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Social partners in Slovenia averted a series of strikes scheduled for this week and next week by reaching agreement on a private-sector wage increase in Ljubljana. The accord was reached on Friday, 25 January. 
 
Pushed by a centre-right government headed by Prime Minister Janez Jansa, trade union federations and business groups agreed on a February pay increase of 5.6%. That offsets current inflation, as well as sparing Slovenia vast production losses at the exact time it presides over the EU. 
 
Slovenia&rsquo;s December consumer price index was 5.7% higher than in December 2006. Last Friday&rsquo;s negotiated increase came two months after a manifestation by 70,000 Slovenian workers. One of their demands was to move a traditional August pay raise to February in order to offset climbing inflation. 
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On 11 January, the country&rsquo;s largest labour federation, 300,000-member Zveza Svoodnih Sindikatov Slovenije (ZSSS), announced a general strike for 6 February. Several other labour federations were expected to follow. Other Slovenia workers, including civil servants, also announced intent to strike plans in the days leading up to 6 February. 
 
The government headed off the public sector strike by granting wage increases to civil servants. That brought forth the private sector settlement. 
 
On 17 November 2007, union members and civil society marched 70,000-strong in the largest manifestation in Slovenia&rsquo;s 16-year history. They demanded that salaries keep pace with spiraling inflation. The manifestation also marked the historical unification of Slovenia&rsquo;s six trade union centres coming behind a joint initiative. 
 
Slovenia, which became a member of the EU in 2005 and adopted the Euro as currency in January 2007, has been beset by rising commodity prices.

Private-Sector Wage Increases Halt General Strikes Set for Slovenia

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On 15-16 January, some 40 global trade union leaders met in Brussels for the 2nd meeting of the Council of Global Unions (CGU), the structure established last year by the Global Unions Federations (GUFs), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD. 
On the agenda of the meeting, which was held at ICEM headquarters, was a series of wide-ranging national and international labour issues, ranging from the need to increase global support for organising and bargaining, scrutiny over non-transparent private and public investment funds, and attention to precarious employment practices. 
 
Focal points at the start were the lessons from the creative and successful &ldquo;Organising and Recognition Conference,&rdquo; organised by the CGU in Washington, D.C., in December 2007, and how to continue that work. 
The Washington Conference, which primarily dealt with how international work can assist national unions in their union organising efforts, generated a fair amount of enthusiasm and optimism. At the same time, however, it also highlighted a number of difficulties or barriers. The example of Australia, where a massive trade union campaign lead to a change in government, was particularly inspiring for many.
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ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda signing the CGU's founding document last year
One obvious conclusion from this earlier Conference is the strong link between collective bargaining coverage, on the one hand, and the fairness of income distribution, on the other. The situation in the U.S. is a clear &ndash; and negative &ndash; example of this. 
 
Building on the work done in Washington, the Brussels meeting looked for a number of concrete items that the international union movement could work on jointly. One such priority is the need to take action at the international level to support workers and their unions in the U.S., and to improve the U.S. labour situation in general. 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda explicitly supported this notion. He said that &ldquo;in countries such as China, the U.S. labour model is the one that is being looked at for copying.&rdquo; It was agreed that discussions would take place with U.S. unions in order to examine how the global trade union movement can be most helpful in supporting their efforts to change U.S. labour law so that freedom of association is respected. 
 
Other priorities taken under consideration include an international strategy to support unions in selected countries, in which international union pressure might improve the national labour situation; the continued sharing of much needed global economic data that support trade union claims; to undertake action on the 60th anniversary of ILO Conventions 87 and 98, on freedom of association and collective bargaining; and Global Unions&rsquo; work on Export Processing Zones.
Joint CGU action is also planned in the area of communication, where more - and possibly other and different - work needs to be done. This was also a conclusion from the Washington conference, citing the fact that the international union message is not always reaching workers at national level. 
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Different options were looked at to improve communications, including making increased use of IT tools. At the same time, it was acknowledged that this can only be helpful for certain parts of the world. In Africa, for example, emphasis needs to go to other means of communication, such as radio or mobile phones. Yet other methods are needed to reach out to, for instance, migrant communities. 
 
The international unions also decided to continue to expand their joint work on precarious work, which includes the ICEM priority of Contract and Agency Labour. ICEM will continue to take the lead on this, including through a multi-GUF working group on the subject. Temporary agencies, an area where UNI is already doing considerable work, might become a focus on work relationships, and may offer opportunities for productive co-operation among the GUFs. 
 
Equally highlighted at the 15-16 January meetings was the work &ndash; and successes &ndash; by several GUFs, the ITUC and TUAC, on private equity. Linked to that is the effort by the international union movement&rsquo;s Committee on Workers&rsquo; Capital, which works on such areas as pension trustee education, corporate and financial market governance, shareholder activism and economically targeted investments. 
 
Other items discussed in Brussels were the call for a strong public sector; the upcoming World Day of Action on Decent Work (7 October 2008); the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; and ongoing action towards the World Bank and its private investment arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Also discussed were labour-related issues inside a number of countries, such as Burma, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary, reported on the organisation&rsquo;s intense debate on China at its last General Council meeting in December, also in Washington. 
 
The international trade union leaders decided to continue their strong support for a number of joint offices, including, for example, the highly acclaimed ITUC/Global Unions Washington office. They also agreed on a budget for the work of the CGU. Fred van Leeuwen, General Secretary of Education International (EI), remains the CGU&rsquo;s chair for another year. Anita Normark, General Secretary of the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI), continues as the Vice-Chair, and Guy Ryder as the CGU&rsquo;s Secretary. 
 
In addition to Manfred Warda, the ICEM was represented at the meeting by its President, Senzeni Zokwana, and by its Vice-President, Liv Undheim.

Council of Global Unions Meets at ICEM in Brussels

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Leaders of Japanese labour and business opened the first round of spring wage negotiations, called shunto, on 23 January at Keidanren Kaikan Hall in Otemachi, Tokyo. The talks, led by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, Rengo, commence in the automotive and appliance industries, with other Japanese sectors scheduled to follow. Shunto talks usually run until the end of March. 
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Expectations are high, and for the first time in the recent past, unions in several industries have announced fixed wage goals for this year&rsquo;s talks. For example, the Japanese Automobile Workers&rsquo; Union is demanding at least &yen;1,000-a-month as a salary adjustment, while other unions are demanding even more.
This spring&rsquo;s wage offensive also includes achievable goals to raise salaries and levels of benefits for part-time and agency workers. Rengo is demanding that companies sign a minimum wage agreement for contract workers, ensuring them of a salary that is higher than the official minimum wage. It will also push for revision of Japan's Worker Dispatch Law. That proposed change will guarantee more rights for contract workers and temporary workers. 
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Both Japanese trade union confederations, Rengo and UI Zensen, are championing the cause of temporary and agency workers. Japanese unions made substantial gains last year in recruiting part-time and non-regular workers into the union ranks, judging by a 12% increase in 2007. Japanese unions have prioritised gains for part-time and non-regular workers, knowing how dangerous a wide wage disparity between full-time and part-time workers can be.

Japanese Wage Talks Start with Set Expectations, Gains for Non-regular Workers

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A French court on 22 January ruled that before an amended merger plan between Gaz de France and Suez can go to shareholders, trade unions and the Works Council must be given more information in order to shape their views on the merger. 
 
The decision by the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris comes in a case filed by Gaz de France in December on the Works Council for its inability to come to a definitive opinion, prior to Works Council members&rsquo; terms ending on 31 December. 
 
The company was seeking a court order mandating an opinion from the workers&rsquo; body, but what was delivered was another costly delay to an ill-advised merger. 
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Under French law, the Works Council had to submit a non-binding opinion on an amended merger plan that was submitted in September 2007. But workers&rsquo; representatives did not have needed information on a plan to spin-off the water and environmental businesses of Suez. 
 
The merger of the state-run French utility with Franco-Belgian Suez Group was initially proposed early in 2006. It has been held up in the courts at several points. 
 
French unions and workers&rsquo; representatives have resisted the merger because it essentially privatises Gaz de France. The company is 80% state held, and a merger would reduce France&rsquo;s stake in the combined company, to be called GDF Suez, to 35%. French trade unions CGT, CFDT, FO, CGF-CGC, and CFTC have united to resist further consolidation of Europe&rsquo;s energy markets. 
 
A new consultation committee of the Works Council is expected to be in place by mid-February to examine further information by the companies regarding the merger.

Unions Win French Ruling Citing More Information Needed on Gaz de France, Suez Merger

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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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