Public Impact

On October 25th, in Syracuse, New York, more than 8 upstate organizations gathered for an event to strategize on building long-term worker power in their region.

A discussion focused on the evolution of, and challenges facing, women’s professional hockey was hosted on Monday by ILR International Visiting Fellow Kelly Pike, ’03, Ph.D. ’14.

The Worker Institute recently published three data snapshots of findings to questions asked about the care economy, the experience of sexual harassment in the workplace, and work for online platforms. Read on for a preview of key findings with links to the three data snapshots.

Guest contributor Kiran Abraham-Aggarwal, ILR '25, discusses direct care workers--the challenges they face, how their working conditions relate to patient outcomes, and possible ways forward.

Cornell ILR’s Global Labor Institute (GLI) launched its Labor Outcomes Metrics on May 29. The new set of 25 quantitative measures allows regulators, firms and unions to score, track and compare impacts over time.

Our last mile delivery project investigates the changes happening in a dynamic essential industry.

The High Road NYC program has hit the ground running as students settle into their new surroundings, gain confidence and begin to advocate for and engage with the community.

The Scheinman Institute is bringing labor to the table for a U.S. project designed to equip front-line workers with effective personal protection equipment that will be widely adopted.

In this post, Russell Weaver, Director of Research for the Buffalo Co-Lab, and Ian Greer, Director of the Ithaca Co-Lab, explain what a minimum wage is meant to do, where current policy falls short, and promising practices that can help ensure a living wage for workers.

The Climate Jobs Institute State of the NY Solar Workforce study provides a first look at the results of our exploratory study on the working conditions of New York State solar workers on Friday, April 26, in person and live stream.

Cornell ILR's Union Days begins Tuesday, March 5, with "Unions, Labor, and Freedom of Expression," a presentation given by Randi Weingarten ’80.

Beginning July 1, 2024, NYC employers must distribute and post a Worker Bill of Rights notice, emphasizing labor laws and protections for all workers, including immigrants. Employers must comply by July 1, 2024, or face a penalty. The law allows a 30-day window for corrections, emphasizing support for businesses in adapting to new requirements.

Charlotte Garden, professor of law at the University of Minnesota, presented “The Constitution and the Workplace: Exploring How the First Amendment Impacts Workers.”

A new grant awarded by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation will fund an interdisciplinary team featuring MIT and Tougaloo College scholars.

Mark your calendars for the Climate Jobs Institute’s upcoming statewide conference, Generating Equity: Pathways to Union Careers in Clean Energy, in Albany, NY, on March 1-2, 2024.

Cornell ILR's Climate Jobs Institute celebrated the launch of its new report, “Building an Equitable, Diverse & Unionized Clean Energy Economy: What We Can Learn from Apprenticeship Readiness” on November 30th.

An ILR student helped establish the United Auto Workers Local 2300, which now represents Cornell building maintenance and service workers.

The Kheel Center, ILRies and Cornellians carry on the collective action legacy that grew from the Triangle Factory Fire disaster.

The AFT/Cornell - Scheinman Institute Collective Bargaining Certificate Program has trained over 400 participants.

The NLRB General Counsel and labor experts with ties to Buffalo discussed recent organizing statistics, unfair labor practices and strikes in the U.S., the possibility of the PRO Act, employer responses to increased unionization, nonprofit organizing efforts, and more.

For more than 300 days, Amazon workers talked with their peers to build relationships, trust and, ultimately, a union that many thought would never be possible, Amazon Labor Union leaders said at ILR during Union Days.

Please join Cornell University ILR Buffalo Co-Lab on June 6, 2023, from 10-12:30pm for an in-person discussion with featured speaker, Jennifer Abruzzo, General Counsel, NLRB alongside leaders in the Labor Movement with ties to Buffalo.

Ellen Stutzman ’04 is at the center of 11,500 striking screenwriters whose union is picketing Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Universal and Paramount.

The public is invited to ILR School “Talkin’ Union” events featuring speakers whose experiences reflect contemporary labor movement struggles and successes.

Union Days begin March 15 with "Unions on Campus," a presentation and panel discussion with members from different university worker organizations.

The ILR School database that documents U.S. work stoppages informs journalists, policymakers, activists, scholars and the public about labor activism and unrest.

Union leadership during a volatile labor-management period will be discussed by NFLPA President JC Tretter '13 and Professor Harry Katz in a Nov. 1 webinar.

As president of the National Football League Players Association, JC Tretter ’13 utilizes his ILR training to lift players’ voices.

Patrick Mehler ’23, a senior in the ILR School and an alderperson on the City of Ithaca’s Common Council, is a founding member and president of Cornell Votes.

Jaz Brisack, Simon Rosenblum-Larson, Jessica Garcia and Heather Goodall shared their insights about the organizing process and workers’ goals at a panel on campus.

The professorship in labor relations was endowed this year through a generous gift from David M. Cohen ’73 and Abby Joseph Cohen, A&S '73.

Johnnie Kallas started the ILR Labor Action Tracker, which tracks labor strikes across the country, and is now also studying their effectiveness.

ILR offers research-based perspectives and one-the-ground experiences that inform breaking workplace news.

The 2022 National HR in Hospitality Conference, organized by Cornell's ILR and Hotel schools, brought together over 300 industry professionals and addressed how the pandemic affected the hotel industry.

Martin Scheinman, Randi Weingarten, and Jessica Martinez analyze workplace health and safety issues.

Catherine Creighton, director of the Buffalo Co-Lab, says the law requires companies to give a union notice of a new benefit and the opportunity to bargain over it.

ILR alumna leading 1.7million-member American Federation of Teachers for eighth term.

Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute, says the debate around gun rights and gun legislation in America is difficult for labor leaders to maneuver.

Cathy Creighton, director of the ILR Buffalo Co-Lab, and Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of ILR’s Worker Institute, have been putting their ILR education and experience to work in roles they now hold at the school.

“I’m of the school that says there is something happening, but no indication yet it is even going to amount to a sizable increase in the level of unionization,” says Harry Katz, director of the Scheinman Institute.

U.S. labor law doesn’t set a deadline, or require that a contract be reached at all. “The overall approach with the law is to encourage the parties to reach an agreement that they both can live with,” said Risa Lieberwitz, academic director of the Worker Institute.

John August and Lily Mackey explore how the doctors' union impacted working conditions at New York City Health and Hospitals system

“For a long time, there was a belief you couldn’t organize low-wage workers or part-time workers,” says Patricia Campos-Medina, director of the ILR Worker Institute. “Industry has changed. Our economy has changed.”