J Public Health Policy. 1997;18(4):453-64.
Tobacco is not and does not have to be a high priority for all segments of organized labor, but public health advocates should continue to promote the issue and find segments which are open to collaborative efforts to protect workers' health. Even in those unions representing workers for whom smoking and ETS pose a lower health risk relative to other workplace toxins, smoking policy remains a strategic issue for at least two reasons. First, supporting efforts to control ETS exposure sure is an issue of service to non-smoking union members, and like-wise, bargaining for smoking cessation programs is a service to members who smoke. Second, it is in the union's interest to engage with management through collective bargaining to develop smoking policies, rather than to allow management to unilaterally propose and/or implement policies. To remain a strong voice in the worksite, labor needs to defend its unions and members from misdirected and overzealous actions. Within the context of the diversity of opinions from within labor and public health, this policy statement aims to identify our common ground and recommend ways to collaborate in protecting worker health. Specifically, we recommend that the public health community take the following actions: I) assist unions with smoking cessation services that meet the needs of labor, 2) support labor's efforts to negotiate smoking policies within the context of collective bargaining, 3) include labor in tobacco control coalitions, 4) advocate for regulatory initiatives that include ETS as part of an overall indoor air quality strategy, 5) focus attention on preventing smoking among children of union members, and 6) develop strategies with labor to benefit from savings that employers achieve under smoking restrictions or bans. Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke represent a threat to the health of workers. Given that the public health and labor movements have a mutual interest in protecting worker health, it makes sense for these two groups to join together on tobacco control policy-making in the worksite.
烟草并非也不一定必须成为有组织劳工各阶层的首要关注事项，但公共卫生倡导者应继续推动这一问题，并找到愿意共同努力保护工人健康的群体。即使在那些代表工人的工会中，相对于其他工作场所毒素而言，吸烟和接触二手烟对健康的风险较低，但吸烟政策至少出于两个原因仍是一个战略问题。首先，支持控制二手烟暴露的努力无疑是为不吸烟的工会会员提供服务的问题，同样，就戒烟计划进行谈判也是为吸烟的会员提供服务。其次，通过集体谈判与管理层合作制定吸烟政策符合工会的利益，而不是让管理层单方面提出和/或实施政策。为了在工作场所保持强有力的声音，劳工需要保护其工会和会员免受误导和过度热心的行动影响。在劳工界和公共卫生界意见多样的背景下，本政策声明旨在确定我们的共同立场，并推荐在保护工人健康方面开展合作的方法。具体而言，我们建议公共卫生界采取以下行动：1）协助工会提供满足劳工需求的戒烟服务；2）支持劳工在集体谈判背景下就吸烟政策进行谈判的努力；3）让劳工参与烟草控制联盟；4）倡导将二手烟作为整体室内空气质量战略一部分的监管举措；5）关注防止工会会员子女吸烟；6）与劳工共同制定战略，以便从雇主在吸烟限制或禁令下实现的节省中受益。吸烟和接触二手烟对工人健康构成威胁。鉴于公共卫生运动和劳工运动在保护工人健康方面有共同利益，这两个群体在工作场所烟草控制政策制定方面联合起来是有意义的。
