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19 August, 2009
HIV/AIDS is probably the greatest challenges facing Africa and directly affects millions of workers on the continent. It has left no African untouched, some are HIV positive, others have close family and friends with the disease and by now there can be no one that does not know someone affected by this epidemic. With HIV/AIDS comes a whole range of issues for families, communities and workplaces. Trade unions in Africa have confronted many other tough issues in the past and can use the same problem solving skills to address HIV/AIDS.
should respond to HIV/AIDS but how we should respond. A word of caution though, trade unions cannot take on all the issues brought on by this disease, we are not HIV/AIDS organisations. The truth of the matter is that there is a great deal of money available for HIV/AIDS in Africa and the temptation is to use this opportunity to create programmes because of funder needs and not workers and their organisation's needs. This could cause problems for the union, for example, unions that take on HIV/AIDS projects providing HIV/AIDS services directly to members often use a large amount of union staff time taking them away from their work in the trade union organising and servicing members.
This does not mean that the trade union does not have a role to play in the response to HIV/AIDS. Quite the opposite, we have a very important role to play Trade unions exist to represent workers interest and must service the interest of workers on HIV/AIDS. Trade unions should have programmes on HIV/AIDS but these should be directed at addressing specific areas such as education for worker leaders on rights of HIV positive workers, addressing stigma and discrimination in the workplace, how to support a worker that discloses her status to the worker representative and how to handle cases relating to HIV/AIDS. Trade unions also have a role to play in advocating on HIV/AIDS for rights and services at a national level and calling for broader developmental issues that will mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS.
The most significant role that unions can play in responding to HIV/AIDS is in the workplace by securing access to HIV/AIDS services for workers and protecting the rights of HIV positive workers. The establishment of workplace policy can secure these services and rights.
Prevention is a key strategy in addressing HIV/AIDS. Workers should be encouraged to go for testing, if they are negative they should be given information that will enable them to understand the risks and how they can reduce these risks. Role of the union is to negotiate such access and also make sure that treatment can be made available for workers. To keep in line with other union strategies unions could argue that such initiatives are extended to casualised workers. It is also logical such efforts should include workers families who may also be infected or affected by the disease. Workers can receive information and education on HIV prevention and risk reduction, counselling and testing and treatment at the workplace. The unions can get involved in or demand such programmes at the workplace and support initiatives such as peer educators where workers can educate in their workplace and can take this knowledge into their communities.
One of the most important things unions can do to support a member with HIV/AIDS is to help the worker stay on the job. Staying on the job means the worker keeps his or her livelihood, pride, dignity, and benefits. People living with HIV or AIDS should be allowed to work as long as they can perform their jobs. The workplace policy should establish reasonable accommodation of HIV positive workers that may need to be given tasks and responsibilities that they can perform if they are weakened by the disease. Reasonable accommodation may include job restructuring, modifying work schedules or reassignment, however this must not be a demotion and must not affect the HIV positive workers wages and benefits.
Staying on the job means the union may need to help protect workers from discrimination on the job. Examples of discrimination at work are when co-workers have refused to work with a person who has or is regarded as being HIV positive, an employer has tried to fire a person because they have or are regarded as being HIV positive, an employer denied benefits, like sick leave, to a HIV positive worker with AIDS, unfair restrictions were placed on a HIV positive worker, like having to eat lunch alone or take breaks away from the other workers, and a qualified worker was passed up for a promotion because he or she has HIV or AIDS.
Unions can use workplace policy to develop the principles on which an agreement can be negotiated to address the needs of HIV positive workers, for example granting adequate sick leave so that HIV positive workers so not use this up meeting appointment requirements for health check ups and collection of treatment drugs and can still have time off when they are sick.
Sometimes the argument is made that by negotiating comprehensive policy and programmes, especially those that provide access to treatment through the workplace, that workers lose bargaining power at the negotiating table on wages and other areas. It is true that there is a risk of this happening and safeguards are needed. For instance, workplace policy could cover that HIV/AIDS programme provisions cannot be used as bargaining chip in negotiations on wages and other substantive issues. Provisions must also be made for treatment access in the case of dismissal, retrenchment or retirement until such time that treatment can be sourced elsewhere. The policy should empower HIV positive workers, not put workers lives at the mercy of employers whim.
Unions can drive the process for the development of sound workplace policies on HIV and AIDS by following established principles of collecting a mandate from workers and negotiating as their representative. A top down approach should be avoided, the policy must be driven from the shop floor and meet the needs of workers. It may be possible to establish policy on HIV/AIDS at sector level with the bargaining council, this should be seen as a starting point and unions must keep in mind that the needs of workers may differ from one workplace to another and programmes in the workplace must address these specific needs.
There are many organisations in Africa specialised in issues of HIV/AIDS. Unions can act as a bridge between workers and such organisations by building alliances on the issue. In this way a union engagement strategy can focus on the workplace whilst its efforts into communities and facilitating direct services can be achieved through cooperation. This can and should extend to supporting activist organisations making national demands where a union may throw its weight behind a protest march or a parliamentary submission. This actively engages memberships and contributes towards an organising culture in the union
As a last point, unions are also employers, and as such we should concern ourselves with the development of workplace policies that protect the rights and dignity of their own staff members.
Workplace Policy and Programmes
A workplace policy provides the framework for action to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and manage its impact. It:
• commits the workplace to take action
• ensures consistency with national laws
• lays down a standard of behaviour for all workers
• helps workers living with HIV/AIDS to understand what support and care they will receive
• helps to stop the spread of the virus through prevention programmes
• assists a workplace to plan for HIV/AIDS and manage its impact.
A policy may consist of a detailed document just on HIV/AIDS, setting out programme as well as policy issues. It's important that the policy should promote action, not hold it up. For this reason it may be better to have a simple policy, and include more details in workplace agreements or contracts including the workplace programme.
Workplace programmes translate paper policies and commitments into practical action. Comprehensive programmes include prevention, care and protection of rights. If a company can only provide some services in-house, refer staff to public health services for others. Targeted programmes means work with defined groups, taking into account their particular needs and the factors affecting their knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. Programmes may have activities for men and women separately as well as together, but should in any case be sensitive to gender issues.
Steps to establishing workplace policy and programmes:
1. Talk to workers and find out their needs. This serves as a starting point for organising and mobilising.
2. Research the issue in the factory trying to find out potential impact on workers and the company
3. Approach management and engage them in negotiations on the issue
4. Develop a policy dealing with rights and responsibilities on HIV AIDS in the workplace, through these discussions
5. Develop a programme that delivers access to services and education regarding HIV/AIDS (e.g. counselling, testing, treatment, nutrition support, condom access, peer education etc.)
6. Continuously refer back to workers to keep them involved in the process.
7. Monitor that employers are implementing the process.
Some unions have used special joint HIV/AIDS committees with the employer to achieve the above. This is fine so long as unions represent the interests and demands of workers at all times.