ILO-PT Angkasa Pura II team up to eliminate stigma and discrimination against HIV at the workplace

Staff of PT Angkasa Pura II queued to register and participate at the voluntarily HIV test and counseling at work (VCT@Work) programme on Monday, 10 December. After registration, they went to lines of chairs waiting for their turns to get counselling by professional consellors before being tested by professional medical examiners.

A total of eighty staff of PT Angkasa Pura II undertook the VCT@Work as part of the commitment of PT Angkasa Pura II to implement non-discriminatory policy and HIV prevention programme at the workplace. The VCT@Work was conducted with support from the ILO, UNAIDS and the district AIDS Commission of Tangerang.

PT Angkasa Pura II is one of the state-owned companies engaged in the airport services and airport related services operating 14 airports in Western part of Indonesia.

The signing of the Commitment has placed PT Angkasa Pura II as the pioneer company for companies in the air transportation sector. To show our strong commitment, we have invited senior officers from all branches, institutions and working units in both national and region level to witness the signing ceremony."

Tina Kemala Intan, Director of Human Capital, GA and IT, representing the top management of PT Angkasa Pura II

All of the participating staff echoed the same reasons why they joined the VCT@Work: “I just want to know my status.” They also learnt about the programme through flyers and announcements disseminated by the management to all of the staff.

Lydia, a human resource staff, showed the flyer “Know Your Status”, encouraging the staff to participate at the VCT@Work programme held from 1-3pm at the auditorium of PT Angkasa Pura II. “I am bit nervous taking the test. But I just want and need to know my status,” she said.

Prior to the VCT@Work programme, top management of PT Angkasa Pura II signed a commitment to implement non-discriminatory policy and HIV prevention programme at workplace. This commitment is in line with the ILO Recommendation No. 200 on HIV and AIDS, the Manpower Ministerial Decree No. 68/2004 and the Instruction of Minister of Transportation No. 3/2017.

HIV has mostly affected people in productive age causing loss of skills and expertise. Therefore, the ILO hopes that the commitment shown by PT Angkasa Pura II would inspire other companies in the air transportation sector to implement non-discriminatory policy and HIV prevention programme at the workplace."

Maria Jouau Vasquez on behalf of ILO Office in Indonesia

The Commitment was signed by Tina Kemala Intan, Director of Human Capital, GA and IT, representing the top management of PT Angkasa Pura II. It highlighted the commitment of PT Angkasa Pura II to implement and integrate HIV prevention programme through its programme related to occupational safety and health (OSH).

“The signing of the Commitment has placed PT Angkasa Pura II as the pioneer company for companies in the air transportation sector. To show our strong commitment, we have invited senior officers from all branches, institutions and working units in both national and region level to witness the signing ceremony,” said Tina.

She added that PT Angkasa Pura II has developed an HIV campaign programme titled “Know Your Status” for its thousands of workers and a number of working partners so that they could have better understanding about HIV and AIDS at the workplace. “The main HIV issues related to the workplace are productivity and discrimination,” she said and continued,”Through this campaign, we hope that we can maintain the productivity of our workers and to implement a zero tolerance policy towards discrimination against workers with HIV or presumed to have HIV.”

On behalf of ILO Office in Indonesia, Maria Jouau Vasquez congratulated the commitment shown by PT Angkasa Pura II. “HIV has mostly affected people in productive age causing loss of skills and expertise. Therefore, the ILO hopes that the commitment shown by PT Angkasa Pura II would inspire other companies in the air transportation sector to implement non-discriminatory policy and HIV prevention programme at the workplace.”

To demonstrate the real commitment of the top management, Tina together with three other directors and managers participated at the VCT@Workplace conducted after the signing. Their participation was a role model to inspire and encourage the participation of staff of PT Angkasa Pura II in the VCT@Work programme.

As a follow-up to the VCT@Work programme, the ILO and PT Angkasa Pura II would organize a Training of Trainers (ToT) for senior staff of PT Angkasa Pura II as ways to fully integrate HIV related issues and activities within the existing educational and training programme of the company.

The VCT@Work initiative was launched in 2013 by the ILO, UNAIDS, the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and the International Trade Unions Confederations (ITUC). The initiative is seen as a critical step towards achieving the target of ending AIDS by 2030.