Labour politics as public health: how the politics of industrial relations and workplace regulation affect health

There are three main areas of social and economic policy that influence health: the welfare state, industrial organization (unions), and labor regulation. Public health literature and analysis traditionally focuses on the taxing and spending of the welfare state. This paper presents highlights from the extensive literature in political economy in order to argue that industrial relations and workplace regulation are political and crucial to public health. The routes by which they influence public health include wage inequality, workplace health and safety, political engagement and investment in human capital. The magnitude of impact can be impressive: the United Kingdom’s taxation and spending have about as much redistributive impact as that of Sweden, but that is not enough to compensate for the inequality produced by the UK’s liberal labor market. The trend across wealthy countries has been to weaker unions and less workplace regulation and we can see this as a likely cause of public health problems and health inequalities into the future.