Unions and community groups can integrate workplace health and safety into every aspect of their work. Tools of the Trade— A Health and Safety Handbook for Action is a valuable resource for those who want to promote worker health and safety while building their organizations at the same time. This guidebook addresses:
- How can unions and other worker advocates win this most basic of worker rights, the right to return home safely from a day’s work?
- How can they engage the workers themselves in this process?
- How can they integrate health and safety advocacy into all aspects of their work?
Health and safety campaigns can involve, educate, activate, and empower workers while attracting public support. The book includes:
- Examples of successful workplace health and safety campaigns from around the country
- Strategies to actively engage workers in advocating for their own protection
- Specific tools for winning safety improvements, such as collecting information, using legal rights, and working with the community
- Step-by-step instructions for using these tools, complete with checklists, forms, and resources
WHAT LABOR & COMMUNITY LEADERS SAY ABOUT THE BOOK
Tools of the Trade is an indispensable action guide for mobilizing workers, unions, and communities in the fight to advance safety and health for workers and build stronger unions.” Bill Kojola, Department of Occupational Safety and Health, AFL-CIO
Tools of the Trade is the most compelling and comprehensive tool book I have even seen. … If we had this publication before our recent campaign, my life would have been much easier.” Amber Chan, Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Tools of the Trade is more than just your regular health and safety manual full of good information about workplace hazards. It focuses on how to … organize for change. Some of the most frustrating and frequent questions I get are from workers who are facing hazards, but don’t know what to do — because their union leaders don’t know what to do or they’re not union members or because OSHA’s not helping or because their issues aren’t covered by OSHA standards. … This publication makes my life a lot easier. It’s full of information, helpful hints and practical, useful tools.” Jordan Barab, Confined Space weblog
Tools of the Trade is a great complement to our work at MassCOSH. We believe that health and safety organizing needs to be done in a way that links workers to unions and community allies, develops workers’ leadership skills, and offers them a collective voice on the job. This workbook will be a valuable resource for workers, trade unionists and community activists.” Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
This education and organizing … workbook is a must-have whenever workers need to address health, safety, and environmental justice issues at the frontline (in the plant) and at the fenceline (the community).” Jose Bravo, The Just Transition Alliance
