Publications

Faith leader speaking into a microphone. Behind the speaker, protesters are holding signs in Spanish and English that say "May Day March: Immigration Reform" and "May Day March: Workers' Rights."

PRO Act Faith Leader Sign On

June 30th, 2021

Faith Leaders Support PRO Act to Advance Workers’ Rights From our standpoint of faith, America must honor the sacred worth and dignity of work and every worker in the United States. Drawing…

Cover page of a KI report entitled "The Uber Workplace in D.C."

The Uber Workplace in Washington, D.C.

April 18th, 2020

The on-demand ride-hailing industry that has emerged in recent years presents sobering challenges for its new workforce. These challenges include: drivers not knowing how much they truly earn;…

Cover image for a 2020 KI report entitled "Financial Exploitation, Bank Workers' Rights, and the Prevention of the Next Crisis: The Case for a Bank Workers' Bill of Rights."

The Case for a Bank Workers’ Bill of Rights

February 19th, 2020

The crisis of 2008 and the ensuing Great Recession revealed both the extent to which this country is vulnerable to predatory manipulations of powerful corporate entities and the degree to which the financialization of our economy has contributed to growing inequality, the concentration of incomes and wealth, and the growing precarity of American working families.…

Cover image for the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor & the Working Poor's Ten Year Anniversary Summary & Report, published in 2020.

Kalmanovitz Initiative Ten Year Anniversary Summary & Report

January 1st, 2020

Since it was officially launched on November 10, 2009, with a gift from the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation, Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor & the Working Poor has established itself as a unique organization. Its distinctive identity and contribution stem from its simultaneous fulfillment of a broad spectrum of roles not duplicated by any other entity in the United States.…

Cover image for "Shared Values: AFL-CIO Labor Federations and Catholic Conferences in the State Legislatures, 2017" report by Clayton Sinyai, Lillian Ryan and Alexandros Taliadoros. Logos for the Catholic Labor Network and Georgetown University Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor appear at the top.

Shared Values: AFL-CIO and Catholic Conference Activity

January 8th, 2018

The labor movement in the United States shares many values with the Catholic Church, with each supporting living wages for workers, the right to join and form unions, and the defense of our immigrant brothers and sisters. We partnered with the Catholic Labor Network to research whether the two organizations worked together to advance their shared ideals at the state level.…

Cover image for "Fixing Los Angeles and Remaking Public Sector Collective Bargaining: A Case Study of 'Bargaining for the Common Good,'" a 2016 report by Patrick M. Dixon, Ph.D.

Fixing LA and Remaking Public Sector Bargaining

July 13th, 2016

On July 13, 2016, the Kalmanovitz Initiative released Fixing Los Angeles and Remaking Public Sector Collective Bargaining: A Case Study of “Bargaining for the Common Good. This report, prepared with the support of labor and community leaders in Los Angeles, chronicles the successful 2014-2016 Fix LA campaign that achieved great gains for over 20,000 public sector workers and the L.A. community.…

Protesters in front of a bus holding signs that say "Bargaining for a safer BART."

Public Sector Unionism Under Assault

September 9th, 2015

The most recent issue of the New Labor Forum features an article entitled “Public Sector Unionism Under Assault: How to Combat the Scapegoating of Organized Labor” written by Professor Joseph McCartin, the Kalmanovitz Initiative’s executive director.…

Graphic that says "Unpredictable, Unsustainable: The Impact of Emplowers' Scheduling Practices in D.C." At the bottom are the logos of DC Jobs with Justice, DC Jobs with Justice Education Fund, DC Fiscal Policy Institute, and Georgetown University Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.

Unpredictable, Unsustainable

June 11th, 2015

On June 11, 2015, DC Jobs with Justice, the Jobs With Justice Education Fund, the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, and the Kalmanovitz Initiative released the first-ever study on service sector scheduling practices in Washington, DC.…

Graphic with the words "Bargaining for the Common Good" on a map of the United States with stars marking specific locations.

Bargaining for the Future

June 18th, 2014

With President Obama’s election behind us, questions about the future direction of organized labor and its allies have become more pressing. Nearly six years ago, Obama’s election raised hopes that great changes were in the offing. …

Graphic with images of workers that says "What works for workers? Public Policies and Innovative Strategies for Low-Wage Workers."

What Works for Workers

January 4th, 2014

Over the past thirty years, the dramatic polarization of the U.S. labor market has stalled middle-class income growth and real wages for unskilled workers have dropped.…