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The Worker Institute's research, policy, and technical assistance program focuses on the innovative work led by faculty in our three key initiative areas:  Equity at Work, Labor Leading on Climate Initiative, and Precarious Work.

All these projects have been successful individually in advancing key policy recommendations and in developing partnerships with social justice advocates, elected officials, and policy stakeholders. 

The Worker Institute serves as a hub for policy research, publication, and training for policymakers, entrepreneurs, and activists engaged in the public debate to reduce economic inequality.

Equity at Work

Learn more about Equity at Work

Equity at Work tackles difficult questions of gendered and racialized harassment, discrimination, and violence, examining their varied manifestations in different industries and workplaces.  

Racial Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, and Intimate Partner Violence and the Workplace: Results from the 2024 Empire State Poll

This brief presents analysis of results of the 2024 Empire State Poll concerning rates of racial discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as experiences of intimate partner violence and their impacts at work.
A woman cringes as her co-worker places a hand on her shoulder
Racial Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, and Intimate Partner Violence and the Workplace: Results from the 2024 Empire State Poll

Equity in Focus: Job Creation for a Just Society

This report explores these themes and discusses how policymakers, practitioners, and advocates are addressing the inequities in three sectors: the child care economy, the clean energy economy, and the construction trades, as presented in the Equity in focus—Job Creation for a Just Society series.
Women working during the pandemic
Equity in Focus: Job Creation for a Just Society

New study documents low wages and precarity of nail salon workers in New York State despite recent legislation

“Unvarnished: Precarity and Poor Working Conditions for Nail Salon Workers in New York State,” highlights the challenges of raising standards in the nail salon industry and also calls attention to the role of worker organizing and advocacy in driving industry change.
Nail Salon Worker
New study documents low wages and precarity of nail salon workers in New York State despite recent legislation

Precarious Work

Learn more about Precarious Work

Precarious Work focuses on low-wage workers who are often without either collective representation or regulatory coverage; projects here include examining understudied areas of the “gig economy."

 

Fashion’s Data Doubles: How AI is Reshaping Modeling Work

Generative AI technologies are shifting conditions of work across different creative fields. In a new research brief, the Worker Institute and Data & Society share findings from their research exploring how new applications of generative AI are affecting fashion models.
Photo by Briana Elledge and Jaka Vinsek
Fashion’s Data Doubles: How AI is Reshaping Modeling Work

Unpaid Caregiving and Its Impact on New Yorkers' Paid Employment

The findings affirm that caregiving—both unpaid caregiving and access to paid care support—remains a pressing concern for the substantial number of New Yorkers who are providing care for children and/or adults.
A home healthcare worker takes a man's blood pressure.
Unpaid Caregiving and Its Impact on New Yorkers' Paid Employment

The Role and Value of Social and Labor Protections

This policy snapshot summarizes findings from questions pertaining to respondents’ wages and benefits and their perception of social and labor protections.
A calculator, cash and budget journal on a table.
The Role and Value of Social and Labor Protections

Reports and Publications

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New Report: ILR’s Worker Institute Examines NYC’s Street Vending Laws

Cornell ILR’s Worker Institute recently published a new report, “Evaluating the Regulation and Reform Implementation of Street Vending Laws in New York City,” by Andrew B. Wolf and Dylan M. Hatch.
People standing in front of food carts
New Report: ILR’s Worker Institute Examines NYC’s Street Vending Laws

Assessing the Impact of Prevailing Wage Benefits on Workers, Contractors, and the New York City Economy

This research report illustrates how PW laws might make union construction labor more cost effective than non-union construction labor for PW jobs.
PW image
Assessing the Impact of Prevailing Wage Benefits on Workers, Contractors, and the New York City Economy

Unpaid Care Work and Its Impact on New Yorkers' Paid Employment

To explore current patterns of unpaid caregiving and its impact on New Yorkers’ paid employment, the Worker Institute has published a policy brief sharing relevant findings from the 2022 Empire State Poll, carried out by the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR).
home care worker
Unpaid Care Work and Its Impact on New Yorkers' Paid Employment

Events

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Empowering Workers, Building Leaders

On October 9, 2025, thirty participants celebrated their graduation from the first Housekeeping Technician and Leadership Development Workshop Series, a collaborative training effort between Labor Leadership Initiatives at Cornell’s ILR School and the Worker Justice Project (WJP).
WJP Graduation. Cleaning technicians 2
Empowering Workers, Building Leaders

Lois S. Gray Memorial Event

In April, we held an event to commemorate the work and contributions Lois Gray made in her lifetime, as well as the legacy she left behind. We presented awards to community members who exemplified the worker-minded mentality that Lois embodied during her lifetime.
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Lois S. Gray Memorial Event

Global Labor Leadership Initiative (GLLI) 2025: Global labor leaders unite for stronger, more democratic unions!

Earlier this year, 19 union leaders from across Africa, Asia, and Europe gathered in South Africa through the ILR School and The Solidarity Center’s Global Labor Leadership Initiative (GLLI).
GLLI
Global Labor Leadership Initiative (GLLI) 2025: Global labor leaders unite for stronger, more democratic unions!