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ICEM affiliate in the United Kingdom, Transport &amp; General Workers Union (TGWU), began a ballot today for industrial action against Imerys among its members in the UK&rsquo;s South West. The balloting, over the French-based building materials company&rsquo;s intransigence in redundancy bargaining, will run until 23 February.
TGWU has scheduled meetings with workers and management on 27 February to release the results, and to discuss possible action.
<img height="66" alt="" src="" width="120" />
The ballot will have two questions: 
Are you prepared to take industrial action short of a strike? and 
Are you prepared to take part in strike action? 
 
In July 2006, Imerys announced it would make 900 workers redundant in its former English China Clay mining and processing operations, in the Cornwall and Devon regions of the UK&rsquo;s South West. Although TGWU and other unions representing Imerys&rsquo; workers negotiated job reductions down to just over 600, the company refused to negotiate an adequate redundancy packages. 
 
The ICEM believes that Imerys has demonstrated contempt for the social consultation process in the UK, and complete unfairness to industrial workers in the South West. The ICEM notes that the redundancy package put forward by the company is barely above the minimum British requirement, an amount commonly recognised as low. The 20-million-member ICEM believes that Imerys, one of the world&rsquo;s biggest and most profitable materials sector companies, must improve its social obligations to its workers in the South West. 

<img height="233" alt="" src="" width="350" />&nbsp;

TGWU Issues Strike Ballot at Imerys Today in UK

<img height="181" alt="" src="" width="300" /> 
 
USW women march against the Iraq war in Washington, DC, on 25 January 2007 
 
1. Bahrain &ndash; Women Are Still Badly Paid 
2. Canada &ndash; New Federal Policies Affect Women&rsquo;s Equality 
3. European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) &ndash; Gender Equality Report Released 
4. European Union &ndash; 2007 is Equal Opportunities Year 
5. International Monetary Fund (IMF) &ndash; Helping Women Helps the Economy 
6. India &ndash; SEWA Marks Achievements in 2006 
7. OECD &ndash; Women Scientists Wanted 
8. Palestine &ndash; Seminar Held on Democracy and Women&rsquo;s Rights 
9. South Africa &ndash; NUM and SINTIQUIGRA Have Women&rsquo;s Exchange 
10. Spain &ndash; The Government Legislates on Dependent Care 
11. Resources 
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1. Bahrain &ndash; Women Are Still Badly Paid 
The Bahrain Centre of Studies and Research has published findings which indicate that only 9.9% of women are in leadership positions, a fact which also has a bearing on their earnings. With gender bias still predominant, women&rsquo;s salaries are low in spite of their qualifications. Most women are in low-end jobs such as secretaries, receptionists, and clerks. Their main problems involve working time, holidays, working environment, and low pay. 
The women surveyed work in industry, tailoring, construction, finance and insurance, tourism, hospitality, and other services. A full 60.7% of the women surveyed had university degrees. Some companies were also surveyed, and their opinions of women employees in their employment were largely positive. 
Some 70% of those companies deny there was any discrimination on the basis of gender. The study found, &ldquo;&hellip;gender had no effect on a worker&rsquo;s productivity, continuation of work, ability to develop themselves and creativity in their companies.&rdquo; It also said that women&rsquo;s looks or attractiveness did not affect their ability to be hired. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
2. Canada &ndash; New Federal Policies Affect Women&rsquo;s Equality 
 
The Canadian government enacted many changes in 2006 that adversely affect women&rsquo;s equality, including cutting and changing programmes that benefit women. The government rejected the recommendations from the Task Force on Pay Equity and refused to broaden maternity and parental leave coverage. The women&rsquo;s programme no longer speaks of equality. 
The Early Learning and Childcare agreements were cancelled with the provinces, instead of following recommendations to strengthen them. Housing subsidies were cut, and legal aid programmes were reduced for people who needed to fight against discrimination. In general, women now have less economic equality and less access to affordable childcare. Status of Women Canada saw its budget cut by C$5 million with the argument, &ldquo;women are already equal.&rdquo; 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
3. European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) &ndash; Gender Equality Report Released 
 
On 29 January, the European social partners ETUC, BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME, and CEEP released a report which showed progress in the field of gender equality. 
The social partners have integrated the gender equality actions defined in 2005 into their activities in 20 countries. Actions have been taken, such as negotiating collective agreements, discussing with authorities, designing gender equality projects, and developing projects to tackle equality gaps. Work-life balance was the theme of many of the activities. 
The work done in this area included introducing or extending care leave, preventing long working hours, promoting flexible and innovative forms of employment such as telework. 
Equal pay was one other area where information and guidance tools were developed, training schemes were carried out, studies and statistics were produced to deal with the pay gap. Labour market segregation and under-representation of women in decision-making were also contemplated. 
More follow-up actions are also planned at European, national, cross-industry, sectoral, and company levels. 
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4. European Union &ndash; 2007 is Equal Opportunities Year 
 
The aim of the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All is to make people aware of the right to equality, and to reinforce the message that all people have the right to equal treatment without discrimination on the basis of sex, ethnic or racial origin, religion or conviction, incapacity, age or sexual orientation. 
One other aim is to boost participation in society on the part of groups who have suffered from discrimination as well as to increase equal participation by women and men. The ultimate goal is to celebrate diversity and equality. All people have a positive contribution to make to society. Stereotypes must be eliminated as well as prejudices and violence. 
The European Year of Equal Opportunities for All was launched officially at the EU Equality Summit held on 30 and 31 January. In spite of the progress achieved so far at European level in eliminating discrimination and promoting equal opportunities, much remains to be done, and hopefully more positive steps will be taken in this year. For more information, see: 
<a href="http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/cha/c10314.htm">http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/cha/c10314.htm</a>.
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
5. International Monetary Fund (IMF) &ndash; Helping Women Helps the Economy 
 
A recent IMF study indicates that gender inequality hinders economic growth. Higher rates of economic growth and macroeconomic stability will stem from greater gender equality. Lowest-income countries with the highest degrees of gender inequality should take the benefits of policies into account, which reduce inequality. 
The United Nations&rsquo; Millennium Development Goals expressly link economic progress to the realization of equal opportunities for women. Women&rsquo;s status should be raised, and the gaps between men and women must be eliminated. 
Women&rsquo;s and men&rsquo;s economic behaviour differ. For example, women tend to spend more on a household&rsquo;s basic requirements and to make the most of children&rsquo;s potential. Women save more and invest in more productive ways. Women&rsquo;s lack of education, health care, and economic and social opportunities hinders economic growth. 
The study suggests that when women&rsquo;s access to education, health care, employment and credit are improved, and when differences between men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s opportunities are narrowed, the pace of economic development speeds up and poverty is reduced. 
For more see the IMF Working Paper No. 06/232, &ldquo;Gender Budgeting,&rdquo; and No. 06/233, &ldquo;Gender and Its Relevance to Macroeconomic Policy: A Survey,&rdquo; both available at <a href="http://www.imf.org">www.imf.org</a>.
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
6. India &ndash; SEWA Marks Achievements in 2006 
 
The Self-Employed Women&rsquo;s Association (SEWA) of India held its annual meeting from 10 to 12 January, and was able to celebrate victories in 2006. To start with, the union grew to 965,000 members with membership growing in various states. 
SEWA managed to win legal battles for vendors in Gujarat and Indore, obtained identity cards for paper picker women, made gains in SEWA insurance, launched a new pension scheme by SEWA Bank, among other achievements. 
At a conference, the Prime Minister of India agreed to establish a national policy for home-based workers. Nevertheless, the government of Gujarat state continues its repression and intimidation of SEWA. SEWA is not clear about the reasons for the attacks by the government, except that the union speculates that the government does not like a growing and empowered organisation of poor working women who believe in the Gandhian ideology of unity across castes and religions. 
Ela Bhatt, the founder of SEWA, was honoured with a series of international awards throughout 2006.
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
7. OECD &ndash; Women Scientists Wanted 
 
OECD science ministers are trying to get more women into research. Women make up only some 30% of researchers. It is increasingly important to attract, recruit, and retain women scientists because of the need for more scientists and technology specialists, the ageing workforce and youth&rsquo;s lack of interest in science. 
One reason why women are not attracted to science jobs is because of trouble with work-life balance. One major problem is the requirement for mobility in early years. 
About one-third of US university professors are women, but the figure is lower in the EU, Australia, and Korea, where it is 14.5%. Women make up less than 20% of senior academic staff in the EU, which means that there are not enough role models to encourage women to embark upon similar careers. 
The number of women researchers is on the rise, however. In the EU, the number of men in science and engineering increased by 4.9% from 1998 to 2002, while the number of women rose by 4.2%. Women tend to work more in biology, health, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals, with lower numbers in physics, computing, and engineering. Most women researchers in OECD countries work in the public sector, while men work in industry. 
Only 17.5% of women researchers in the EU and 6% of women in Japan work in business, yet nearly two-thirds of women researchers in the US work in industry or business.
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
8. Palestine &ndash; Seminar Held on Democracy and Women&rsquo;s Rights 
 
Twenty women participated in the seminar organized by ICEM affiliate General Union of Petrochemical, Mining, and Chemicals Workers in Palestine (GUPMCWP) on democracy and women&rsquo;s rights. 
Dr Nuza, head of the women&rsquo;s committee, explained that the seminar continues the union&rsquo;s education programme to raise women&rsquo;s consciousness and to encourage women to participate in the political and economic fields, thus enabling them to reach decision-making levels. The union started such training programmes for women in all areas, and Dr Nuza called upon the women to participate more and more. 
Women&rsquo;s creativity is important for their participation. The participants stressed the importance of the training and called for it to be extended.
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
9. South Africa &ndash; NUM and SINTIQUIGRA Have Women&rsquo;s Exchange 
 
This project was conceptualized in 2003. The Secretariat of both unions met in Mozambique and discussed common issues that affect them both. Out of that, what was agreed upon between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa and Sindicato Nacional Dos Trabalhadores Da Industria Quimica, Borracha, Papel e Grafica (SINTIQUIGRA) was a program of action for three years, which included an exchange programme of women structures from the two unions. 
 
The activity, held 22-26 January, was the second leg of the exchange programme in which 31 women and one man participated. Fifteen of the participants were from Mozambique. 
The objective of the workshop was to strengthen women&rsquo;s understanding of labour law, health and safety, and employment equity, as well as transformation issues in the mining and energy sectors. At the political level, the African National Congress&rsquo; Women&rsquo;s League secretary general made a presentation on the challenges facing women, particularly working class women in South Africa. 
What was concluded was that the third leg of the exchange will take place in the last week of August 2007, where the South African women will be hosted in Mozambique. What was agreed was that in between, the two unions will invite each other when they have activities on labour law, occupational health and safety, HIV/AIDS, and women&rsquo;s empowerment.
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
10. Spain &ndash; The Government Legislates on Dependent Care 
 
The number of dependent individuals in Spain is increasing rapidly. The growing demand for dependent care is largely related to the rapid aging of Spain&rsquo;s population: 30 years ago, 9.7% of Spain&rsquo;s population was over 65 years of age (3.3 million), where today, that percentage has increased to 16.6% (6.6 million). 
Furthermore, the number of Spaniards over 80 has doubled over the past 20 years. Thirty-two percent of the population over 65 years of age has some kind of disability, as compared with 5% of the remaining population. 
In 1999, taking into account all age groups, approximately 9% of the Spanish population had some degree of disability that required special care. Traditionally, this care has been provided by family members, particularly women. The growing participation of women in the work force, together with the breakdown of the extended family, has sharply increased the social service requirements of this dependent population. 
 
Comisiones Obreras comments on the new legislation as follows: &ldquo;It establishes the right to care, and co-financing (central government, regional government, and the individual with dependency if his earnings/properties are sufficient). 
But the specific mechanisms by which the system will work have yet to be established &hellip;The system will create many new skilled and unskilled jobs, and be good for employment. However, its application requires more trained personnel in the social service sector than what schools are currently providing &hellip;The Law barely touches the need for coordination with the health system, in spite of its importance. 
 
&ldquo;We are aware of the fact that we will have to put a lot of work into the application of this law, and pressure on administrations to make sure they take it seriously and get it right. Nevertheless, we consider that this legislation is a huge and necessary step in the right direction.&rdquo; 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
11. Resources
The State of the World&rsquo;s Children 2007, see <a href="http://www.unicef.org/">www.unicef.org/</a>. 
 
For books on women and development, see <a href="http://www.womenink.org">www.womenink.org</a>. 
 
Human Rights Watch 2007 Report, <a href="http://www.hrw.org/wr2k7">www.hrw.org/wr2k7</a>.
Women&rsquo;s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development and Peace, <a href="http://www.learningpartnership.org/news/events/2007/wsfjan21panel">www.learningpartnership.org/news/events/2007/ 
wsfjan21panel</a>.
<a href="http://www.genderaction.org">www.genderaction.org</a>&nbsp;highlights the gendered impacts of World Bank and IMF policies, including news about oil&rsquo;s gender impacts in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Sakhalin.

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 19

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ICEM&rsquo;s Central European Regional Council was held in Katowice, Poland, on 29 April, and leaders of affiliates from eight Central European countries discussed trends and developments within the ICEM region, as well as global matters. 
 
The problems mentioned by ICEM&rsquo;s trade union leaders of the region often mirrored those from neighbouring countries. Workers in most countries face problems with stagnant wages &ndash; and extremely low minimum wages &ndash; as well as high inflation rates. In Croatia, many workers do not earn more than &euro;8 per day.
<img width="160" height="85" src="" alt="" />
The ICEM Central European Regional meeting was hosted by Polish trade union sentre Solidarnosc
Unions in Croatia are calling for a minimum wage to be set at the level of 50% of the average wage. Unions in other countries are setting that bar at 60%. In several Central European nations, the current minimum wage is often lower &ndash; 40% of the average wage, or even lower.
<img width="120" height="60" src="" alt="" />
Croatia&nbsp;
Progress is slow on that front, but it is being made. In Slovakia, for example, union and employers are now jointly negotiating a new minimum wage through social dialogue. In Romania, the minimum wage was raised last year from &euro;100 to &euro;150 per month. 
 
Standard wages do differ between countries. An average wage in Bosnia stands at around &euro;300, whereas the average salary in Poland, before taxes, is around &euro;800. The wage differences between sectors inside some countries are oftentimes wide. Some Polish workers barely earn &euro;300 per month, while others make &euro;1,700.
<img width="120" height="60" src="" alt="" />
&nbsp;Bosnia-Herzegovina
Overall, unions in Central Europe are generally reporting progress. One such area that is progressing is negotiations with multinational companies. In nearly all countries, privatisation exercises continue and that does cause serious hardship for many trade union members. Unions do report that fair dismissal packages are now being won, a welcome change from previous years. Another positive aspect is that relations with incoming multinational companies are improving. 
 
Engagement in social dialogue is a key priority for most unions, including with several non-European multinational investors. This phenomenon has grown rapidly over the last few years. Multinational companies from Russia, Turkey, India, and South Korea are no longer the exception. Regrettably, industrial relations with some of these firms (for example, Korean Hankook Tire in Hungary) are acrimonious, since some of these newly-arrived companies lack relevant experience with the European social dialogue system. 
 
Nearly all trade union leaders attending the regional meeting also mentioned the positive, and growing, international cooperation between unions in the region. Trade unions and their members are increasingly attending each other&rsquo;s demonstrations, across borders, and are sharing more and more information. 
 
Also reported was the vastly improved trade union cooperation inside countries. This is occurring between unions that often belong to different national confederations. One clear example came from Poland, where a joint ICEM-EMCEF office is being set up, allowing six industrial unions to speak with one voice. 
 
As a result of this increased cooperation, there also appears to be a growing political will to do away with the problem of having too many unions inside one country. Leaders spoke of the need for consolidation and mergers, in order to avoid situations where unions compete with each other. 
 
Unions in Serbia, for example, spoke of improvements in their own operations, as they manage, frequently after changing internal structures, to halt the drop in union membership and boost affiliation fees.
<img width="120" height="71" src="" alt="" />
Serbia
Related to these efforts was an overview by Mato Lalic on the South-East European Education Project for ICEM and IUF affiliates. He reported on a number of successes from this project, which is expected to enter its last two-year cycle this year. For over ten years, Lalic has organised over 300 seminars, workshops, and seminars, with over 6,000 trade unionists attending. And some 30-to- 40% of these participants have been women. 
 
Some problems, however, remain country-specific, such as the after-war issue of the non-payment of pensions in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Also, austerity measures were cited as a measure to offset the GDP deficit in Hungary. 
 
Other problems appear simultaneously in all countries. Many spoke, for example, of anticipated difficulties &ndash; and possible long and hard struggles &ndash; in relation to the expected increases of the statutory pension age in their respective country. The issue of green jobs, and the need to have an ecological balance, but also the possible difficulties that industries may face as a result of a more stringent emissions rights system, were equally mentioned by many.

Reports from Central Europe Regional Meeting Point to Cautious Optimism

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Rather than negotiate in good faith with print shop members of UK union Unite, a book producer did the unthinkable: it suddenly sacked 287 workers and took the company into liquidation. 
 
Butler and Tanner, a 170-year-old printer in Frome, Somerset, that was bought last year by Media and Print Investments (MPI), had informed UK&rsquo;s Advisory, Conciliation, and Mediation Service (ACAS) that it was prepared for further talks with Unite over the weekend of 25-27 April in order to avert a planned 30 April industrial action.
<img width="120" height="60" alt="" src="" />
Instead, Butler and Tanner&rsquo;s chairman issued a terse letter to all 287 union members, received on 26 April, that the prestigious colour book printer was closing immediately. Unite then learned that the company had deployed labour agency staff to continue operations. 
 
Union members last Tuesday, 29 April, voted to take legal action to recover &pound;12,000 per worker in lost wages and &pound;44,000 in total pension contributions for the workforce. The union also organised a mass rally at the locked plant gates on 2 May. 
 
United National Officer Ann Field called it a &ldquo;despicable act,&rdquo; and said the union will demand full recompense. The union&rsquo;s Assistant General Secretary, Tony Burke, said staff had given their working lives to make Butler and Tanner one of UK&rsquo;s quality book printers, &ldquo;but they decided enough was enough when the goalposts for an agreement were constantly moved.&rdquo; 
 
Print workers had conceded pay cuts and other economic items when private equity company MPI took over in August 2007. The company was currently seeking another &pound;1 million in cost reductions, including radical shift changes, as well as a clause in a proposed new contract that would restrict Unite&rsquo;s ability to negotiate for workers.

Book Printer Suddenly Closes in UK, Leaving 287 Jobless

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Further industrial action at the Grangemouth petrochemicals complex in Scotland by Unite is not likely, following negotiations last week between the union and Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe. 
 
Reports surfaced over the weekend that Ratcliffe has agreed to maintain the final pension scheme for all workers. Ineos had proposed that, effective in August, the final pension plan would be closed off for new hires, and that full pension benefits would not be awarded to staff choosing to retire at age 60. The company had proposed full pension benefits only at age 65.
<img height="239" alt="" src="" width="220" />
&nbsp;Unite Joint General Secretaries Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson&nbsp; 
 

Ineos has agreed to withdraw the letter to staff announcing the pension changes. The union reportedly has agreed to make efficiency changes in order to achieve cost savings, efficiencies that will not include redundancies. Unite is expected to poll union members on the revised proposal soon. 
 
A two-day strike on 27-28 April by 1,200 Unite members gained global attention when it crimped fuel supplies in Scotland and caused a ripple effect on nearby energy installations, including the shipment of gas from BP&rsquo;s Forbes Field in the North Sea. Grangemouth is a refiner of polyolefins and oil derivatives used for various fuel sources. 
 
On 29 April, Ratcliffe and Tom Crotty of Ineos began the first of a set of constructive and meaningful discussions with Unite Joint General Secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley to resolve the dispute. Ineos is a fast-growing energy concern that was created in 1998. In late 2005, it bought Grangemouth from BP&rsquo;s Innovene chemicals division.

Accord Near to Protect Final Pension Scheme for All Workers at Grangemouth

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Babatunde Ogun, a 17-year member of Nigeria&rsquo;s senior staff association PENGASSAN, was elected president of the union on 30 April for a three-year term. His election and the elections of several others occurred at the white-collar union&rsquo;s Second Triennial Delegates&rsquo; Conference in Abuja that was attended by 470 branch and zonal leaders. 
 
The two-day conference featured a sharp exchange on the opening day, 29 April, between Minister of Labour and Productivity Dr Hassan Lawal and fiery Adams Oshiomhole, the former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, who is governor-in-waiting in Edo State.
<img height="146" src="" width="220" alt="" />
&nbsp;PENGASSAN members at May Day rally in Abuja 
 

Oshiomhole, who was duly elected a year ago but awaits taking office in Edo due to a legal challenge by the former incumbent governor, called on PENGASSAN to extract no more crude oil at US$120-per-barrel &ldquo;if the proceeds are to be shared by irresponsible political leadership. That will not be patriotic,&rdquo; he said. Oshiomhole was referring to alleged corrupt practices of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. 
 
Following the reading of a prepared text from current President Umaru MusaYar&rsquo;Adua by Lawal, the Labour Minister took exception with Oshiomhole&rsquo;s comments. He stated that such a call &ldquo;was out of place, especially since Comrade Oshiomhole has acknowledged the good works President Yar&rsquo;Adua is doing, especially trying to right some of the wrongs of the immediate past government.&rdquo; 
 
Lawal added that if the country&rsquo;s oil workers stopped drilling, the government would take it upon itself to contract such drilling with outside providers. Labour Minister Lawal also remarked on the PENGASSAN upstream strike against Mobil Producing Nigeria, and his efforts to resolve the strike by 1,400 trade union members. He called Mobil&rsquo;s two-year wage offer of 10% &ldquo;totally unfair and unacceptable.&rdquo; 
 
PENGASSAN did present a series of constitutional amendments to delegates, including a new fees formula between the National Secretariat and branches, but due to a logistical glitch, the amendments were not acted upon. Delegates also heard from Dr Muhammad Auwal Umar of Bayero University in Kano, who delivered a stirring address on why labour unions must reposition themselves for a greater role in civil society. 
 
Babatunde Ogun won election to the union&rsquo;s top over two other candidates, including incumbent Peter Esele. A mechanical engineer who has been employed by Mobil Producing at the Qua Iboe crude export terminal in Eket, Ogun state, for the past 12 years, Comrade Ogun was Deputy President three years ago when he challenged Uche Okoro for the presidency. He lost in that election, held early in 2005, and Esele, elected then as Deputy Vice President, became PENGASSAN&rsquo;s president when Comrade Okoro was killed in an airplane crash on 10 December 2005 near Port Harcourt.
<img height="147" src="" width="140" alt="" />
&ldquo;Our oil and gas policies have to have input in the marketplace,&rdquo; said the 42-year-old Ogun, following his election. &ldquo;We must close the gap between government and business on the one hand, and labour on the other. We must also close the gap globally in order that multinationals utilise Nigerians and local content in their operations.&rdquo; 
 
Re-elected Deputy Vice President was Mustapha Nuhu Wali. The union also elected its first Woman in PENGASSAN, which now is an elected position on the Central Works Committee. That post was won by Orji I. Rose of Chevron Nigeria Ltd. Elected Treasurer was O. Uka Ethelbert, and elected Industrial Relations Officer was Steve Ereyukomhen. 
 
PENGASSAN, an ICEM affiliate numbering 6,000 members, is composed of four zonal offices and some 80 branches, each representing a company segment of Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas industry.

PENGASSAN Elects New Leader in Babatunde Ogun

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Three major Turkish trade union confederations, T&Uuml;RK-İŞ (the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions), DİSK (the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions), and KESK (the Confederation of Public Employees&rsquo; Trade Unions) &ndash; all affiliates to both the ITUC and the ETUC &ndash; defied the government&rsquo;s ban on May Day activities last week, and jointly celebrated International Workers&rsquo; Day across Istanbul.
The celebration was scheduled to occur at Taksim Square in Istanbul, but heavy police force prevented trade unionists from reaching that point.
Taksim Square is symbolically important to the Turkish trade union movement, because it was there on May Day, 1977, that 37 workers were killed during celebrations. This year&rsquo;s programme was scheduled to see participants meeting at Şişli at 10h00 with a march to Taksim. At 11h00, they were to lay laid flowers at Taksim Square in a democratic and peaceful way.
<img height="135" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Turkish police gassing the headquarters of DİSK in the early morning hours of 1 May
Prior to last Thursday&rsquo;s event, the presidents of three confederations met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to facilitate the demonstrations. But he rejected the peaceful demonstration, and the governor of Istanbul ordered the trade unions not to march to Taksim, with threat of force to prevent the commemoration. But unions carried out street demonstrations across Istanbul instead. 

At 06h15 on 1 May, police attacked the headquarters of DİSK, where 1,500 demonstrators were spending the night. Police used pepper spray and red-dye water cannons to disperse the demonstrators. The red-dye water served as a burning agent when combined with the pepper spray. 

Trade unionists were hosed with this burning agent, and they soon felt burns and rashes on their skin. Many of them were hospitalised. Later, police were indiscriminate in their beatings of persons on the streets of Istanbul. They also attacked journalists and beat a photo-journalist, breaking his camera which had captured the barbaric brutality of the police. 

Nonetheless, thousands of Turkey&rsquo;s citizens clashed with police in order to enter the historic site of May Day celebrations. Workers, their unions, and the left, turned the entire city of Istanbul into Taksim Square, and the popular slogan became &ldquo;Each Square in Turkey Becomes Taksim Square.&rdquo; 

Some did manage to get into the square, but not by their own free will. They were moved there through arrests because police &ldquo;arrest vehicles&rdquo; were parked in the square. Those arrested were beaten unmercifully. Reports cited that over 530 were arrested, but because many of those detained were not processed, the numbers were many times higher.
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
May Day 2008 in Turkey has come and gone, but the events of that day in Istanbul lead us to think seriously about trade union rights and freedom of association in Turkey. This is crucial, as the country prepares for membership negotiations with the European Union. 

In his protest message over last week&rsquo;s government repression of workers to Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;Turkey does not deserve such a picture. On the eve of integration with the EU, your policy and the behaviour of your government and security forces is not acceptable. We vehemently protest and urge you to take the necessary steps in order to adhere to freedom of association and basic trade union rights that in line with the fundamental ILO conventions.&rdquo;

Turkish Police, Government Take Extreme Measures to Halt May Day Demonstration

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An eight-day strike by 1,400 upstream workers of Mobil Producing Nigeria ended on 1 May, following mediation over wages, benefits, and alternative forms of payment for a two-year period. The talks were concluded in the capital of Abuja after mediation by both the Nigeria National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) and the Ministry of Labour and Productivity. 
 
The strike by PENGASSAN, ICEM&rsquo;s white-collar oil and gas workers&rsquo; affiliated trade union in Nigeria, had shut in 860,000-barrels-per-day of oil production. The settlement is expected to establish the upstream pattern for major oil and gas producers in Nigeria for 2008 and 2009. Only Total&rsquo;s upstream workers had reached agreement earlier.
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&nbsp;PENGASSAN's Mobil Producing Bargaining Committee 
 
The strike settlement, however, has no bearing on a dispute between PENGASSAN and Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc. in the downstream sector. That dispute has to do with discrepancies on compensation regarding redundancies. 
 
The strike in the upstream sector was brought on by Mobil Producing&rsquo;s intransigence in reaching a new deal following the 31 December 2007 expiration of a prior agreement. The company refused to budge from a total compensation offer of 10% over a new two-year period. NNPC and the Labour Ministry intervened in mediation efforts once the strike began on 24 April. 
 
Mobil Producing is jointly owned by NNPC and US-based ExxonMobil, with ExxonMobil serving as the operating partner in what is currently Nigeria&rsquo;s largest crude exporter, as well as lowest operating cost producer. 
 
PENGASSAN&rsquo;s Mobil Producing Branch Chairman Olusola George-Olumoroti said four of the five major points on the union&rsquo;s agenda were resolved in marathon talks on 30 April, but it took the two Nigerian parties &ndash; NNPC and Labour Ministry &ndash; to move the multinational company from its low 10% offer.
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&nbsp;Branch Chairman Olusola George-Olumoroti 
 

On 1 May, the union&rsquo;s branch committee accepted a 20% total pay package, which is retroactive to 1 January and includes benefits and other remuneration items. PENGASSAN&rsquo;s Mobil upstream branch committee also included members of the Mobil Producing Contract Staff Branch, since a major point on the union&rsquo;s agenda was casualisation. 
 
The union charged Mobil Producing with over-extending service professionals in work that could be more efficiently done by full-time staff. George-Olumoroti casual staff work under two-year contracts, and some worked in such status for as along as 19 years. In negotiations on 30 April, the two sides agreed to set up a joint committee to review contract staffing, and then compare Mobil&rsquo;s record with that of other companies in the industry. 
 
Another major concern was the inconsistency of Mobil&rsquo;s defined benefit plan to Nigeria&rsquo;s Pension Reform Act of 2004. That issue met resolve by the two sides agreeing to a team of independent actuaries to examine the company&rsquo;s current pension plan. 
 
Other issues included the rapid influx of expatriates that violate the government&rsquo;s quota regulations, and hazardous equipment and facility deterioration, particularly in the company&rsquo;s western area of operations along the Niger Delta. The PENGASSAN branch cited leakages at two offshore oil pipelines of the company &ndash; Idoho and Edop &ndash; in February. 
 
The Nigerian government has agreed to conduct an audit regarding expatriate quotas, while a joint committee will be put in place immediately to develop a charter and recommendations on facility deficiencies. That committee will be on a stringent time frame, with reporting on or before 30 June.
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In the downstream sector, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc., also jointly owned by NNPC and ExxonMobil, and the PENGASSAN branch there are in dispute over terms of a redundancy package negotiated late in 2007. The company made 67 of 170 senior staff members redundant, and intentionally targeted PENGASSAN members and activists for sackings. 
 
At question is a miscalculation in the redundancy package. In implementing a new information technology programme, ExxonMobil has eliminated jobs in Nigeria and moved them to Egypt, Taiwan, and Hungary. All the workers made redundant are to be paid their full salaries until 31 May, at which time the severance package is scheduled to take effect. The ICEM has demanded that the American company rectify its error.

Mobil Nigeria Upstream Strike Settled; Downstream Dispute Still Festers

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G8 Campaign in Full Swing 
AIDS G8 Japanese Embassy Campaign Continues to 30 May 
The Global Union AIDS Programme (GUAP) has extended its campaign to contact Japanese Embassies until 30 May 2008. The approach to Japanese Embassies is to urge the Japanese Government, as the current G8 President, to ensure that the next G8 Summit takes action to strengthen health care systems and to create an accountability mechanism on the G8 Nations&rsquo; promises regarding HIV/AIDS. Model letters to be delivered to the Japanese embassy in your country can be found&nbsp;here in <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_11Ba.EN.rtf">English</a>, <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_11Ba.FR.rtf">Fran&ccedil;ais</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_11Ba.SP.rtf ">Espa&ntilde;ol</a>.
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Three years ago, the Global Unions HIV/AIDS Programme launched its campaign to convince Heads of State, who were attending the G8 Summit, to create a high-level Working Group on HIV/AIDS, with the technical support of existing bodies such as UNAIDS and its co-sponsors. 
 
Thanks to the tremendous efforts by so many trade unions, last year the German Presidency issued a first report on meeting G8 targets for HIV/AIDS. We believe this paves the way for the production of annual reviews and for establishing a mechanism that, at long last, will provide recommendations for action to subsequent G8 summits. 
However, we are convinced that combining our request, in connection with the need for health system strengthening and overall trade union issues for public and occupational health, will make our case much stronger. 
 
We want to build upon our successes of previous years, and we are asking you to organise some activity around the delivery of a letter to the Japanese Embassy in your country, and to insist that your government also request support for this G8 HIV/AIDS mechanism. 
 
For your information, the G8 is composed of governments from the following countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, and the United States. The G8 Summit will take place from 7-9 July 2008, and will be hosted by the Japanese Government in Toyako, Hokkaido. 
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ICEM Assessment Missions and Sub-Regional Workshops
More than three years into the HIV/AIDS project, the ICEM will conduct sub-regional workshops and assessment missions in three African sub-regions: English-speaking West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone), French-speaking West Africa (C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, DR Congo, Mali) and southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia). 
 
The first sub-regional workshop, with participants from Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, will be organised in Lagos from 21 to 23 July. Prior to the workshop, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria will be visited to assess the impact of the HIV/AIDS programmes in these countries. 
 
Assessment missions for southern and East Africa will visit Zambia, Uganda, Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, and South Africa in August and September. The sub-regional workshop will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 14-16 October. 
 
A workshop for the French-speaking sub-region will be organised in Abidjan, C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, in the fourth quarter of this year, together with an assessment mission to Mali, DR Congo, and to C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire. 
 
The HIV/AIDS resolution of the ICEM&rsquo;s 4th World Congress called on the ICEM to continue to fully prioritise HIV/AIDS. Assessment of the current project will also identify national priorities and objectives for an extension of the present project. 
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ILO Recommendation on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work
In March 2007, the Governing Body of the ILO decided to place on the agenda of the International Labour Conferences for 2009 and 2010 an item intended for &ldquo;the development of an autonomous Recommendation on HIV and AIDS in the world of work.&rdquo; 
 
The ILO has begun work towards the adoption of a Recommendation in 2010. Under the Constitution and Standing Orders, five reports have to be prepared within specific time limits and each report to contain specific information. The first report, called a &ldquo;Law and Practice Report,&rdquo; provides an overview of national and international measures taken with respect to HIV/AIDS. This report was published and sent to governments in January 2008. 
 
The Law and Practice Report, which is available at <a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids">www.ilo.org/aids</a>, also contains a questionnaire to which governments, in consultation with employers&rsquo; and workers&rsquo; organisations, are to provide replies to the ILO by the end of July 2008. Consultation usually occurs through national trade union centres. 
The ICEM calls on its affiliates to get fully involved in this process and make sure that substantive replies, with comments which reflect the views of workers, are provided in time. It is only in this way that the second report, which will be prepared by the ILO on the basis of the replies received, reflect the views of workers and their unions. It is worth noting that workers&rsquo; organisations may also provide their comments directly to the ILO. 
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AIDS in Brazil 
Over the past 20 years, the Brazilian government has had an impressive achievement in keeping the HIV/AIDS epidemic under control. 
 
The energetic response has taken three forms: 
 
First, there has always been an insistence on the need to wear condoms, particularly in carnival time when the usual supply of free condoms increases by 40%. The World Bank recently helped the government buy a billion condoms &ndash; around a tenth of the world&rsquo;s total annual supply. 
 
Second, the government funds free treatment for anyone with AIDS. This has involved side-stepping patents on anti-retroviral drugs to keep costs down. 
 
Third, NGOs have been good at publicising the cause and at holding federal and local governments to their promises. 
 
Recently, the disease has spread, however. Although the total number of people affected is still low at 620,000 (in a total population of 190 million), which represents 0.6% of those aged 15 to 49, the change in the profile of sufferers makes the fight harder. 
 
HIV/AIDS has gone from being an almost exclusively male disease to one that does not discriminate by sex. The responsibility in this lies in drug users sharing used needles and bi-sexual men. As a result, women now account for 40% of all new cases. Among teenagers, more girls have the disease than boys. 
 
(Source: The Economist, 15 March) 
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World Bank Rewards Safe Sex 
Thousands of people will be paid to avoid unsafe sex under a groundbreaking experiment backed by the World Bank that is aimed at halting the spread of HIV infections. 
 
The trial will counsel 3,000 men and women in southern rural Tanzania over three years, paying them on condition that periodic laboratory test results prove that they have not contracted sexually transmitted infections. The proposed payments of US$45 equates to a quarter of the annual income of some participants. The programme also guarantees free treatment for any participants found to be infected. 
 
The programme marks an important step in the fight against AIDS. In spite of billions of dollars spent annually on treatment and prevention worldwide, there were about 2.5 million new HIV infections in 2007, the majority of them in Africa. 
 
Conditional cash transfers have been used in other programmes elsewhere, such as motivating school attendance, vaccination, and visits to health clinics. The designers of the Tanzanian programme believe that payment of US$45, when combined with careful counselling, could play an important role in reducing HIV infections, especially among young women. 
 
(Source: Financial Times, 26-27 April) 
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Global Fund Agrees on Early Launch of Round 9 
In an unexpected development, the Board of the Global Fund, meeting in Geneva on 28-29 April, agreed in principle that Round 9 will be launched nearly six months earlier than had been anticipated. The Board also agreed that CCMs, whose Round 8 proposals narrowly fail to be approved, will be permitted to resubmit those proposals as part of Round 9, after they address shortcomings pointed out by the Technical Review Panel (TRP). Prior to this board meeting, it had been assumed that the Round 9 Call for Proposals would be made in March 2009. 
 
In Rounds 8 and 9, as in the past, the TRP will divide proposals into four categories, as follows: 
&bull; Category 1 and 2: TRP recommends Board to approve the proposal 
&bull; Category 3: Not worthy of approval as it stands; but worth improving and resubmitting. 
&bull; Category 4: TRP recommends Board to reject the proposal. 
 
However, the Board's decision includes some important changes from past procedures, which affect not only Round 9 applicants, but also Round 8 applicants (for which the deadline for submission is 1 July 2008). When the TRP writes its comments in September on Round 8 proposals that it assigns to Category 3, it will not just list strengths and weaknesses, it will, in the words of the Board decision, &quot;recommend the types of changes that need to be made to strengthen the proposal for resubmission.&quot; 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 89, 30 April 2008. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>. To receive GFO, send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>)
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New South African Musical Centred on Mining Life 
A new South African musical, Shosholoza, revolves around life in the gold-mining community. The setting is a fictitious mine called The Highveld Gold Fields Mines, in Johannesburg, and the production touches on issues such as the plight of mineworkers, HIV and Aids, and mine safety. 
 
Shosholoza centres on the highs and lows of a newly recruited mineworker, Jabulani Makhathini, who is from a rural village in KwaZulu-Natal. Jabulani becomes a heavyweight stick-fighting champion during his times as a mineworker and he falls in love with a woman, named Mavi, who also works at the mine. 
 
(Source: The Mercury, South Africa, 15 April) 
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News from ILOAIDS 
The second report on the International HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Programme, SHARE (Strategic HIV/AIDS Responses in Enterprises), entitled &ldquo;Saving Lives, Protecting Jobs&rdquo; was launched in April. The report explains the tripartite approach, under the chapters: 
&bull; Building a multi-sectoral response: working with ministries of labour 
&bull; Mobilising the private sector: employers and their organisations 
&bull; Using powerful networks: workers and their organisations. 
 
It describes lessons learned from the SHARE pioneer countries such as India, Benin, Cambodia, and Ghana, and sets out plans for sustainability. 
 
In an interview on 14 April, Dr Sophia Kisting, ILOAIDS Director, stressed the importance of the workplace as a key delivery point for HIV prevention, treatment, and care programmes. She pointed out that in the five years since its inception, the SHARE programme is now collaborating with 650 enterprises, reaching an estimated one million workers in 24 countries. 
 
Kisting emphasised that behaviour change programmes are an essential and central element in enterprise-level initiatives within SHARE. Many workers do not know enough about HIV to protect themselves, while others do know but still do not change their behaviour to reduce the risk of infection. 
 
She also referred to the Recommendation on HIV and AIDS in the World of Work, which is to be discussed at the 2009 International Labour Conference and which will provide a framework for national policy development and action. 
 
(Source: ILOAIDS website where the report can be downloaded) 
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News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS Updates (Nos. 39, 40, and 41 of 15 March, and 1 and 15 April) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) (<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) reports, among other items, on the preparations of the UN high level meeting on HIV/AIDS to be held on 10-11 June. A Civil Society Task Force, of which the ITF Global HIV/AIDS Project Coordinator, Dr Syed Asif Altaf, is a member, has been set up to support effective participation and contributions from civil society and the private sector, including unions. 
 
According to a recently released resource book of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), large transportation and infrastructure projects financed by the ADB could fuel the spread of HIV in some parts of the region. Such projects employ workers in remote areas where they are separated from their families. Commercial sex workers and drug and human trafficking follow workers. 
 
The April newsletter of PSUFASA www.psufasa.org, the southern Africa public sector unions&rsquo; project on HIV and AIDS, reports on the extension of the project to 2011. The union UNISON of the UK has received substantial project funding from the Department for International Development, DFID.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

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On 17-18 November, Finland&rsquo;s Transport Workers Union (AKT) imposed a two-day boycott on handling exports of all Stora Enso wood and paper products from Finland. The boycott occurred because the company allegedly told subcontractors at the Port of Kemi to refrain from signing labour agreements that are in line with the union&rsquo;s pay and benefits package. 
 
The union believes that all goods handled through ports should be done under terms of its labour agreement. Stora Enso insists on lower standards for sub-contract workers. AKT did the same action last summer at the Port of Kemi. 
 
On 17 and 18 November, unionised dockworkers were refusing to unload trains or trucks delivering wood and paper from Stora mills at Kotka and Hamina. Kotka is one of the bigger export points for the Finnish company&rsquo;s products. The Port of Kemi was not affected by last month&rsquo;s two-day boycott. 
 
In other Stora Enso news, the company has completed its mandatory social talks with trade unions at its Imatra and Anjalankoski operations, two mills included in the firm&rsquo;s most recent restructuring which has caused thousands of retrenchments. A total of 330 paperworkers will lose their jobs when paper machines and coating operations are shuttered in 2008. At Imatra&rsquo;s Tainionkoski mill two weeks ago, a worker was killed when he was squeezed inside a roll packing machine. 
 
In Germany, Stora&rsquo;s supervisory board made the decision a week ago to shut down a coated paper machine at the Kabel Mill and endorsed the company&rsquo;s September restructuring announcement that a containerboard machine would be shut at the Baienfurt mill. A total of 520 German jobs will be lost.

Finnish Port Workers Boycott Stora Enso Exports over Subcontractors’ Rights

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