No Silver Bullet in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS
The following is an excerpt from the latest report by Bernard Pollack, who is taking a leave of absence from the AFL-CIO to travel through Africa, and Danielle Nierenberg. Read the full post and more at their blog, Border Jumpers.
In the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS, there is no silver bullet.
As we travel throughout sub-Saharan Africa we are seeing dozens of innovative ways that organizations, governments and individuals are working to fight the disease.
Farm Workers Struggle One More Step Toward Democracy in Zimbabwe
 |
||||
|
||||
Bernard Pollack, who is taking a leave of absence from the AFL-CIO to travel through Africa, and Danielle Nierenberg send us a report from their journey through Africa. Read more at their blog, Border Jumpers.
Gertrude Hambira doesn’t look like someone who gets arrested regularly. Nor do the other women and men in suits who work with her at the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ). The union was formed in the mid-1980s to protect farm laborers. But arrest, harassment and even torture have been regular occupational hazards for Hambira—who is general secretary of GAPWUZ—and her staff for many years.
Unfortunately, things have not gotten much better since the 2008 elections, when Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe refused to cede power to the democratically elected Morgan Tsvangirai, a former union leader. The resulting power-sharing agreement has left the two sides battling for control as the nation plummets deeper into unemployment and poverty. At least 90 percent of the population is not part of the formal workforce.
91 Unionists Killed in 2008, 49 in Colombia Alone
 |
|
A total of 91 union members were killed worldwide last year, the same number as in 2007. But more than half (49) were killed in Colombia alone, 10 more than last year, making it once again the most dangerous country for trade unionists, according to the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC‘s) “Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights.”
The Colombian government has not vigorously investigated or prosecuted the killing of trade union members. At the current pace of investigations and trials, it would take 37 years to prosecute the backlog of cases. And the caseload is growing—the rate of killings, which had fallen for a few years, jumped sharply last year by 25 percent, says José Luciano Sanin, director of Escuela Nacional Sindical (National Union School), a leading Colombian think tank.
Zimbabwe Continues Arrests, Assaults Against Union Members
 |
||||
|
||||
Earlier this week, Zimbabwe police arrested more than 70 members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), including Secretary General Wellington Chibebe.
According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the ZCTU organized peaceful marches to protest against the financial crisis in Zimbabwe by delivering petitions to banks. Chibebe and ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo succeeded in handing the ZCTU petition to the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Chibebe was arrested, with nine other people, while he was addressing workers just after the delivery. Arrests and assaults were reported in the cities of Harare, Gweru, Zvishavane and Bulawayo as trade unionists delivered petitions to banks across the country.
The ZCTU announced late yesterday that 18 protestors, including Chibebe, had been released without charges.
