The Workplace Justice Lab @ Northwestern University (WJL@NU) conducts research on workers’ rights and economic inequality and collaborates with local, state, and federal government agencies as well as worker centers, unions, and legal nonprofits. WJL@NU is part of a multi-institutional partnership that is anchored by the Workplace Justice Lab @ Rutgers University and includes the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California. WJL runs two programs: (1) Beyond the Bill, which addresses the challenge of labor standards enforcement at all levels of government and (2) Build the Base, Grow the Movement, which supports learning and experimentation around a distributed organizing model for worker justice organizations and unions to expand their membership bases and grow their leadership teams.
WJL@NU is directed by NU political scientist and IPR faculty fellow Daniel J. Galvin.
IPR News: Introducing the WJL@NU (July 2024).
Programs
Beyond the Bill
Our Beyond the Bill program addresses the challenge in labor standards enforcement by building relationships with state and local departments of labor, creating resources to strengthen their strategic outreach and enforcement practices, and supporting effective and dynamic collaboration between agencies and community partners with the greatest stake in robust labor standards enforcement.
Build the Base, Grow the Movement
Our Build the Base, Grow the Movement program aims to support learning and experimentation around a distributed organizing approach in the economic justice movement, so that worker centers, unions, worker associations, and community organizations are able to build power at the scale necessary for deep and lasting social change. In this model, organizations build out clear pathways of participation and scaffolding that enable grassroots leaders to lead.