WorkSHIFTS

WorkSHIFTS, our collaborative labor outreach program, works in partnership with labor unions to heighten awareness among workers, labor leaders and management on issues of tobacco and health.  We provide education, training, resources, and technical assistance on public health policies for blue-collar and service sector workers.  Since 2002, WorkSHIFTS has partnered with union and public health leaders to advance policies that reduce workers’ exposure to secondhand smoke and increase their access to comprehensive tobacco cessation benefits.

Our latest research is aimed at increasing access to tobacco cessation services among blue-collar union members and their families as a standard component of health care plans.  Our goal is to encourage Minnesota-based Taft-Hartley Health and Welfare Funds to provide comprehensive tobacco cessation services in existing health care plans and to promote the services to plan participants.  Nationwide, Taft-Hartley Health and Welfare Funds provide health benefits to approximately 10 million union members.

Tobacco Cessation News

WorkSHIFTS provides timely summary and analysis of tobacco cessation-related news. View all tobacco cessation news articles.

Funders 

Partners

Publications

  Cessation Benefits Focus, July 2010

PDF, 1.16 MB

  Cessation Benefits Focus

Newsletters by WorkSHIFTS providing information about the health and economic impacts of tobacco use among blue-collar workers and the potential cost savings and health benefits associated with tobacco cessation coverage.

  WorkSHIFTS Fact Sheets

Fact sheets by WorkSHIFTS addressing tobacco issues for blue-collar workers

  WorkSHIFTS Toolkits for Employers and Unions

Resource guides and educational tools for union leaders and employers who want to address tobacco-related workplace issues from the perspective of labor-management cooperation

  Taft-Hartley Health & Welfare Funds: Evaluating the Need for Cessation Benefits

2008
PDF, 3.24 Mb

  Influencing Taft-Hartley Funds to Provide and Promote Tobacco Cessation Benefits

PDF, 5.46 Mb

  The Role of Labor Organizations in Tobacco Control: What Do Unionized Workers Think?

PDF, 524 Kb
Rebecca J. Mitchell, Susan R. Weisman, Resa M. Jones, Darin Erickson
American Journal of Health Promotion
Jan/Feb 2009