A Decade of Work on Organized Labor and Tobacco Control: Reflections on Research and Coalition Building in the United States

Authors: Barbeau, Elizabeth M; Delaurier, Gregory; Kelder, Graham; Mclellan, Deborah; Sorensen, Glorian; Balbach, Edith D; Levenstein, Charles

Source: Journal of Public Health Policy, Volume 28, Number 1, 2007 , pp. 118-135(18)

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

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Abstract:

Labor unions can and should make strong allies in tobacco control efforts. Through much of the 1980s and 1990s, however, the organized labor and tobacco control communities rarely formed coalitions to achieve mutual gains. Recently, labor unions and tobacco control organizations have begun to work together on smoking cessation programs, smoke-free worksite policies, and increased insurance coverage for cessation treatments. This paper explores the historic and present-day intersections among organized labor and tobacco control advocates. We summarize research in this area and report on our recent programmatic efforts to promote collaboration between the labor and tobacco control communities. We discuss lessons learned with the aims of promoting deeper understanding among tobacco control and labor advocates of how each views tobacco control issues, and most importantly, stimulating further collaboration toward mutual gains in protecting workers' health.Journal of Public Health Policy (2007) 28, 118-135. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jphp.3200118

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jphp.3200118

Publication date: 2007-01-01