(ITHACA, NEW YORK) – A Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) Researcher, Jobs with Justice and the Center for Economic Policy Research have secured a $450,000 grant from WorkRise for a project to improve economic security and mobility for low-wage Workers and create a more equitable Labor Market in the South.

Kate Bronfenbrenner, who serves as Director of Labor Education Research and is a Senior Lecturer at the ILR School, and three other principal investigators will lead a team of Researchers - including Scholars from five historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), as they conduct an in-depth study of Worker Organizing by Black Workers in five sites across the South.

Advancing Black Workers in the South: An HBCU Research Initiative will be a partnership between Bronfenbrenner, the Jobs With Justice Education Fund, Algernon Austin of the Center for Economic Policy Research, Clark Atlanta University, Clinton College, Jackson State University, Norfolk State University and the University of Texas, Arlington.

The project will have two phases.

First, Bronfenbrenner and Austin will build the research capacity of Scholars at the HBCUs by providing support and training to the research teams as they conduct field surveys on organizing strategies, workplace practices and working conditions.

“I've been doing research for a long time, but trying to get a younger generation of Scholars involved is something I see as the most important thing I can do,” she said.

The second phase will produce community case studies and comparative analyses, yielding richer detail on the experiences of Black Workers in the South.  

“It will help us to get an idea of the economic, social and political factors that impact working conditions and Worker Rights,” Bronfenbrenner said.

According to Bronfenbrenner, the grant will also allow her and Austin to support a new generation of researchers in an area of the country where Labor Studies are often overlooked.

Throughout the project, the duo will train students on how to conduct survey research, as well as how to conduct qualitative case study and community case study research.

“There are lots of Scholars in the North, but they’re not writing about the South, nor should they be,” Bronfenbrenner said. “This can help fill that void.”

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