At its heart, the Worker Institute views its work as a contribution to reversing the growing inequality, now at historic levels, which undermines the economic and social sustainability of a vibrant democratic society.  The Institute provides the nation’s most comprehensive education, training, research, and organizational support for union leaders and worker advocates.  Worker Institute research fellows, sometimes in small teams, will have the opportunity to work directly with Ithaca-based faculty and ILR labor extension faculty based in NYC.

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 interact with faculty, labor leaders and other fellows.

The main selection criteria include a strong academic record and a demonstrated interest in one of the Worker Institute’s research areas. 

A Social Movement History of the United States 

Under contract with Beacon Press. Undergraduates will research in the Kheel Center/Catherwood Library collections investigating African American and Latinx labor activism and the roles of working-class people of color generally in the resurgence of union activity in four distinct eras: World War I; the Great Depression; the 1960s and the early 2000's pursuant to the 2006 El Gran Paro Estadounidense, the largest general strike in the history of the Americas. Students will have the opportunity to apply this research to their own academic interests. I am especially interested how African American and Latinx labor activism had impacts on pushing the labor movement in each of the aforementioned decades to adopt more internationalist, anti-racist, and anti-sexist stances. Specific collections we will key on include 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, 1199SEIU, Industrial Workers of the World, Miners for Democracy and other collections. This work builds on my previous scholarship in An African American and Latinx History of the United States – Paul Ortiz