Labour, HIV & the workplace working to get the job done.

• Author: Altaf, Syed Asif

Maria's world started collapsing around her when the clinic nurse told her she was pregnant and HIV positive. She had been faithful, so it meant that Josef, her husband, had given her the virus. She felt the fear rise within her as she recalled how others in the village were treated when their tests came back positive.

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She was furious at Josef--not just for infecting her with HIV, but also because he would be fired when the trucking company he worked for learned of his HIV status. She, too, would lose her factory job in the export processing zone because being pregnant or HIV positive was enough to get you fired--labour laws did not apply in this zone. Employers knew that firing people for having HIV was illegal, but with little enforcement, some always managed to find ways to do so, without repercussions. It seemed like only yesterday that Josef had mentioned to Maria that his union was trying to start an HIV prevention programme, but was struggling due to lack of funds.

Josef and Maria's story is repeated the world over, and in some ways sums up the key priorities in organized labour's response to HIV/AIDS in the workplace: first, it illustrates how the rights of workers--and for that matter anyone--can be violated simply due to their HIV status; second, it underscores the necessity of expanding HIV prevention programmes, especially in the workplace; and third, its message is a call to action to stop similar yet entirely avoidable tragedies.

In June 2011, when world leaders gather in New York for the General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS, ten years will have passed since the adoption of the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. Five years ago, the world committed to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support, and it has fallen short of this goal. If world leaders re-energize their leadership commitment and demonstrate the political will to translate the words of the Declaration into reality, they will also reaffirm that there is hope for similar global commitments. The June High Level Meeting will be a watershed moment, not only for the AIDS response, but also for the credibility of global commitments in general.

For its part, until the human rights of people living with HIV (PLHIV) are respected, and access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support is universal, the International Labour Organization (ILO) will take prati-cal steps to protect the...