WE RECALL – regrettably so – that in the unenlightened days before the Barbados Workers’ Union was established in the early 1940s and the subsequent enactment of labour legislation which regulated the workplace, our human resources were treated as a disposable commodity.
Because there was no legal machinery to regulate the workplace, workers had no rights.
While there is still some lingering semblance of that blemish in today’s workplace, our society has grown during the past seventy years to respect workers, even if grudgingly, as an important resource and to respect their human rights as equally important, thanks to the work of trade unions and progressive minds in our midst.
It is accepted in democratic societies like Barbados’ that everybody has the right to enjoy their God-given and constitutional freedoms, including people who are living with HIV or AIDs.
We all say that people living with the virus should enjoy full constitutional and human rights – and we say that with much passion and pride, perhaps because it makes us sound and look good to our listeners; but the harsh reality is that when some of us are challenged
to honour such noble commitments, like treating people with HIV and AIDS and the disabled community with the same dignity that we accord so-called normal people, our deep-rooted prejudices emerge from the dark shadows of our minds to taint how we think and act.
We then begin to point fingers at people and stigmatize them. Discrimination – by whatever name we call it: bigotry, intolerance, prejudice or inequity – is foul.
The substantive point I wish to make is that those of us who are responsible for managing human resources in our workplaces have a serious responsibility to those who fall under our purview. We must have a professional view that is distinctly different from the world view. We must be able to provide sound leadership and guidance at the level of management and the shop floor; and we will only be able to do so if we are well informed and, very importantly, if we have first purged ourselves of our own prejudices.
The AIDS Foundation workbook, which I consider to be a brilliant effort, provides some of the tools and guidance to properly manage an offices.
So far, I have spoken only to stigma and discrimination.
Let me make the point, however, that while these sessions speak to our Charter On HIV And AIDs And Human Rights, the AIDS Foundation and CTUSAB are equally concerned about prevention.
We are deeply concerned about the lifestyles of some of our young people and adults as it relates to sexual activity; and we are alarmed about the news carried in the May 26 SATURDAY SUN which spoke to the reported cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among our young women.
We must redouble our efforts regarding our educational outreach to our young people, particularly our pre-teens.
While it is necessary for us to continue our work with traditional institutions like schools, churches, youth groups and PTAs, we have to go beyond them to find ways of influencing our young people if we hope to change lifestyles.
Hearing about children under the age of 15 with STIs like herpes is certainly not reassuring.