ABSTRACT
As this book was about to go to press, the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe. Clearly, the United States was ill prepared to confront this crisis on many fronts, including the realm of labor. The economic effects on workers and their families have been devastating. The absence of dialogue and action on the part of business, education, labor, and government leaders that we wrote about in this book became painfully obvious very quickly. Unfortunately, if things do not change, that lack of communication will become even more obvious—and its consequence more dire—as the COVID-19 crisis unfolds.
The lack of national leadership on these matters is clear. This is unfortunate, but it should not deter us from taking necessary action. It may be too early to offer a definitive blueprint for policy and institutional reforms. (As we write this, most states have closed all but “essential” businesses and issued stay-at-home rules for all but “essential” workers.) But it definitely is the right time to offer some suggestions for moving forward based on the relevant historical lessons and on more recent experiences in the United States and other countries.
