Trade unions in denial about HIV/AIDS

NUGFW secretary general Jacqueline Jack has appealed to fellow trade unionists to stop “living in the era of denial” and realise that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is seriously threatening productivity levels in Trinidad and Tobago. She made the statement when she addressed a National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW) symposium on Occupational Health and Safety. Jack noted that HIV/AIDS was virtually a non-issue, while other minor topics were given priority at the symposium. “In the region, trade union leaders are in a comfort zone and they need to wake up and realise that HIV/AIDS is also a health, safety and environmental issue, a trade union issue.

“The welfare of workers is the business of the trade union and while we need to ensure training in other key areas, we have to understand that HIV/AIDS is prevalent between the ages of 18-25 years and that is the age group of our workforce,” she emphasised. Jack appealed to employers to join with the trade unions to develop and implement policies on HIV/AIDS discrimination in the work place and urged participants to ensure that the union’s health and safety work council adopt the International Labour Organisation (ILO) code of practice on HIV/AIDS at the workplace. “The income of the trade union is dependent on workers’ dues and if there are no healthy workers there will be no income for the trade unions and that is why trade unions, more than the employers, need to take the bull by its horns now,” she warned.