Labour legislation in Zimbabwe: historical and contemporary perspectives

The relationship between the legal and social structures which underpin social relations of production is potentially an area of fruitful inquiry. It is the intention of this paper to examine the basis of the Industrial Conciliation Act promulgated in 1934 and subsequently amended in 1960 and labour legislation that was enacted at independence in 1980 and 1981 and later incorporated into the comprehensive Labour Relations Bill of 1985. It is hoped that a critical evaluation of the material basis of this legislation, its conjunctural significance and its expression of social contradictions will assist in our understanding of its importance and limitations. This exercise will be attempted in relation to the analysis of the evolution of the regulatory controls over trade unions, the structure of the dispute settlement machinery and the heated public and parliamentary debate on the merits and demerits of the Labour Relations Bill which now exists as a fully fledged Labour Relations Act (LRA)

State-civil society inter-action in policy making: a manual

A research paper on how civil society can collaborate with the government in policy making.'Civil society' has become one of the most fashionable terms our times. There are many civil soviet} organisations (CSOs) which ha\e sprung up in Southern Africa in the past two decades. No discussion about politics, democracy and development is complete without reference to the pivotal role and contribution of CSOs. Newspapers, magazines, text-books and talk-shows refer to civil soviet} and its Ivnch-pin role, indeed, it is often assumed that ever}bod} knows what 'civil soviet} 'is. and its contribution in the broader soviet}. This manual is on ' civil soviet} ’ but it does not not assume that everybody has extensive knowledge about what it is: what it consists of and how it relates to the state. The manual seeks to explain in basic terms the nature of the relationship between civil soviet} and state institutions, a relationship which historical!} has been characterised by accommodation, suspicion and conflict. It begins b} providing working definitions of the key concepts of civil soviet} and state, and a framework through which these two sets of institutions could be understood better

Child labour in hazardous employment: the case of Zimbabwe

The study examines the extent and implications of child labour in hazardous employment in contemporary Zimbabwe. It identifies the socio-economic determinants which compel children under 16 to enter employment in order to earn an income for themselves or to supplement marginal family earnings. This study, therefore, stresses the causal link between these determinants and the specific forms which child labour assumes in several sectors.1 It then examines the nature and magnitude of the hazards to their health, safety and morals and argues these should be explained in the context of the social division of labour within the conjunctural capitalist setting of Zimbabwe. The study also focuses attention on attempts to address the problem of the hazardous working conditions for child workers and marginalized children or the so-called "street children." It does so by evaluating Government policy but especially the limitations of the existing legislation with respect to child workers. The ambiguity over their rights to minimum wages, protective clothing and enforcement of contracts vis-a-vis the employer is shown to affect the bargaining leverage of child workers. The study then discusses some attempts that could go some way to ameliorate the dangerous conditions under which they work. A programme to reintegrate marginalized, and often homeless, children is assessed and shown to offer an alternative but more innovative approach to the problem of the marginalized children or "street children".The broad analytical framework of this study is premised on the International Labour Organization (ILO) programme on the abolition of child labour in hazardous employment (ILO, 1989). The objective of this programme is to draw up a report on the design and implementation of policies and programmes for the elimination of child labour in hazardous activities {Ibid.). This report, which would in turn draw upon data from country case studies, will contain information "on international labour standards, a comparative review of national legislation and regulations, examples of successful local efforts and national policies and programmes, and suggestions on ways of detecting and eliminating child labour in hazardous and unsafe activities" (Ibid.).,International Labour Organisation (ILO), Geneva,Switzerland

The protection of security of employment: the Zimbabwe experience

This paper is a contribution to the important discussion and analysis of the crucial question of security of employment and its safeguards in contemporary Zimbabwe. In the first part, the framework of the ensuing discussion and analysis is set out; the latter parts focus on the Zimbabwean experience with regard to the underlying causes and effects of dismissals and retrenchments. Government legislation pertaining to job security and procedural issues surrounding dismissals, retrenchment and reinstatement of workers are then examined at some length in relation to problems arising from its implementation. Specific experiences in this respect in mining, manufacturing and agricultural industries are discussed. In the concluding remarks, the critical importance of safeguarding employment security particularly in a society which espouses a socialist orientation is reiterated

Associations with sub-optimal clinic attendance and reasons for missed appointments among heterosexual women and men living with HIV in London

Poor engagement in HIV care is associated with poorer health outcomes and increased mortality. Our survey examined experiential and circumstantial factors associated with clinic attendance among women (n = 250) and men (n = 106) in London with heterosexually-acquired HIV. While no associations were found for women, among men, sub-optimal attendance was associated with insecure immigration status (25.6% vs. 1.8%), unstable housing (32.6% vs. 10.2%) and reported effect of HIV on daily activities (58.7% vs. 40.0%). Among women and men on ART, it was associated with missing doses of ART (OR = 2.96, 95% CI:1.74-5.02), less belief in the necessity of ART (OR = 0.56, 95% CI:0.35-0.90) and more concern about ART (OR = 3.63, 95% CI:1.45-9.09). Not wanting to think about being HIV positive was the top reason for ever missing clinic appointments. It is important to tackle stigma and the underlying social determinants of health to improve HIV prevention, and the health and well-being of people living with HIV

Which aspects of health care are most valued by people living with HIV in high-income countries? A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of people with HIV are living into older age and experiencing comorbidities. The development of new models of care to meet the needs of this population is now a priority. It is important that the views and preferences of patients inform the development of services in order to maintain high levels of patient satisfaction and engagement. The aim of this systematic review was to determine which aspects of healthcare are particularly valued by people living with HIV. METHODS: We searched electronic databases and reference lists of relevant articles. The search strategy was developed to identify articles reporting on HIV positive patients' perceptions, evaluations or experiences of healthcare services and factors associated with satisfaction with care. Peer-reviewed papers and conference abstracts were included if the study reported on aspects of health care that were valued by people living with HIV, data were collected during the era of combination therapy (from 1996 onwards), and the paper was published in English. A thematic approach to data synthesis was used. RESULTS: Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies used both qualitative and quantitative methods. Six studies specifically reported on relative importance to patients of different aspects of care. The valued aspects of care identified were grouped into seven themes. These highlighted the importance to patients of: a good health care professional-patient relationship, HIV specialist knowledge, continuity of care, ease of access to services, access to high quality information and support, effective co-ordination between HIV specialists and other healthcare professionals, and involvement in decisions about treatment and care. We were unable to determine the relative importance to patients of different aspects of care because of methodological differences between the studies. CONCLUSIONS: This review identified several attributes of healthcare that are valued by people living with HIV, many of which would be relevant to any future reconfiguration of services to meet the needs of an ageing population. Further research is required to determine the relative importance to patients of different aspects of care

The association between use of chemsex drugs and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men living with HIV in London

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between chemsex drug use and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men in London. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of adults (> 18 years) diagnosed with HIV for > 4 months, attending seven London HIV clinics (May 2014 to August 2015). Participants self-completed an anonymous questionnaire linked to clinical data. Sub-optimal clinic attenders had missed one or more HIV clinic appointments in the past year, or had a history of non-attendance for > 1 year. RESULTS: Over half (56%) of the 570 men who identified as gay or bisexual reported taking recreational drugs in the past 5 years and 71.5% of these men had used chemsex drugs in the past year. Among men reporting chemsex drug use (past year), 32.1% had injected any drugs in the past year. Sub-optimal clinic attenders were more likely than regular attenders to report chemsex drug use (past year; 46.9% vs. 33.2%, P = 0.001), injecting any drugs (past year; 17.1% vs. 8.9%, P = 0.011) and recreational drug use (past 5 years; 65.5% vs. 48.8%, P < 0.001). One in five sub-optimal attenders had missed an HIV clinic appointment because of taking recreational drugs (17.4% vs. 1.8%, P < 0.001). In multivariable logistic regression, chemsex drug use was significantly associated with sub-optimal clinic attendance (adjusted odds ratio = 1.71, 95% confidence interval: 1.10-2.65, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the importance of systematic assessment of drug use and development of tools to aid routine assessment. We suggest that chemsex drug use should be addressed when developing interventions to improve engagement in HIV care among gay and bisexual men

The effects of age on associations between markers of HIV progression and markers of metabolic function including albumin, haemoglobin and lipid concentrations.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether age modified associations between markers of HIV progression, CD4 T lymphocyte count and HIV RNA viral load (VL), and the following markers of metabolic function: albumin, haemoglobin, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol (TC). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of data from the United Kingdom Collaborative HIV Cohort was carried out. Analyses were limited to antiretroviral-naïve subjects to focus on the impact of HIV disease itself. A total of 16670 subjects were included in the analysis. Multilevel linear regression models assessed associations between CD4 count/VL and each of the outcomes. Statistical tests for interactions assessed whether associations differed among age groups. RESULTS: After adjustment for gender and ethnicity, there was evidence that lower CD4 count and higher VL were associated with lower TC, LDL-C, haemoglobin and albumin concentrations but higher triglyceride concentrations. Age modified associations between CD4 count and albumin (P 50 years, a 50 cells/μL lower CD4 count correlated with a 2.4 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7-3.0], 3.6 (95% CI 3.2-4.0) and 5.1 (95% CI 4.0-6.1) g/L lower haemoglobin concentration and a 0.09 (95% CI 0.07-0.11), 0.12 (95% CI 0.11-0.13) and 0.16 (95% CI 0.13-0.19) g/L lower albumin concentration, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We present evidence that age modifies associations between CD4 count and plasma albumin and haemoglobin levels. A given reduction in CD4 count was associated with a greater reduction in haemoglobin and albumin concentrations among older people living with HIV. These findings increase our understanding of how the metabolic impact of HIV is influenced by age