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.
Students
From Retail to Tech to Universities: Unionizing for Equity in all Workplaces
Join us on Friday, April 29th, 2022 at 2:30 p.m. for a Union Days event, "From Retail to Tech to Universities: Unionizing for Equity in all Workplaces." In-person on our Ithaca campus and virtually.
The Moment for a Movement: Starbucks and the Slow Drip of Starting a Union
Learn the ins and outs of how to unionize a workplace and what legal methods Starbucks has used to delay the votes. In-person event, free and open to the public.
Worker Institute Welcomes Fall 2019 Student Fellows
The fellowship program’s goal is to provide ILR students with a unique opportunity to contribute to important projects concerning workers and unions, expand their research skills, learn about potential career paths, and form connections with faculty.
TS Bambii, a sex worker representative from VOCAL-NY and DecrimNY, spoke about the economic necessity of sex work, and its inherent devaluation and criminalization at the panel “Labor Rights for Marginalized Workers,” hosted by the Worker Institute for Union Days.
This fall, The Worker Institute at Cornell begins the fourth year of its undergraduate fellows program. Research projects for 2017-2018 revolve around the theme of workers and worker organizations responding to the challenges of the 21st century workplace.
Faculty and summer fellows from ILR’s New York City office visited the Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry training center in Queens July 13. The tour, led by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3 Treasurer Michael Yee, highlighted the work that electricians do to build New York City.
Student Fellows Presenting Research at SUNY Conference
Four student fellows of The Worker Institute at Cornell will present their research on worker centers, unions, day labor and immigrant rights at the annual SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference April 22 at SUNY Fredonia.
Nineteen leaders in the United States labor and social justice movements, five of whom are ILR alumni, met with students on Friday, Nov. 18, for the Fourteenth Annual Labor Roundtable at Cornell’s Statler Hotel.
The Worker Institute at Cornell has begun its third year of the Undergraduate Research Fellows program. Each semester, fellows work with faculty in small teams on a range of projects in areas including gender equity, precarious work, immigrant workers and young workers in the labor movement.
Presenting the keynote address at ILR’s Union Days, Vogt provided the student and faculty audience with a broad perspective of organizing and worker justice at the international level, highlighting comparisons across the globe of challenges and successes.
Andrew Crook MILR ’16 is a senior communications adviser at the American Federation of Teachers, where he works with ILR alumna Randi Weingarten ’80 to tailor the 1.6 million-member union's public messaging and media relations outreach.
Student Fellows Examine Caregiving Among Working-Class Men
Worker Institute undergraduate research fellows work on projects individually, or in small teams, under the direction of Cornell faculty based in New York City, Rochester and Buffalo, as well as in Ithaca.
Labor Roundtable in Ithaca Connects Students, Scholars & Labor Leaders
Worker Institute undergraduate research fellows work on projects individually, or in small teams, under the direction of Cornell faculty based in New York City, Rochester and Buffalo, as well as in Ithaca.
Worker Institute Kicks Off Second Year of Research Fellows Program
The Worker Institute at Cornell is currently starting its second year of the Undergraduate Research Fellows program. Through the program, undergraduates have the chance to build research skills and make substantive contributions to ongoing research projects while working closely with Worker Institute faculty.
The Worker Institute Kicks Off Union Days 2015 on April 7
Sponsored by The Worker Institute, Cornell ILR's Union Days is a two day event highlighting the groundbreaking work of notable leaders and organizations in the field of labor.
J. Lowell Jackson ’17 will study Bahasa Indonesian for three months this summer through the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship Program, an overseas language and cultural immersion program.
ILR's Worker Institute hosted Immigrant Worker Rights and Organizing: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, a Feb. 13 colloquium discussing the past and present relationships between immigration and labor.
The Worker Institute's Labor Roundtable Celebrates 12th Year
Sixteen major leaders in the North American labor and social justice movements are meeting today with students for the Twelfth Annual Labor Roundtable. Hosted by the Worker Institute, the event provides opportunities for students to speak with labor leaders and social justice activists from U.S. organizations.
Labor Movement Topics With Workplace Activist, Andy Stern
One of America's best-known workplace activists covered a span of labor movement topics when he met with students and faculty during a Worker Institute-sponsored discussion Oct. 23.
Cornell students returned to class last week with many ILR students now enrolled in courses related to the labor movement, growing inequality, workers’ rights, and innovative forms of collective representation.
Ten Cornell ILR students will attend a taping of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and tour the NBC studios in Manhattan and Silvercup Studios in Queens in January. The tours are part of ILR's Winter Intersession Program (WISP), a program that provides students with work-related experiences during winter break.
More than 60 Communications Workers of America (CWA) members in Ithaca this week for leadership training heard Bob Master discuss “The State of the Labor Movement and What We Can Do About It.”
ILR Students Alex Klein And Allison Lapehn, Report From The Labor Roundtable
On November 14, 2014, The Worker Institute hosted the twelfth annual ILR Labor Roundtable at Cornell. Around 170 students – the largest recorded turnout in the event's history – came to the Roundtable to talk with 16 speakers representing the labor and social justice movements.
The Worker Institute at Cornell is pleased to announce a new research opportunity for ILR undergraduate students. Students interested in labor issues can now apply to work as a research assistant up to 10 hours per week during the Spring Semester.
