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Worker Precarity in Journalism, Academia and Computer Programming

Collective Representation as a Response to Worker Precarity

What do part-time or underemployed workers without health benefits, pensions or job security who work split shifts at a number of different locations each week have in common? They all hold a university degree, often with at least one master’s degree and/or a doctorate, but find themselves in precarious, insecure work.

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Worker Precarity in Journalism, Academia and Computer Programming
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About the Institute

About us

The Worker Institute at Cornell engages in research and education on contemporary labor issues, to generate innovative thinking and solutions to problems related to work, economy and society. The institute brings together researchers, educators and students with practitioners in labor, business and policymaking to confront growing economic and social inequalities, in the interests of working people and their families. A core value of the Worker Institute is that collective representation and workers’ rights are vital to a fair economy, robust democracy and just society. Learn more about all of our offerings.

Worker Institute

Core Offerings

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.

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Student Engagement

Student Engagement

The Worker Institute is committed to engaging Cornell ILR undergraduate and graduate students through our courses, research fellowships, graduate programs and other professional development opportunities.

 

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Learn more about our work with students.

In the News

Media Mentions

Mass Worker Education: Governing From the Shop Floor

New Labor Forum
This article describes the Worker Institute’s We Rise Nanny Training program as a “peer education program centering around rights awareness, workforce development, and organization skills” that has trained hundreds of nannies, cleaners and home health aides, and other workers.
Mass Worker Education: Governing From the Shop Floor

Latina Civic Action urges Sherrill to appoint N.J.’s first Latina lieutenant governor

NJ.com
New Jersey’s Latina Civic Action organization has suggested Patrica Campos-Medina, executive director of ILR’s Worker Institute, as one of several possible Latinas to fill New Jersey’s recently vacated lieutenant governor position.
Latina Civic Action urges Sherrill to appoint N.J.’s first Latina lieutenant governor

Private equity boom in New York home care has experts calling for guardrails

Politico Pro
Private equity has expanded in the New York home care industry over the past decade, partly due to weak state and federal health and labor regulations, according to a new report from ILR’s Worker Institute, “Private Equity’s Impact on Home Care Workers and Patients in New York State.”
Private equity boom in New York home care has experts calling for guardrails

Private Equity Ownership Results in Poor Working Conditions in NYS Home Care

Cornell Chronicle
Private equity firms’ investment in home care agencies perpetuates poor working conditions for workers by continuing the exploitation that is prevalent across the industry, according to a new study from the ILR School’s Worker Institute.
Private Equity Ownership Results in Poor Working Conditions in NYS Home Care

Private Equity Owns Half of Home Care Agencies in NYS, Cornell ILR Researchers Say

Brooklyn News Service
A report from ILR’s Worker Institute about private equity’s consolidation of home care, healthcare, and hospice agencies is discussed, with Anne Marie Brady, research director, worker rights and equity, commenting on the potential negative impact of private-equity ownership on job quality and care quality.
Private Equity Owns Half of Home Care Agencies in NYS, Cornell ILR Researchers Say

NYC Delivery Workers Report Staggering Rates of Injury, Mental Health Issues

Findings from a report by ILR’s Worker Institute in 2021 about New York City delivery workers are mentioned in this article; the report is titled “Essential but Unprotected: App-based Food Couriers in New York City.”
NYC Delivery Workers Report Staggering Rates of Injury, Mental Health Issues

Blog: Latest News and Events

Read more stories from the Worker Institute Blog

Collective Representation as a Response to Worker Precarity in Logistics, Warehousing and Supply Chains

The second webinar in the Cornell ILR Worker Institute's three-part series on collective representation and worker precarity examined how e-commerce, automation, and changing supply chains contribute to worker insecurity in warehousing and logistics, and how collective organizing, legislation, and community solidarity can address these challenges.
overhead shot of warehouse worker pushing boxes with surrounding shelves of packages
Collective Representation as a Response to Worker Precarity in Logistics, Warehousing and Supply Chains

Cornell’s Last Mile Delivery Study Finds Majority of Non-Union Delivery Drivers Would Unionize

Preliminary data from Cornell’s Last Mile Delivery study finds that a majority of its non-unionized package delivery driver respondents think that their interests would be better represented by a union and would support unionization at their employers.
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Cornell’s Last Mile Delivery Study Finds Majority of Non-Union Delivery Drivers Would Unionize

The Incursion of Private Equity into New York State Home Care

Findings from a two-year research project that explores private equity’s incursion into home care in New York State, its relationship to structural racism and how agency structure shapes working conditions, worker voice and what this means for quality of care.
RWJF0930
The Incursion of Private Equity into New York State Home Care

Lois Gray Innovation Initiative 

Explore the Initiative
Lois Gray, ILR School faculty member

The Lois Gray Innovation Initiative was founded by labor pioneer Lois Gray to generate innovative thinking and solutions to problems related to work, economy, and society. The Lois Gray Innovation Fund provide financial incentives for collaboration between resident and extension faculty in relation to priority programs of The Worker Institute. It ensures faculty, researchers and students have the opportunity to fulfill the institute’s mission of advancing worker rights and collective representation.