Cornell University mobile logo
Person with megaphone

Upcoming Events

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.

A man and woman sitting down working together looking at a shared tablet
Worker Precarity in Journalism, Academia and Computer Programming
cornell-seal Icon

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.

megaphone

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.

 

Students on international experience trip
Learn more about our work with students.

In the News

Media Mentions

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.
NY Construction Peer Network Targets Worker Suicide

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.
Profit Over People: U.S. policy deliberately traps immigrant workers in poverty, danger

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.
The Hidden Cost of Convenience: How NYC’s Delivery App Economy Exploits Workers While Promising Innovation

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.
More Gig Workers Could See Rights Without Status Change

What’s Really Happening In Venezuela And How Does It Impact Black People?

Essence
“In the U.S., Venezuelans currently represent the largest immigrant group granted TPS, which is a designation of protection for people who are unable to safely return home due to humanitarian crises or political instability,” says Natalia Navas, labor leadership programs associate, discussing the Temporary Protected Status program.
What’s Really Happening In Venezuela And How Does It Impact Black People?

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.
Blogcast #113: Stories of Belonging and Worker Power

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.
blogphoto
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.