployment program is helping businesses avoid layoffs
WCNY
In an effort to prevent layoffs amidst this tumultuous economic situation, many states including New York have embraced a shared work system. Maria Figueroa, Director of Labor and Policy Research at the Cornell ILR School, explained how the system works.
State Guidelines For Reopening Schools Are "A Skeleton" To Be Adapted To Specific Buildings
wicz fox 40
Nellie Brown speaks with Fox 40 Brown about school reopening, noting school buildings aren't exactly designed with the transmission of communicable diseases in mind and that each building will present its own host of problems.
School Boards Worry About Time, Money When It Comes to Reopening
Spectrum
Nellie Brown speaks with Spectrum News about schools reopening and recommends districts first put together a joint labor-management committee that includes the school nurse, the district’s attorney, the HVAC folks, teachers, staff, and administration.
Can schools safely reopen? Cornell University Health and Safety Director weighs in
localsyr.com
Nellie Brown speaks with Local SYR on the adaptations that schools need to make to reopen safely and the logistical and financial barriers that will entail.
NY’s detailed school rules: Masks, temperature checks, 6-foot distance, sports on hold
syracuse.com
Nellie Brown speaks with Syracuse News on the difficulties of opening schools, including pointing out that some of the options that are best for safety, like sending kids for half days so they are spaced out as much as possible, may create burdens for families.
Cuomo studies, malls wait for instructions on air filters
Times Union News
Nellie Brown speaks with the Time Union on the complications of installing HEPA or MERV filters and the need for ventilation fans in large buildings that are powerful enough to circulate air through high-density filters.
Nellie Brown speaks with Newsday on the difficulty of opening shopping malls due to the mindset of shoppers at indoor malls, where people congregate in groups and sit on benches together.
