ITF HIV/AIDS workshops yield real results for workers

That’s from a participant of the latest ITF HIV/AIDS workshop for the Caribbean sub-region which was held in St Lucia last week.
 
Michael Lanns’ union, the Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU), has been working towards getting a new clause on HIV/AIDS integrated into their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) since he attended the last sub-regional workshop in Barbados in 2012.
 
He reported back to the latest round of participants that a clause has now been integrated into the CBA meaning there are official provisions on education, prevention and rights around HIV/AIDS for port workers in Dominica.
 
The Caribbean sub-region has the second highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world and it’s hoped the experience of the DPSU will inspire other unions to push for inclusion of HIV/AIDS clauses in their own agreements.
 
Michael said: “We have this (clause) out in the open so other unions can see what we’ve negotiated. We would expect that other unions in the region pick up from here and do things to encourage their own employers to show they care about HIV/AIDS and about their employees.
 
“In every seminar you learn something new, your knowledge increases and grows. You see how it all relates to each other, from the wide global scale down to a regional level.”
 
The ITF is committed to ending stigma and raising awareness around HIV/AIDS and to supporting the activities of unions promoting this as a workplace issue.
 
Get more information from the dedicated HIV/AIDS pages of the ITF website.
 
If you’re inspired to act or have already negotiated a clause on HIV/AIDS into your union CBA tell us about it by emailing the ITF HIV/AIDS coordinator Asif Altaf: altaf_asif@itf.org.uk