On Thursday, votes from Starbucks workers at three stores in and around Buffalo, New York on whether to unionize will be tallied. Cathy Creighton says the Starbucks campaign is a prime example of how U.S. labor law is designed to put business ahead of workers’ requests to organize.

Industrial and Labor Relations

New York State

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Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri will testify before a Senate panel on Dec. 8 to defend the social media app from growing bipartisan outrage over its reported harms to young users. Brooke Erin Duffy says Instagram’s solutions recast responsibility from the company to its users. 

Social & Behavioral Sciences

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Six cryptocurrency CEOs will testify before the House Committee on Financial Services on Dec. 8, as lawmakers discuss the implications of rapidly expanding crypto markets and how to best regulate them. Ari Juels says that new financial products emerging in the blockchain ecosystem carry tremendous promise along with a myriad of risks.

Economics and Business

Cornell Tech

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Mary Nichols, a senior visiting fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and a former chair of the California Air and Resources Board, and Mark Lynas, a visiting fellow at the Cornell Alliance for Science and author of “Nuclear 2.0: Why a Green Future Needs Nuclear Power,” comment on the future of nuclear energy in California and beyond.

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

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For the first time in more than 25 years, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are in a lockout after the two sides were unable to agree upon a new collective bargaining agreement. Michael Huyghue says while the situation appears dramatic, both sides are simply exercising their collectively bargained leverage. 

Law School

Labor Relations & Human Resources

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Omicron, a new coronavirus strain designated as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization, has been confirmed on five continents while global health experts anticipate further spread.

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Sherry Colb, professor of law, notes that the arguments in a Supreme Court abortion case centered on Mississippi are unlikely to be surprising. 

Law and Policy

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Bradford S. Bell, professor in strategic human resources and director of ILR’s Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, says employers may walk back plans for workers to return to the office as concern over the omicron variant grows.

Economics and Business

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Andrew Karolyi, dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and a scholar specializing in international financial markets, comments on a warning from the European Central Bank that most of the lenders it oversees have not produced strategies to respond to climate change.

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Economics and Business

Business, Economics & Entrepreneurship

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

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Sociologist Vida Maralani says fertility can also recover as life returns to more normal.

Social & Behavioral Sciences

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