This report focuses on the groundbreaking Harris County Essential Worker Board (HCEWB), a first-of-its-kind workers’ board composed entirely of frontline essential workers. Based on interviews with HCEWB members, county officials, and worker organization representatives, the report provides context on the creation of the board, challenges and strategies from its early years, and offers recommendations for future all-worker boards.
Why This Matters
Essential workers play vital roles in supporting the health, safety, and well-being of their communities. But as the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted, many lack adequate benefits, protections, and voice on the job. The HCEWB is groundbreaking because it ensures that low-paid essential workers with relevant lived experience can have a say in shaping the policies that impact their livelihoods.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Yoorie Chang is the Project Manager for CLJE:Lab, the policy and legal innovation lab at CLJE. In her role, she focuses on advancing strategies and policy interventions that enable working people to build power, and manages partnerships with stakeholders across the labor movement ecosystem.
Dr. Joeri Smits is an applied microeconomist whose research spans labor, health, finance, and migration. At CLJE, he studies worker boards, notably the Harris County Essential Workers Board. The first board in the United States to be composed entirely of essential workers, it is the subject of the CLJE report Workers at the Table: A Case Study of the Harris County Essential Workers Board. He holds a PhD from ETH Zurich and has been a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at Yale University and the Harvard Kennedy School.
Laura Tatum is a policy consultant. She was previously the Managing Director of Policy & Research at the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, where she lead research and policy development on issues such as youth employment, caregiving, and postsecondary education. She also helped lead strategy, development, and management for the Center.
