Students and faculty often ask what research topics that could work on that would be helpful to workers and to Interfaith Worker Justice. Below are a few thoughts for research topics that IWJ and its labor allies have identified, although there may be others that students or faculty could identify that staff have not considered. If you are willing/interested in working on one of these topics, please let Joy Heine know so your name can be listed next to the topic and so IWJ can share the results to the wider worker justice community (with your permission, of course). IWJ would love to publish items that are high priority for its work and written in popular, accessible ways.

Wal-Mart: What have faith groups done about Walmart?

Background: Within the next year, IWJ anticipates developing a campaign for involving the religious community in challenging Walmart’s reliance on low-wage, low-benefit jobs. The organization will be working with partners to develop local and national approaches that would be helpful.

Research Needed: It would be useful to have information about what faith groups have already done around Walmart. Who has been involved in local campaigns (e.g. CLUE in Englewood, CA)? Which denominations have passed resolutions about Walmart? Which faith bodies or orders have filed shareholder resolutions?

Right to Work: This topic is being fleshed out by our staff. Please check back for more details.

Lockouts: What do Biblical and theological traditions have to contribute to the current practice of companies locking out workers? 

Background: Increasingly when companies and unions are having trouble in reaching a contract, companies will lock workers out in order to pressure them to agree to the company proposed contract proposal. Recently, employers groups have created pacts between employers in a particular industry that say if workers strike members of the pact, the others in the pact will lock out their workers in “solidarity” with the employers facing strikes. Grocery store chains locked workers out in Southern California when unions struck a few chains. Luxury hotels in San Francisco locked out workers struck four hotels in a fourteen-member hotel group. Lockouts are regularly used against workers in manufacturing plants during contract disputes.

Research Needed: Not one faith body has any statement condemning the practice of lockouts. It would be helpful to review what in Biblical teaching and denominational statements speaks to the practice of locking out workers. Hopefully, some of this research could be used in developing faith body positions on lockouts.

Right to Work: This topic is being fleshed out by our staff. Please check back for more details.

Religious Agencies and Low-Wage Employers: What is the relationship between religious social service agencies and low-wage employers?

Background: In the process of working with workers and unions to improve working conditions for workers in low-wage jobs, IWJ often learns that religious social service agencies have steered immigrants to employers that are known for exploiting workers. In addition, IWJ has found many religious job training agencies reluctant to provide any worker rights training sessions for workers. One large religious job trainer of welfare to work folks told IWJ staff that providing worker rights training sessions to its clients would give them “bad attitudes.” Consequently, IWJ is concerned that religious agencies are not adequately concerned about the quality of jobs their clients are placed in, nor are the doing enough to train workers on their rights in the worker. Although IWJ is concerned, it has done no systematic research to find out what is or is not being done in this area.

Research Needed: What criteria for jobs is used by religiously-based job training and placement agencies? Are jobs sought that pay living wages and benefits and treat workers with respect and dignity, or do agencies unwittingly place workers in exploitative working environments? What training is done with clients around workers rights? Are any religious job training agencies teaching people about their faith body’s position on the right to organize?

Religious Health Care Institutions and the Right to Organize: How does one faith body’s affiliated health care institutions support (or not) workers’ right to organize?

Background: Religiously affiliated health care institutions (hospitals and nursing homes) are notoriously anti-union, despite many faith bodies’ statements supporting the rights of workers to organize unions.

Research Needed: It would be useful to have research focused on one denomination (e.g. United Methodist, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian). Research could review the official statements of the denomination about workers rights to organize, the right to living wages and so forth. Research could review demographic information about workers and their salary packages and what has occurred when workers have tried to organize. Interviews could be done with both workers and managers. This research could help faith bodies consider the corporate operation of health care institutions and the undermining of faith body positions on living wages and the right to organize.

Right to Organize: What are the current questions/issues being raised under the rubric of “right to organize” and are they addressed by current faith body statements on the right to organize?

Background: Many faith groups have clear statements supporting workers rights to organize; however, the statements do not address the current problems workers face when they try to organize. Companies that run very sophisticated union-busting programs all claim they support workers’ rights to organize. This is an area in which “the devil is in the details,” and faith body statements have few details.

Research Needed: The research should review the current practice of union busting and suggest either how policies could be updated so they address the current practice or what are the logical implications of the existing policies on the current practices.

Immigrant Congregations and Work: This topic is being fleshed out by our staff. Please check back for more details.

For more information. . .
If you would like more information or want to get involved in this project, please contact Joy Heine, Project Director, Religious Perspectives on Work, Interfaith Worker Justice, 1020 West Bryn Mawr, 4th Floor, Chicago, IL 60660, or (773) 728-8400 ext. 33.