School of Social Work News

Associate Research Scientist Roland Zullo discussed Michigan’s right-to-work law with WEMU. “Repealing right-to-work certainly helps the labor movement on a couple of levels. But the main one,” said Zullo “is that it shows that labor has regained a little bit of political power in this state.”

On Wednesday, Detroit teachers voted to authorize a “safety strike,” should their concerns about protective equipment and protocols not be met.  Associate Research Scientist Roland Zullo spoke with the Detroit Free Press about the potential legal consequences and public reaction. "No one knows about the exact risks" of COVID-19, Zullo said. "I don't think it'd be unreasonable and my guess is that the public would be on the teachers' side."

Roland Zullo’s paper “Explaining Privatization Failure: The Vice of Sweet Carrots and Hard Sticks” has been selected by the editorial board of the Review of Radical Political Economics as winner of the Annual Best Paper Award.  The paper explains why private contracting underperforms in the production of public services.

Associate Research Scientist Roland Zullo comments on GM strike with Time Magazine. GM union members have joined a national uptick in strikes, with Americans increasingly turning to collective action in the face of unstable employment practices. “In a healthy labor relations context, there’s that understanding that when times are tough, everybody sacrifices. But when times improve, everybody shares, right?” Zullo says.

Associate Research Scientist Roland Zullo’s research on privatizing food service in Michigan prisons was featured in The Nation’s cover story “How Private Equity Is Turning Public Prisons Into Big Profits.”