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ICEM South African affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) ended an eight-day strike today against Kumba Resources. Following a series of meetings over the weekend at branch level with NUM&rsquo;s 4,000 members employed at Kumba, the strike ended after top executives of the company entered talks. 
 
National union leaders joined the talks beginning on Friday, and consultations continued with the company over the weekend. 
 
&ldquo;Our members are pleased with the outcome as presented to them after our talks with the chief executive of Kumba,&rdquo; said NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni. &ldquo;The discipline of our members while on strike deserves praise and their ability to compromise for purposes of settling the strike is commendable.&rdquo; 
 
The strike severely affected operations at some six Kumba mines, including iron ore pits, three coal mines and a dolomite mine. The NUM was the largest of four unions in negotiations with Kumba, currently 67% controlled by AngloAmerican. The union struck on 30 July and union members of the Black Allied Mining and Construction Workers&rsquo; Union (BAMCWU) followed NUM out on strike. Trade union Solidarity staged a two-day strike on 31 July and 1 August, but then accepted the company&rsquo;s wage offer. ICEM affiliate National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) represents a small number of workers at Kumba 
 
NUM struck in efforts to achieve an equitable wage package, and to gain maternity leave improvements and housing increases. Those issues were achieved, with top leaders of the company agreeing to the NUM&rsquo;s demand of 9% for low-wage workers over the weekend. NUM&rsquo;s demand for an 8% pay hike for higher wage earners was compromised when the union accepted 7.75%. But it is understood that various allowances will now be implemented to push that to 8%. The NUM paid special tribute to the 900 workers of BAMCWU who stood strong with South Africa&rsquo;s dominant miners&rsquo; union. 
 
Kumba is a product of South Africa&rsquo;s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). AngloAmerican is currently in the process of splitting the company in half, with the global mining house to retain iron ore operations. Kumba&rsquo;s coal and base metals production, including zinc and titanium, will be split into South Africa&rsquo;s largest black controlled company, Exxaro Resources, after sale is finalised to Eyesizwe of South Africa. That is expected to occur later this year.

South Africa’s NUM Ends Strike at Kumba Resources

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Fifty years ago, on 8 August 1956, 262 coal miners at Bois du Cazier in the Belgian town of Marcinelle lost their lives in a gruesome chain of events inside a 975-metre mine shaft. On 8 August 2006, the timing of those events will be commemorating on the hour they occurred. 
 
Beginning at 08h00, the time when a shaft elevator malfunctioned and crashed, clipping high-voltage electrical lines, a bell tower clock at Bois du Cazier will ring 262 times as the name of each victim is read. At 10h00, flowers will be laid at a monument at the mine that is dedicated to the many accidents that have occurred at Bois du Cazier since 1901. At 11h00, a ceremony will be held at the Marcinelle cemetery, followed by another commemoration at 12h30 at the mine site, now a museum. 
 
The shaft elevator blocked the flow of fresh air and the resulting electrical explosion created a firestorm. Some of the 262 coal miners, including 136 Italian immigrants, died from the furnace-like firestorm caused by the blast, while others who may have found refuge from the fire died from subsequent carbon monoxide poisoning. The deadly day of 8 August 1956 at Bois du Cazier stands as the worst industrial accident in Belgium&rsquo;s history. 
 
The aftermath of this tragic worksite story is depicted in a book entitled &ldquo;Tutti Cadaveri: The Trial of the Catastrophe at the Bois du Cazier in Marcinelle,&rdquo; co-authored by Belgian FGTB trade union Federal Secretary Paul Lootens. The book&rsquo;s title, &ldquo;Tutti Cadaveri,&rdquo; comes from the Italian rescuer who, after surfacing from the mine, said, tragically, &ldquo;All corpses.&rdquo; 
 
This French language book, by Lootens and historians Marie-Louise De Roeck and Julie Urbain, was published only on 1 May 2006, but is already in its second printing. It is available from Aden Publishers for &euro;22, and can be ordered by contacting Aden at <a href="mailto:editionsaden@skynet.be">editionsaden@skynet.be</a>, or calling +32 2534 46 61. 

More information on the book, plus ordering information,&nbsp;can&nbsp;be found at <a href="http://www.aden.be/tutti_cadaveri.html">www.aden.be/tutti_cadaveri.html.</a>.

Worst Belgian Industrial Disaster: 8 August 1956

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&ldquo;Hadi Never Died: Hadi Saleh and the Iraqi Trade Union Movement&rdquo; is a recommended book just released about the continuing fight to establish free and democratic trade unions in Iraq. Written by Abdullah Muhsin and Alan Johnson, and published by UK&rsquo;s Trades Union Congress, all proceeds of the book benefit Iraqi trade unions. 
 
Hadi Saleh might best exemplify the decades-long fight for open and free trade unions inside Iraq. The country was once moderately tolerant of such unions, which made it an economic and social model for the Middle East. Hadi Saleh, then a leader in the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), was strangled to death with electrical wire in his home after being tortured on 4 January 2005 by assassins aligned with the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. He was 58. 
 
In 1969, Hadi Saleh was sentenced to death during the early years of a repressive regime for engaging in activities for free and independent trade unions. He was imprisoned for five years and then fled, taking exile in Sweden. At the height of the invasion in spring 2003 which toppled Saddam Hussein, he returned to Iraq to continue the fight for legitimate trade unions. 
 
At the time of his death, he was the International Secretary of the IFTU, now called the Iraqi Workers&rsquo; Federation (IWF). 
 
Hadi Saleh has not been the only trade union advocate since commencement of the Iraqi occupation to meet his death for trade union activity. In 18 February 2005, Ali Hassan Abd of the Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Union was shot and killed while walking home with his children. Less that a week later, Ahmed Adris Abas of the Transport &amp; Communications Workers&rsquo; Union was gunned down in Martyrs&rsquo; Square in Baghdad. 
 
On 25 January 2006, Alaa Issa Khalaf of the Mechanics&rsquo;&rsquo; trade union of the General federation of Iraqi Workers was assassinated and in late April of this year, Thabet Hussein of the General Union for Health Sector Workers was murdered. In June, Shukry Al Shakhly, a founder of the IFTU, was also murdered. 
 
Others have been kidnapped, or have been victims of senseless killings that occur every day now in Iraq. 
 
Author and IWF liaison Abdullah Muhsin voiced the beliefs of Hadi Saleh at the recent launch of the book: &ldquo;Free and independent unions will play an important role in making sure investment provides quality jobs and decent public services. 
 
&ldquo;But unions are also important in forming Iraq&rsquo;s democratic future and national identity,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;Our independence makes us a home to all Iraqis irrespective of gender, ethnicity, and religion. Unions are an antidote to the sectarian poisons of extremism in Iraq.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;Hadi Never Died: Hadi Saleh and the Iraqi Trade Union Movement&rdquo; can be ordered for ₤10 at <a href="http://www.tuc.org.uk/publications">http://www.tuc.org.uk/publications</a>, or by e-mailing <a href="mailto:media@tuc.org.uk">media@tuc.org.uk</a>, or calling +44 20 7467 1294.

Book Celebrates Determined Comrades Fighting for Free Iraqi Trade Unions

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Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Labour Ministry will convene another conciliation meeting tomorrow, 8 August, in order to avert further job actions by trade unionists of ICEM affiliate Oilfield Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU). Hundreds of OWTU members shut down the country&rsquo;s only oil refinery at Point-a-Pierre from 23 July to 27 July in protest to state-run oil company Petrotrin&rsquo;s insufficient three-year contract offer.
OWTU has been attempting to reach an accord with Petrotrin for 1,500 refinery, exploration and production workers since last year. The labour dispute centers on wages and general work terms and conditions. All five labour agreements &ndash; covering 5,000 workers &ndash; between OWTU and the company have now expired, and the union is seeking a fair and just settlement for renewal agreements dating from 2005 to 2008. 
 
On 24 July, Petrotrin requested government mediation. Refinery workers, frustrated by management&rsquo;s bargaining table intransigence in a time of booming oil and gas profits, began job actions a day earlier. The two parties met with Labour Ministry officials on 27 July and again on 3 August in attempts to resolve issues, and tomorrow&rsquo;s meeting is termed pivotal in terms of future actions. 
 
&ldquo;The demonstration by workers recently was a show of disgust over the company&rsquo;s meagre offer,&rdquo; said OWTU President Errol McLeod. &ldquo;The situation is not stable enough now to assure anybody that more demonstrations will not occur.&rdquo; 
 
OWTU members at the former Texaco refinery in Point-a-Pierre did strike on 5-6 June over stalled talks, in addition to safety issues. Other Petrotrin workers, including offshore workers, struck a month earlier due to lack of progress in negotiations. In March, refinery workers began the job actions by waging two separate strikes. 
 
The Point-a-Pierre refinery produces 160,000 barrels-per-day of petrol, diesel and oil for domestic consumption and export to other Caribbean nations and the US. The refinery is expanding to include a US$150 million methanol plant for gas to liquids conversion. Petrotrin will have 49% ownership in the new enterprise, with the 2,250 barrel-per-day plant led by New York-based start-up company World GTL

Trinidad’s Oil Workers Take Action for Fair Contract

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The selective strike by ICEM Norwegian oil workers&rsquo; union NOPEF ended late on 24 July following a mediated session by the government. The 34-day strike against oil service companies operating on Norway&rsquo;s Continental Shelf proved highly effective, and produced a new two-year agreement that fulfils NOPEF&rsquo;s demands toward normalising the national oil services agreement with other collective agreements in the country&rsquo;s energy sector. 
 
The accord also matches the other agreements in the sector with the first-year wage increase, and provides an even better salary pay-out for 2007. Effective 1 July 2006, oil service workers in Norway, numbering some 2,650, receive a 5.9% wage increase. In 2007, a lump sum bonus of NOK 17,000 (US$2,800) was won. 
 
But more significantly, the 2006-2006 agreement sets forth a protocol that will begin moving oil service companies to the standard rotation schedule of two-weeks on, four-weeks off. Local discussions toward that work schedule will now occur, with NOPEF and the employers&rsquo; federation, Oil Industry Association (OLF), meeting in February 2007 to review the progress. 
 
NOPEF also achieved an increase in night work, added pay for holidays, and increases in food and travel pay and arrangements. The union did not achieve pay for waiting time, but that issue will be prioritised for talks in future renewal contracts. Workers will now vote on the new contract, with the vote to be completed by 1 September. 
 
NOPEF&rsquo;s strike against oil service contractors began on 21 June. The union called but 87 workers out on strike against just a handful of employers, knowing that such a strategy would place pressure on the oil majors in their drilling and development projects. The main employers targeted were Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, Weatherford and Oceaneering. 
 
The ICEM salutes NOPEF for carrying out a tactical and effective strike in achieving a national oil services agreement that has proven to be the most difficult in the Norwegian energy sector. The will and discipline from a set of highly-skilled workers and trade unionists has now brought major employers providing oil services closer to the work rules and terms of other companies operating inside Norway&rsquo;s oil patch.

NOPEF Wins Oil Services Strike in Norway

Probes into deadly coal mine disasters in the Americas earlier this year are now coming into focus. And at two of the worst &ndash; the Sago mine blast in the US state of West Virginia on 2 January and the 19 February explosion at Grupo Mexico&rsquo;s Pasta de Conchos No. 8 mine in Mexico&rsquo;s Coahuila state &ndash; inadequate government safety monitoring and a reckless company safety culture are just part of the causes.
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In Mexico, a report issued last week by the government&rsquo;s National Human Rights Commission said, in 2004, safety officials of Mexico&rsquo;s Labour Department identified 48 major problems in Grupo Mexico&rsquo;s Minera Mexicana mine. The report added, however, that nothing was done to correct the deficiencies until just 12 days before the explosion. Sixty-five miners were killed in the February 2006 mine blast, the majority of them contract workers who were given no training and inadequate oxygen supply devices. Some 25 of the miners killed were members of Mexico&rsquo;s Miners &amp; Metalworkers Union (SNTMMSRM). 
 
The Human Rights Commission stated that Labour Department officials tolerated carelessness and neglect on behalf of company safety representatives, and that they &ldquo;had full knowledge of the working conditions of the mine where the catastrophe occurred (that) infringed on security standards,&rdquo; said a statement from the agency. The government knew of problems with lighting and underground signal systems, as well as gas and oil leaks and a faulty smoke-release system. 
 
In the US, a joint state and federal investigation into the Sago disaster that killed 12 miners has found that company officials had workers falsify documents. Testimony saw workers admitting they had signed documentation brought to them by bosses that they had attended safety classes and training, when, if fact, they had not. Sago is owned by the Wolf Run Mining Co., one of many coal mines in the eastern United States bought in bankruptcy proceedings by US-based investment house International Coal Group (IGC).
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&nbsp;An in-depth investigation done by a Pennsylvania newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also found that seals inside the non-union Sago mine&rsquo;s safety chambers were poorly constructed, using materials unable to withstand the force of a methane explosion. 
 
IGC attempted to bar safety officials from ICEM affiliate United Mineworkers of America (UMWA) from playing a role in the Sago disaster&rsquo;s investigation, even though miners and family members of victims sought such help. Under mine safety regulations in the US, such union assistance in non-union worksites is permissible if so requested. IGC had private security forces physically stop UMWA safety officials from entering the mine property following the explosion, and the US government had to sue the company in order that the mine safety law was honoured. A US District Court ruled in favour of UMWA involvement late in January, but IGC appealed that ruling to a higher court. Last month, the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court&rsquo;s verdict.

Mine Safety Probes in the Americas Progress

In Chile, negotiations resumed 22 July between Escondida Workers&rsquo; Union No. 1 and Minera Escondida Ltd., owner of the world&rsquo;s largest copper-producing mines. The union and company, primarily held by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, have been locked in a pay dispute since bargaining began on 21 June.
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A current contract expires 2 August. The unaffiliated union, representing 2,052 workers, or 96% of Escondida&rsquo;s workforce, issued a statement on 21 July that workers would vote on management&rsquo;s latest salary offer on 28 July. Miners have already given authorisation for a strike if their pay demands are not met by then. 
 
In early July, a company pay offer of 1.5% above Chile&rsquo;s inflation rate enraged workers, resulting in work-to-rule actions in which strict adherence to all safety rules forced a 10% production reduction. The union is seeking a 13% pay adjustment, in addition to a one-off bonus for high copper prices coupled with an end-of-dispute bonus.
<img height="100" src="" width="100" alt="" />
&nbsp; 
Record high copper prices and the fact that production from Escondida&rsquo;s two massive open-pit mines in Chile&rsquo;s northern Region II has risen nearly 15% increase over last year has given credence to the union&rsquo;s demands. The union has argued that because of the mining boom, the cost-of-living in such places as Antofagasta near Escondida is 10% higher than anywhere else in Chile. 
 
Minera Escondida Ltda. produced 1.27 million tonnes of copper and copper cathode last year, some 8% of the world&rsquo;s total. The mine also produced 182,472 ounces of gold. BHP Billiton holds 57.5% of the company&rsquo;s stock; Rio Tinto, 30%; a Japanese consortium led by Mitsubishi, 10%; and the World Bank&rsquo;s International Finance Corp., 2.5%.

Chile’s Escondida Copper Miners Poised to Strike

Trade union rallies, protests and strong and bitter objections are being heard across Pakistan to harsh and draconian changes to the country&rsquo;s labour code.
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&nbsp;Five major trade union centres have marched, posted letters, distributed literature, and even promoted and participated in a one-day hunger strike on 20 July in protest to, in the words of one Asian NGO, legislative changes that take &ldquo;Pakistan&rsquo;s working conditions back to the 17th century.&rdquo; 
 
A month ago, the National Assembly&rsquo;s House of Representatives &ndash; without Senate consent &ndash; passed changes to Pakistan&rsquo;s Finance Bill, which effectively increased daily work hours, reduced overtime compensation, and created a new category of &ldquo;contract worker&rdquo; not entitled to legal compensation for overtime work. 
 
The legalisation of contract work with no overtime pay will open the floodgates in Pakistan for employers to use large numbers of people as temporary workers well into the future. By amending just one statute in the framework of the Finance Bill, daily working hours have been increased from eight to 12. 
 
Another amendment abolishes the country&rsquo;s compulsory closed weekly holiday, while others will target women for more work and less family life. A provision in the Finance Bill amends the Factories Act, allowing women workers now to work up until 22h00 in two daily shifts. Prior, women were prohibited from working before sunrise and after sunset. 
 
Trade union leaders in Pakistan, and the world over, are declaring the changes inhumane, in violation of international labour standards and ILO Conventions, and against the spirit of the Constitution of Pakistan. Leaders inside Pakistan also consider the procedure for adopting the labour amendments as unconstitutional and illegal. They say the direct result will be rampant labour exploitation, especially to those people already marginalised within society.

Trade Unions in Pakistan Revolt Against Labour Code Changes

Oil fields workers in Chad again hit Esso-Tchad, lead company in a West African energy consortium, with a three-day strike last week. The workers, organized behind Chad&rsquo;s national labour centre, UST, are seeking salary parity with oil workers in neighbouring Cameroon, connected to them by a 200,000-barrel-per-day pipeline.
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&nbsp; 
The Chad-Cameroon Pipeline, fully operational now and reaping rich rewards for ExxonMobil, Petronas of Malaysia, and Chevron of the US, has been wrapped in a contentious funding dispute between the World Bank and the government of Chad, which only recently was tentatively resolved. The oil companies have used the high-profile stalemate over development monies to take holiday on many of their own social commitments. 
 
Case in point is the difficulty oil workers in the Doha fields of southern Chad have in getting management at Esso-Tchad to respond to good-faith efforts to resolve salary differences and other work terms. An important matter in Doha that employers have ignored is a career development programme for oil workers, a plan that was promised when production began in 2003 but has not been delivered. 
 
The 420 oil workers, behind the UST, said that if Esso-Tchad is not forthcoming in meeting their demands, they will launch a 10-day strike, which could come as early as this week. Workers struck initially from 4-6 July, and last week&rsquo;s strike ran from 18-20 July.
<img height="101" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The dispute between the World Bank and Chad was over a legislative change made to the country&rsquo;s Petroleum Revenue Management Law last year. In effect, it changed the bank&rsquo;s financial terms. The World Bank responded by halting all loans and development monies. On 14 July, the two parties reached an agreement that lending would resume once the government makes amendments to the law, including a requirement that 70% of oil revenues be used for anti-poverty measures. 
 
The Chad-Cameroon Pipeline has been plagued by labour and human rights problems dating back to its construction between 2000 and 2003. To cite one social consequence, credible research done in 2004 reveals that the prevalence rate of those infected with HIV/AIDS was 19.8% in the bordering populations of the 1,063 kilometre pipeline, compared to a 5.5% average on the national level.

ExxonMobil Workers in Chad Launch Renewed Strikes

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Affiliates in Colombia Organise First Seminar on HIV/AIDS
ICEM affiliates in Colombia organised their first seminar on HIV/AIDS and the workplace in cooperation with UNAIDS and the Ministry of Social Protection. 
 
The seminar concluded that there was a lack of consistent campaigning on the part of companies and also unions. To overcome ignorance, discrimination and stigmatisation participants recommended including clauses in collective agreements and drawing up workplace policies based on the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.
The seminar formulated an action plan which includes the formation of workplace committees, workshops, information material, revision of collective agreements and gender-oriented programmes. Each union is to nominate a focal point to coordinate implementation of the action plan. 
 
Company representatives were invited to the seminar but only Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, which&nbsp;represents the interests of BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American, participated. 
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Mongolia Union Concerned about Increase in Reported HIV Infections 
In a report to the ICEM's Asia-Pacific Regional Committee, the Mongolia Mining and Energy Union expressed concern about the recent increase in HIV prevalence in the country. Despite the still very low prevalence rate, the potential for a further increase due to unsafe sex, high infection rates among migrant workers and mobile traders and lack of education among young people is high. 
 
Workplace prevention programmes are at the initial stage in the country. Only recently, trade unions organised a national seminar in collaboration with the employers&rsquo; federation and the ILO on the introduction of workplace prevention programmes. 
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A Quarter of a Century of AIDS
The world has changed in 25 years since physicians saw the earliest cases of AIDS in hospitals in the United States and in Africa. The world was slow to recognise the gravity of the new health crisis and in the years in which AIDS remained off the political agenda, the infection took a foothold that it has not yet relinquished.
Over the last quarter century nearly 65 million people were infected with HIV and an estimated 25 million have already died of AIDS.
Today it is estimated that close to 40 million live with HIV &ndash; yet the vast majority are unaware of their status. More than 4 million became newly infected with HIV and almost 3 million died in 2005. 
 
With the establishment of the WHO Global Programme on AIDS in 1987 and UNAIDS (the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) in 1996, the United Nations moved to address the epidemic not as an isolated health problem, but as a human development issue. 
 
At the 2001 Special Session of the UN General Assembly on AIDS (UNGASS), 189 nations agreed that HIV/AIDS was a national and international development issue of the highest priority, signing the historic Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS that promised innovative responses, coordinated efforts and accountability for progress against the epidemic.
The Declaration set a comprehensive list of time-bound targets to support the Millennium Development Goal 6 of halting, and beginning to reverse the epidemic by 2015. 
 
In 2003, UNAIDS and the WHO promoted the 3 by 5 Initiative (3 million people living with HIV/AIDS on treatment by the end of 2005). Although the initiative did not meet its target, it focused attention on treatment and increased the number from 400,000 in December 2003 to 1.3 million in December 2005.
When new targets such as universal access by 2010 are set it is hoped that these are not empty promises but there is a real commitment behind them which includes the massive financial resources required. 
 
A real breakthrough in funding came with the launch of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) in December 2002. More than 20% of all international financing to fight HIV/AIDS is currently channelled through the Global Fund, which has approved close to 400 grants to government and civil society partners in 131 countries.
Funds contributed and pledged to the Global Fund by donors totalled US$8.5 billion. But even such a large amount pales when resource requirements for 2007 are estimated to be US$18 billion, while resources expected to be available from all sources are estimated at US$10 billion. Despite substantial increases in donor funding, huge gaps remain.
(Source: UNAIDS 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic &ndash; see below. Read also: Newsweek, 5 June &quot;AIDS at 25&quot;) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
UNAIDS Publishes Report on the Epidemic
As reported in the June issue of ICEM's e-bulletin, UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, launched the 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic on the eve of a United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS. This special edition, marking the 10th anniversary of UNAIDS, contains the most in-depth data from countries to date, based on progress reports from 126 countries as well as independent data from more than 30 civil society organisations. 
 
The Report cites positive trends, and states that the epidemic appears to be slowing down globally but new infections are continuing to increase in certain regions and countries. The Report also shows that important progress has been made in country responses, including increases in funding and access to treatment and decreases in HIV prevalence among young people in some countries over the past five years.
It states, however, that HIV/AIDS remains an exceptional threat. The response is very diverse with some countries doing well on treatment but poorly on HIV prevention efforts and vice-versa. 
 
An estimated 38.6 million people are living with HIV worldwide. This is lower than the 40.3 million given in the UNAIDS December 2005 Epidemic Update. The lower estimate is partly due to genuine declines in HIV prevalence in several countries. However, most of the differences are due to increased availability of reliable data.
Rising mortality have also caused HIV prevalence to level off although the numbers of people living with HIV have continued to rise, due to population growth and antiretroviral treatment. 
 
The report can be accessed at <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>. It includes profiles of the 126 countries surveyed. 
(Source: UNAIDS Press Release, 30 May 2006) 
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United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS
Unlike the 2001 UN General Assembly Session on HIV/AIDS, relatively few world leaders attended the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS which took place in New York from 29 May to 2 June.
Civil society organisations have criticised the final declaration of this meeting. Difference over prevention strategies, such as abstinence and condom use, intellectual property rights, and the naming of vulnerable groups have resulted in a weaker declaration and in serious omissions.
In deference to Muslim and conservative Latin and Vatican opposition, the Declaration refers only to &ldquo;vulnerable groups&rdquo; at risk for infection without naming sex workers, homosexuals, or intravenous drug users as in need of particular attention. Civil society also noted an insufficient commitment to women&rsquo;s rights. 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
Global Fund Progress Report Shows Substantial Impact 
 
Performance results from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria show that as of the end of&nbsp;April, 544,000 people have begun antiretroviral treatment through Global Fund-supported programmes &ndash; up from 384,000 six months ago. 
 
Global Fund support for efforts to combat AIDS, TB and malaria account for 56% of the total US$5.4 million committed to date for programmes in 131 countries to fight the three diseases. Some&nbsp;400 grants have been approved so far. Of the US$3 billion allocated to AIDS, half is dedicated to prevention activities while the other half is allocated to treatment. 
 
In 2005, the Global Fund was responsible for an estimated 20% of all international funding in support of efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, and approximately two-thirds of global funding for programmes against TB and malaria. 
 
What is encouraging is that civil society organisations are strong implementers as compared to government agencies, with 30% of their grants over-performing and the remaining 70% showing satisfactory performance. 
There are strong indications that countries can drastically increase their national absorptive capacity by channelling more of its health spending through non-governmental and faith-based organisations and the private sector. 

(Source: Global Fund Press Release, 29 June 2006)
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Focus on the Caribbean
According to the UNAIDS Report (see above), AIDS-related illnesses are the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 44 in the Caribbean, accounting for more than 27,000 deaths in 2005. 
 
While the Bahamas, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti have contained the progress of HIV, Guyana has a serious epidemic underway.
The Caribbean remains the region most affected by HIV/AIDS after Africa. According to UNAIDS estimates 330,000 HIV-positive people were living in the Caribbean at the end of 2005, 51% of whom were women.
This status as second-most affected region masks substantial country differences in the extent and intensity of the epidemic. Prevalence rates range from 0.1% in Cuba to more than 2% in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, and exceeding 3% in the Bahamas and Haiti. New infections among women are far surpassing those among men, ranging from twice the likelihood for teenage girls to be infected in Jamaica to six times in Trinidad and Tobago. 
 
In the region fewer than one in four people needing antiretroviral drugs are actually receiving them. 

(Source: UNAIDS 2006 Report as compiled by Medical News Today, 5 June 2006) 

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Global Unions Demand G8 Permanent Working Group on HIV/AIDS 
In the run-up to the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, 15-16 July, a Global Union delegation met Russian President Putin.
Among other items, they put forward the demand for a permanent Working Group on HIV/AIDS. At last year&rsquo;s Summit in Gleneagles, there was a time-bound commitment to fighting the epidemic but since then there has not been a clear follow-up and monitoring mechanism to reach the objective of universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care by 2010.
The call for a permanent Working Group was also made at the ILO&rsquo;s International Labour Conference in Geneva in June when Global Unions delivered letters to government, workers&rsquo; and employers&rsquo; delegations and to the Health Ministers gathered at the WHO annual World Health Assembly in May.
(Source: OECD-TUAC Press Release, 5 July and Global Union Statements) 
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International AIDS Conference 
 
The ICEM abstract written for the International AIDS Conference, Toronto, Canada,&nbsp;13 to 18 August, was accepted for a poster exhibition.
The ICEM was also invited to speak on &ldquo;The importance of social dialogue and workers&rsquo; participation in public/private partnerships&rdquo; at a Satellite Meeting Session with the theme: &ldquo;From the workplace to the community &ndash; Co-investment to access prevention, treatment and care in public/private partnerships&rdquo;. 

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ICEM Resources on HIV/AIDS 
 
This is a reminder that HIV/AIDS materials are available on our website <a href="http://www.icem.org">www.icem.org</a>. You can download the ICEM Leaflet on HIV/AIDS as well as power point presentations and find links to other interesting websites and materials.
Latest addition is the HIV/AIDS Training Manual for Collective Bargaining. Written by the ICEM Africa Regional HIV/AIDS Coordinator Shirley Miller with input from the national coordinators from sub-Saharan Africa the manual is a rights-based practical guide for unionists to deal with HIV/AIDS at the workplace and bargain for clauses safeguarding against discrimination and victimisation. The manual can also be found in three different languages at:
English: <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualEN.pdf">/files/PDF/Key_issues_pdfs/ 
AIDS/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualEN.pdf</a>
French: <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualFR.pdf">/files/PDF/Key_issues_pdfs/ 
AIDS/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualFR.pdf</a>
Spanish: <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualSP.pdf">/files/PDF/Key_issues_pdfs/ 
AIDS/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualSP.pdf</a>

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No.10

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