Jonathan Rosen: Building a Dynamic Union-Based Health and Safety Program

Jonathan Rosen has spent more than 30 years building union-based health and safety programs. In the 1970s he was a union activist. In 1980 he became a union health and safety committee chair at a Milwaukee manufacturing firm. Following that, he had a nearly 20-year career with the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF). He trained as an industrial hygienist and developed a highly regarded public sector union-based health and safety program. PEF's Health and Safety Department supported a network of union health and safety committees. Program accomplishments included innovative work on workplace violence prevention, indoor environmental quality, infectious diseases, and ergonomics. Mr. Rosen promoted collaboration among unions, helped support new activists, advocated tirelessly for injured workers, and formed an effective alliance with researchers. Rosen discusses essential strategies for mobilizing union members and gaining commitment to health and safety from unions, employers, and policy makers.