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At the IMF Regional Gender Workshop held in South Africa, women representatives reported on how women are affected by precarious work in their countries, these situations are very similar to those reported by women from other parts of the world.Cameroon: Women are in precarious employment and have less and less access to full-time jobs.  There are wage differences between precarious and non-precarious workers and women and young people are worst affected.  Companies don't want to recruit workers directly.  The union has been able to get casual workers made permanent. Namibia: Workers in EPZs work only for 3 years.  They are mostly men while women work as receptionists and cleaners.  Unions lobbied government against agency work and now a new labour act which outlaws labour hire and has massive fines takes effect on September 1.  Employers are still lobbying against it.  Currently the union is negotiating in a company of 160 workers for the 100 agency workers to be employed in accordance with the labour law. Ghana: There are not many women in the metal sector. In the participant's company, workers were employed for up to 10 years as casuals. When legislation came in forcing companies to make workers permanent after 3 months, the long-term casuals were given the choice of leaving the company and taking an ex gratia payment for lost benefits over the ten years or keeping a job but losing all seniority with the company.  Most women opted for the latter. Casuals do not have safety equipment while permanent workers do.  Women casuals are subject to sexual harassment -- they are asked for favours to get work. Swaziland: Precarious employment is normal practice with agency work and temps.  Pay is unequal and they are not in the union.  The union has mainstreamed precarious work in collective bargaining and forced employers to take responsibility for subcontracted employees.  Collective bargaining is their main method for dealing with precarious employment. Kenya: Women work as messengers, tea girls, receptions, secretaries and telephone operators.  Union membership is declining because of precarious work.  We are calling for a law change to get rid of casual work. Zambia: Agency hire is the main method of precarious employment, especially in supermarkets and the building industry.  Employers take advantage of women to pay low wages.  Probationary periods are abused -- workers can go 10 years with no confirmation given and are not allowed to join unions.  The union ran an education campaign on casualisation in 5 companies in each region.  T-shirts were printed 'an injury to one is an injury to all'. They got to see the Minister of Labour who wrote the union a letter giving them permission to enter mines and recruit casual workers. South Africa: NUMSA- Labour hire is the most common method of precarious employment.  Agencies are registered under different bargaining councils and undermine conditions.  Most labour hire workers are in assembly.  Indirect production workers are outsourced eg. cleaning and catering.  The law is that after 12 months the primary employer must make agency workers permanent, but the agencies lay people off before they reach the 12 months.  Women are not doing skilled jobs or receiving training.  A common practice is to keep people working for years on temporary contracts with breaks in employment between each one.  Workers are often sacked before they qualify for benefits suchas family responsibility leave or unemployment benefits. MEWUSA - Agency workers sometimes only come in for 2-3 hours then are sent home, only to wait weeks to be brought in again for a couple of days.  Favouritism dictates who gets the work.  Precarious workers are forced to sign a document saying that they won't join the union or attend meetings. Tanzania: All features of precarious work are present in the country. EPZs are mainly textiles -- young girls are employed and sacked when they get pregnant.  There is no sick leave or maternity leave.  The union has produced materials specific to the industry to promote TUICO.  They hope soon to be given access to recruit inside the EPZ.  Women are working as sweepers, parking attendants and security guards.  Women went into precarious work when men were retrenched from full-time work and they had to make a living for their families. Mozambique: Big companies use contract services for cleaning, transport etc.  These workers do not benefit from agreements made with the principal companies.  They have 1-3 month contracts and low salaries are typical. Most employers do not recognise unions.  The union is educating workers not to sign precarious agreements. Angola and Zimbabwe:Women are mainly in the informal economy with no labour rights. In the discussions that followed, a key issue that arose was women's capacity to influence the agenda within their own unions.  Improving this was seen as a key strategy towards taking actions for women precarious workers.  Precarious work was identified as a factor in the fight against poverty, as well as unemployment.  Apart from NUMSA, the participants were unaware of actions their unions are planning for the Global Day of Action on Precarious Work on October 7 2008.  NUMSA will be campaigning with COSATU on poverty eradication, job creation and job protection -- precarious work is an element in this. Participants then identified the most important action that their unions should take in order to tackle precarious work for women.  These showed different priorities, based on national circumstances.  The identified priorities are: South Africa: NUMSA identified outlaw labour brokers as a priority, whilst MEWUSA said that management should be approached to recognise precarious workers rights (MEWUSA) Namibia: Union to earmark funds for women's activities Zambia: Amend labour laws Cameroon: Implement existing labour laws Tanzania: Collective bargaining coverage should be extended to avoid casualisation Mozambique: Educate workers on rights Angola: Use collective bargaining to reduce precarious work Ghana: Organising strategy for women precarious workers that leads to collective bargaining Kenya: Identify women for leadership positions. Zimbabwe: No strategy is possible because of current political crisis It was decided that these priorities should be considered in the discussions that were to follow on the development on a way forward of the IMF gender project for the region. Article based on a report by Jenny Holdcroft, IMF Director fir Equal Rights and EPZs.  &nbsp;

Working Together... Women And Precarious Work

In many of the discussions in the sub regional meeting that centred around the state of our unions, we discussed many issues affecting the sustainability of our unions as organisations.  Given the centrality of the concept of sustainable unionism; it is probably useful to introduce this concept in order to facilitate further discussion to reach consensus of its definition and build a practical understanding of the term. 1. Financial Sustainability: Self funded If more income or even a large portion of income is derived from external organisations as opposed to membership contributions the locus of control and accountability in the organisation tends to shift upward and outward. Where this occurs the union can not be considered organisationally sustainable and organisational purpose and values will tend to be undermined. 2. Democracy and practiced values For our purposes here a union, in its definitional form, is not seen as sustainable where membership participation is withdrawn or discouraged. At an organisational level democratic values are practicable where the political will and resources are directed at this core area. Where such processes and structures are actively supported other practiced values core to unionism, such as solidarity, tend also to grow. Functioning structures and workers control are required, where communication and education play a key role in developing active membership participation. Linking to broader social issues and communities is also key to building active membership based control in organisations. This principle underlies all others, an organisation is only relevant in as much as it represents the interests of its members, this is only practicable through democratic structures which vests ultimate decision making with workers. 3. Organisational effectiveness and efficiency Unions are organisations and as such require efficient systems to support, not replace organisational purpose. Where systems are neglected long term sustainability is threatened. Such systems relate to finances, membership, structures and communication. Effectiveness considerations directs us to what systems we need. 4. Union organisational form and size There is probably no formula as to the perfect size of a trade union as this is more often than not context dependant. However size and staffing levels must be appropriate to one another given the context of the organising scope of the organisation. Underlying any form or size must be the membership and decisions in this regards must be worker driven and worker controlled. The other question is what impact the organisation can have politically, either directly or through influencing the national centre where that organisation is sufficiently powerful. 5. Sustainability for what? Sustainability does not mean survival at all costs as this is a clear indication of the means to an end becoming an end in itself. It is part of the life cycle of organisations to be born, mature and eventually die as the context and environment changes. Sustainability is also about looking beyond immediate organisations of workers to emergent forms of worker organisation. Sustainability means an organisation remaining relevant and honouring its purpose, through demonstrated (practiced) values associated with this purpose but ultimately one which is worker driven and worker managed and has political impact that favours the working class. 6. Sustainability in class and environmental context Unions form part of a socioeconomic and community context and can not operate in strict isolation to these. Where they do their relevance will always be limited to economic demands and therefore prone to sectionalism. This includes the concepts of environmental sustainability, and the importance of resistance to systemic approaches that threaten broader concerns of sustainable human habitation of the planet. A working class agenda is key. 7. Unions must determine their own direction Above all unions must determine their own route to sustainability and own the process along with the responsibility. If actions are taken and programmes adopted for the purpose of funds or to satisfy the dictates of outsiders the organisation is not independent and can not be sustainable. The basis of this determination must be worker lead and worker driven.

In many of the discussions in the sub regional meeting that centred around the state of our unions, we discussed many issues affecting the sustainability of our unions as organisations.  Given the centrality of the concept of sustainable unionism; it is probably useful to introduce this concept in order to facilitate further discussion to reach consensus of its definition and build a practical understanding of the term.

What is Sustainable Unionism?

Throughout the IMF regions , the implementation of the action programme is being discussed in order to develop positions and ideas on the best way to take the programme forward.   As a starting point, focus areas that are key to implementation have been drafted, these are: 1. Collective Bargaining 2. Union Building 3. Organising 4. Defend and Protect 5. Trade Union Challenges 6. Sustainable Trade Development and Employment These six areas or the implementation of the action programme require unions to be sustainable and viable. Sustainable unionism relates to a union being self funding democratic and accountable to workers, while viable unionism relates to the ability to have an impact on broader socioeconomic policy issues at a national level, either directly or through alliances and influence and support in and of the national centre. IMF Africa in its sub regional meetings has already agreed amongst affiliates the there is an urgent need to move towards sustainable and viable unionism. This entails cooperation and merger of unions into broader sector unions as opposed to industry unions largely because of the structure of labour market. Already there are a number of IMF affiliates in the region that organise in more than one industry. Union building and meeting trade union challenges means building sustainable and viable unions across small industries mostly populated with vulnerable workers. Once unions are more sustainable they will be better placed to defend and protect workers, including precarious workers. Organising and collective bargaining are fundamental components of the work of trade unions yet these tasks are often neglected and often whittled down to activities of recruiting and wage negotiation. In unions where values of democracy are upheld, organising and collective bargaining are taken very seriously under the principle of worker democracy which is critical to the sustainability of a union. Affiliates organise in industries which may have different levels and different forms of precarious work in them so the issue can be taken on board through implementing strategies in collective bargaining and organising. Affiliates are also well placed to begin to engage with the true nature of precarious work in Africa through engagement on socio economic issues affecting the working class. Addressing precarious work will require broad regional approaches and country specific campaigning that must have solidarity and alliance building at its core. The establishment of sustainable trade and employment in Africa requires the use of broad local and global coalitions to begin to change the context and nature of the labour market in the region. Capital does not create jobs for the sake of job creation. Jobs are therefore expendable in the chase for competitive lead and higher profits. Many investment surveys on Africa argue that employment is over regulated in the region but in reality this is far from the practiced truth and dropping labour standards will not bring more investment, it will only make workers more vulnerable. African unions need to be strong enough to stand up to the pursuit of capitalist interest in the region. Rich countries living up to their Official Development Assistance promises and fairer trade regimes are key to this focus area. Trade union solidarity between north and south is an essential component for developing pressure towards these ends. The Southern African sub regional meeting held in June 2008 resolved that discussions on sustainable unionism and on precarious work need to be taken into union structures. In order to stimulate this as a process the regional office will prepare a discussion document collecting relevant facts and ideas together to circulate amongst affiliates from which the IMF hopes to gather feedback and stimulate debate for the development of a position for the region ahead of the next IMF World Congress.

Sustainable and Viable Unionism Vital To The Action Programme

in resisting apartheid in South Africa or stayed out of party politics in post colonial Kenya, resisted incorporation into the organs of state in Francophone Africa or stayed out of elections in Zimbabwe?   Common sense tells us there are probably as many answers to these kinds of questions as there are different political situations and economic contexts in which the question is asked. So in order to begin to develop a broader response that may apply across different national situations we need to try and figure out some principles to apply to different situations. The first question we may ask is what we mean by political? There is the narrow view that sees political as being limited to party political issues and therefore elections. This tends to be a liberal view that attempts to artificially  separate economics from politics. This view often argues that unions have no political role and usually goes further to argue that whilst unions have a right to exists they are negative institutions that prevent the free market from operating ...well, freely. If we think about it though this makes no sense at all. How can politics be separate from economics? It's like saying that ice and water are two completely different and unrelated things because one is solid and the other liquid and conveniently assuming away the effect of temperature. You see the connection between politics and economics every time you watch the news or read a newspaper. A politician says this or that and it affects the value of the currency. Labour legislation is changed to attract investors and workers suffer as a consequence.    Unions are clearly not political parties but they most definitely are organisations of economic interest and by their very reason for existence must intervene in the economic arena to further the interests of the people that create and build union organisation, the working class. If the union does not have this as a purpose it simply can not be called a union. If we accept that politics and economics are linked then as unionists we have to accept that political engagement is unavoidable. But does this mean simply throwing our support to one political party or another? To answer this let us look at the other argument that sees politics and economics as inseparable. Here, to continue our ice and water analogy, temperature would be the mode of production in the society and it is not assumed away at all. If the society is based on the political economic system of capitalism the system it self dictates that the state must represent the interests of one class over the other for unless there is growth through the exploitation of labour the system itself can not continue to work. The simple understanding of this view would therefore see any political party that does not want to change the economic system and is trying to become the ruling party, as much the same as all the others. This view can make sense. Consider America, where people often say it makes no difference whether you vote for the Republican or Democratic party, there is only one party the Capitalist party. Can this mean there no space to win benefits for the working class and therefore political engagement is pointless? As power collides in society there is space to win concessions that are in the interests of the working class. Another possibility is where rulers come to see the whole system as being for their own purposes or benefit, We have seen this before in Africa, where sytems can come to resemble feudalism or even worse slavery, where the ruling party start to take on the image of royalty and the leader is king. In such a situation the capitalist class and working people may even find themselves in a strange alliance. History shows us many points where workers have been able to take advantage of divisions in power to further our interests. The working week has been shortened, unions have won rights, at times bargaining has delivered improved living conditions and so on. So if as  labour leaders, we avoid these opportunities then we fail to represent the fundamental mandate of workers. There is no denying that the labour movement can play an influential political role in a country. But how should we decide to step into the political arena? Maybe a candidate used to be part of the trade unions, or maybe the party is offering some support for the union federation's building project, or maybe and so the reasons continue...These kinds of reasons have all been seen before but have also been shown as false reasons emerging because union leaders alone and not working class organizations as a whole has taken decisions to support a candidate. We need clear reasons (a strategy), clear undertakings from a political parties (a manifesto that supports a working class agenda), vigilance to ensure that promises are kept (accountability from unions and parties), education that builds worker's understanding and ownership of decisions (practiced democracy) and the process of deciding support and carrying it out must build working class unity. Beyond representing workers who have been dismissed or bargaining for wages the historic mission of the trade union movement has always been to unite the working class around their common interest.   Should any of these elements be absent then the political engagement of a trade union is likely to go against the interests of workers. Too often in the past the blood of workers has been shed in the interests of bourgeoisie politics and the politics of division and personal enrichment. It is the absolute responsibility of workers and union leaders to ensure this does not happen.

Trrroublemaker... Elections in Africa: What Is The Political Role of Trade Unions?

Gomomo started working at Volkswagen in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape in the 1960s. At that time it was illegal for African workers to join trade unions. Racism was rife and divisions in the workplace on access to benefits and skills mirrored that of the apartheid state. Yet Daniel Dube, Numsa's first president elected in 1987, remembers that. "The success of Gomomo was in bringing together different racial groups with different politics -- some supported Matanzima and the homelands policy, many coloureds supported the apartheid government's tri- cameral policy. He made them focus on the power that they have got inside the factory irrespective of their different skin colours. By focusing on the improvement of their basic working conditions inside the factory,  these improved conditions would spill over to their social set-up." This unity could be seen when Gomomo and other shop stewards called meetings of all workers at  KwaNobuhle (African township in Uitenhage). "They would gather at Jabavu Stadium and you would see everyone - Africans, coloureds and a few whites. ." says Dube. Because VW was a multinational with its headquarters in Germany, Gomomo started to play a strong leadership role and linked with the VW works council in Gothenburg, where the main VW factory was, as well as other cities in Germany. As international links were strengthened he learned first hand the importance of strong worker to worker contact across continents and countries. "Gomomo was the public face of South African workers at German metal union, IG Metall and of course Volkswagen in particular," says researcher Chris Bolsmann. "His relationship with German activists, unionists, officials and Works Council members was crucial in ensuring the Uitenhage plant and apartheid more generally remained an important focus in German circles." But Gomomo was not a 'clock card' shop steward. His concerns for his members stretched beyond the factory floor.  "Gomomo was one of the prominent leaders in the community in guiding and advising," says Dube. He helped to ensure that organised workers took up community complaints and used workplace pressure on workers' companies to put pressure on local government to resolve the problems. And in communities he, with others, encouraged the formation of street and area committees to strengthen democracy within the community. For all these efforts he suffered personally. His house was petrol bombed and he narrowly escaped injury. Such was fellow VW workers' concern and respect for their leader that "they took it upon themselves to protect Gomomo -- they would sleep inside his yard night after night," remembers Dube. And when the security police tried to detain him, they came up against the might of VW workers. If Gomomo was detained early in the morning "by 9am the whole of VW had stopped work and were marching to security police offices in Uitenhage," says Dube. Workers would threaten VW management that they would only resume work once he was released. "And now VW was under pressure because the German head office would not allow the factory to stand still because of anti-apartheid pressure on German companies!" So by 12 midday he would be released. "No other leader in Uitenhage ever enjoyed that kind of support!" As vice president of Naawu he played a leading role in the unity talks that resulted in the formation of Cosatu in 1985 and later when 7 metalworkers combined to form Numsa in 1987. His commitment to worker control and democracy was to be tested during the mid-1990s when Cosatu became part of the tri-partite alliance and had to deal with new government policies like its new economic policy GEAR that promised growth and employment. As Cosatu president, Gomomo famously responded that for workers GEAR meant putting the economy into 'reverse GEAR!' Even when he was elected to parliament on an ANC ticket in 1999, "he used to take on the ANC caucus," says one time Numsa vice president, and now ANC MP Danny Oliphant. "He would take on the ANC leadership from the president right down to the ministers when issues weren't addressed properly. He was not happy with the implementation of the labour laws." At the time of his death in January 2008 he was chairperson of the Portfolio on Public Service and Administration in parliament. Adapted from an article  in Numsa News No 1 March 2008  Photo: William Matlala

A Tribute To A Metalworker And A Servant Of The People- Phumzile John Gomomo

SEWUN IMF affiliates from Nigeria since 2005, is a product of a merger of 5 small unions since 2000, the union has not yet been able to concretely integrate the staff members and to consolidate the union structures. Presently, there are 45 staff members servicing 28 000 members. This ratio imbalance is problematic for the union in terms of the needs of workers. Some of the causes of the union's problems include weak union structures, lack of coherent union strategy, lack of trained leadership and staff, unable to deal with new challenges and resistance by the old leadership to adapt to new realities. The effects of these problems are shown in low union membership, unsustainable union strategy, lack of resources to service members, lack of influence on the industry in the labour movement and  lack of perspective and action plan to build up the union. The Nigerian government has recently passed laws that encourage the establishment of other national centres and unions. In June 2007, a strategic planning meeting was held in Lagos, Nigeria for SEWUN [Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria]. Key outcomes were the need for strong leadership and for SEWUN to organise and build strong structures to service members, or else the union might lose members to small and right wing unions. Other outcomes included the set up of a Constitutional Review Committee to look into the development and contribution of each sector within the union. In October 2007 an evaluation meeting was arranged with NUMSA, IMF, Finnish Metall and SASK to assess how far SEWUN has progressed in terms of a project that had been established to assist SEWUN. However, representatives found SEWUN in crisis. Division amongst the leadership into two factions and the lack of trust, accountability and transparency lay at the core of the issue.   IMF and NUMSA tried to assist the factions  to resolve the problems that had resulted in the division of the union and it was also necessary for the Registrar of Trade Unions to become involved.   After much discussions an agreement emerged that provided space for the unanimous resolution of the crisis in  SEWUN with the following provisions: 1) The leadership that has been dismissed through the crisis should be re-instated. 2) All posts created during the crisis should be dissolved 3) There is agreement that there is only ONE Metal Sector within SEWUN 4) All resolutions reached by both parties in the wake of the crisis stand dissolved 5) All parties should work together, in true cooperation, for the improved growth of the union and to provide effective services for members Some of the recommendations from NUMSA and the IMF that emerged from the meeting are as follows: a) The unions should have weekly meetings because meetings are important to keep abreast of new developments within the union and even though not everybody will be available for weekly meetings, the meetings should be recorded [notes taken] so that people can have access to the proceedings. b) The outcomes of these meetings must be conveyed to the IMF for progress purposes c) Correspondence to the regional office must be done on a monthly basis d) Communication between leadership needs to be improved e) The Constitutional Review Committee process needs to be speeded up with resource, external experienced person  required to assist within this process by the IMF f) All parties should be committed to the agreement and the resolutions need to be adopted with immediate effect There was agreement between NUMSA, Finnish Metall, SASK and the IMF that the problems within SEWUN can, with hard work and commitment,  be solved and that the unity that the agreement provides for, is one that can be achieved. Such factions in leadership does not serve the best interest of workers that can only benefit from strong united representation. it is hoped that this will be a lasting resolution that will serve to strengthen SEWUN for metalworkers in Nigeria

Crisis In SEWUN Resolved With The Assistance Of IMF And NUMSA

The regulation of the South African market is considered to be progressive with good organisational rights and recognition of the right to strike. There is support for majoritarianism and central bargaining and a regulatory framework for collective bargaining. Despite this there has been a deterioration in organisation capacity in trade unions. this has been the result of several factors that are interrelated including the de-radicalisation of workers, declining membership, high cadre turnover and the failure of unions to adopt strategies to tackle new management techniques. Before BHP Billiton took over Samancor there was a good organising environment marked by growth in membership. There were significant gains in worker rand organisation rights. there was an overarching universal framework around strategic policy and procedural issues with regard to transformation, restructuring, productivity and development. Whilst it was not without its own issues, there were effective participatory structures. Then along came BHP Billiton that immediately began with its union bashing tactics. Under the flag of rationalisation, plants were closed and production transferred. This hit workers hard reducing workers at Ferrometals by half from 1200 to 600. Palmet Ferro Chrome was closed and Middlelburg permanent workers were reduced from about 700 to 500. This led to an increase in precarious work forms at the plants through the use of labour brokers and limited duration contract workers. Workers doing precarious work for BHP Billiton outnumbers those in permanent employment. Alusaf Bayside has 1300 permanent workers and 1550 contract workers and Hillside has 1200 permanent and 800 contract. At Mozal in Mozambique there are 1250 permanent workers and 1800 contract workers.   BHP Billiton has also dismantled participative structures and reintroduced unilateralism. they have divided workers by promoting union rivalry and establishing separate bargaining units for different categories of workers. The company has undermined health and safety and other working conditions by putting a price tag to these, using money to buy these rights from workers. In seeking a way forward, workers of BHP Billiton and their trade unions need to develop organising strength through recruitment and internal cadre development. At a national level there needs to be campaigns targeting BHP Billiton for decent work and the respect for trade union and worker rights. We must also support through solidarity actions our comrades at BHP Billiton plants in other countries and voice demands for BHP Billiton to enter into an international framework agreement with IMF and ICEM for the benefit of BHP Billiton workers all over the world. This article has been adapted from a presentation by NUMSA Representative Abraham Mathiebela

Fighting Back Against BHP Billiton in South Africa

Meeting the challenges of trade and interaction with China, India and the West, is at a key turning point right now. There are many threats and some strategic opportunities. To grab these opportunities in the interests of ordinary African people and not ruling elites as happened at the last turning point of independence there are some key prerequisites. Firstly accountability of our own governments to us the people, regardless of institutional democratic form, must be enforced. Secondly self importance in leadership must end as it divides leaders from their people. This issue of self importance extends into civil society and our trade union formations and it is here that the Big Man/Women syndrome must begin to die out. Heroes are good role models sometimes, but worshiping heroes gives all of people's power and responsibility away, as it undermines our self-worth and reliance on collective action. Then there is unity and self reliance. If Africa was united now it would be a superpower (yes a poor one) but one that could represent its own interests in dealing with China, India and the West. If Africa is to develop we must do it and nobody else. We understand historically what has led us to this point and how Africa has been systematically undermined, marginalized exploited and imprisoned by the interests of other nations often in the guise of assistance. The lesson should be clear development must come from within. No superpower, no matter who, can or will do this for us. This is a mindset that must change starting with small things and growing to how our governments interact with us and other states. As links with China and India grow and the policy stranglehold of the west is loosened, civil society must take a powerful and central role in these developments. It is African civil society that must explore and engage in a spirit of unity of purpose with civil society in Asia. This is an essential power balance against the oligarchic tendencies that will always exist between Capital and ruling groups regardless of their intentions. Our culture has to come to the front. This will be the single biggest step on the road to equality. Language is a key part of this. As Kwesi Kwaa Prah says, "it is not possible to develop Africa grounded in languages like English, French and Portuguese, or Arabic for that matter. Africans have to realise that the cultural base for development has to be their own. That is not to say they should not learn other languages, no, but they must make their languages the centre of all development efforts." If we do these things we will engage the world face to face in the interests of all African people.&nbsp;

Trrroublemaker...Africa&#039;s Development is in Our Hands

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.&nbsp;

How Unions Can Respond to HIV/AIDS

The Congress for the Metal and Allied  Namibian Workers Union took place on 22 to 24 March 2007 in Windhoek.   Representatives at the Congress discussed the future of the union and challenges that the union faces. The Congress discussed  service delivery to its members and one strategy was to begin weekend study groups including in this programme worker rights, occupational health and safety and HIV/AIDS. The Congress grappled with how to implement the unions gender policy including participation of women in the unions structures and leadership and affirmative actions towards better employment of women.   One of the biggest issues discussed was is labour hiring practices and subcontracting especially in the construction sector where workers are retrenched when building contracts end. MANWU is not alone on this issue, the Namibian National Centre, NUNW has recognised this as an important issue to address for its affiliates and has planned a demonstration in June on concerns over ongoing retrenchments.      At the Congress new leadership was elected and IMF congratulates the new General Secretary Bernard Simaata Milinga, President Jacobus Shirunga, Vice President Martin Mwoonde and Treasurer Birgitta Amukwa. MANWU has about 3250 members and organises in several sectors including metal, construction, garage and service stations and vehicle retail. &nbsp;

MANWU Holds Its 7th Congress

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