title: Labor unions: a public health institution.
abstract: Using a social-ecological framework, we drew on a targeted literature review and historical and contemporary cases from the US labor movement to illustrate how unions address physical and psychosocial conditions of work and the underlying inequalities and social determinants of health. We reviewed labor involvement in tobacco cessation, hypertension control, and asthma, limiting articles to those in English published in peer-reviewed public health or medical journals from 1970 to 2013. More rigorous research is needed on potential pathways from union membership to health outcomes and the facilitators of and barriers to union-public health collaboration. Despite occasional challenges, public health professionals should increase their efforts to engage with unions as critical partners.
authors.affiliation: Beth Malinowski and Meredith Minkler are with the Health and Social Behavior Program, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley. Laura Stock is with the Labor Occupational Health Program, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Malinowski
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minkler
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stock
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000517:prevention & control; D006304:Health Status; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000517:prevention & control; D007750:Labor Unions / Q000266:history / Q000458:organization & administration; D011634:Public Health / Q000266:history; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D014481:United States; D017132:Workplace