Research & Publications
Our research is conducted on issues related to employment, labor relations, economic affairs, race and gender in the workplace, and workers’ legal rights. Our studies and reports have been used by academics, unions, government agencies, community organizations, and elected officials in developing policies and programs that address the needs of working Oregonians.
As the following studies and reports indicate, LERC faculty members possess wide-ranging scholarly and research expertise. We are committed to making this expertise readily available to the University community and the broader Oregon community, as an essential element of our public service.
Oregon's Farmworker Overtime Law and its Legislative Future
Mary Follo, MPP, MS – A Graduate Researcher at LERC. November 2024
Industry Analysis: Wage and Employment Trends for Oregon Iron Workers
LERC Co-Director Gordon Lafer, PhD. and Kisa Clark, MA. April 2024
Schoolboard Communications with Educator Unions: What's Legal and Illegal in Oregon?
LERC Co-director Gordon Lafer, PhD. April 2024
A Labor Crises Within the Childcare Crises: Growing Need for "Non-traditional" Hours met by Underpaid in-home providers
Larissa Petrucci, Lola Loustaunau, Mary C. King, Lisa Dodson, and Ellen Scott. July 2022
Building Back Better or Building Back Worse: The challenge of building a high-road EV industry with anti-union employers
LERC Co-director Gordon Lafer, PhD. November 2021 (For executive summary click here)
Constructing a Diverse Workforce: Examining Union and Non-Union Construction Apprenticeship Programs and their Outcomes for Women and Workers of Color
Larissa Petrucci, PhD. November 2022 (For executive summary click here)
A State of Immigrants: A New Look at the Immigrant Experience in Oregon
Professor Robert Bussel,
Director, LERC. October 2021 (Para espanol, haga clic aqui)
Essential Work, Disposable Workers: Experiences of Immigrant and Refugee Food Processing Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Rural Washington
Lola Loustaunau, Sociology Doctoral Candidate. April 2021
Essential Yet Invisible, Oregon Homecare Workers and COVID-19
Lina Stepick PhD. LERC, Nannette “D” Carter-Jafri, and Lisa Dodson PhD. Research Professor of Sociology (Retired). March 2021
The State of Homecare Work in Oregon: The Need to Invest in Raising Wages and Strengthening Labor Standards
Lina Stepick PhD. LERC. March 2021
The Impact of Oregon's Prevailing Wage Rate Law: Effects on Cost, Training, and Economic Development
Lina Stepick PhD. LERC, and Frank Manzo M.P.P. ILEPI. January 2021 (For executive summary, click here)
Persistent Unpredictability: Assessing the Impacts of Oregon's Work Schedules Law
Lola Loustaunau, Larissa Petrucci, Ellen Scott, and Lina Stepick. January 2021
#Forever Essential: What Does it Mean to be a Low-wage Essential Worker in the Age of COVID-19?
Lola Loustaunau, Larissa Petrucci, Ellen Scott, and Lina Stepick. July 2020
Safety Voice for Ergonomics (SAVE): Evaluation of a Masonry Apprenticeship Training Program
Jennifer Hess; LERC, Laurel Kincl Douglas L. Weeks, Amelia Vaughan, and Dan Anton. March 2020
Policy Options for Attaching Labor Standards to Employment in the Clean Energy Sector
Deborah Mailander; Editor and Advisor, LERC and Greg Dotson; Assistnat Professor UO School of Law. February 2020
Unlawful: U.S. Employers are Charged with Violating Federal Law in 41% of all Union Election Campaigns
Gordon Lafer and Lola Loustaunau; LERC, Celine McNicholas, Margaret Poydock, Julia Wolfe, and Ben Zipperer. December 2019
The Union Advantage: How Oregon Unions Raise Wages, Improve Benefits, and Contribute to the State Economy
Mark Brenner and Lina Stepick, LERC. February 2019 (For executive summary, click here)
The Union Advantage: How Oregon Unions Raise Wages, Improve Benefits, and Contribute to the State Economy
Gordon Lafer; LERC, and Heidi Shierholz. September 2017
Spending Blind: The Failure of Policy Planning in California Charter School Funding
Gordon Lafer, PhD. LERC. April 2017
Oregon's Care Economy: The Case for Public Care Investment
Raahi Reddy; LERC, Mary C. King; PSU, and Laura Dresser University of Wisconsin. January 2017
The Impact on Oregonians of the Rise of Irregular Scheduling
Raahi Reddy; LERC, Mary C. King; PSU, and Ellen K. Scott; University of Oregon. March 2017
Archived Research & Publications
Short film by LERC faculty
The Care Revolution: The Transformation of Home Health Care in Oregon
A short film (28 minutes) collaboration by Sonia De La Cruz, Division of Culture, Arts and Communication, University of Washington-Tacoma, and Bob Bussel, Labor Education and Research Center “The Care Revolution” tells the inspiring story of the first wave of organizing by Oregon’s home care workers. Grounded in extensive interviews with workers, the film explains how union representation has transformed the lives of caregivers and improved the quality of care for the people they serve. See the short film on YouTube.