Reprinted with permission from America@Work. June 2002.

Unions Educate Around HIV/AIDS

As

the rate of HIV/AIDS virus infection soars across the globe—increasingly among heterosexuals, women and people of color—the union movement is responding with strategies aimed at education, prevention and financing for treatments.

“This disease is a major killer in this country and around the world,” says Coalition of Labor Union Women President Gloria Johnson. “It’s hitting everybody everywhere. It’s so frightening and so destructive.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 793,026 people in the United States had HIV/AIDS as of June 2001, including 8,994 children under age 13. The percentage of whites and blacks was about even—43 percent and 40 percent respectively, while Latinos accounted for 19 percent. Worldwide, the number of those who contract the HIV/AIDS virus is growing at a rate of about 5 million annually. At the end of last year, 40 million worldwide — 25 million in Africa alone—were infected, according to the World Health Organization.

Although many unions include materials on HIV/AIDS as part of their overall health and safety education programs, union activists say more awareness and workplace education are needed.

CLUW, which received a $250,000 grant from the CDC in 2000, is taking a leading role in increasing awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS in U.S. workplaces and communities. CLUW has formed a leadership forum of AFL-CIO unions and constituency groups to promote increased funding for HIV/AIDS research and treatment, provide workplace education on how the disease is transmitted and help unions negotiate contract language that protects the rights of members who have the virus.

The union movement is in a unique position to provide leadership on HIV/AIDS education, says Karen McMillan, director of CLUW’s HIV/AIDS project. It is important to educate union families about the disease and how it is transmitted, she says, and the workplace is a venue in which unions can provide a continuum of care—from increasing awareness, education and prevention to care, support and treatment. CLUW is developing videos and other educational materials for use in the workplace.

Globally, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity has joined with trade unions, businesses and the government in South Africa to establish worksite-based education and counseling about HIV/AIDS for workers. The center funds training for shop stewards to provide peer counseling to fellow workers and assist those infected with HIV/AIDS in getting treatment.

Communications Workers of America President Morton Bahr says he plans to use his positions as chairman of the Board of United Way International and chair of the AFL-CIO Executive Council’s International Affairs Committee to involve the work and resources of the international union movement to strengthen HIV/AIDS operations worldwide.

“A key goal will be to coordinate the work of United Way International and United Nations agencies so we can address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa and to make more progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS and to promote AIDS education,” Bahr says.

Unions like AFT and AFSCME are tackling the issue globally. Since June 2001, AFT has partnered with teachers’ unions in three African countries through its AFT-Africa AIDS campaign to train African teachers—who have a 35 percent HIV/AIDS infection rate—to reduce the incidence of HIV infection and to empower African teacher organizations to become active in pressing their governments to devote more resources to fighting HIV/AIDS.

AFSCME has donated $50,000 to the Nelson Mandela Foundation in South Africa to help promote AIDS education, mainly for young people, by funding theater groups and other media that appeal to children. The foundation, founded by Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for fighting apartheid and who served as president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, is designed to expand democracy, education and health care in that country. Trade union programs and funding are critical in fighting HIV/AIDS, says AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy, who is vice chairman of the council’s International Affairs Committee, because the disease affects workplaces, communities and families.

“The trade unions are in the workplaces and have the structures to provide the education and information about HIV/AIDS to workers. So we have a special obligation to do what we can to help our brothers and sisters and their families fight this terrible disease,” he says.

The AFL-CIO also is involved in fighting the worldwide HIV/AIDS pandemic through the International AIDS Trust, an HIV/AIDS advocacy group. On May 8, the IAT announced a partnership with UNAIDS, the United Nations’ agency established to fight the disease.

“The AFL-CIO stands ready to assist this partnership to eradicate the disease and bring hope to working families and their children throughout the world,” says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

For more information on how your union can help fight HIV/AIDS, call the AFL-CIO Safety and Health Department at 202-637-5366; visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Labor Responds to AIDS website at www.brta-lrta.org or call 800-342-2437; and contact Karen McMillan of the Coalition of Labor Union Women’s HIV/AIDS project at 202-223-8360, ext. 7 or Robert Lovelace at the American Center for International Labor Solidarity at 202-778-4500. For more resources, click on www.aflcio.org/healthcare/justforyou.htm#hiv.

CLUW HIV/AIDS Initiative Resources for HIV and AIDS