The Center for Strategic Research (CSR), in the AFL-CIO Organizing Department, provides comprehensive campaign strategy development and execution to support affiliate unions’ organizing for membership growth. Our work includes corporate, industry and issue research and analysis. We work in partnership with AFL-CIO unions to enhance strategic research capacity and expertise. We often play a role as a convener, identifying industry-wide organizing opportunities or innovative strategies that may be of interest to multiple unions, allowing them to direct limited resources more powerfully in coordination with each other. One such campaign that we’ve been proud to partner with six unions on is Jobs to Move America—a national project to harness the power of the billions of federal funds going to the transportation industry each year in service of high-quality jobs, investment in disadvantaged communities and U.S. manufacturing.
CSR is also committed to the training and recruitment of union researchers. We offer residential and web-based trainings throughout the year, including the weeklong, intensive Strategic Corporate Research Summer School that is co-sponsored with Cornell University. CSR also maintains a union researcher résumé database and offers custom recruitment support for research recruitment to our affiliate unions.
The Strategic Corporate Research Summer School
This is a critical and important time to be in the labor movement, and there is a role for everyone in the ongoing struggle. Strategic researchers are key; they help leaders and members gain insight about corporate structure and finance, and identifying strategic ways to prevail against those who oppose justice on the job and in our communities.
The AFL-CIO and Cornell University offer a weeklong course of study at the annual Strategic Corporate Research Summer School in Ithaca, New York. This course has served as an effective stepping stone for students of all ages who are interested in working as union researchers.
Learn more and register.