#  Empowering Workers in the Fight Against COVID-19 

 



####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **May 27, 2020** 

 12:00PM - 01:00PM EDT 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **Register for virtual event**  



 

 



 

 COVID-19 is amplifying a fundamental democratic mismatch: the vulnerable, often low-income and of-color, workers who are among the most affected by this pandemic have little influence over decisions — in companies and governments — about how this pandemic is managed.

 [Julie Battilana](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/julie-battilana) and [Isabelle Ferreras](https://isabelleferreras.net/) led the drafting of an open letter titled “Work: Democratize, Decommodify, Remediate” that recently appeared in some 36 newspapers in 25 countries including the [Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/15/opinion/lets-democratize-decommodify-work/), [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/15/humans-resources-coronavirus-democratise-work-health-lives-market), [Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2020/05/15/democratiser-pour-depolluer_6039777_3232.html), and [Die Zeit](https://www.zeit.de/kultur/2020-05/wirtschaften-nach-der-pandemie-demokratie-dekommodifizierung-nachhaltigkeit-manifest). More than 3,000 scholars, including Dani Rodrik, Elizabeth Anderson, and Thomas Piketty, signed it. [Ben Sachs](https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/10753/Sachs) and [Sharon Block](https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/11734/Block/) argue that [Congress should create joint employer-labor commissions](https://www.fastcompany.com/90496477/new-proposal-to-steer-nation-through-covid-19-crisis-would-give-a-voice-to-front-line-workers) to govern how key sectors such as transportation, grocery, health care, logistics, and transportation re-start and manage infection control in workplaces.

 Join us as we discuss these proposals - and more - in order to democratize the workplace and empower workers in the time of COVID-19.

 Participants include:

- Julie Battilana, Harvard Kennedy School
- Sharon Block, Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School
- Isabelle Ferreras, Université Catholique de Louvain
- Benjamin Sachs, Harvard Law School
- Archon Fung (Moderator), Harvard Kennedy School

##  **Virtual Event Details**

 This event will be livestreamed on YouTube Live. Register on the [Ash Center event page](https://ash.harvard.edu/event/empowering-workers-fight-against-covid-19) for a reminder fifteen minutes before the event along with a link to the YouTube page where you can participate in the live chat and ask questions during the event.

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