8 September, 2005
According to UNAIDS, more than 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. In 2008 alone, 2 million people died worldwide of AIDS, 2.7 million more were newly infected with HIV. The high death rates have turned the clock back reversing decades of development gains. The UN Millennium Goals look ever more unachievable.
Medical science has advanced dramatically since HIV/AIDS was first discovered 30 years ago. The appropriate use of the right antiretroviral drugs (ARV) can give an infected person a high quality of life for many years. But too few people have access to life-saving drugs. Although the percentage of those needing ARV treatment who actually receive it rose from 7 percent in 2003 to 42 percent in 2008 or 4 million, about 5 million people are still not receiving it.
The vast majority of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are engaged in productive activity. HIV/AIDS is a union issue. Unions have workplace access and roots in the community; they fight discrimination, victimisation and stigma. Unions can build on the trust of workers; their capacity to negotiate agreements with companies is important in securing non-discrimination, non-victimisation, voluntary counselling and testing and anti-retroviral treatment.
Women are particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Inequalities and dependency expose them to partner infidelity and sexual violence. Yet they are more aware of HIV/AIDS issues and have a vital role as carers of families, children and PLWHA.
The ICEM covers sectors which are hardest hit by the pandemic such as mining because of the working and living conditions of miners. It also organises workers in the pharmaceutical industry. The ICEM and its affiliates are strategically positioned to play an important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Global Framework Agreements (GFA) are an invaluable tool for national affiliates to hold Multinational Companies (MNCs) responsible for what has been agreed at global level. Therefore an HIV/AIDS clause based on the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work should be included in GFAs. The ICEM and its affiliates also seek agreement with key MNCs on the provision of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and treatment with effective and affordable drugs. It advocates the expansion of medical services to dependents and to the wider community.
The ICEM supports the call to the international community for a long-term commitment to massively increase funding to provide protection and treatment.
ICEM HIV/AIDS Project
The project started with a workshop for sub-Saharan African countries in November 2004. From 2005 to 2009 it was sponsored by the LO/TCO Secretariat of Sweden and FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands with support from the Swedish and Dutch ICEM affiliates. The present project cycle from 2010 to 2012 is sponsored by SASK Finland and FNV Mondiaal.
Achievements
At the global level, an information policy is in place. The ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin has been published monthly since October 2005 and the ICEM web pages on HIV/AIDS are being updated. Affiliates are given guidance on World AIDS Day campaigns. Two manuals on collective bargaining and resources were published. Working relations are established with ILO/AIDS, UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank/International Finance Corporation and other organisations such as the World AIDS Campaign and the Global Business Coalition.
The ICEM has lobbied hard for ILO HIV/AIDS Guidelines for the mining sector, which have yet to be adopted. An HIV/AIDS clause based on the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work has been included in some ICEM Global Framework Agreements. The ICEM cooperates with the Global Union AIDS Programme. The wider impact of ICEM’s HIV/AIDS work is demonstrated by the increasing recognition it receives. In terms of fundraising for sustainability, the ICEM has had some success (see projects below).
An HIV/AIDS Consultant, based in Geneva, looks after the global aspects of the project. He is also in charge of additional projects which are listed below.
At the regional level, national coordinators have been trained in five regional workshops which covered a wide range of topics. In 2008, missions to all project countries and three sub-regional workshops for Southern and East Africa, Anglophone West Africa and Francophone West Africa assessed the progress in the HIV/AIDS project and laid the basis for future activities.
At national level, coordinating committees were established. In cooperation with national coordinators, they have elaborated annual projects which concentrated on peer education and advocacy for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). Training of VCT counsellors was implemented in 2007 in four African countries with a grant from a major US pharmaceutical company. Pilot co-investment projects were discussed with major mining companies in Ghana and Namibia. Still lagging behind are negotiations on HIV/AIDS workplace policies and protective clauses in collective bargaining agreements. In 2009, most participating countries produced their own HIV/AIDS leaflets and other materials.
The project in Africa is run by a Project Manager based in Johannesburg with the assistance of a coordinator for Francophone Africa, based in Abidjan.
Additional Projects
The ICEM managed to widen the scope of its HIV/AIDS work with additional funding from ICEM affiliates, solidarity support organisations and corporate partnership.
The Danish LO/FTF supports a project on HIV/AIDS and the mining sector in Ethiopia, which runs until 2011. Major outcomes of this project in 2009 include an HIV/AIDS policy for the ICEM-affiliated National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical and Mine Trade Unions, the draft of an HIV/AIDS workplace policy as well as the production of materials for a toolkit for peer educators.
The Humanity Fund of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers’ Union of Canada (CEP) co-sponsored a project in Nigeria together with the ICEM HIV/AIDS Project and the Nigerian affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN. The training of unionists as peer educators/lay counsellors led to a massive uptake of VCT among workers, their dependents and members of the community. An application for an extension of this project is pending.
The CEP also made funds available for an HIV/AIDS project in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 and 2010 in cooperation with the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union.
Collection of funds by the Women’s Department of the German affiliate IG BCE enabled affiliates in Tanzania in 2009 to focus on gender issues and a large VCT campaign, which will be continued in 2010.
Affiliates in Japan and Taiwan contributed to a programme in Mongolia in 2009.
Discussions are underway with the Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi for a project in Jordan.
The German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim sponsored a large HIV/AIDS project in India in 2008 and 2009. With the technical assistance from the ILO Office in Delhi, master trainers were trained who in turn prepared peer educators for their awareness and prevention work at workplaces and in villages. The project also adapted ILO material, such as manuals, leaflets and posters for training purposes and mass distribution.
For further information please contact the
ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant Hans J Schwass
[email protected] or [email protected]
+41 22 7574920, +41 79 3330394