title: The Role of Labor Unions in Creating Working Conditions That Promote Public Health.
abstract: We sought to portray how collective bargaining contracts promote public health, beyond their known effect on individual, family, and community well-being. In November 2014, we created an abstraction tool to identify health-related elements in 16 union contracts from industries in the Pacific Northwest. After enumerating the contract-protected benefits and working conditions, we interviewed union organizers and members to learn how these promoted health. Labor union contracts create higher wage and benefit standards, working hours limits, workplace hazards protections, and other factors. Unions also promote well-being by encouraging democratic participation and a sense of community among workers. Labor union contracts are largely underutilized, but a potentially fertile ground for public health innovation. Public health practitioners and labor unions would benefit by partnering to create sophisticated contracts to address social determinants of health.
authors.affiliation: At the time of the study, Jenn Hagedorn and Amy Hagopian were with the Community Oriented Public Health Practice, Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle. Claudia Alexandra Paras and Howard Greenwich are with Puget Sound Sage, Seattle.
authors.forename: Jenn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hagedorn
authors.affiliation: At the time of the study, Jenn Hagedorn and Amy Hagopian were with the Community Oriented Public Health Practice, Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle. Claudia Alexandra Paras and Howard Greenwich are with Puget Sound Sage, Seattle.
authors.forename: Claudia Alexandra
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Paras
authors.affiliation: At the time of the study, Jenn Hagedorn and Amy Hagopian were with the Community Oriented Public Health Practice, Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle. Claudia Alexandra Paras and Howard Greenwich are with Puget Sound Sage, Seattle.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Greenwich
authors.affiliation: At the time of the study, Jenn Hagedorn and Amy Hagopian were with the Community Oriented Public Health Practice, Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle. Claudia Alexandra Paras and Howard Greenwich are with Puget Sound Sage, Seattle.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hagopian
mesh_terms: D003098:Collective Bargaining / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007750:Labor Unions / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015205:Northwestern United States; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000592:standards*; D011634:Public Health / Q000592:standards*; D017132:Workplace