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<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
Svetlana Klochok was elected to lead the ICEM affiliate, Belarusian Chemical, Miners’, and Oil Workers’ Union (Belchimprofsoyuz) early this month, despite heavy intrusion by the national labour centre Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FPB) and its president, Leonid Kozik. The election and Belchimprofsoyuz’s Fifth Congress took place on 3 June in Minsk. 

During the final week of preparations for the Congress, strong pressure was exerted on the 197 delegates to place into leadership a colleague of Kozik’s. The effort failed and Klochok won in a free and democratic vote of delegates, signaling a very strong slap to FPB for meddling in the internal affairs of an affiliated union. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Belarus.png" width="240" height="244" alt=""/>
Klochok had served as Vice President of the union. She succeeds Ludmila Grushetskaya who, after many years leading the union, decided not to run for re-election. 
 
The Congress took note of the global financial crisis, and despite it, the Belchimprofsoyuz secretariat reported the union did remarkably well in protecting working collectives, particularly in the oil and chemical industries. It achieved higher salary levels and maintained the number of jobs at levels near the number before the crisis. 
 
Some 90% of all workers in Belchimprofsoyuz’s sectors are union members. The union’s membership is 153,000, and it added 12,000 new members over the past four years. 
The Congress was attended by international trade union delegates from Russia and Italy, and the ICEM was represented by its Central Europe and Eastern Europe/Central Asia Coordinator Anatoly Surin. 
 
The ICEM welcomes the new President of Belchimprofsoyuz, Svetlana Klochok, and looks forward to continued good and fruitful relations with the Belarusian union.

Belarus Affiliate Wards Off National Centre Interference, Elects Democratic President

The UK Equality and Human Rights Commission recently published the damning results of an inquiry into the recruitment and treatment of agency workers in the meat and poultry processing sector in England and Wales. 
 
Although the investigation focused exclusively on the meat and poultry industry, it was said that “...the Commission has no evidence to suggest that supply chain practices in the meat processing sector are more detrimental to workers than in any other sector that makes significant use of low-paid, agency migrant labour.” 
 
The Commission found evidence of widespread poor treatment of agency workers, especially among those who are migrants or who are pregnant, both by agencies and by user enterprises. In particular, the Commission found evidence of practices that contravene legal requirements, ethical trading standards, and basic human rights. Other types of treatment were described as being “an affront to dignity.” 
 
One-third of agencies told the investigators that they had acted unlawfully by recruiting workers of particular nationalities, by giving preference to candidates with particular nationalities they judged the user firm would prefer, or by discriminating against certain nationalities at the direct request of the user firm. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.cal.equality.png" width="237" height="60"/>
While flexibility is often cited as being an advantage of agency work by the industry, only two workers cited the flexibility of agency work as a positive aspect. Almost all workers said they would prefer permanent work due to the security and rights it offers. More than 80% of the interviewees said that agency workers were treated worse than permanent workers in every aspect of their job. The agency workers said they received poorer pay, were allocated the worst jobs, and were treated like inferiors. Not a single interviewee thought that agency workers were treated better than their permanent counterparts. 
 
Workers reported being refused toilet breaks, and enduring physical and verbal abuse. Concerns about health and safety were raised in over half the interviews, and many interviewees expressed concern that their personal protective equipment was poor quality, ill fitting, shared with other workers, or missing altogether. 
 
The Commission found that abusive treatment was less common in organised factories, and said that “In workplaces where unions are recognised, or have a strong presence, we found that they provide a significant degree of protection for workers.” However, some workers reported that their right to Freedom of Association had been restricted and reported instances where hostility of companies towards union activities discouraged people from joining a union for fear of retribution. 
 
The report concludes with a set of recommendations to key bodies in the industry to “encourage a systematic change in behaviour,” and improve the operations of the Gangmaster Licensing Authority (GLA). Although outside of its remit, the Commission said “...that there is a case for broadening the GLA’s remit to include other sectors where low-paid agency workers are at risk of exploitation” and urged the government to positively consider this proposal. 
 
Commenting on the findings, Nicola Smith, Senior Policy Officer at the UK’s Trades Union Congress (TUC), said, “This strongly evidenced based report demonstrates the scale of mistreatment that continues across low paid industries, where temporary workers with insecure employment status face some of the greatest risks. The TUC remains concerned that such exploitative practices are not confined to the meat processing sector.”

Report on Abusive Treatment of Agency Workers in the UK 

Making available a significant number of key statistics, including the ICEM’s own, as well as a wide range of “best practice examples,” the ICEM issued a new comprehensive presentation on “CAL and the ICEM CAL campaign.” Slide by slide, this education tool provides information on the ICEM’s national and international CAL work, highlighting, among many other items, what unions around the world are doing in their daily struggles against precarious work. The presentation can be found <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/2010CAL.ppt" type="internal">here</a>. 
 
The statistics indicate that the phenomenon of short-term, contract, agency and other precarious work is still growing in almost every part of the world. On the other hand, there also is progress being made. In a lot of countries, for example, laws have been changed for the better. In other cases, unions managed to gain improvements for precarious workers through successful collective bargaining. Trade unions are also increasingly looking towards their own structures and strategies, aiming to better protect and defend often non-affiliated CAL workers.

New CAL Facts and Figures Overview 

Strike actions in April and a flurry of trade union activities over the past two weeks have succeeded in bringing formal recognition to the ICEM affiliate, Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Industry Workers’ Trade Union of Georgia, at the Zestafoni Ferroalloys Plant and the Georgian Manganese mines, some 40 kilometres from Zestafoni in Chiatura. 
 
That was reinforced on 13 May after the union, backed by the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC), and top managers met for a second conciliation commission session and made headway towards resolving a host of demands put forward by workers. 
 
Miners and metalworkers were buoyed massively when, ten days after a three-day strike ended on 25 April that got management’s rapt attention, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal Özkan travelled to western Georgian to meet with workers. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.georgia.2.JPG" width="300" height="225"/>
(LtoR) Irakli Petriashvili, President of GTUC, Manfred Warda, GTUC interpreter, Kemal Özkan 
Bringing pledges of solidarity from the ICEM and the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), Warda told Georgian workers they were not alone. And speaking before regional news media and to workers directly, Warda assured all that the combined strength of the two federations was ready and willing to take this fight beyond central Asia if that was needed. 
 
The message underscored a resolve borne through several months of struggle, culminating in a series of April incidents, including grievous intimidation tricks (see prior ICEM report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3731-Miners-Metalworkers-Not-Intimidated-by-Georgian-Manganese-Managers" type="internal">here</a>) by management that served only to bring more staff into the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ fold. 
 
Initially in the 13 May negotiations, managers and their attorneys sought involvement of an existing but dying “yellow” union in the talks. But the seven union members of the joint, bilateral commission threatened to walk out and begin renewed strike actions. The union and GTUC representatives then showed managers a large number of power-of-attorney statements by workers that expressed their allegiance to the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Union. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.georgia.3.JPG" width="300" height="142"/>
Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Union Members
Recognition was achieved. The numerous petitions that workers demand to improve their working lives were then open for discussion. Foremost among them were wages. In the hours leading up to the talks, the ICEM and IMF scrambled to gather and succeeded in delivering wage rates from associated ferroalloy plants in Ukraine, owned by the metals arm of PrivatBank. 
 
Miners at the Georgian Manganese complex are paid an average monthly wage of GEL (lari) 450, or US$238, €192. Metalworkers at the ferroalloy plant in Zestafoni earn a monthly average of GEL 562, or US$298, €240. With both sides having already agreed to 1 May as the effective date for salary adjustments, management proposed a 15% increase for shift workers and 8% for day workers. 
 
This is unsatisfactory to the union side of the commission. But they are confident that further negotiations on 17-18 May, and again on 20 May, will bring long overdue percentage increases higher. The union did get a commitment at the 13 May set of talks that the enterprises will begin to comply with Georgia labour law regarding sick leave payments, including retroactive compensation for those workers who have been denied such pay. 
 
“It is a big step forward,” said Gocha Aleksandria, Vice President of the GTUC, who is a member of the 14-member conciliation commission. “The administration now accepts our union, but the hardest part is still ahead. We intend to achieve the obvious, meaningful, and tangible results for our members and that is permanent labour contracts that address all issues.” 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.georgia.4.JPG" width="304" height="241"/>
Some of those issues include raising the number of yearly paid leave days from 30 (metal) and 32 (mining) to 35; creation of a joint contributory pension fund to supplement a miserly state pension; better safety and health conditions; and an upgrade to medical facilities. 
 
Even prior to the first commission negotiations, on 7 May, management reacted to workers’ militancy and ICEM’s mission statement of that week by agreeing to permanent work contracts, as well as reinstatement of two union leaders who were discharged for strike activities. (At the 13 May session, management agreed to pay the two their full April salaries.) 
 
Another accomplishment in the recent bargaining is that union leaders will bring their demands directly to Georgian shareholders of the enterprises. The complex ownership of the ferroalloy plant and manganese mines has stock ownership by privately-held Stemcor Holdings of the UK, with shares also traded publicly on the Georgian bourse with Georgia entrepreneurs and the Ukrainian oligarch Gennadiy Boholyubov and his manganese empire that is tied to PrivatBank holding vast sums. 
 
For now, the 3,600 miners and 2,200 metalworkers have a free and democratic union they can call their own – the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Industry Workers’ Trade Union of Imereti Region. But as Aleksandria states, the journey now begins in earnest: erstwhile dialogue to gain the wage levels, benefits and work conditions that they justly deserve.

Recognition Realised for Georgian Miners, Metalworkers at Manganese Operations

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
German union IG Metall and the employers’ federation Gesamtmetall set the tone inside Germany for 2010-2011 bargaining when the two sides came to an early and enlightened accord on a pair of collective agreements covering 700,000 metal and electronics workers in North Rhine-Westphalia state. The agreement, two months ahead of schedule, is sure to serve as the boilerplate for collective agreements contracts covering 3.4 million German workers in the metals and electronics sectors. 
 
Most profoundly, the new North Rhine-Westphalia pilot contracts guarantee job security until the middle of 2012 and establish a precedent-setting protocol against job redundancies as a lesson to this global economic crisis. 
 
The 25-month pair of agreements was crafted congenially in Dusseldorf between IG Metall and the employers’ federation in two sets of talks that concluded in the early hours of 18 February. One pact defers a wage increase until spring 2011, while the other assures no operational redundancies will occur before 30 June 2012. This agreement also sets new and far-reaching regulations on shortened work-time, including partial wage adjustments for short-term work and lowered costs for employers who utilize short-time work. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1002.igmetall.agreement.gif" width="120" height="120"/>
A key and unifying part of the job-security agreement, called the “future in work” pact, is a joint and vigorous call on the German government to extend crisis-fostered benefits beyond the end of this year for workers taking shorter work weeks. It also guarantees that shorter work weeks, from 35 to 28 hours with pay of 29.5 hours, will be an option, with that short-time work to be met with sickness, vacation, and Christmas benefits based on 12 months work. 
 
A 2.7% wage increase will take effect around April 2011, with Works Councils given the mandate to negotiate that sum within two months prior or two months after that date. Between May 2010 and March 2011, two single, one-off payments totaling €320 per worker will be made. An important underlying element to the accord is that it allows employers to undertake the precise planning necessary to dig out of the crisis. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/People/Berthold Huber IG Metall.jpg" width="142" height="158"/>
IG Metall President Berthold Huber
IG Metall President Berthold Huber termed the job protection provisions of the agreement “a good result in securing jobs in the biggest economic crisis in 80 years.” He added that the government must now do its part to supplement the agreement with extended social insurance benefits. And more precise to the German economy, the agreements serve as a bellwether statement that mass job losses weaken purchasing power far more than nominal wage increases do to spike buying power. 
 
The agreements not only will protect the jobs of hundreds of thousands of workers but equally, they assure that German enterprises will retain the skilled and seasoned staff in a sector so crucial to Germany’s economy. 
 
By late last week, IG Metall and the metal, electronics employers were already tabling the accord in negotiations in Baden-Württemberg state. And this week the novel social contracts will come before the parties in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, talks that take place in Hannover.

German Metalworkers, Employers Reach Historic Job Security Pact

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The ICEM South African affiliate, Chemical, Energy, Pulp, Paper, Wood, and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU), has condemned management’s on-going reluctance to take into account union demands at the Azochem Laboratory in Roodeport, near Johannesburg. 
 
Workers at the laboratory have been on strike since 27 November 2009, and their central demand is an end to contract work and placement of temporary workers in direct employment. At a minimum the union demands that, if short-term contract work remains in place, those workers must receive a 13th salary payment, with bonus, and that salaries be paid by the hour with a 10% across-the-board raise. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1002.ceppwawu.jpg" width="367" height="65"/>
CEPPWAWU Deputy General Secretary Thabane Mdlalose announced that the union will “use all mechanisms at our disposal, including mobilizing our members in other sectors to support our members in the Azochem Laboratory.” 
 
Azochem management abandoned negotiations when the union brought the dispute before South Africa’s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA). The CCMA is an independent dispute resolution body, established under the terms of the Labour Relations Act of 1995. 
 
Azochem is a contract manufacturer of cosmetics and neutraceuticals, with a broad and growing client base in South Africa. 
 
The ICEM is encouraging affiliates and activists to write to Azochem management to call on them to re-enter into negotiations with CEPPWAWU. The chief company contacts are J.C. Fellingham, Jr., Azochem Managing Director, at <a href="mailto:craig@azochem.co.za">craig@azochem.co.za</a> and W.A. Roos, Technical Director, at <a href="mailto:andre@azochem.co.za">andre@azochem.co.za</a>. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMpharma2.jpg.JPG" width="120" height="118"/>
CEPPWAWU is also fighting another pharmaceutical company, Winthrop, over their continued refusal to reinstate dismissed workers following a July 2009 strike. The CEO of the Pretoria-based multinational has threatened legal proceedings if the union does not cease calls for reinstatement. 
 
The company dismissed 20 union members for their role in the legal strike of July 2009. Eight workers have been reinstated, but 12 are still without jobs. 
 
CEPPWAWU is frustrated with the continued refusal of management to enter into discussions with the union over the issue. Winthrop is part of the large Sanofi Aventis Group, a French-based chemicals and pharmaceutical giant that has remained silent on the dispute. In 2009, Winthrop won a government contract to produce medicine on the condition that they would “contribute in saving and creating jobs.” CEPPWAWU accuses them of doing just the opposite. 
 
The ICEM joins calls to management of these companies to sit down with CEPPWAWU and resolve the matters amicably. Protest letters may be sent to: CEO John Fagan, 3rd Floor Aventis House, 2nd Bond Street, Midrand, South Africa 1685. The fax is +27 11 256 3700.

CEPPWAWU Defends Temp Workers in Pharmaceutical Strike in South Africa

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Started in 2009 with the support of the Dutch national labour centre FNV, ICEM’s Organising and Social Dialogue Project in Turkey continued regional seminars last month in the city of Adana in the Cukurova region, where important trade union representation exists, particularly in ICEM sectors. 
 
Adana is an industrialized city in Turkey’s south that has large-scale industries such as textiles, leather, oil and gas, electricity, chemicals, automotive, and food processing. In recent years, Adana’s importance has increased due largely to the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil and gas pipeline from the Caspian region in Azerbaijan. Adana claims to be the future “Rotterdam” of Turkey, particularly since another new pipeline will come on line, this one from the Black Sea port city Samsun, which will move oil from Russia. ICEM’s intensive trade union energy activities in the Caspian and the Middle East region are closely connected to Adana and the surrounding Mediterranean area. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1004.adana.group.jpg" width="365" height="215"/>
With the overall objective to build Turkish unions’ ability to recruit new members, as well as to discuss the establishment of a base to create a functioning industrial relations system, prioritizing human and trade union rights, and to promote healthy social dialogue, this seminar of the FNV project was attended by more than 60 local trade union leaders, shop stewards, and militants from the ICEM affiliated unions. 
 
The seminar also welcomed several international trade union leaders from the Netherlands, France, and Belgium. Celil Çoban and Mail Ürker of FNV Bondgenoten in the Netherlands, Marc Blanc of French FCE-CFDT, and Chris Vanmol of Belgium’s CSC-Chimie Energie exchanged experiences and knowledge from their countries. ICEM Energy Officer Jim Catterson, who was on an oil and gas fact-finding mission in southeast Turkey prior to the seminar, shared his experiences from the UK, where he worked in the trade union movement prior to joining the ICEF/ICEM. 
 
The seminar also heard a presentation from the Turkish trade union expert Üzeyir Ataman, Director of Education and Collective Bargaining of Lastik-İş, on union history and the current labour relations situation in Turkey. Later, the seminar focused on Power and Weak Points, Challenges and Opportunities, and Concrete Organising Targets inside Turkey, with contributions and inputs by participants from the different regions, namely Adana, Mersin, Adiyaman, Batman, and Elazig. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1004.adana.jpg" width="153" height="204"/>
Üzeyir Ataman
“This seminar in Adana has given great happiness and hope for the future,” said ICEM Rubber and Chemicals Officer Kemal Özkan, who coordinates the two-year project and did a workshop on globalisation and labour relations. “The active involvement and enthusiasm of participants clearly shows that Turkish unions have an important role to play in shaping a society moving towards a real democracy based on fundamental human rights, which, of course, includes trade union rights.” 
 
The FNV project will continue with further regional seminars in the Thrace region in April, and in Gebze in May. The Adana seminar was held 11-12 March.

ICEM’s Organising and Social Dialogue Project Continues in Turkey

Action Needed/ Votre intervention est souhaitée/ Se requiere acción urgente

<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 HIV/AIDS work in southern African countries, on the success of VCT campaigns in Ghana and on the inaugural session of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law. 
 
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 Sub-regional Workshop in Gaborone 
 
Some 20 participants, half of them women, from southern African countries met in Gaborone, Botswana, from 27- 29 October for an HIV/AIDS workshop. 
 
Presentations and working groups focussed on workplace policies and to what extent affiliates have succeeded in incorporating ILO principles. Also, a key focus was on mainstreaming HIV/AIDS into union work in negotiations and as an organising tool. 
 
The ICEM and its affiliates have also taken up the challenge to promote and domesticate the new ILO Recommendation No. 200 on HIV and AIDS and the world of work. The recommendation was presented by an ILO representative and it was extensively discussed by participants. 
 
On behalf of SASK, the international Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland, its sub-regional coordinator, Simião Simbine, based in Maputo, participated. The Finnish partner union TEAM was represented by Nina Laine-Tuominen. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Boehringer Ingelheim Extends Grant for HIV/AIDS Work in India 
 
The German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim agreed to continue the collaboration with the ICEM by extending its grant for HIV and AIDS work in India. We thank German affiliate IGBCE for their assistance in assuring this. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/company logo/boehringer ingelheim.gif" width="125" height="38"/>
During the first phase, more than 600 peer educators were trained and hundreds of grass-root awareness and prevention campaigns were organised. The second phase will see collaboration with new coal mining companies and an expansion of grass-root level activities. Training for negotiations of workplace policies will also be included in this phase. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
World AIDS Day 2010: Universal Access and Human Rights 
 
(Parts of this article appeared already in the October e-bulletin) 
 
First observed in 1988, World AIDS Day (WAD) on 1 December annually has served to raise awareness about the epidemic, focus attention on issues that are key to a successful response, and to inspire positive action. The WAD theme for 2009-2010 is “Universal Access and Human Rights.” 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/World AIDS Day.png" width="120" height="98"/>
In cooperation with the World AIDS Campaign (WAC) and other organisations, this year UNAIDS is organising a global “Lights for Rights Commemoration” in 100 cities. The “Lights for Rights” campaign began on 1 December 2009 in the US, when the lights were turned off and later turned back on, illuminating New York City landmarks. The darkness represents how stigma, discrimination, and criminalization forces people to die alone in fear and shame, while switching the lights on symbolizes the human rights of all people, which allows one to walk in the light of information, treatment, care, and health. 
 
The World AIDS Campaign has produced a host of online tools that can be downloaded at <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a> and adapted for World AIDS Day campaigns. Among these are “I am living my rights” posters and postcards in more than 10 languages. 
 
The ICEM calls on its affiliates to join campaigners and organisations in their country to highlight universal access and human rights. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website <a href="http://www.unaidstoday.org">www.unaidstoday.org</a> and WAC circular of 20 October. UNAIDS has produced a toolkit which can be accessed on this site) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Ghana: VCT Campaign by GMWU Makes Headlines 
 
The Ghana Mine Workers’ Union (GMWU) organised two Voluntary Counselling and Testing activities at AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) in Obuasi and at the Ghana Manganese Company (GMC) in Tarkwa in October. 
 
The first campaign in Obuasi targeted wives of mineworkers. It was financed by the union and the company. The second campaign in Tarkwa was for mineworkers and community members. It was sponsored by the ICEM HIV/AIDS project with logistical support from GMC. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/affiliateslogo/GhanaMineworkersUnion.jpg" width="130" height="103"/>
Some 1,500 people benefited from the exercise which was organised as part of efforts to sensitize workers, their families, and community members on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which continues to claim thousands of lives. 
 
In the words of the senior nurse at the Tarkwa Hospital, Agnes Gertrude Cudjoe, “The surest way to contain the pandemic, is to know one’s status.” According to Vida Brewu, GMWU Training and Development Coordinator, the collaboration between GMWU, ICEM, as well as the two companies, brought to the fore the value all parties place on workers. 
 
(Sources: <a href="http://www.ghanaweb.com">www.ghanaweb.com</a> and Accra Daily Mail, 20 October) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Commission on HIV and the Law 
 
Distinguished leaders and prominent public figures from diverse backgrounds and regions assembled in São Paulo, Brazil, in October for the inaugural meeting of The Global Commission on HIV and the Law. 
 
The Global Commission on HIV and the Law, launched in June 2010 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on behalf of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), is an independent commission created to interrogate and analyse the key legal and human rights dimensions of the global HIV response. The Commission will clarify the ways in which the law and its enforcement shape and continue to influence the HIV epidemic and how legal protections can improve access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support. 
 
The first meeting of the Commissioners marked an important milestone for the process. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the priority of HIV-related legal and human rights issues on which the Commission’s work will focus over the next 18 months. 
 
During her introductory remarks to Commissioners at the meeting, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark noted that “the HIV response is now at a crossroads. We are challenged with achieving more progress at a time of fiscal constraint in many countries, and in times of multiple crises. We should not therefore turn a blind eye to the moral, social, and legal complexities which continue to impede our efforts to halt and reverse the spread of HIV”. 
 
(Source: UNDP Press Release, 7 October) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Early HIV Treatment May be Cheaper than Thought 
 
Research by South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Boston University in the US, has found that starting HIV-positive people on anti-retrovirals (ARVs) earlier, and at a higher CD4 count (a measure of immune system strength), may be cheaper than previously thought. 
 
After years of debating the financial feasibility of starting those in need of ARVs at a CD4 count of 350 instead of the current threshold of 200, research has shown that it would only add 13 percent to the cost of South Africa's national ARV programme if improved drug purchasing systems and task-shifting strategies were implemented. 
 
South Africa issued its first revised treatment guidelines in six years in April 2010. The new guidelines feature less toxic ARVs, but access to treatment at a CD4 count of 350 was only extended to a selected group of high-risk patients, such as pregnant women, infants, and tuberculosis patients. 
 
Starting patients on ARVs at lower CD4 counts has been linked to a greater likelihood of opportunistic infections and poorer patient outcomes, but government argued that it could not afford to extend earlier treatment more broadly. 
 
(Source: PlusNews, 13 September) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Mozambique: HIV Patients Team up for Cheaper Treatment 
 
For HIV patients in Africa, monthly trips to refill antiretroviral (ARV) prescriptions cost time and money, resources that may be in short supply. But a new strategy being pioneered in Mozambique is easing the burden of monthly refills for patients and the health system. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/medecins_sans_frontieres[1].gif" width="180" height="84"/>
Developed by health workers with the international medical charity <a href="http://www.msf.org.uk/support_donate.aspx?gclid=CKeT-KzrlaUCFRQp3wodEg-XmA">Médecins Sans Frontières</a> (MSF), the strategy centres on self-formed, community-based groups of ARV patients who work as a team to collect their drugs and monitor each other for treatment adherence and general health. The approach addresses the needs of over-burdened health workers and cash-strapped HIV patients and has had the added benefit of increasing community awareness around HIV and tuberculosis. 
 
Every month, the patient groups pool their money to send a rotating "delegate" member to collect ARVs for the rest of the group. At the clinic, which can sometimes be more than 50 kilometres away, the delegate collects the drugs, is examined by a nurse, and submits the group’s paperwork, which includes signed receipts for previous refills, members’ remaining pill counts to track adherence, and notes on any opportunistic infections. 
 
(Sources: PlusNews, 11 October) 
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Swaziland: ABC Approach not Effective 
 
In a country with the highest HIV infection rate in the world at 26.1%, and the lowest life expectancy, which has dropped to 43 years, experts are still at a loss as to why Swazis have resisted all attempts to change the behaviours that put them at risk from the virus. 
 
The ABC (Abstain, Be Faithful, Condomise) approach has guided Swaziland's HIV prevention efforts for years, but has dismally failed to slow the spread of the virus. 
 
Only about 30% of sexually active men aged 15 to 49 are in committed relationships. The remaining 70% of men are "free agents," to whom the Be Faithful component of the ABC approach does not apply. 
 
Abstinence – the A in the ABC approach – is still valued in Swazi society, but only up to a point. Girls still talk of preserving virginity, but pressures are put on them to engage in sex. Below 15 years of age, HIV prevalence is very low. But as girls become sexually active – in the 20 to 24 age group – HIV prevalence is 38%. 
 
Condoms – the C in ABC – are the ideal prevention method, but are not being used consistently. 
 
Meanwhile, remarks disparaging programmes to reduce HIV infections, made by Swaziland's second top-ranking traditional leader, have sparked disbelief and anger among AIDS activists. 
 
The threat of HIV and AIDS was being "exaggerated" by profit-hungry pharmaceutical companies and condom makers, and male circumcision was no more effective at preventing HIV infection than a post-coital bath, said Prince Mangaliso, who chairs the Liqoqo, a powerful body of royal councillors that advises King Mswati. 
 
(Source: PlusNews, 16 August) 
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Five Years Ago: From the November 2005 Issue 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In future issues, we will refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In the November 2005 issue, we drew the attention of affiliates to the ICEM website <a href="http://www.icem.org" type="internal">www.icem.org</a>. The website has been further developed and contains more valuable information than ever before. Especially useful are models for an HIV/AIDS policy for a union and an HIV/AIDS workplace policy. Affiliates can adapt these for their own use. 
 
We also reported on the ICEM-JAF Asia and Pacific HIV/AIDS seminar which laid the foundation for further work in that region. 
 
One highlight in the November 2005 issue was the signing of a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) by the ICEM jointly with the IFBWW (now BWI) with the French-based cement and building materials multinational, Lafarge. The agreement contains a clause on HIV/AIDS committing the signatories to raise awareness and initiate prevention programmes in compliance with the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. 
 
In the view of the editor, such clauses hold an immense opportunity for our affiliates to advance HIV/AIDS work in cooperation with companies and with their financial contributions. More can be done to make the potential of HIV/AIDS clauses in GFAs better known among affiliates. 
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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. 62, November 2010

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The copper-mining strike by 1,551 members of Sindicato de los Trabajadores de Collahuasi in Chile enters its second week today, with miners emboldened by both fervent loyalty among union ranks and knowledge that company rhetoric concerning ongoing production is a deception for the benefit of world copper markets. 
 
The company is Doña Ines de Collahuasi, the world’s fourth largest copper producer, owned by global mining giants Xstrata and AngloAmerican, with a smaller share held by Japanese industrial conglomerate Mitsui & Co. 
 
Since the strike began on 5 November, the Collahuasi Workers’ Union has been united in a stand that most assuredly will bring them a fair share of the mine’s profits and more importantly, improved social provisions for their families. The ICEM has pledged global support to the union (see <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/19%20Collahuasi%20ICEM%2013%20Nov.b.pdf" type="internal">letter in Spanish</a>) and commends Chilean mining unions for doing the same inside the South American nation. 
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Just One of the Daily Manifestations in Iquique
The union asked management to resume negotiations last week but the company refused, saying it would not re-enter talks without assistance from government mediators. 
 
Even though Doña Ines de Collahuasi managers say publicly the open-cast Rosario mine is operating normally under a strike contingency plan, union spokesman Luis Espinoza Garrido told the ICEM the fallacious contingency plan consists of 300 scab workers from outsource companies providing output of no more than 18% of total production. 
 
“Three hundred inexperienced workers cannot do the work of 1,550 miners,” said Espinoza. “This is unsustainable and the company will come to realise this.” 
 
Espinoza said the strike is about far more than just pay and bonuses. He said key issues include health benefits, education for miners’ children, and work schedules. Considering Collahuasi vast profits – net earnings last year totalled US$ 1.56 billion – the union wants company-paid health costs raised from the current 80% to 100% and education costs hiked from 50% to 100%. 
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Strikers are Living in Santa María School
A major concern is the health of miners. The Collahuasi mine, located in the Atacama desert in Chile’s remote Region I, finds miners working at an altitude of 4,000 metres where oxygen levels are low and stress levels on the body are high. A US$750 million mine expansion is also underway that will lift production from 550,000 tonnes per year to a million tonnes annually, with altitudes expected to reach 5,000 metres in new mining areas. 
 
Another concern is silicosis. Because of massive dust clouds at the mine containing crystalline silica particles, miners are endangered by the deadly lung disease. 
 
Miners work seven days on, seven days off, and a further point of contention is management’s proposed changes to exceptional days off. 
 
Since day one of the strike, most of the 1,551 strikers have taken up residency in the shuttered Santa María School in the Pacific port city of Iquique, 285 kilometres from the mine. In Iquique, both Doña Ines de Collahuasi managers and local governmental authorities siding with management accuse squatting miners of displacing the activities of youngsters. 
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Strikers Watch Children’s Sports Class Activities at School
In fact, the opposite is true. Strikers are encouraging children’s activities and yesterday, 14 November, the union held a community cultural event in the closed school. 
 
The Collahuasi Workers’ Union has taken their protests to the streets of Iquique each and every day. On 11 October, 800 strikers occupied the offices of the company in Iquique, headquarters for the company, and have protested at a company molybdenum plant just south of there in the port town of Patache. 
 
On 10 October, mine union leaders from BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto’s Escondida copper mine, BHP’s Spence and Cerro Colorado mines, Canadian Aur Resources Quebrado Blanca mine, Xstrata’s Lomas Bayas mine, Canadian Castle Rock Resources Sierra Miranda mine, and Chile’s Minera Cerro Dominador conducted a manifestation with the striking Collahuasi miners at the Santa María School.

Miners Dig In at Chile’s Collahuasi Copper Strike

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