Clearing the Air: Massachusetts Case Study

Graham Kelder, J D, Organized Labor and Tobacco Control Network, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115, 617 632 3210, Graham_Kelder@dfci.harvard.edu and Greg DeLaurier, PhD, Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 99 Oxford St., #1, Arlington, MA 02474.

Unions such as SEIU and HERE and labor organizations such as MassCOSH and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO were instrumental in the passage of worksite smoking bans in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville. MassCOSH and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO then went on to actively work for passage of the Massachusetts Statewide Smoke-Free Worksites Law, which effectively bans tobacco use in all bars and restaurants. The Organized Labor and Tobacco Control Network helped create a linkage between MassCOSH and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids that resulted in CTFK awarding MassCOSH a grant to work with unions and the tobacco control community on issues such as secondhand smoke. In particular, NYCOSH will work to elicit support for implementation of the statewide smoking ban. This cooperation may be a model for how to effect more general, and needed, labor/public health cooperation, and thus merits close examination. This is one of three specific case-studies of labor-tobacco control cooperation to be presented as part of the session.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

Articulate the range of perspectives of organized labor and tobacco control on issues related to the smoke-free worksites bans in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville and the statewide ban in Massachusetts and how and why these perspectives have changed over time; Describe cooperative efforts of labor and tobacco control on tobacco related issues, in particular the passage of smoke-free worksites legislation in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville and the statewide ban in Massachusetts; Identify ways in which effective partnerships between the labor and tobacco control communities effect a more comprehensive integration of tobacco control efforts into union health and safety programs, as well as serve as a model for building labor-public health partnerships.

Keywords: Tobacco, Labor

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation

Clearing the Air: The Evolving Partnership of Labor and Tobacco Control and its Meaning for Occupational Health

The 132nd Annual Meeting (November 6-10, 2004) of APHA