The Drum Beat 477 - Workers' Rights
This issue of The Drum Beat explores communication-centred thinking and action designed to protect the wide spectrum of rights related to labour, and to amplify the voice of the worker. The strategies and initiatives highlighted here present a variegated vision of work - a calling that we may seek either the right to pursue (or to pursue only in ways that dignify us) or, conversely, the right to be free from. As illustrated below, labour can be a platform for a united voice on many issues, or can impose suffering and silence. A final section focuses on the gendered dimensions of work, broadly defined.
The Drum Beat 477 contains:
- A focus on the RIGHT TO WORK.
- A focus on the RIGHT TO NOT WORK.
- New POLL on effect of HIV on wealth, employment, and condom use.
- Initiatives related to TRANSPARENCY and labour rights.
- Placing a GENDER LENS on labour rights.
THE RIGHT *TO* WORK
1. Labour Discrimination a Symptom of HIV - Experimental Evaluation: The Greek Case
by Nick Drydakis
This document, from 2008, details a methodology that is designed to assist researchers, worldwide, to conduct surveys in tune with the spirit of the International Labour Organisation [ILO] Code (2001). This code, meant to secure decent work and respect for the human rights and dignity of persons infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, holds that there should be no discrimination against applicants for work on the basis of real or perceived HIV status. A study conducted in Greece led to the conclusion that "employers use health condition as a factor when reviewing resumés, which matches the legal definition of discrimination." The rate of net discrimination against men who are HIV-positive was found to be between 82.6% and 97.8%; that rate ranged from 81.6% to 98.8% among HIV-positive women." The probability of receiving a job interview is estimated as what is called here a "Probit model"; the author's message is that such tests "can both enhance our ability to measure discrimination and increase the effectiveness of civil rights law and enforcement designed to counteract it."
Published in 2008, this article is based on a perceived "great need to draw together experiences to develop a comprehensive response for HIV-positive teachers that fulfils their right to access HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services as well as their right to work without discrimination." Amongst the measures recommended in the document: Advocacy is required at the community level to better understand stigma and discrimination and their harmful effects, and workplace policies established and reinforced to protect the rights of those infected with HIV (right to employment, right to education, right to health). In pursuing this and other approaches, the document advocates for strong teachers' role in breaking down stigma and for their involvement in decision-making around policies addressing HIV in the education sector.
3. African Decade for Disabled Persons (ADDP) - Africa
ADPD, which was launched in 1999 and has recently been extended to last until 2019, is an African-Union-declared effort to raise awareness about disability issues in the region and to identify solutions tailored to the African experience that enhance full participation, equality, and empowerment of Africans with disability. Organisers contend that "[t]he vast majority of Africans with disabilities are excluded from schools, opportunities to work and participation in poverty reduction programs, virtually guaranteeing that they will live out their lives as the poorest of the poor....The social stigma associated with disability results in marginalisation and isolation, often leading to begging as the sole means of survival..." One example of action being undertaken as part of ADDP includes spearheading the implementation of the UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for People with Disabilities and ensuring the use of the Standard Rules as a basis for policy and legislation.
Contact: Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (SADPD) info@africandecade.co.za
4. Reduction of HIV/AIDS Related Employment Discrimination in Viet Nam
This paper is based on a 2003 joint ILO and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project that aimed to help protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), and to address HIV/AIDS through workplace prevention policies and the reduction of the epidemic's adverse consequences on social, labour, and economic development. The paper contends that stigmatisation of PLWHA is widespread in Viet Nam; forms of workplace discrimination include job dismissal of infected workers, and mandatory HIV screening of job applicants in a number of enterprises. A series of recommendations is offered; amongst them: information, education, and communication (IEC) activities undertaken in enterprises and beyond including media participation must be refined, excluding erroneous and stigmatising messages, to strategically change negative perceptions of the Vietnamese population on HIV/AIDS and PLWHA. In addition, "the legal framework of HIV/AIDS prevention and control should be revised and amended to incorporate stipulations for reduction of stigmatisation and discrimination, taking into account the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work."
THE RIGHT TO *NOT* WORK
5. The Project for Eradicating the Worst Forms of Child Labour - Turkey
This advocacy initiative draws upon awareness-raising and the creation of a spirit of ownership at the national and local level to spark change related to child labour practices in Turkey. One concrete action being undertaken is the actual withdrawal of working children from jobs that are hazardous for their health and safety; that cause problems for their physical, psychological, and social development; and that prevent their attendance of or success in school. To this end, centres have been set up to provide children with school articles and to support their education through tutoring. In addition, a "School Based Monitoring System" has been created. Finally, the families of the working children are being provided with vocational training and opportunities to access employment opportunities so that their children do not need to leave school in the first place. Various awareness-raising materials, such as newsletters, pamphlets, posters, audio and video cassettes, and films, have been produced to sustain this effort.
Contact: Osman Adikutlu oadikutlu@yahoo.com OR ILO in Turkey ankara@ilo.org
6. Impact Data - Cesiri Tono - Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire / Ivory Coast, Mali
Population Media Center aired a radio serial drama entitled Cesiri Tono (All the Rewards of Courage and Hard Work) from November 2004 to October 2005 in an effort to address the practice of trafficking and exploitation of children, which the organisers identified as being pervasive throughout West Africa. According to the evaluation, listeners in Mali were over 5 times as likely as non-listeners to have heard of exploitative child labour. In Côte d'Ivoire, 58.5% recognised that there is a relationship between high fertility/large families and the problem of exploitative child labour, as opposed to 43.5% of non-listeners. In Burkina Faso, more than twice as many listeners as non-listeners reported having taken action against exploitative child labour.
This project uses the medium of television to promote youth advocacy through active participation. Support Children and Young People (SCY) selects its young reporters from local high schools in Phnom Penh, where flyers and school contacts are used to attract applicants with a commitment to the advocacy of child rights. Airing on Mondays at 3:50 p.m. on CTN, each 10-minute-long "Youth Today" programme features several news stories about children's rights that run three to four minutes each. The topics are selected by the young reporters, who draft their own scripts, then shoot and edit the weekly episodes. One show focused on child labour, for example, and the young reporters covered a story about youth working at a brick factory.
Contact: Support Children and Young People (SCY) info@scy.y2d.org
Please VOTE in our NEW HIV/AIDS Poll:
Which of the following comparisons in the effect on HIV increase by country would you most like to see graphed by the Gapminder method of demonstrating statistical change?
- Increase/decrease in personal wealth of women related to rate of HIV.
- Increase/decrease in employment of women related to rate of HIV.
- Increase/decrease of condom use related to rate of HIV.
- Increase/decrease of personal wealth of men related to rate HIV.
- Increase/decrease of employment of men related to rate of HIV.
VOTE and COMMENT click here.
TRANSPARENCY AND LABOUR RIGHTS
8. Fix Nigeria Initiative (FNI) - Nigeria
FNI is an anti-corruption campaign based on the conviction that public participation and support is crucial to ethical reform in the country. FNI is therefore working with youth, the media, faith-based organisations, trade unions, and the private sector, and is conducting advocacy training, encouraging anti-corruption clubs, developing media campaigns, increasing capacity in anti-corruption reporting, developing an Integrity Charter, and building general support amongst all stakeholders. Having observed that organised labour is one of the driving forces of the Nigerian economy, and issues of corruption, lack of integrity and accountability pose a serious challenge to any attempt to grow the economy, FNI is working with organised labour to develop programmes to create an efficient and accountable workforce. In addition, FNI is eliciting their support in the development of a whistle blower mechanism in the country.
Contact: Fix Nigeria Initiative (FNI) info@efccnigeria.org
9. Tale of Two Lists: Green and Red
This article describes a campaign undertaken in 2004 by Bhima Sangha, a working children's collective based in Karnataka, India, seeking to ensure that working children play an active role in the democratic process in India. In preparation for the elections, the children worked to urge citizens to vote for "good" candidates rather than those who tried to lure voters with money; they also prepared a list of demands to present to the candidates. Those who agreed to the demands, which include such statements as "You should disclose all your assets with honesty", would be added to the "green list"; those who refused would be consigned to the "red list". The lists were displayed publicly in areas in which Bhima Sangha is active.
10. Citizen Media Beats Big Media, YouTube Blows The Whistle
This article describes the experience of a whistle-blower who, in August 2006, used YouTube as a medium for sharing his concerns about a financial transaction being carried out by his employer at the time, Lockheed Martin. According to the piece, engineer Michael De Kort "contacted every single mass media outlet on television and probably 75 separate reporters at different newspapers" after his then-employer Lockheed Martin sold the U.S. Coast Guard US$24 billion worth of refurbished patrol boats. De Kort wished to share his concerns about what he considered shortcomings in the boats' security cameras, communications abilities, and cold weather capabilities. When the mainstream media failed to pick up on his story, De Kort posted a 10-minute video on YouTube. Although De Kort lost his job, his allegations were subsequently reported in the Navy Times, and then picked up by several news organisations.
See Also:
11. Making Waves: Miners' Radio Stations
GENDER LENS ON LABOUR RIGHTS
12. Migration and Domestic Workers: Worlds of Work, Health and Mobility in Johannesburg
This study, from 2005, examines the migrant and health experiences of domestic workers in Johannesburg, as well as some of their points of vulnerability to HIV. In 2004, domestic work was the second largest sector of employment for black women in South Africa. And, as this study shows, a defining characteristic of domestic workers in Johannesburg is their status as migrant workers. Given the importance of domestic work for women workers in South Africa, and the potential for their working conditions to affect their access to health care and their vulnerability to HIV infection, the study explored questions around migrancy, working conditions, access to health care and the experiences of, and vulnerability to HIV of domestic workers working in Johannesburg. Over 60% of the sample had never used a condom in their lives. The study also found that in the cohort of women, workers did not seem to be being reached by health promotion campaigns, or they were just not listening.
13. 2008 TreasurePostcards Project - United States, Global
This initiative draws on the use of visual arts to provoke thinking, conversation, and action around issues such as women's economic and political rights, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, illiteracy, gender disparities in education, and violence against women. TreasurePostcards spotlights artwork from over 80 female artists from across the globe, such as one titled "Carol não voltará mais sozinha do colégio (Carol won't go home again by herself, after college)", which shows one foot in a shoe, and one foot bare. This postcard image "underscores the lack of security for female students. Many young women in Brazil can only take classes after work. If they can't find a ride home, they may not take any classes at all, for fear of being raped and murdered. This is how Carol died."
Contact: Arts for Global Development, Inc. tpp@art4development.net OR info@art4development.net
by Kate Hardy
This article, published in 2008, describes the work of the Argentinian Union of Female Sex Workers (AMMAR), which seeks to counter discrimination against sex workers by offering empowerment classes, re-training, gender awareness workshops, micro-enterprise, and healthcare. According to the article, these social, educational, and political programmes are leading the women to revolutionise approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention. "Sex workers are better placed than most for understanding importance of safe sex. They can access hard-to-reach populations with language that is in touch with real sexual practice." They reportedly offer direct and uncomplicated approaches to creating open dialogue for talking about sensitive issues, even in a context of religious promotion of abstention as the only form of protection. In Brazil, according to this document, officials credit the work of sex worker organisations as a key contribution to a falling rate of AIDS mortality. Similarly, in Argentina, federal and municipal governments now rely on AMMAR's activists to design, implement, and deliver HIV/AIDS prevention policies and other sexual health services.
15. HIV Prevention Among Vulnerable Populations: The Pathfinder International Approach
by Ellen Israel, Carlos Laudari, and Cecilia Simonetti
Published in 2008, this document urges groups vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, such as sex workers (SWs), to develop their own civil society organisations (CSOs) for prevention and rights recognition that can give voice to their community and develop a network of partnerships with other community-based and government entities. Establishing regular SW community meetings to facilitate discussions about work, safety, and life issues affecting members of the group (police violence, inaccessibility of health services, safety with clients, care for children) can lead to the development of action plans to confront these issues collectively. Working with brothel owners can give SWs more permission to participate in such groups. Encouraging artistic expression, including plays involving SWs as actors and production of videos and films, as well as viewing commercial films with sex workers as main characters, may raise self-esteem and self-acceptance. Furthermore, the document suggests that "the establishment of sex worker community radio is an easy, agile, dynamic and efficient channel for the dissemination of information to the community."
16. Engaging the Media: Building Support for Minimum Wage Reform
by Jee Hyeon Kim
This document, from 2006, describes the efforts of the Korean Women Workers Associations United (KWWAU) to engage the mass media to build public awareness about South Korea's minimum wage system. The goal of this advocacy campaign was to assist in the creation of a social movement to change the minimum wage law to afford greater protections for vulnerable workers, especially for women working from home and/or working as "subcontractors". Here is an example of one of the network's actions: "Yong-Hee Choi, a 57-year old minimum wage earner, working in a college in Incheon City as a cleaner. She...is the primary wage earner in her family....Due to the low wages she earned working at the college, she also took a second part-time job....At our performance, we showed her household accounting books....She could afford a meal costing 944 KRW (0.92 USD)....With this background, we staged a funny performance in front of the Korean Assembly. We prepared Yong-Hee's 944 KRW meal and shared it with the 60 participants at the performance....Our performance was so successful that it was reported in nearly all newspapers and broadcast on two major television news programs during prime time."
17. Women's Platform: Sawt el-Amel - Israel, Palestinian Territory
This is a growing network of local women's groups and individuals across the Galilee working to achieve socio-economic justice and to speak out against discrimination in the labour market and welfare system. Members of the Women's Platform are organising information campaigns, study/solidarity visits, and leadership training in an effort to collaboratively diminish the multiple forms of discrimination Palestinian Arab women in Israel face. For instance, on the occasion of World Day for Decent Work (October 7 2008), the Platform's grassroots activists distributed information brochures inside textile factories. The goal is to inform textile workers of their rights, motivating them to attend one of Sawt el-Amel's information events. At such gatherings, participants learn about labour law and social security regulations. They are urged to talk to colleagues and friends, encouraging them to be more assertive of their rights - individually and as a group - by joining in the work of the Platform.
Contact: Wehbe Badarne wehbe@laborers-voice.org OR laborers@laborers-voice.org
See Also:
18. Impact Data - SDSI [Somos Diferentes, Somos Iguales (We're Different, We're Equal)] - Nicaragua
This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries.
The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
Please send material for The Drum Beat to the Editor - Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com
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