Global Urban and Labor Affairs Forum@SLU

The Global Urban and Labor Affairs Forum (GULAF) at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies (SLU) is a new initiative that advances global approaches to teaching, research, and public engagement on labor, cities, and social justice grounded in SLU’s commitment to understanding work and urban life in comparative, transnational, and global contexts. The forum prepares CUNY students for global challenges, informs them in public policy, and supports innovative solutions for workers and urban communities worldwide. Using comparative and global perspectives, GULAF examines how urbanization, labor markets, and working conditions manifest, intersect, compare, and differ across cities and regions around the world.

The Global Urban and Labor Affairs Forum (GULAF) advances education, research, policy, and social justice through interdisciplinary collaboration, applied scholarship, teaching, and public engagement. GULAF connects local and global perspectives on the forces shaping workers, communities, and cities around the world and draws on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a shared framework for addressing interconnected challenges such as inequality, poverty, climate change, environmental sustainability, peace, and justice. GULAF engages most directly with SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities. Together, these goals link fair wages, productive employment, worker protections, affordable housing, public transportation, essential services, and inclusive public spaces. Through this focus, GULAF positions labor rights and urban sustainability as inseparable priorities in building more equitable and resilient global cities.

Today’s cities face the most pressing challenges and opportunities of our time. From migration and economic restructuring to climate resilience and technological change, urban communities play a pivotal role in shaping labor conditions and workers’ experiences. Understanding the interconnected factors of global economic systems, international governance structures, migration flows, and transnational political dynamics requires approaches that transcend traditional disciplinary and national boundaries. GULAF bridges labor and urban studies with global affairs by examining how global forces and local actors influence local and global outcomes and processes.

GULAF aspires to be an interdisciplinary hub for research, education, and public dialogue on the global forces shaping work, workers, cities, and urban communities globally. The platform brings together scholars, students, practitioners, labor and community leaders, and public stakeholders to examine the relationship between labor conditions and urban development across local, national, and transnational contexts. We envision a world in which cities are inclusive, sustainable, and equitable; where the workforce has access to opportunity and enjoys dignity and security; and where global labor is driven by collaboration and innovative solutions to the challenges facing urban communities worldwide.

1. Transnational Urbanism: Examines how cities function as nodes in global networks and how cross-border interactions shape urban spaces, communities, and institutions.
2. Transnational Labor Migration: Explores the forces that drive international labor migration, the meaning of migrant citizenship, and the experiences of migrant workers in global cities.
3. Transnational Labor Organizing: Studies how unions, worker centers, and labor movements coordinate campaigns, strategies, and solidarity efforts across national boundaries.
4. Global Governance and Policy: Analyzes how global governance mechanisms and public policies influence urban development, labor conditions, and social protections.
5. Transnational Politics: Investigates how states, NGOs, multinational corporations, regional economic communities, and international organizations shape urban spaces and labor rights.
6. Global Economy: Examines how local urban economies, labor productivity, and working conditions are connected to broader patterns of economic globalization and restructuring.