Gregory DeLaurier, PhD, Organized Labor and Tobacco Control Network (Center for Community Based Research), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney St., Smith 2, Boston, MA 02115, 617-632-3500, gregory_delaurier@dfci.harvard.edu and Elizabeth M. Barbeau, ScD, MPH, Center for Community-Based Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, SM 268, Boston, MA 02155.

Persistent and growing disparities in smoking prevalence by occupation underscore the need for new approaches to tobacco control. In the U.S. in 1997, for instance, the smoking prevalence among male blue-collar workers was 37%, while among their white-collar counterparts the figure was 20%. Blue-collar rates of smoking are declining more slowly than other workers, and while blue-collar workers attempt to quit as often as any other occupational group, their success rate is far lower. The Organized Labor and Tobacco Control Network (‘the Network’), a joint project of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of Massachusetts Lowell that is funded by the American Legacy Foundation, works to reverse these alarming trends through research and capacity building. As blue-collar workers form a large portion of their constituency, a key partner in all the work of the Network has been trade unions. In this presentation, Dr. Elizabeth Barbeau, the Network’s director, will discuss why labor is such a vital partner in reducing tobacco use among blue-collar workers—what resources and abilities they bring to tobacco control efforts. She will also discuss key elements in developing successful partnerships with labor organizations, and offer specific examples of on-going cooperative efforts between the Network and labor within the areas of class-based research and intervention.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Understand the nature of occupation based (class) disparities in smoking prevalence.
• 2. Delineate the key resources and abilities organized labor can bring to tobacco control efforts.
• 3. List important organizational strategies to be used in forming effective coalitions with labor unions.

Keywords: Labor, Labor-Management Relations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Receive funding from this grant-funded network