The Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) reported on Wednesday that it had stepped up the pace of its HIV/Aids awareness programme in the clothing, textile and leather industries.
Over a focused 22 working day period, the Sactwu HIV/Aids Project staff and a group of specially trained shop stewards conducted lunch-time briefing meetings at 126 factories covering a total of 32 166 union members nationally.
Approximately 13 000 (40%) of the workers briefed work in factories in the KwaZulu Natal Province.
The trade union said the blitz was conducted from mid-April to mid-May, and believes it was the biggest HIV/Aids awareness special focus campaign by any trade union in any industry in the country.
Sactwu said workers were briefed on the causes of HIV/Aids, the steps that can be taken to combat the disease, where to get help if they are affected, infected, or simply wish to determine their HIV status.
The union said it distributed approximately 70 000 specially designed information leaflets, and 25 602 male and female condoms during the briefing sessions.
“This unique awareness blitz has complemented the union’s existing structured HIV/Aids awareness training programme for shop stewards. Since the inception of the union’s specially designed two day HIV/Aids awareness training program for worker leaders, in 2001, approximately 1 822 Sactwu shop stewards have been trained,” the union stated.
It added that it had secured some funding from the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity, for voluntary counselling and testing, and has begun to provide this service free of charge to its members.
The union is also laying the basis to provide home-based care to union members with Aids. – I-Net Bridge