Edith D. Balbach ^1*, Elizabeth M. Barbeau ², Viola Manteufel ³, Jocelyn C Pan ¹

¹ Tufts University
² Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
³ Medical College of Wisconsin

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: edith.balbach{at}tufts.edu.

	Abstract

In 1984, the tobacco workers union and the Tobacco Institute, representing US tobacco companies, formed a Labor Management Committee (LMC). The Institute relied on LMC unions to resist smokefree worksite rules. Through review of the internal tobacco industry documents now publicly available, we found that the LMC succeeded for two primary reasons. One, LMC members had a symbiotic relationship; the LMC furthered members' interests, allowing them to overcome institutional barriers to policy success. Two, the LMC used ideas to encourage non-LMC unions to oppose smokefree worksite rules. While public health missed an opportunity to partner with unions on smokefree worksites during the era studied, public health can also use a "institutions, ideas, and interests" strategy to form coalitions with unions.

Key Words: Health Policy, Occupational Health, Environmental Tobacco Smoke, Tobacco

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