Labor Roundtable Reflection: Learning At The ILR School

Labor Roundtable Reflection One of the main highlights of my first semester at Cornell was attending the labor roundtable. Prior to attending the event, I was unsure about the actual professions and roles associated with labor relations outside of working for a union or becoming a lawyer. Furthermore, I was curious to how the skills and lessons we learn at the ILR school can be applied to the real world. Attending the labor roundtable gave me great perspective about the wide range of professions in the labor industry and how skills I learn in the classroom can be applied to the real world. From organizing to researching, I learn about the wide variety of professionals associated with labor relations and how beneficial the skills I learn at the ILR school are in the real world.
She is responsible for training, organizing, and recruiting new members. One of the most important things she talked about was regarding some of the obstacles that faced unions and organized strikes which parallels many of the topics we covered in this course. She said, “the biggest struggle facing union members is fear” and “there are a lot of misconceptions and image issues associated with unions today.” I found it very interesting that the many of the historical challenges we covered in class are still very prevalent today. Another thing that I found fascinating was her example of how her union organized and won a city-wide strike in 2005. Through their collective effect, the union and workers won a multiple billion dollar fight which is a testament to the power of organized labor. While we have studied many similar events throughout this course, it is fascinating and refreshing to learn about a modern example and hear it from a first person