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<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
For over a decade in Singapore, it had been common practice for employers to reduce salaries of workers by 10% once they turn age 60. That practice is now coming to a screeching halt as trade unions, in a united front, have convinced employers that the practice is degrading and discriminatory. 
 
Seven unions over the past several months, including the Chemical Industries Workers’ Union (CIWU) and the Metal Industries Workers’ Union (MIWU), have now negotiated an end to the cut-at-60 practice in an important labour development on the island-nation. 
 
Over 34,000 workers will this year no longer have to witness pay cuts just because they reach age 60. The recent initiative was not instituted by law, but rather came from a strong public urging to employers by National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) General Secretary Lim Swee Say and Singapore Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/singapore ntuc.jpg" width="140" height="66"/>
Under some of the negotiated agreements, workers age 60 or above must undergo performance-based indicators to retain their salaries, but in others they do not. The MIWU had elimination of the practice incorporated in all collective agreements. That affected 11,000 senior workers for the good. One union, the Singapore Airport Terminal Service Workers’ Union, will have the no-cut-at-60 language finalized in December, with payment of salaries that were cut back to January 2010 restored. 
 
Other unions that have succeeded in eliminated the practice include the NatSteel Employees’ Union, the Singapore Bank Employees’ Union, the DBS Bank Staff Union, and the Union of Telecoms Employees of Singapore. Elimination of the practice at scores of private-sector employers by the CIWU affects 4,500 senior chemical and petrochemical workers. 
 
The practice began in 1999 when the retirement age was raised to 62 in that year. The Retirement Age Act was then amended to give legal status to the cut-at-60 practice. 
 
NTUC Deputy Secretary General Heng Chee How said it was encouraging that a great number of companies from many different industries and sectors had reviewed with unions the regressive practice and decided to end it.

United Singapore Unions Achieving Voluntary End to Pay Cuts after Age 60

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Justice was delivered in Australia last week for a construction trade unionist who faced jail time for exercising his basic trade union rights. Ark Tribe, a building tradesman and member of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU), was acquitted in Adelaide Magistrates Court on 24 November on charges he defied the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC). 
 
His alleged crime: he refused to be interviewed by the ABCC’s watchdog arm over what matters occurring inside a union meeting. Tribe faced six months in jail and a heavy fine for taking a stand in defense of his universally protected labour rights. Before a packed courtroom and hundreds of union supporters outside, Tribe, 47, was acquitted by Magistrate David Whittle on a technicality. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011.ark tribe.jpg" width="128" height="146"/>
CFMEU's Ark Tribe
The acquittal and attention the case brought in Australia should be cause for the Australian Parliament to move forward and strip the ABCC of the over-reaching powers given it in 2005 by former Prime Minister John Howard. Then, the government gave the ABCC witch-hunt authority involving industrial actions that no other work sector in Australia has. 
 
On 30 May 2008, Tribe and others were working a construction project on Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, when serious safety violations caused a stop-work action. The workers met in a union meeting off-site, drew up a list of the safety concerns, and presented them to the site boss. It took CFMEU intervention and a South Australia state government safety regulator to correct the safety deficiencies, and after a few days work was back to normal. 
 
But the ABCC’s coercive investigatory unit began interviewing workers as to what was said and by whom in union meeting. When it came Tribe’s turn for the compulsory interview, he refused to cooperate. That’s all it took for a possible six months in the slammer and a steep fine. 
 
Appearing at the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Congress last year, Tribe, a rigger, said, “I’m here because like any other proud Australian, I believe that when injustice becomes law, then resistance becomes duty.” 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/People/0811.Noel.Washington.jpg" width="91" height="109"/>
Noel Washington
Tribe’s case is reminiscent of that of Noel Washington, a CFMEU Senior Vice President who faced similar charges by the ABCC for a lunch-hour meeting he held with construction workers in Victoria state in 2007. The ABCC demanded an account of comments made during the meeting and when Washington failed to show for the hearing, charges were brought. A state prosecutor dropped the case three days before his trial date late in 2008. 
 
The ICEM considers it a travesty that such an unjust statute criminalizing legitimate trade union activity is still on the books in Australia. Although there was a recent effort under the Labour Government to repeal the ABCC’s watchdog powers, it failed. The Ark Tribe case should now be the springboard to finally rid Australia of this errant misuse of power by the ABCC.

Ark Tribe Acquitted in Australia Building Construction Trial

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Chile Sindicato Collahuasi.jpg" width="289" height="62"/>
By a vote of 521 to 398 on 6 December, members of Sindicato de los Trabajadores de Collahuasi voted to end a 32-day strike against the world’s third largest copper miner, located in Chile. The Union of Workers of the Collahuasi Copper Mine and Doña Ines de Collahuasi, owned jointly through 44% stakes each by AngloAmerican and Xstrata, resumed talks early last week with help from Roman Catholic Prelate Marco Antonio Órdenes, Bishop of Iquique.
The union's Second Director, Carlos Daniel Rojas, told the ICEM early today that Bishop Órdenes succeeded "in opening the door" with the company when there appeared little hope that talks would resume, and the union took it from there to work out a settlement.
The final resolve came in negotiations over the weekend and early Monday, 6 December, with an acceptable compromise. 
The vote Monday night ends the longest private-sector Chilean copper strike, surpassing one of 26 days in 2006 at the Escondida mine, owned 57.5% by BHP Billiton and 30% by Rio Tinto.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.collahuasi voting.jpg" width="190" height="142"/>
 Collahuasi Miners Vote on the Evening of 6 December 
Terms of the settlement will give the 1,551 miners of Collahuasi a wage increase of 16.3% over a 42-month period, and a bonus payment of 14 million pesos (US$28,733). Other key issues in the strike, which began on 5 November, were company-paid health care and education costs for miners’ children. The union did make advances in both these areas from prior levels paid by the company. 
The strike was marked by a united workforce led by President Manuel Muñoz and Second Director Rojas. The miners of Collahuasi took up residency in the Santa María School in Iquique, and staged peaceful and near-daily manifestations in that city. Those demonstrations were strategic in order to draw attention to their cause of gaining adequate health coverage and educational stipends from an employer that posted net profits in 2009 of US$1.56 billion due to high copper pricing. 
Last night’s vote took place inside the Santa María School. Collahuasi miners were scheduled to return to work high in the Atacama desert of Chile’s northern Region I, some 285 kilometres from the port city of Iquique, today, 7 December.
"The Collahuasi miners and their families showed strength and fortitude in a dignified and peaceful way against an enterprise intent on maintaining production and turning profits," said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. "For that, they have earned the pride and admiration of the world's mining unions."
Coverage of this heroic strike, taken from the ICEM website, can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4117-Chile’s-Collahuasi-Copper-Strike-Now-in-Crucial-Stage" type="internal">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4102-Miners-Dig-In-at-Chile’s-Collahuasi-Copper-Strike" type="internal">here</a>.

Strike Ends at Collahuasi Copper Mine in Chile

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
US state of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker wasted no time starting a major union-busting effort. Just a month into office, Walker is using budget deficit hysteria as excuse to eliminate public-sector unions by eliminating their right to bargain collectively over wages and benefits. 
 
The firestorm of legitimate protests that has overtaken Madison, the state capital of Wisconsin, has spread to other states, where different legislative measures have surfaced by ultraconservative lawmakers that would unequivocally, and overnight, turn the clock back in America by 80 years. 
 
(The ICEM’s North America Region entered the protests in Madison last week by sending representatives from both Canada and the US to the state, and issued a terse letter to Walker. The letter by ICEM Regional Vice Presidents Ken Neumann and Dave Coles states that Walker has “drawn an ideological, anti-labour and undemocratic line in the sand.” The full <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Letter%20to%20Gov%20Walker.pdf " type="internal">ICEM North American letter</a> can be viewed here.) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.wisconsin sign.jpg" width="93" height="128"/>
In Madison, and indeed, throughout the US and in many places in the world, resistance to Walker’s numerous and draconian public spending cuts has drawn an ideological line in the sand. In the early morning hours of 25 February, Republicans who control the Assembly, Wisconsin’s lower legislative chamber, used tomfoolery to pass the cuts. 
 
The regressive measures would have already been signed into law by Walker’s pen had it not for Wisconsin Democrats in the state Senate. Republicans hold a 19-14 in that chamber, but need 20 senators present to take legislative action. All 14 Democrats have left the state in order to prevent a quorum. 
 
The proposed cuts are far more than just the elimination of public-sector bargaining. The 144-page bill contains sweeping cuts to health care for low-income families, it would reduce by US$976 million over the next two years state aid to local units of education, and it would allow the governor to unilaterally privatise any state public utility without soliciting bids and without Public Service Commission consent. And in just one further insult to public employees, the proposed legislation mandates a 5% cut in salaries with that savings going to public-sector pension funds. 
 
The battle in Wisconsin has become a vanguard against right-wing extremism in the US. But why should it matter to the rest of the world? Considering the US is still the world's largest economy, here are five things to understand about the Wisconsin struggle. 
 
1. It is not really about deficits or austerity measures; this is an excuse. Wisconsin was on track for a modest budget surplus of US$120 million this year. However, by taking a worst-case estimate of some real and potential shortfalls in Medicaid, legal aid, prisons, and debts owed to other states, Walker creates the appearance of a US$137 million shortfall. 
 
To put Walker’s budget deficit fabrications into perspective, the American film documentary producer Robert Greenwald points out that withdrawing just 151 US troops from Iraq would save more money than Walker’s trumped-up deficit. Demanding that wealthy individuals and corporations pay a reasonable share of the tax burden would also solve the problem. The earnings of just the top 13 US hedge-fund managers (about US$1 billion each), if taxed as ordinary income instead of capital gains, a US tax loophole, would provide enough new revenue to hire 68,000 teachers. 
 
2. It is not about union intransigence. Public sector unions in Wisconsin have agreed to cuts in wages and benefits. However, they will not agree to permanent removal of their right to negotiate future wages and benefits. That is what Walker is demanding. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.wisconsin 2.jpg" width="291" height="218"/>
3. Public sector workers are not the cause of Wisconsin's problems. However, public sector workers are the last major segment of the US workforce with significant rates of unionization. Resistance in Wisconsin is resistance to a new demagoguery inside the US to destroy public sector unions as the final bastion unionisation strength in America. Wisconsin and Walker and the conservative business-led foundations pressing this assault clearly are using the Midwest state as a test case. A defeat in Wisconsin will mean sweeping attacks on unions elsewhere in the US. 
 
4. To accomplish this, well-funded business organisations and right-wing media outlets have incessantly worked the American mainstream against public sector workers. Their ploy is to direct private-sector worker resentment on the things that they do not have, or have been taken from them like adequate pensions and benefits, towards public-sector workers who still have them. To divide and conquer, and distract from the rich who have sucked up nearly all of America’s wealth, is the name of the game here. 
 
5. Most poignantly, the battle in Wisconsin is about the national political credibility of the US union movement. There are many politicians who do not believe that it is worth their while to pay any attention to union demands. A loss in Wisconsin would cement the view that unions are too weak to matter. 
 
Pure and simple, what is now happening in Wisconsin is nothing less than a class war. 
 
The ICEM is adamant that Governor Walker in Wisconsin must be stopped. A <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/8.ICEM.IMF.Wisconsin.21Feb.pdf" type="internal">joint letter from the ICEM and International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF)</a> is here. Write letters of protest to <a href="mailto:govgeneral@wisconsin.gov">govgeneral@wisconsin.gov</a>, for fax to: +1 608 267 8983. And please copy ICEM when you do at <a href="mailto:info@icem.org">info@icem.org</a>.

Five Things to Know About Protests in US State Wisconsin

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Juan Linares Montufar was released from jail last Thursday, 24 February, in what trade unionists around the world are calling a victory for international solidarity against the repressive Mexican government. The release comes one week after trade unions around the world conducted a week-long "Global Days of Action" for trade union rights in Mexico. 
 
Linares outwitted a coordinated and nefarious grouping of employers/government/yellow unions in accepting their offer of a pardon in exchange for his turning on his union, the ICEM affiliate, National Union of Mine, Metal, and Steel Workers (SNTMMSSRM), only to announce details of the illegal offer and continued staunch allegiance to his union as soon as the pardon was made official. 
 
Linares was a political prisoner, held illegally since 3 December 2008 and without bond since his arrest. The sham charges against him all relate to the transfer of funds from a Trust created by SNTMMSSRM. His detention is one part of the campaign of trade union intimidation and repression by the Mexican government.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.juan.libertad.jpg" width="100" height="140"/>
Juan Linares is the President of the Oversight and Justice Council of the SNTMMSSRM, also known as Los Mineros, and a key member of the union’s leadership. He was greeted on his release at 02h00 on 24 February by over 100 Los Mineros members outside the jail. 
 
The transfer of the trust funds was perfectly legal under Mexican law, as well as being a protected exercise of trade union autonomy under ILO Convention 87. Two state charges against Linares were dismissed during his time incarcerated, but a federal charge against him was dragged out while the courts denied him bail. 
 
Linares was held at the Reclusorio Norte prison in Mexico City. He received regular visits from his family, other Mineros leaders, and international trade union delegations. He said to all these visitors, “I could walk out of this jail tomorrow if I were willing to betray my union. But I will never do that.” 
<img style="WIDTH: 137px; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.napoleon.gomez.jpg" width="142" height="150"/>
Napoleón Gómez
But it was this long-standing offer of freedom with personal payment of millions of pesos that gave Linares his route to freedom. The deal offered to Linares stipulated that he change his chosen defence lawyer, leave the ranks of Los Mineros for a yellow union of miners, and attack Los Mineros leadership. On Linares’ acceptance of these terms, the yellow union complainants appeared before a judge and withdrew their accusations. 
 
Linares said following his release that his pardon could not be revoked, as stipulated under Article 93 of the Mexican Federal Penal Code, and the pardon was irreversibly ratified. In addressing the court, Linares said that neither he nor Napoleón Gómez Urrutia had committed any crime, that the complainants of the case were representatives of the company Grupo México, that during his illegal detainment he was pressured and offered the pardon deal, and that the transfer of bribe money would be made through a contract employing Linares as a “labour peace broker.” 
 
The pardon deal that Linares signed had no legal foundation, especially as it was reached through intimidation and bribery, and was thus discarded. The ICEM salutes Juan Linares for his dignified victory and loyalty to his fellow Mineros.

Mexican Trade Unionist Juan Linares Released from Jail

The second 24-hour strike at paperboard plants in Spain set for tomorrow, 3 March, was cancelled after ICEM’s two affiliates and the employers’ association reached accord early today (2 March) in Madrid. 
 
Trade unions FSC-CCOO and FIA-UGT reached agreement with Aspapel on a three-year national labour agreement for the paperboard sector that wins a 3% retroactive increase for 17,500 workers to 1 January 2010. Retroactive to 1 January 2011 will be a one percent salary increase, plus the amount of Spain’s consumer price increase (CPI). 
 
In 2012, another one percent was won atop the CPI. The Spanish unions also succeeded in keeping sweeping flexibility changes out of the national agreement. A special commission will be established to study that for possible future implementation on the local level. 
 
Without question, the success of a 23 February day-long work stoppage can be attributed to Aspapel and paper industry employers finally moving on a lapsed 2010 national contract. It is obvious by the terms of this agreement that employers did not want another such strike, scheduled for 3 March. 
 
Some 120 paperboard factories come under the new agreement. 
 
The ICEM congratulates paperworkers of both Spanish federations for their resolve in gaining a fair and current collective agreement, and we also thank the many pulp and paper unions worldwide who sent messages of Solidarity to Spanish paperworkers. 
 
An <a href="/en/19-Pulp-Paper/4269-Spain’s-Paperworkers-Shut-Industry;-Will-Strike-Again-3-March" type="internal">ICEM news piece</a> from 28 February, naming the companies involved and citing details on the 23 February general strike, is available for viewing.

2nd Spanish Paper Strike Called Off; Settlement Reached

Estimados Líderes de la Unión del Trabajo de Chile! 
 
ICEM, Federación Sindical Global de Sindicatos Mineros, junto con nuestra organización hermana, la Federación Internacional de Trabajadores de las Industrias Metalúrgicas (FITIM), ha puesto en marcha una campaña para la ratificación del Convenio 176 sobre seguridad y salud en las minas por parte del Gobierno de Chile. 
 
Les pedimos su participación y apoyo para impulsar esta iniciativa en Chile. Esta campana se ha lanzado tan solo esta semana y la acogida ha sido tan exitosa que hemos recibido 25 cartas en solidaridad y apoyo. No hay duda, el apoyo ha sido incondicional. 
 
Los detalles al respecto están <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/5.ICEM.IMF.Chile176.1March.pdf" type="internal">en la declaración conjunta ICEM-FITIM</a> que pueden encontrar en este enlace. 
 
<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SpanishChileModLet.doc" type="internal">La Carta al Gobierno de Chile</a> se puede encontrar aquí. En dicho escrito, encontraran las direcciones de correo electrónico, números de fax y dirección postal que les pedimos envíen a los sindicatos. Por favor, adjunte y envíe esta carta modelo con el membrete de su sindicato, o su membrete personal. 
 
Agradecemos de antemano su solidario apoyo y su acción en esta iniciativa. Por favor, mande una copia de su carta a ICEM, atte. <a href="mailto:tom.grinter@icem.org">tom.grinter@icem.org</a> . 
 
Muchas Gracias! 

Fraternalmente, 
 
Manfred Warda 
Secretario General ICEM

ICEM necesita su ayuda! Ratificación de  la Convención OIT 176 en Chile!

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the HIV/AIDS workshop in India, on the new and ambitious targets of the Global Fund, and on two cases of job-related discrimination on the basis of HIV-positive status in South Africa. 
 
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
HIV/AIDS Workshop in India 
 
Some 30 participants and resource persons attended a three-day HIV/AIDS workshop in Kolkata, India, in February. Participants came from the ICEM affiliate, the Indian National Mineworkers’ Federation (INMF), as well as from the chemical, cement, and diamond sectors. 
 
The workshop was sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) as part of the HIV/AIDS Project in India. It was organised by the project’s coordinator, BK Das, who is also the General Secretary of INMF and a member of the ICEM Executive Committee. The workshop was facilitated by the HIV/AIDS Programme Officer of the ILO office in New Delhi, Ms. P. Joshila. Representatives from employers and government agencies and an organisation of people living with HIV were also involved in the workshop. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/company logo/boehringer ingelheim.gif" width="125" height="38" alt=""/>
Emphasis in this workshop was on workplace policies. The ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant, Hans Schwass, gave a presentation on elements of an HIV/AIDS workplace policy and introduced the ICEM Training Manual for Negotiating on HIV/AIDS. Participants also split in groups to establish work plans for their respective companies and regions to the end of 2011 when the BI sponsorship ends. 
 
Much has been achieved in the HIV/AIDS work in India of the ICEM with its affiliates and sponsorship from BI. More than 50 master trainers are available to continue the work with peer educators of whom more than 600 have been trained. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Fund: Bold New Targets Set at Board Retreat 
 
The Global Fund Board says that the Fund’s new strategic plan should have “bold, ambitious and measurable objectives,” including tripling the number of lives saved and the number of infections averted between 2011 and 2016. This information is contained in a report prepared by Dr. Tedros A. Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia, Chair of the Board, on the board’s recent retreat, which was held prior to its regular meeting in December 2010 in Sofia, Bulgaria. 
 
In addition to the objectives related to lives saved and infections averted, the board said that the Global Fund needs to do more to leverage the impact of its investments, particularly with respect to health gains for women and children; to increase efforts to maximise value for money; to increase efforts to ensure protection of human rights and access to prevention, treatment, care, and support for all, including the poorest and most marginalised populations; and to increase efforts to ensure the sustainability of programmes to which the Global Fund is currently contributing. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Global%20Fund%20logo.gif" width="250" height="53"/>
One area where the board failed to reach a consensus at the retreat concerns the mandate of the Global Fund. There were divergent perspectives on whether the objectives related to the number of lives saved and infections averted should be phrased in a way that will allow the Global Fund to progressively expand its mandate. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 140 of 3 February. 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>) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Decline in HIV Rates in Zimbabwe Driven by Fear of Infection 
 
The big drop in the numbers of people infected with HIV in Zimbabwe is because of mass social change, driven by fear of infection, according to an international study by the journal PLoS Medicine. 
 
A major investigation of the reasons why HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe has fallen from 29% in 1997 to 16% in 2007 was carried out by epidemiologists at Imperial College, London, and Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the UN Population Fund, and UNIADS. 
 
The research included extensive analysis of epidemiological data, together with focus groups and key informant interviews, to test the different explanations of the dramatic decline of prevalence. Although HIV prevalence remains high, the fall in HIV prevalence that has taken place in Zimbabwe is the largest see anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. 
 
(Source: as reported by World AIDS Campaign, Cape Town, 16 February) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
South Africa: Xstrata Coal Accused of Sacking HIV-positive Miners 
 
A dispute has arisen in South Africa between ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Xstrata Coal over the apparent discharge of 12 HIV-positive miners. The miners were first sacked last fall from their jobs at the Tweefontein collieries in Mpumalanga province, but the NUM interceded on their behalf before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) and won reinstatement to their jobs. 
 
But in mid-February, Xstrata Coal South Africa informed the NUM that it would re-sack the 12 and appeal the CCMA’s decision to a labour court. At issue is whether or not Xstrata knew of their HIV status through a joint NUM-Xstrata Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) programme that is strictly confidential. Hundreds of Tweefontein miners were tested through the programme in October and November 2010. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.num paris mashego.jpg" width="225" height="169" alt=""/>
NUM Highveld Regional Secretary Paris Mashego, left 
It is uncertain if Xstrata Coal gained access to results of the screenings, but the NUM alleges that the company does know the results. A private service provider was contracted to do the screenings and results are supposed to be shared only with the individual. 
 
NUM Highveld Regional Secretary Paris Mashego accused the company of dragging backward the campaign to test for the pandemic and said the NUM will continue to press for the real motive behind Xstrata’s reversal. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.iol.co.za">www.iol.co.za</a>, 23 February and ICEM InBrief, 28 February)
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
South African Labour Court Affirms Rights of HIV+ Workers, Citing ILO Recommendation No. 200 
 
On 16 February 2011, in the case of Gary Shane Allpass v. Mooikloof Estates (Pty.) Ltd., (Case No. JS178/09), the Johannesburg Labour Court awarded the complainant compensatory damages for unfair dismissal and discrimination on the grounds of his HIV status. The decision examines issues of discrimination in employment on the grounds of HIV status and unfair dismissal, as well as discriminatory screening and forced disclosure of HIV status. 
 
The complainant was employed by the respondent as a horse riding instructor and stable manager on 1 November 2008. At the time of his recruitment, he had been living with HIV for almost 20 years. Prior to being hired, the complainant underwent an interview, during which he informed the respondent that he was “in good health.” Shortly after his hiring, the complainant — along with other employees — was asked to complete a form requiring him to disclose whether he was taking any “chronic medication.” The complainant complied and disclosed that he was taking, among other things, daily medication to manage his HIV condition. Upon learning of his HIV-positive status, the respondent immediately terminated the complainant on the grounds that he had fraudulently misrepresented his condition and that he was, in fact, “severely ill”. 
 
The Labour Court found that the complainant had been discriminated against and unfairly dismissed due to his HIV status and awarded him twelve months’ remuneration in compensatory damages and costs. Apart from considering that the dismissal violated the South African Constitution, the Labour Relations Act, and the Employment Equity Act, the Labour Court also cited the ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) and the Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, 2010 (No. 200). 
 
(Source: ILO/AIDS website) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
International Cricketing Council Launches Campaign: ‘Get the Facts, Protect Yourself’ 
 
The World Cup 2011, organised by the International Cricketing Council (ICC), is being held jointly in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Before this event, the ICC in partnership with UNAIDS and UNICEF launched a new campaign, “Get the Facts, Protect Yourself.” A number of star players feature in a public service announcement which is available to all broadcasters across the globe that encourages young people to inform themselves about HIV, take appropriate action to prevent HIV infection, and stand together against HIV-related stigma and discrimination. 
 
They may be rivals on the field of play, but international cricketing stars Virender Sehwag and Kumar Sangakkara have joined together to support a new “Think Wise” campaign ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. “The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 provides an opportunity to use our status as cricketers to deliver important social messages to the millions of supporters who will be watching the tournament across the world,” said India’s Virender Sehwag. “I hope this public service announcement can encourage young people to get the facts and protect themselves from HIV.” 
 
Other cricketing stars in the partnership include Graeme Smith (South Africa), Shakib-Al-Hasan (Bangladesh) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (West Indies). “It is important that young people around the world have access to the right information to help them make informed decisions and break down stigma and discrimination,” said Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara. “Through this public service announcement, I want to help stop the spread of HIV.” 
 
(Source: ITF HIV/AIDS update 100, 1 February) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
News from Global Unions 
 
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF – <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) in its latest HIV/AIDS updates No. 99, 100, and 101 of 15 January, 1 February, and 15 February, respectively, reports on a training programme organised in cooperation with the Mongolian Transport, Communication, and Petroleum Workers’ Union; on a national campaign organised by the National Transport Workers’ Union of Columbia to raise awareness of HIV and to promote safer sex practices among bus workers, van, taxi, and truck drivers; and reports, as well, on passengers and on developing and implementing workplace programmes with its affiliates in Mexico. 
 
The February Newsletter of PSUFASA (Public Sector Unions Fighting AIDS in Southern Africa) reports on several in-country seminars, notably in South Africa and Swaziland, and on the ongoing evaluation of the project for which sponsorship from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) will come to an end in March 2011. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Five Years Ago: From the March 2006 Issue 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In current issues, we refer to an article from the same month, five years ago, and reflect on developments. 
 
In the March 2006 issue of the e-bulletin, we reported on the integration of HIV/AIDS in the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers. On 28 April, the trade union movement remembers over two million workers who die and millions more who are injured or who fall sick each year due to unsafe, unhealthy, or unsustainable work and workplaces. The slogan for 2006 was Union Workplaces – Safe Workplaces and the selected themes are: The Global Union Ban Asbestos Campaign, HIV/AIDS – workplace aspects and implementation of programme response and ILO Conventions and Instruments that relate to Occupational Health and Safety. 
 
We also reported on the Product Red initiative. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, U2 rock musician Bono announced Product RED, an economic initiative designed to deliver a sustainable flow of private sector money to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). Leading brands made a commitment to channel a portion of profits from sales of specially-designed RED products to the GFATM to support AIDS programmes in Africa with a focus on women and children. The GFATM welcomed this new initiative. Through RED and other initiatives, it hoped to increase the private sector share of income from less than 1% in 2005 to 10% or more in the long term. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
This ICEM HIV/AIDS Newsletter – How to Subscribe 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="mailto:press@icem.org">press@icem.org</a>. Please put “subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin” in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 66, March 2011 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
A precedent-setting case for South African miners was won in the nation’s highest court on 3 March. The landmark case is expected to allow thousands of miners stricken with life-threatening respiratory and other diseases to sue companies under common law in South Africa. 
 
The Constitutional Court ten days ago overturned a Supreme Court of Appeal judgement and grants a former AngloGold Ashanti worker the right to sue the company for contracting silicosis. The worker, Thembekile Mankayi, died six days before the monumental ruling, and now it is up to his family whether or not to continue the case. 
 
The Supreme Court and a lower court had ruled against Mankayi because he had received compensation under South Africa’s Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (Odimwa). He had received a paltry R16,320 (€1,706, US$2,350) after it was determined he was ill with tuberculosis and silicosis from AngloGold’s silica quartz dust after working inside the Vaal Reefs mine from 1979 to 1995. 
 
The Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a June 2008 Johannesburg High Court ruling dismissing Mankayi’s claim of R2.6 million (€271,800, US$374,400) against AngloGold for lost income and other compensation. Mankayi was seeking the monetary judgement under South Africa’s Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act of 1993 (Coita). In upholding the lower court, the Supreme Court stated that Section 35(1) of Coita barred a worker from bringing a claim against an employer once that worker collected under Odimwa. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0610NUMFransBaleni1.jpg" width="100" height="142"/>
NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni 
But in the 3 March ruling, Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe ruled that the Supreme Court “had erred in concluding” the two pieces of legislation had the same compensatory structure, adding the difference between the two was apparent. 
 
“If Coida removes Mr. Mankayi’s common law right to claim compensation for negligence, employees in his position … would be left without an effective remedy to rectify the harm caused by the negligence of employers,” Khampepe wrote, adding, “Mineworkers, African (ones) in particular, have contributed enormously to this country’s wealth at great cost to themselves and their health. The impugned legislation affects many vulnerable members of society.” 
 
Judge Khampepe ordered AngloGold to pay the court costs for Mankayi, and the ruling opens the way for his family to return to the Johannesburg High Court to again lay claim to R2.6 million. In a statement following the 3 March judgement, the company said if the executor wishes to pursue litigation there, “AngloGold Ashanti will defend the case on its merits.” 
 
Sadly, Thembekile Mankayi died of the disease on 25 February, leaving a wife and ten children. 
 
ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) hailed the high court’s ruling, calling it an achievement and a breakthrough. “For many years mining employers had sent hundreds of thousands of poor, sick miners home to die,” said General Secretary Frans Baleni. We will remain “at the forefront of ensuring that employers pay for their long forgotten sins.”

South African High Court Overrules AngloGold in Landmark Silicosis Case

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ICEM’s affiliated mining union Sintracarbón is calling for pressure to be increased local management of food multination Aramark, to follow their legal requirement and enter into bargaining with the newly formed union. 
 
The 90 workers at Aramark formed a branch of the national Colombian union of food workers, SINAILTRAINAL on 21 February, elected the leadership, and drafted and approved the list of demands which was presented to management the following day, 22 February. 
 
Colombian labour law requires the employer to respond and enter bargaining with the nascent union within five days. This step has not been taken by local Aramark management. 
 
The absence of any mechanism for industrial relations at the contractor had lead workers to frustration on salary, and shift scheduling especially. 
 
Sintracarbón has escalated its campaign to organise outsourced workers at Cerrejón over the last two years, following a congress vote to change the organisation’s statutes and allow inclusion of outsourced workers.

Organised Outsourced Cerrejón Food Workers’ Call for Bargaining Ignored

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ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 66, March 2011

South African High Court Overrules AngloGold in Landmark Silicosis Case

Organised Outsourced Cerrejón Food Workers’ Call for Bargaining Ignored

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