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.
News
Brown Offers Best Practice Advice During Pandemic
Many businesses in varied industries, along with organizations such as the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, turned to Nellie Brown for guidance on adjusting practices and policies during the pandemic.
Lara Skinner, Director of the Worker Institute's Labor Leading on Climate, provides insight on the importance of including labor standards on clean energy work.
National Labor Leadership Initiative (NLLI) alum, MaryBe McMillan, President of the North Carolina State AFL-CIO, was interviewed by franknews and Payday Report on organizing and collective bargaining in the South.
Biden Gender Policy Council leaders: We must fix the caregiving crisis COVID has created for women
Fortune
Op-ed in Fortune by the co-chairs of the White House Gender Policy Council cites the Foundations for a Just and Inclusive Recovery report by the Worker Institute.
Fighting Back: Apps Kept City Restaurants and Gig Workers Afloat During the Pandemic, But Now They Want More
wnyc
The Worker Institute's Maria Figueroa speaks to WNYC about how New York City restaurants became heavily reliant on third-party delivery services during the pandemic.
Behind the Camera with Tsering Lama: Documenting Domestic Workers Fight for Rights
Profile of New York State AFL-CIO/Cornell Union Leadership Institute (ULI) and WE RISE graduate Tsering Lama on CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies Blog.
Statement from Worker Institute Extension Faculty Kim Cook on recent passing of AFL-CIO President Emeritus John Sweeney
The faculty and staff at The Worker Institute, ILR-Cornell honors his legacy by re-committing to the work of advancing collective bargaining rights and economic justice for all workers.
Lara Skinner Named to Just Transition Working Group
Lara Skinner, executive director of The Worker Institute at the Cornell University ILR School has been named to the Just Transition Working Group that will support the implementation of New York state’s national leading climate law.
Patricia Campos-Medina Joins the Worker Institute Leadership Team
Patricia Campos-Medina, will serve as co-Executive Director of The Worker Institute alongside current Executive Director, Lara Skinner, and Academic Director, Ileen DeVault, beginning September 7, 2020.
The Ithaca Voice's Guide to Tompkins County school reopening
The Ithaca Voice
“Schools are not accustomed to looking at their buildings from the standpoint of communicable disease,” says Nellie Brown, Director of Workplace Health and Safety Programs at the Worker Institute in an interview with the Ithaca Voice.
Returning Workers Still Question Workplace Safety As Pandemic Continues
With more workers making their way back to their jobs, some provided an update about their recent experiences during a joint panel discussion and press event hosted by The Worker Institute and ROC United.
Little known unemployment program is helping businesses avoid layoffs
WCNY
In an effort to prevent layoffs amidst this tumultuous economic situation, many states including New York have embraced a shared work system. Maria Figueroa, Director of Labor and Policy Research at the Cornell ILR School, explained how the system works.
State Guidelines For Reopening Schools Are "A Skeleton" To Be Adapted To Specific Buildings
wicz fox 40
Nellie Brown speaks with Fox 40 Brown about school reopening, noting school buildings aren't exactly designed with the transmission of communicable diseases in mind and that each building will present its own host of problems.
School Boards Worry About Time, Money When It Comes to Reopening
Spectrum
Nellie Brown speaks with Spectrum News about schools reopening and recommends districts first put together a joint labor-management committee that includes the school nurse, the district’s attorney, the HVAC folks, teachers, staff, and administration.
Can schools safely reopen? Cornell University Health and Safety Director weighs in
localsyr.com
Nellie Brown speaks with Local SYR on the adaptations that schools need to make to reopen safely and the logistical and financial barriers that will entail.
NY’s detailed school rules: Masks, temperature checks, 6-foot distance, sports on hold
syracuse.com
Nellie Brown speaks with Syracuse News on the difficulties of opening schools, including pointing out that some of the options that are best for safety, like sending kids for half days so they are spaced out as much as possible, may create burdens for families.
Cuomo studies, malls wait for instructions on air filters
Times Union News
Nellie Brown speaks with the Time Union on the complications of installing HEPA or MERV filters and the need for ventilation fans in large buildings that are powerful enough to circulate air through high-density filters.
Nellie Brown speaks with Newsday on the difficulty of opening shopping malls due to the mindset of shoppers at indoor malls, where people congregate in groups and sit on benches together.
Occupancy limits and no fitting rooms: Shopping in the COVID-19 era
Newsday
Nellie Brown tells Newsday that temperature checks on employees will likely be commonplace, even though it is a “coarse screen” that won't pick up asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections.
Experts: COVID-19 outbreaks at processing plants affect the whole community
CNY Central
Nellie Brown speaks to CNYCentral about making processing plants safe during the Covid-19 outbreak, "you tend to have people working literally shoulder to shoulder doing their processing. So that makes protecting individuals far more difficult. You're going to have to really look at putting barriers between people."
Workers have filed 4,775 complaints to OSHA about exposure to Covid-19 on the job.
Nellie Brown, speaking to The Counter, says the threat of OSHA citations, whether in the form of fines or public notice, can motivate employers to make safer workplaces.
As carmakers restart factories, they look at steps to protect workers from COVID-19
Marketplace
Art Wheaton speaks at Marketplace about precautions that car manufacturers can take, "you may have some staggered start and stop times, you may have people arriving at different intervals or different places and they may have more than one entrance."
