CUPE members will be front and centre in Toronto this weekend at the first global Labour Forum on AIDS.
The forum will bring together union activists from around the world to discuss the role of trade unions in the face of the AIDS crisis.
Delegates will explore how unions can stand together to help fight for safety measures to protect workers against the risk of transmission, for collective agreements that protect workers living with HIV/AIDS from discrimination and stigma, and for social and political changes that give working people access to affordable and effective medicines.
“Our members work in the face of the epidemic every day, including providing health care services and community support to those living with the disease,” says Fred Hahn, CUPE Ontario Secretary-Treasurer. “This conference will give us the information and impetus we need to take our work on this important issue to the next level.”
The forum, organized by the Canadian Labour Congress, is taking place immediately before the XVI International AIDS Conference, the world’s largest forum for the exchange of ideas, knowledge and research on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care.