SUMMER LABOR
FELLOWSHIPS
Work for the Dignity of Workers
Want to spend your summer getting paid to work full time with an organization promoting labor solidarity, workplace dignity, and the common good?
Institute for Social Concerns Summer Labor Fellowships are full-time, paid opportunities for select Notre Dame undergraduates to spend the summer engaged in labor-focused, project-based work while developing their skills in organizing, research, advocacy, and communications.
Partner organizations
Each fellow will be placed with a national partner of the institute’s Higgins Labor Program:
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, DC, working for the last 30 years to counter rising inequality, low wages and weak benefits for working people, slower economic growth, unacceptable employment conditions, and a widening racial wage gap. We intentionally center low- and middle-income working families in economic policy discussions at the federal, state, and local levels as we fight for a world where every worker has access to a good job with fair pay, affordable health care, retirement security, and a union.
Based in Chicago, UNITE HERE Local 1 represents more than 15,000 hospitality workers in Chicago and Northwest Indiana. Members work in hotels, O’Hare and Midway airports, restaurants, school cafeterias, stadiums, convention centers like McCormick Place and Navy Pier, and casinos. It is a union of housekeepers, lunchroom attendants, cooks, bartenders, bellmen, servers, and dishwashers whose members are predominantly women, immigrants, and people of color. Local 1 is an affiliate of UNITE HERE, which represents approximately 300,000 workers throughout the United States and Canada and is among the fastest growing unions in the nation.
“These first few weeks have been such an eye-opening experience. Through this internship, I’ve met workers who have been overlooked, underpaid, and mistreated for far too long.”
– Annie, Unite Here Local 1, Chicago
Details
Summer Labor Fellowships offer eight consecutive weeks of full-time, on-site work.
Fellows receive a $6,000 stipend. They assume responsibility for finding their own transportation and lodging, though they may consult the Institute for Social Concerns or their on-site partner for advice on finding affordable housing and transportation options.
Starting dates will be negotiated with each partner.
Application
The application is now closed. The application will reopen in spring 2026.
Questions?
If you have questions or want to make an appointment to learn more, contact Dan Graff at dgraff@nd.edu.