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With the Olympic Games just months away, the ICEM is calling for trade union affiliates and members alike to take a short couple of minutes to &quot;Catch the Flame,&quot; a call for respect of workers' rights in the production of Olympic-licensed products. They can do so by joining am electronic relay on a global labour-created website. 
 
The International Trade Union Confederation&rsquo;s (ITUC) Play Fair 2008 campaign launched &quot;Catch the Flame,&quot; an electronic relay race intended to bring public attention to the need to stamp out abuses of labour standards in workplaces making Olympics goods. You can send a clear message on this by&nbsp;clicking <a href="http://www.catchtheflame.org">here</a> to ensure that Olympic competition is really fair, meaning fair for those who produce Olympic goods. 
 
Play Fair 2008 has been in contact with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is holding this year&rsquo;s Games in China. Play Fair has uncovered gross violations of workers&rsquo; rights in four Chinese factories in which products under license to the IOC have been made for the 2008 Games. You can read or download the report by clicking&nbsp;<a href="http://www.playfare2008.org">here</a>. 
 
&ldquo;While discussions with the IOC were constructive and we remain hopeful that the world&rsquo;s peak sporting body is prepared to take concrete action to end maltreatment of workers who make the products,&rdquo; said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder, &ldquo;there has been little if any actual progress, and this new initiative gives people the chance to join in the call for action.&rdquo;
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&nbsp;ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder 

With a wave of Bluetooth, sms, and e-mail messages, &ldquo;Catch the Flame&rdquo; participants forward the campaign&rsquo;s version of the Olympic torch to Beijing. The &ldquo;Catch the Flame&rdquo; website allows visitors to record their support for Fair Play&rsquo;s campaign objectives.

ICEM Endorses Global Labour’s ‘Catch the Flame’ Call for Fair Play on Olympic-made Goods

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Today, in New Orleans, state of Louisiana, US, a group of civil society organisations, including trade unions from Canada, Mexico, and the US, will present a common vision for solidarity on energy-related issues. The forum, which includes the ICEM, is billed as a &ldquo;People&rsquo;s Summit: Our Response to NAFTA Expansion and the SPP.&rdquo; 
 
SPP is the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a closed summit of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mexican President Felipe Calder&oacute;n, and US President George W. Bush that is intended to further integrate the economies and trade of the three nations. The so-called &ldquo;Amigos Summit&rdquo; is occurring today and tomorrow, 21-22 April, in the southern US city of New Orleans.
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The counter-summit, or People&rsquo;s Summit, from 20-22 April, is aimed at affirming citizens&rsquo; rights to energy, the challenges that must be met regarding renewable energy, energy efficiency, and implementing sound environmental energy practices. 
 
Participating will be ICEM affiliates Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) of Canada and the United Steelworkers (USW). Also, representatives from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Mexican Union of Electricity Workers (SME), Mexico&rsquo;s Democratic National Alliance of Oil Workers (ANDTP), Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 258, Canada), and the Office, Professional Employees (OPEIU Local 378, Canada) will participate, as will the Council of Canadians, Common Frontiers Canada, and the Alliance for Responsible Trade of the US. 
 
The People&rsquo;s Summit comes with a backdrop of an early April poll, conducted in Canada by Environics Research on the SPP. That poll states that a vast majority of Canadians disagree with the three-nation regulatory harmonisation, energy integration, and possible bulk water exports. 
 
The poll states that 87% of 1,007 Canadians queried think that the northern nation should set its own independent environmental and health and safety standards; 88% want a national water policy that recognises clean drinking water as a basic human rights and also a ban on bulk export of water; and 86% of Canadians feel that there should be an open, public debate of the secretive SPP partnership, and that it should be brought before a vote of the nation&rsquo;s Parliament.

Counter-Summit to Present a Human Focus to Energy Needs Today in New Orleans

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Continental Tire of North America, a subsidiary of the German-based company, has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) over payments into a retiree health insurance fund. The USW announced on 15 April the company has agreed to make US$158 million in payments to the fund, ensuring that 2,300 retirees and about 100 active workers have the necessary medical insurance while retired. 
 
Following closure of three US tyre operations in the US in 2006, Continental set a cap of US$3,000 per worker on its share of retiree health coverage. That meant some retirees would pay as much as US$1,000-per-month to retain coverage.
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USW Retirees from Continental NA in Germany in November
The USW brought a lawsuit against the company in April 2007 asserting that Continental&rsquo;s unilateral modification of the retiree health coverage violated US law. In late July 2007, a US federal court judge ruled in a summary judgment that the company had improperly reduced the benefit levels contained in the collective agreement for retirees and their spouses. The judge&rsquo;s decision stated that since the company was unable to force its terms with the USW during contract talks, it unilaterally and illegally began implementing those terms. 
 
Continental appealed the judgment, but the US$158 million settlement with the union means further court action is stopped. 
 
&ldquo;This was an unconscionable attempt by an employer to strip away benefits from retirees who had already paid for them with a lifetime of work,&rdquo; said USW President Leo Gerard. &ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t let that happen, especially given the current shambles of our country&rsquo;s health care system.&rdquo;
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&nbsp;USW President Leo Gerard
In November 2007, three USW members &ndash; all retirees of Continental Tire North America &ndash; visited Germany as guests of German union IGBCE. B.A. Hodges, Larry Little, and Jerry McChellan conducted a press briefing, met with IGBCE officials and shop stewards, and handbilled a Continental worksite in Aachen on the company&rsquo;s unfair treatment regarding retiree health insurance.
In November 2007, three USW members &ndash; all retirees of Continental Tire North America &ndash; visited Germany as guests of German union IGBCE. B.A. Hodges, Larry Little, and Jerry McChellan conducted a press briefing, met with IGBCE officials and shop stewards, and handbilled a Continental worksite in Aachen on the company&rsquo;s unfair treatment regarding retiree health insurance.
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Upon the effective date of the recently negotiated settlement, the company will make payments into a Voluntary Employee Benefit Association, specifically to be used for retiree health benefits. Those payments include an immediate US$40 million sum; US$3 million compensation to class-action members of the lawsuit for the period of 2007 when the company&rsquo;s US$3,000 cap applied; US$21 million in seven annual instalments; and Retiree Medical Benefit Liability Payments of approximately US$94 million over 20 years.

Continental Tire Settles Retiree Health-Care Dispute with US Steelworkers for $158 Million

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At the supreme council meeting of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) on 14 April, the union denounced mine operators who are breaking provisions of the union&rsquo;s collective agreements in the southern African nation. 
 
MUZ President Rayford Mbulu condemned, in the strongest terms possible, employers who disregard terms and conditions of labour agreements. He also lashed out at certain mining houses which do not comply with safety standards, causing high rates of mine accidents in Zambia.
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&nbsp;MUZ President Rayford Mbulu 
He was speaking at the opening day of the council meetings in Kitwe, the heart of Zambia&rsquo;s resource-rich Copperbelt Region. Mbulu specifically cited Canada-based First Quantum Minerals Ltd. for declaring a labour dispute with the MUZ at its Kansanshi copper and gold operations. The company recently declared a dispute without following provisions under the country&rsquo;s Industrial and Labour Relations Act. 
 
Another troublesome fact for Zambia&rsquo;s leading mining union is an increase in sub-contractors utilised in mines. Such operators pay workers just a fraction of the wages that MUZ members receive. Sub-contractors justify the weak pay by citing the low fees they receive from mine owners. 
 
The MUZ is strongly behind recent proposals by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security that contract workers must be paid at least 80% of the salaries of permanent employees. Mbulu also said a troubling area for the union is the growing use of low-skilled foreign workers in mines. He said the ministry must be more vigilant in the review of work permits of foreigners, and priority must be placed on employing qualified Zambians in the mining sector.
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MUZ gains have occurred with several mining operators working the regions of the Copperbelt, North-western, Southern, and Central Regions. The union has signed a recognition agreement with Australian-based Albidon Zambia Ltd., which is mining nickel around Mazabuka, Southern Region, and with Grinaker-LTA Construction, a subsidiary of South Africa-based Aveng Ltd., a building contractor and civil engineering firm that operates in the Copperbelt. 
 
MUZ is supportive of the government&rsquo;s increase on mineral royalties from 0.3% to 6%. The union also expects to increase its profile for recruitment and partnering under an investment vehicle it created in 2007. The Mineworkers Investment Co. was established as a means to negotiate better working conditions and salaries for its members.

MUZ Denounces Mining Houses Neglect of Social Processes in Zambia

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Global Fund Launches Round 8 
The special issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, issued on 17 March, gives details of the Round 8 announcement by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Please contact <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a> or <a href="mailto:schwass@bluewin.ch">schwass@bluewin.ch</a> to receive a copy of that e-bulletin. 
 
The application form and support documentation are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. Proposals have to reach the Global Fund by 1 July 2008. Access the website <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides">www.aidspan.org/guides</a>, on which a guide to Round 8 applications is available. 
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Colombia: Affiliates and Companies Renew Commitment to Fight HIV/AIDS
Representatives of affiliates and companies met with ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and General Secretary Manfred Warda in Bogot&aacute;, Colombia, on 11 March for the National Conference on the Social Dialogue. 
 
HIV/AIDS is one of the topics in the Social Dialogue Project in Colombia. Delegates expressed the view that concrete action should be developed on HIV/AIDS, and that progress should be reported back to the next meeting. 
 
The ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator, who took part in the meeting, also visited the coal mining region in the north of the country. Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, which is owned in equal parts by Anglo American, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata, runs one of the world&rsquo;s largest set of open-pit coal mines in the world with some 5,000 direct employees and an almost equal number of contract workers. 
 
The company has co-financed a number of hospitals in the communities surrounding Cerrej&oacute;n and local management works with a foundation which runs awareness and prevention campaigns. A new healthy lifestyle programme for employees and their families includes HIV/AIDS. The programme is administered by COPASO, the joint committee for occupational health, on which ICEM&rsquo;s affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n is represented. 
 
With a national prevalence rate of 0.6% and 160,000 adults aged 15 to 49 living with HIV (of a total population of 45 million), treatment is not a major problem. The challenge is to keep the infection rate low and the solution is prevention. 
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AIDS is Top Killer of 15-to-44 year-olds in Asia 
AIDS is the most likely cause of death for Asians aged 15-44, and could kill almost 500,000 people per year across the continent by 2020. The UN-backed Independent Commission on AIDS in Asia warned that in addition to the nearly five million people across Asia who are currently living with the HIV virus, another eight million could become infected if governments do not take drastic action to curb the epidemic. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.earthtimes.org">www.earthtimes.org</a>, posted on 26 March) 
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COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi Speaks to Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa 
In his address to the 4th National Congress of the South African Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi deplored the many years wasted in courts and on the streets fighting denial and inaction by the government. 
 
Vavi acknowledged the role of the TAC in transforming the national response to HIV/AIDS, from denial and foot-dragging, to a united national strategic programme to drive back the pandemic. Thanks to the TAC, thousands of people now get the treatment they need to stay alive, and thousands of babies are born free of the virus. 
 
He pledged COSATU&rsquo;s support for the national strategic programme by setting up support systems at workplaces, and strengthening education and treatment components of the campaign. The aim is to train 20,000 peer educators a year. In his words, peer education remains central to any successful struggle to support people with HIV and AIDS and to reduce infection rates. 
 
(Source: COSATU website) 
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Annie Lennox and Amnesty International Highlight Fate of Rural Women 
Rural women living with HIV in circumstances of poverty in South Africa face discrimination in relationships and in communities because of their gender, HIV status, and economic marginalisation. 
 
This is the main conclusion of a report released on 18 March by Amnesty International. Many women interviewed by Amnesty said that they were often unable to protect themselves against HIV infection because they felt at risk of violence when they suggested condom use. Male partners refused to be tested for HIV. 
 
Effective treatment for HIV and AIDS requires regular visits to accredited clinics and adequate nutrition. Even if medication is free, rural women living in abject poverty can often not afford transportation. 
 
Singer Annie Lennox is highlighting the issue with her new charity song &ldquo;Sing&rdquo;. 
 
The report can be downloaded from the Amnesty International website, <a href="http://www.amnesty.org">www.amnesty.org</a>. 
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Product Red: Contributions to the Global Fund 
Product Red was created by rock singer Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006 to engage the private sector in the fight against AIDS and to deliver a sustainable flow of funds to the Global Fund. 
 
Recently Dell and Microsoft joined Product Red, Bono&rsquo;s enterprise, by supplying Dell computers powered by Windows Vista. Companies, which are partners of Product Red, are committed to channel a percentage of profits to the Global Fund. 
 
On Valentine&rsquo;s Day 2008, an auction of donated and specially created art works at Sotheby&rsquo;s in New York raised US$42.6 million. The auction brought the total amount raised by Product Red to more than US$100 million since its launch. 
 
Lesotho became the fourth country to receive funds from Product Red through the Global Fund, joining Rwanda, Swaziland, and Ghana. 
 
(Source: Global Fund website) 
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News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS Update (No. 38, 1 March) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) (<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) reports, among other items, on the HIV/AIDS awareness and support programme implemented by the Forward Seamen Union of India, and the increasing risk of infection of Indonesian fishermen.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

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Some 30,000 trade unionists took to the streets of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Saturday, 5 April, as European Union finance ministers met in the Balkan country. The unionists, marching behind a call by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), were protesting record-high inflation and declining purchasing power at a time when EU officials were calling for wage restraint. 
 
The EU ministers were meeting in nearby Brdo in talks to reform social welfare programmes. 
 
ETUC General Secretary John Monks told the assembled in the capital city&rsquo;s Congress Square that &ldquo;we cannot accept lectures that workers should be modest&rdquo; in pay deals. &ldquo;Getting a fairer deal for workers across Europe is a top ETUC priority.&rdquo; The trade union federation has produced evidence that wage moderation does not create more jobs, as some claim, but leads instead to stagnating domestic demand and weakened employment rates.
Since 1995, while wages have dropped as a share of Gross Domestic Product across the EU, corporate profits have risen. Top managers earn up to 300 times more than workers, leaving over 30 million people earning poverty-level wages. 
 
EU unionists that converged in Slovenia over the weekend demanded a rise in real salaries and purchasing power; efforts to create more and better jobs; creation of decent minimum wages to combat poverty; equal pay for men and women; stronger collective bargaining systems, and an end to social dumping; decent work and fair wages for public sector, temporary, and mobile workers; better opportunities for lifelong learning; and a limit to the income of top earners.

ETUC Call Brings 30,000 to Slovenia to Protest Wage Restraint

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A strike by energy workers against Shell-Gabon that stopped nearly one-half of all oil production and exports in the west African nation ended last week, 1 April, after direct mediation by Gabonese President Omar Bongo. The strike by 800 workers, which began in the early hours of 20 March by the National Organisation of Petroleum Workers (ONEP), ended a day after the union threatened a broader national strike. 
 
ONEP reported its demands had been met. The strike occurred due to non-compliance by Shell-Gabon&rsquo;s managing director over new work-time regulations, rules that had been set in place by an earlier government decree. The union was demanding the ouster of the managing director. Workers had been denied holiday leave.
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Shell-Gabon is 75% owned by Royal Dutch Shell and 25% by the government. The 11-day strike halted 60,000 barrels-per-day of crude production in the Gamba-Ivinga-Totous oil fields, as well as production from the Toucan and Rabi fields. Shipments of crude were also halted at an oil terminal in Gamba, stoppages which cost Shell US$11 million per day. 
 
The terminal was also shut to crude exports of Total-Gabon and Perenco, the latter a privately-held French oil and gas exploration and production company. The companies share the terminal with Shell-Gabon. Those amounts were estimated at 30,000 barrels-per-day. Gabon is the fifth largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa.

Oil Strike Against Shell in Gabon Ends

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In Russia&rsquo;s Sverdlovsk Region, a ten-day sit-in strike by 96 bauxite miners 800 metres below ground ended on Friday, 4 April, as the world&rsquo;s largest aluminium producer &ndash; United Company RusAl &ndash; agreed to dialogue and serious attention to strikers&rsquo; demands. Those strikers, members of one of four mining unions at RusAl&rsquo;s Sevuralboksitruda subsidiary, the Independent Miners&rsquo; Union of Russia, began the strike at the Krasnaya Shapochka (Little Red Riding Hood) Mine on 26 March. Their resolve was furthered on 1 April when they undertook a hunger strike on 1 April.
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The company, privately-owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, shut five other bauxite mines in the North Ural Mountains on 28 March, curtailing wages for 5,000 other miners in an effort to divide miners and pressure the striking union. That failed, with members of the other unions signing pledges of support for the strikers, as well as sending food and other supplies to them, until they started the hunger strike. 
 
An annual pay increase put in place late last year for all the unionised miners of the region by RusAl paled next to the company&rsquo;s vast profits and the 15% inflation rate of the region. The strikers of the Independent Miners&rsquo; Union sent a list of ten demands to the surface on 27 March. Those demands included a 50% pay increase on top of the average salary of US$760 per month, an end to weekend work, resumption of a company halted social welfare programme that took effect 1 January, and investment in other mines of the region.
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On 3 April, RusAl went to court to get the strike declared illegal. However, a pledge to meet their demands, and a promise of amnesty to the strikers, brought an end to the strike on Friday morning. The mine, located near the central Russian town of Severuralsk, is a former operation of Russian aluminium producer SUAL International, which together with Glencore of Switzerland&rsquo;s alumina assets merged with RusAl a year ago.

Russian Bauxite Strike Ends With Pledge of Higher Pay, Better Work Conditions

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In the strongest terms possible, the 20-million-member ICEM has condemned the vile and ruthless murder of trade union leader Adolfo Gonz&aacute;lez Montes of mining affiliate Sindicato Nacional de los Trabajores de la Industria del Carbon (Sintracarb&oacute;n) in Colombia. Comrade Montes was tortured and killed early in the morning of 22 March at his home in Riohacha, La Guajira state, northern Colombia. 
 
&ldquo;We denounce this vile and atrocious murder before the international community and the people and government of Colombia,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We demand that the government of Colombia capture, charge, and convict the cowardly persons responsible for this crime against humanity and affront to democratic trade unionism.
&ldquo;We also call on the multinationals AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata, the shareholders of Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, to heighten security for workers and trade unionists in the wake of this heinous act.&rdquo; Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n is one of world&rsquo;s largest coal producers. Managers of the enterprise and 4,000-member Sintracarb&oacute;n are engaged in a model Social Dialogue exchange for Colombia, a programme fostered by the ICEM.
<img height="319" src="" width="380" alt="" />
Miners of Sintracarb&oacute;n mourned the killing of fellow worker Adolfo Gonz&aacute;lez Montes 
Comrade Adolfo Gonz&aacute;lez Montes was a committeeman of the Barrancas Section. At 6h00 on 22 March, while he was finishing his rest prior to a work turn, the assailants entered his home. He was tortured and then murder in front of his four young children. Following the murder, other leaders of Sintracarb&oacute;n received telephone threats. 
 
He becomes the 13th trade unionist in Colombia reported to be assassinated so far this year. In March alone, when the eyes of the world had been focused on trade union killings in the South American nation over the stalled free trade agreement with the US, six unionists were murdered. Besides Montes, Hospital Workers&rsquo; Union leader Carlos Burbano was killed on 11 March; ADIDA unionist Gildario Antonio Gomez Alzate on 7 March; Rafael Boada of Union Nacional de Empleados Bancarios on 7 March; Leonidas Gomez Rozo of CUT on 5 March; and Carmen Cecilia Carvajal Ramirez of ASINORT on 4 March.

ICEM Condemns the Assassination of Colombian Sintracarbón Leader, Adolfo González Montes

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The ICEM Global Framework Agreement with French specialty chemicals producer Rhodia took a major forward step with inclusion of specific neutrality language. The two parties formally signed the renewal agreement in Paris on 25 March. 
 
The Global Agreement, originally signed on 31 January 2005, also includes stronger language regarding responsible behaviour by the company&rsquo;s suppliers and subcontractors, as well as integration of the agreement with the &ldquo;Rhodia Way,&rdquo; a set of principles aimed at continuous progress on social and environmental responsibility.
<img height="186" alt="" src="" width="280" />
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Rhodia CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu at the 25 March signing&nbsp; 
 

The renewal agreement is supported by ICEM French affiliates Fedechemie CGT-FO and Federation Chimie Energie CFDT. It follows a favourable assessment of the terms of the agreement carried out over that past two years that included a joint trip to China last fall to observe work conditions at Rhodia&rsquo;s operations there. 
 
&ldquo;We feel we have taken the agreement with Rhodia to a new level,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;The commitment for trust and earnest dialogue is genuine.&rdquo; 
 
The agreement did contain, and still does, adherence to ILO Core Labour Conventions 87 and 98 regarding freedom of association, and the right of representation and collective bargaining, but it now goes further. Under a section entitled Labour-Management Dialogue, a clause now states: &ldquo;Rhodia respects the right of employees to be collectively organised and shall remain strictly neutral concerning their choices in this matter.&rdquo; 
 
Further to that section, &ldquo;Rhodia pledges to not practice any discrimination due to unionisation either when hiring or when managing employees&rsquo; careers.&rdquo; 
 
Rhodia also pledges to take a hands-on approach in assuring that suppliers and subcontractors adhere to the framework of the Global Agreement, as well as all laws and human rights standards. 
 
In addition, the renewal agreement sets formal ICEM involvement in tracking &ldquo;Rhodia Way&rdquo; performance; it creates a joint safety issues discussion group; allows the agreement&rsquo;s application to be audited by an outside expert jointly chosen by the two parties; and, following the successful Chinese mission, sets up an annual mission to a country to assess terms of the accord. The next such visit will be to Brazil.
The English and French versions of the agreement can be found <a href="/en/?id=98&amp;la=EN">here</a>.
Rhodia, which generated sales of &euro;5.1 billion in 2007, supplies chemicals for the automotive, tyre, electronics, perfume, and health, beauty, and home care markets. It employs 15,500 workers worldwide.

Renewal Rhodia Global Pact Has Specific Neutrality Language

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