2014 Summer PAID Fellowships
The Worker Institute provides the nation’s most comprehensive education, training, research, and organizational support for union leaders and workplace activists. Through the Worker Institute’s Summer Fellowship Program, undergraduate students have the opportunity to work directly with resident and extension faculty on research and other projects. These paid, full-time fellowships take place in New York City and Ithaca and last approximately 8 weeks during June and July. Student fellows have the unique opportunity to contribute to important projects concerning workers and unions, expand their research skills, learn about the labor movement, explore potential career paths, and interact with faculty, labor leaders, and other fellows.
There are two Fellowships in Ithaca and four Fellowships at the NYC.
They all pay up to $2900 for 290 hours worked.
o Contribute to important studies and projects concerning workers and unions.
o Use and expand your research skills and abilities.
o Learn more about the labor movement.
o Learn about career paths and make valuable contacts with potential employers.
o Meet practitioners, exchange ideas with faculty, guests, and other fellows.
Qualifications:
o Excellent written and verbal skills
o Commitment to labor and social justice values
o Ability to work independently
o Research and analytical skills
o Interest in learning more about the labor movement
o Interpersonal skills and the ability to work as a member of a team
o Proficiency in web-based research and Microsoft Office programs
Submission:
Applicants need to send application, resume and writing sample to
Ken Margolies, by March 21, 2014.
Applicants should designate their first, second, and third choice.
Final selections for Fellowships will be announced by early in April.
For an application and additional information about the Worker Institute’s Summer Fellowships,
call Stacy Reynolds, 212 340 2809, .
Participants are responsible for their housing accommodations.
These fellowships are for ILR undergraduates.
Two Fellowships with the Worker Institute in Ithaca for Summer 2014
1/ITH. Young Workers and the Labor Movement
This is a comparative research project that looks at union initiatives to bring young workers into membership and leadership. This multi-year project includes case studies and comparative analysis in six countries: the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. Summer work will consist of literature reviews, case studies, and related assignments.
2/ITH. Unions and Immigrant Workers, launching a website
To accompany the publication of a new ILR Press book – Mobilizing against Inequality: Unions, Immigrant Workers and the Crisis of Capitalism – the Worker Institute is setting up a web page to update research and encourage dialogue among researchers and practitioners. Summer work will include tracking down related research and networks, writing summaries, and helping develop the website.
For more information on the Ithaca Fellowships, contact Professor Lowell Turner: or 607-255-2279
Four Fellowships with the Worker Institute in NYC for Summer 2014
1/NYC. Women in Union Leadership: Women as Leaders of Worker Organizations
Professor Lois Gray requests the assistance of an ILR Fellow during the summer of 2014 to work with her on research about emerging women leaders in unions and non-traditional worker organizations in the Metropolitan New York Area. The study will build on Professor Gray’s previous research on women as national leaders of unions and her recent study (with Maria Figueroa) of women’s committees and other special outreach programs sponsored by worker organizations. The ILR fellow will review related research, collect data about women in union leadership, and interview selected women leaders. For more information on this fellowship, contact Professor Lois Gray: or 212.340.2860.
2/NYC. Unions, Energy, and Climate Crisis –Energy Democracy from New York to Internationally
The Fellow will work with the Worker Institute’s Labor, the Environment, and Sustainable Development initiative group and Global Labor Institute on two main projects related to the role of workers and unions in transitioning to a socially just, low-carbon, and sustainable energy system and economy. The Fellow will assist with research, writing, and convenings of labor, community, and environmental organizations for two main projects. One is Project Sandy, a labor initiative to advance “energy democracy” in New York State. The second project is Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, a global initiative that includes more than 30 international trade union bodies, and seeks to advance a vision of our energy system that addresses the climate crisis, energy poverty, the degradation of both land and people, and the repression of workers’ rights and protections. The fellow will work closely with Lara Skinner and Sean Sweeney.
For more information on this fellowship, contact Lara Skinner: or 212.340.2884.
3/NYC. Discrimination in the Restaurant Industry
In collaboration with the Restaurant Opportunity Centers United (ROC-U), we are looking to examine the rates of discrimination (gender and race) among restaurant workers through the coding and analysis of over 5,000 surveys. This project started on February 2014 and will continue during the summer. In addition, the fellow will assist in the analysis and writing for a report based on matched-pair interviews of restaurant workers. Project supervisors: KC Wagner and Legna Cabrera. For more information, contact Legna Cabrera: or 212.340.2821.
4/NYC. Day Laborer Project: Training Day Laborers as Safety Liaisons
The Worker Institute is collaborating with the Workers Justice Project, a Brooklyn-based day laborer organization, in their pilot program to train day laborers as safety liaisons. The summer fellow will assist in the implementation of the program as well as in the collection of quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program. Candidates must be fluent in Spanish.Project supervisors: Maria Figueroa and Legna Cabrera. For more information, contact Legna Cabrera : or 212.340.2821.