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Trade unions from ten Arabic-speaking Middle Eastern and North African countries gathered in Amman, Jordan, on 2-3 September, and the result was a loud cry for global union solidarity from the unions of the politically troubled region. The event was an ICEM regional conference, and the Global Union Federation has now received 11 requests for affiliation from unions that attended. 
 
Jordanian Labour Ministry official Majeed-el Hbachena opened the conference, and said it is important that states offer constitutional and legal rights to trade unions so that they may fulfil their obligations. He also said governments must engage trade unions in developing education and training strategies for workers. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Amman2.jpg" width="300" height="219"/>
Key items in discussions over the two days included efforts by Iraqi unions to defeat the proposed oil law in that country, and winning respect and fair treatment for Palestinian workers from Israel and the global community. The 35 trade union leaders that attended stood united behind the position that Iraq’s natural resources belong to all Iraqi people! 
 
Trade unions from Kuwait, Yemen, Algeria, Egypt, and Iraq seek affiliation with the ICEM. “We have an important role to play in the region,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. “It is oil and gas, but electrical power, mining, and chemicals are also of major importance. Faced with increased levels of privatisation and contract and agency labour, unions in MENA face the same attacks as unions everywhere,” said Warda. 
 
The region also elected its nominees for ICEM statutory positions, posts that will be endorsed at ICEM’s November Congress. Some positions were designated on a yearly rotation system in order to bring more Middle East and North African (MENA) unions to the global front. Selected as the ICEM Vice President and Presidium member, in a rotating role, was Mohamed el-Sayed Morsi of Egypt’s Public Syndicate of Public Utilities. Current Executive Committee member Abdeslam Mansour of UMT, Morocco, was confirmed to retain that seat, and the substitute post will rotate between a delegate from Jordan’s General Union of Petrol and Chemicals Workers’ Union, and the General Union of Petroleum, Mining, and Chemicals Workers in Palestine (GUPMCWP). 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Amman4.jpg" width="350" height="155"/>
Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, president of Iraq’s General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians (GUEWT), a member union of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) and ICEM’s first affiliate from the occupied country, was nominated as the future Women’s representative on the Executive Committee. 
 
ICEM’s work in the region was strongly supported in Amman by the presence and voices of ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, the president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa, and Welile Nolingo, the general secretary of South Africa’s Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (CEPPWAWU), who also is an ICEM Presidium Member. 
 
The conference had the support and expertise of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). FES’s Britta Kähler, from the Jordan office, played a major role in developing and carrying out the conference. It also benefited through involvement from the US Solidarity Center.

ICEM’s Middle East-North Africa Region Surges with New Growth

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
At an ICEM Latin American meeting, several South American unions involved in labour-energy strategies, met in Montevideo, Uruguay, on 29-30 August. 
 
The ICEM invited two other Global Union Federations (GUFs), Public Services International (PSI), and Union Network International (UNI), as well to participate. Unions from the oil, gas, and electricity sectors attended, as did Uruguay’s paperworkers’ union. The major theme across the two days of discussions was discerning differences between a solely Latin-focused social plan and union network, and a more far-reaching, global network of energy and manufacturing unions. 
<img height="208" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Montevideo1.jpg" width="350"/>
From left to right: Fernando Berasain, coordinadora Mercosur unions, Achim Wachendorfer, FES Mercosur Office, and Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary
The ICEM stressed the number of multinationals operating in the region, including ones from Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and Russia. “With the high number of progressive changes coming politically in many Latin countries,” said ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda, “we can expect multinationals to be more open about entering dialogue toward global agreements.” The ICEM already is partner with companies in countries above in global framework agreements. 
 
Warda invited all Latin American trade unions to join the ICEM, or one or another of the GUFs, in order to support the current trend of cooperation among global trade unions and federations. “The ICEM calls on all unions in the region to build a strong movement, not just in Latin America but in energy sectors across the world,” said Warda. “The ICEM asks Latin trade unions not to formally establish a separate organisation, but give support to the existing organisations and strong influence on the global issues that matter, especially energy.” 
<img height="212" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Montevideo2.jpg" width="350"/>
Trade unions from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela attended the meeting, including representatives from national centres from several countries. 
 
For the ICEM, the conference served to advance a recently started project in Brazil on social dialogue with several multinationals, a project similar to the ICEM project launched in Colombia in 2004. The ICEM also opened the debate on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL). Contributions on this topic came from nearly all participants, and many had positive examples that shed new light on the issue. The union delegates discussed the ICEM’s CAL Project, and agreed that a priority must be on organising contract workers. They also pledged to write letters to respective energy ministers on the dangers of sub-contracting. 
<img height="210" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Montevideo3.jpg" width="350"/>
And also from the ICEM, Vice President Sergio Novais, Latin America/Caribbean Region chairman of the ICEM, presented a training and leadership programme, which would start with 30 trade union leaders doing a residential course. In between, the 30 would be engaged in an intense, 200-hour training in distance and e-learning, with the union leaders expected to each train 20 other union members. 
 
The formal meeting adopted two resolutions, one on the continuing threats and deaths of Colombian trade unionists. The other one extended support to workers in Peru, who experienced death and destruction from the recent earthquake in the country. The <a href="/en/26-Latin-America-Caribbean/2384-ICEM-resolution-on-Colombia-ICEM-Latin-America-energy-meeting-in-Montevideo-Uruguay " type="internal">Colombian resolution can be found here</a>. The <a href="/en/26-Latin-America-Caribbean/2383-ICEM-Resolution-on-Peruvian-earthquakes-ICEM-Latin-America-energy-meeting-in-Montevideo-Uruguay" type="internal">Peruvian one is here</a>. 
 
The meeting was aided by help from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES).

Latin American Energy Conference in Uruguay Gets Sound Footings

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
A strike by Ukraine’s two main coal mining unions last week at a state-owned company accomplished its goal: dismissal of the acting general manager. Some 9,000 coal miners of the Coal Mining Industry Workers’ Union of Ukraine and the Miners’ Independent Trade Union of Ukraine struck four major coal mines of the Krasnoarmeiskugol Company on 4 September, over mis-managed production and salaries. 
 
The strikes started at the Centralnaya, Stakhanov, Dimitrov, and Rodinskaya mines near the eastern city of Donetsk in the Donbass coal basin. The first demand of the strike was met when the government dismissed the company’s general manager, Volodymyr Tymchenko. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Ukraine.png" width="250"/>
After negotiations with two deputies in the Coal Ministry, Vladimir Fichev and Anatoly Bolotov, who were quickly dispatched to talk with striking miners, the decision was made to sack Tymchenko. At that, the two mine unions – both ICEM affiliates – decided to suspend the strike. 
 
Tensions, however, remain high because of the salary issue. The country’s Coal Ministry wants to transfer 50% of workers’ hourly pay into norm-based remuneration. The mining unions are opposed. The mining unions also seek better production means. The strike comes as Ukraine desperately tries to attract investors to tap new seems of coal, namely in the Dnipr basin. 
 
The strike, which could re-start by month’s end if the salary scheme isn’t resolved, came amidst Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko publicly stating that success in the coal sector cannot come without an increase to workers’ social status. He said wages and pensions are too low, saying that the current levels are unfair and less than what miners’ deserve. He also said technical equipment in mines is poor, and Ukraine averages a death rate of one miner for every one million tonnes of coal produced, twice the rate of that in other countries.

Coal Miners in Ukraine Strike; Tensions Still High

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ICEM affiliate Unite and the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee (OILC) have jointly called on the UK’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate Royal Dutch Shell’s safety practices at five North Sea energy platforms. The installations are currently up for sale, and Unite and OILC say low morale, coupled with departures of key staff that are familiar with safety procedures, creates very risky conditions. 
 
The five platforms include Cormorant Alpha, Dunlin Alpha (CADA), Tern, Eider, and North Cormorant (TENC). Some 400 Shell workers are affected. 
<img height="108" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/UKUNITE.jpg" width="92"/>
In early August, Shell experienced a blackout at its Brent Bravo rig in the North Sea, stranding 61 workers for 48 hours. Shell said it did not want to risk a rescue at night, but the company faced questions on its slow response time in rescue. In 2003, a gas leak on the same rig killed two workers. Now, with key personnel leaving five other Shell rigs, safety again is a major issue. 
 
“Many platform areas are now not covered by trained and competent people and certain HSE safety critical roles are not fully supported,” Unite said in a joint statement. “The gaps in these safety-critical positions could be so severe that, in the event of an emergency, staff may be unable to cope.” 
 
Unite said such conditions are leading to a breakdown in communications between Shell and its workers, and it is affecting morale. 
 
Upstream publication reported last week that claims reveal safety deficiencies in control room operations, shift supervisors, and technical capacities regarding instrumentation and electrical. “It is reported that on some platforms there is now a lack of suitable trained fire team leaders,” reported the oil and gas trade weekly. 
<img height="203" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/UK.png" width="200"/>
Meanwhile, separately, the head of the HSE’s Offshore Division, Ian Whewell, delivered a stark address to industry leaders at an Offshore Europe forum in Aberdeen. He called it unfortunate that offshore companies consider it a regulatory nuisance to comply with safety standards. 
He also fully endorsed worker involvement in safety, and his comment on participation counters the reality now occurring at Shell: “The commitment of many in the offshore workforce is undoubted, but HSE believes that unless the workforce is encouraged to actively participate, the industry is missing a key opportunity.” 
 
ExxonMobil’s Esso division also announced in June 2007 that it would divest in North Sea production facilities.

 Shell’s Redundancies Causing Safety Deficiencies on North Sea Platforms

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
A Network of Brazilian trade unions that organises nine workplaces of the Belgian-based Solvay Group came together on 12-14 September in São Paolo to create enhanced communication and union solidarity. 
This initiative is a part of the Brazilian confederation CUT’s multinational project, and has support and involvement from the ICEM and the National Confederation of Chemical Workers of Brazil, CNQ-CUT. 
 
The meeting’s agenda contained reports on ILO global standards, an open exchange on experiences of building and construction trade unions regarding formation of national networks, and boundaries to social dialogue as a tool in negotiations. 
<img height="73" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Brazillogo1.jpg" width="73"/>       <img height="77" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Brazillogo2.jpg" width="54"/>       <img height="79" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Brazillogo5.jpg" width="77"/>
<img height="72" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Brazillogo4.jpg" width="101" align="absMiddle"/>       <img height="43" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Brazillogo3.jpg" width="150" align="absMiddle"/>
The eight plants of Group Solvay in Brazil are: Dacarto Benvic/Osasco, Dacarto Benvic/Bahia, Solvay Farma/São Paolo, Solvay Indupa, Solvay Solexis (Santo Andre), Energy Automotive Systems, Peroxides, and Chemicals Solvay/Paraná. 
 
The meetings reached consensus to call the organisation would be called the “Network of Workers in Solvay Group in Brazil.” The next meeting will occur in March 2008. The Network will publish a bulletin that will be distributed to workers in all plants. The Network also will adopt a document of principles, in which roles for the ICEM and CUT will be spelled out. 
<img height="233" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Solvay1..jpg" width="350"/>
The initial meeting also explored problems in labour relations between the unions and Solvay. A company reorganization has seen the dismissal of workers, and acquisitions, mergers, and business moves that have created a rash of subcontracting. Shop-floor leaders at Solvay in Brazil also discussed environmental effects, safety and heath concerns, and they exchanged information on collective agreements and plant-by-plant negotiations. 
 
The initial meeting also resolved to send a letter to human resource managers at each plant, informing them of the Network, and offering meaningful social dialogue with the company. The Network also resolved to expand the March 2008 meeting to Solvay unions in the whole of Latin America.

Brazilian Workers of Belgian Chemicals Company Solvay Unite

<img height="40" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
At the 61st United Nations General Assembly, on 13 September 2007, member nations formally adopted the important Declaration on Rights of Indigenous People, a UN milestone that was marked by 25 years of debate. The vote was 143 nations in favour, four against, with 11 abstentions. 
 
The four nations that rejected the Declaration are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US. 
<img height="50" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AustraliaFLAG.gif" width="100" alt=""/>       <img height="50" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CanadaFLAG.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
<img height="50" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NewZealandFlag.gif" width="100" alt=""/>       <img height="53" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/USAFlag.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
The non-binding charter protects the human rights of 370 million native people, and sets out individual and collective rights to protect their lands and resources, as well as to maintain their unique cultures and traditions. The declaration includes provisions on fundamental needs, including food, health, and education. It also prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them. 
 
The UN’s Human Rights Council adopted the Declaration in June 2006. The General Assembly deferred consideration of the Declaration late last year over member nations’ objections to language defining self-determination and indigenous people. 
 
The 107th and 108th Meetings of the 61st General Assembly produced the historic passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. UN Delegates from Peru introduced the Declaration. The 11 nations that abstained in the vote include: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russia, Samoa, and Ukraine.

UN General Assembly Adopts Historic Indigenous Peoples Declaration

<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
This is the 25th Issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin. 
 
There is no Time to Celebrate! 
For more than two years we have tried to give practical, timely and accurate information from a number of relevant sources. Too little feedback has reached us from our affiliates. Many of them are engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS. If we do not know about their activities, we cannot report on them and others cannot benefit from new initiatives and ideas. 
 
Again, we make an appeal to send information on new agreements, campaigns and educational activities 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. 
 
There is certainly no time to celebrate: according to UNAIDS, each day still more than 8,000 people die of AIDS; almost 12,000 get newly infected with the deadly virus, many of them young people, in some regions more than half of them girls and women. Each day, 1,800 children become infected – the vast majority of them as newborns through mother-to-child transmission. 
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
World AIDS Day, 1 December 
 
Leadership is the theme for World AIDS Day 2007. The ongoing campaign slogan of the World AIDS Campaign is “Stop AIDS – Keep the Promise”. 
 
Unions can demonstrate leadership at every level – in the workplace, in their own governing bodies, in women’s committees, in health and safety committees, in negotiations with companies, in the community and at the national policy level. 
 
Any union member, shop steward, union official, committee member, gender representative who takes action on HIV/AIDS is a leader in the fight against the deadly disease. 
ICEM calls on its affiliates to take the lead in campaigning on World AIDS Day, 1 December. 
Before the end of October, affiliates will receive campaign material. 
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
ICEM Affiliates in Côte d’Ivoire and Namibia 
 
The HIV/AIDS Coordinator for the three affiliates in Côte d’Ivoire, Charlotte Nguessan, is particularly active. In addition to training workplace representatives, she has coordinated the writing of a proposal on HIV/AIDS workplace interventions, which was submitted to Partners against AIDS in August. 
 
Charlotte was also appointed to the working group for the Round 7 proposal to the Global Fund. 
 
In Namibia, the first two courses (out of three) for the training of VCT counsellors were completed in the Oranjemund region and at Okorusu Flourspar mining. The Mine Workers’ Union of Namibia makes sure the funds go a long way: instead of the usual 5 to 8 unionists, as in most other countries, it aims to train more than 20. 
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
Global Fund: Record Amount in New Grants Recommended for Round 7 
 
Round 7 applicants to the Global Fund submitted fewer, but bigger and better, proposals than applicants in all previous rounds. 
 
The Global Fund's Technical Review Panel (TRP) has reviewed the 150 eligible Round 7 proposals that were submitted to the Fund, and has recommended that the board approve 73 of them. The grants recommended for approval will cost a total of $1,112 million over two years. 
This is a record amount: in the six previous rounds, the two-year value of approved grants ranged from $571 million to $968 million. (The full duration of a grant is five years. After the first two years, a review takes place to decide about the continuation of a grant). 
 
The percentage of proposals recommended for approval was also a record – 49%, up from an average of 38% over the previous rounds. On the other hand, the number of eligible proposals submitted in R7, at 150, was the lowest ever. 
 
The TRP's recommendations regarding Round 7 will be reviewed and voted on by the Board of the Global Fund at its next meeting on November 12-13. (In previous rounds, the board has always followed the TRP's advice regarding which proposals to approve.) 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 77, 30 September 2007. 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 height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
Global Fund: Donor Governments Pledge Record Amounts 
 
Donors are expected to give the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at least $9.7 billion over the next three years, 57% more than they gave over the past three years. The pledges made at the Global Fund Replenishment Meeting in Berlin constituted the largest single financing exercise for a health issue that has ever taken place. 
 
Some highlights of the pledges: 
 
• The three countries that pledged the most for 2008-10 were USA (USD 2,172 million), France (USD 1,274 million) and the UK (USD 729 million). 
• The three countries that pledged the largest percentage of their Gross National Income (GNI) were Norway (0.087%), Ireland (0.076%) and Sweden (0.075%). 
• The country that pledged the largest amount per capita was the Netherlands. 
• The three developed countries that pledged the smallest percentage of their GNI were Japan, Finland and Switzerland (0.004% each). 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 77, 30 September 2007. 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 height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
ICAAP Held in Colombo 
 
“Waves of Change - Waves of Hope” was the theme of the International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 19 to 23 August, 2007. The conference brought together 2,500 delegates from 70 countries including politicians, officials, community workers, medical professionals, academics, journalists, trade union leaders and people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) to share knowledge and devise new strategies to deal with the disease. 
 
The HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific remains diverse. A number of countries have taken decisive action to deliver effective and comprehensive AIDS programmes. However, the overall response in the region is still not keeping up with the pace and expanding reach of the epidemic. Leadership at various levels is still not adequately aware of the consequences of an escalating pandemic and its impact, not only on public health, but also on the socio-economic wellbeing of the people of the region. 
 
(Source: adapted from the ITF HIV/AIDS Update 28, 1 September) 
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
Cambodia: Prevalence Rate Down 
 
Three international donors have decided to reduce aid for AIDS prevention to Cambodia as the country has reportedly achieved satisfactory progress. 
 
The Global Fund, DFID and USAID will cut funds targeted at reducing the transmission of HIV/AIDS in the country as nationwide infection rates have declined from 3.3% in the 1990s to 0.9% in 2006. 
 
The reduction of aid does not mean the end of prevention activities. It is a recognition of the fact that the Government of Cambodia has enough capacity to carry on the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. For example, the number of voluntary confidential counselling and testing centres increased from 150 in 2005 to 190 this year. 
 
(Source: xinhuanet, 20 September) 
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
India: Case Studies on Corporate Response to HIV/AIDS 
 
A recent World Bank paper discusses the role of business in the fight against HIV/AIDS in India, with particular focus on the private sector. The report highlights interventions by five Indian companies (Reliance Industries Ltd, Transport Corporation of India Ltd, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, DCM Shiram Consolidated Ltd and Hindustan Lever Ltd) ranging from advocacy and education to prevention and treatment. 
 
The report argues that because a large share of the country’s HIV-positive population are employed by Indian industry, businesses can gain from early and decisive action to prevent HIV and AIDS. The paper also shows the advantages businesses bring to the fight against the pandemic and how the Indian government supports companies involved in HIV/AIDS interventions. 
 
(Source: Eldis Corporate Responsibility Reporter, 6 September <a href="http://www.eldis.org/csr">www.eldis.org/csr</a>. Eldis is a service of the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex)
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
South Africa: Setback for New AIDS Policy 
 
The new AIDS policy in South Africa suffered a severe setback when the Deputy Minister of Health, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge was forced to resign in August. 
During the long sick leave of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the Deputy Minister had worked for a turn-around in the government’s AIDS policy, advocating a massive increase in antiretroviral treatment. This had been delayed for years by the Health Minister who encouraged people living with HIV/AIDS to treat it with garlic, beetroot and olive oil. 
 
(Source: various newspaper reports) 
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
News from the Global Union Programme and Global Union Federations 
 
The ICEM is represented on the Steering Committee of the Global Union AIDS Programme. The last meeting took place in Geneva on 3 October. Among other, the meeting discussed a closer engagement of Global Unions with the Global Fund and an initiative to cooperate with the World Bank. A meeting will take place in Washington in December involving the mining, transport, health and education sectors. 
 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS updates (nos. 26, 27, 28 and 29 of 1 and 15 August and 1 and 15 September) the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a> reports, among other, on an agreement between the union and the employers on an HIV/AIDS policy for the railway industry in Zimbabwe; how low levels of awareness and prevalent social stigma contribute to the spread of the disease in Pakistan. 
The Nigerian Government has approved a policy providing guidelines that aim to assist in the establishment of workplace HIV/AIDS policies in the formal sectors, as well as in the informal economy.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
ICEM affiliate IGBCE and German paper industry employers reached a new collective agreement on 16 May, covering 44,000 workers. The 17-month labour accord calls for wage increase of 3.2%, retroactive to 1 May 2007, with a further increase of 2% to take effect on 1 May 2008. 
 
The contract runs until 30 September 2008. 
Effective next month, a single payment for each worker was won, totalling €95. Apprentices will receive €35. Another achievement, reached in arbitration, was an add-on to the long-term savings plan for each worker. In addition to the €478.57 each year paid per worker by an employer, an extra €13 will be allotted for each €100 contributed by the worker to this supplemental retirement plan. 
<img height="242" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0704IGBCE.jpg" width="150"/>
IGBCE Chief Negotiator Holger Nieden commended workers’ solidarity in achieving the contract. “We obtained a fair and equitable amount after substantial pressure was applied,” he said. “The proportional increases are appropriate, they correspond with the situation of the industry, and they fit the overall economic framework.”

Wage Pact Reached in Germany’s Paper Industry

<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
ILO Starts Process to Establish HIV/AIDS Guidelines for the Mining Sector 
The ICEM has been invited by the ILO to participate in the formulation of HIV/AIDS Guidelines for the mining sector. 
 
In 2000, when the ILO established a programme on HIV/AIDS, the Director General called HIV/AIDS “a workplace issue and a development challenge”. 
 
“The workplace” is not a simple idea: it covers the informal – a small repair shop, a market stall – to the formal: a government office, a hotel, a gold mine. Similarly, the workforce may be one family or thousands of workers in plants across the world. The different nature of work in different sectors means that the working conditions and needs of workforces differ greatly. 
 
At the same time, workplaces have points in common, including a common interest in recognising and responding to the threat of HIV and AIDS. For this reason, the ILO developed the Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. 
 
To complement the Code, assist in its implementation and recognise the different situations, needs and interests in different sectors, ILOAIDS has worked on more targeted guidelines. HIV/AIDS guidelines exist for the transport sector, education and for health services, the latter elaborated jointly with the WHO. 
 
With a clear timetable, draft HIV/AIDS guidelines for the mining sector should be ready by autumn this year and tested in a tripartite workshop before the end of 2007.
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
VCT Counsellors’ Training Begins in Five African Countries
Training of VCT (Voluntary Counselling and Testing) counsellors from ICEM affiliates in five countries (Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania) has started with a financial contribution from Pfizer, the US based pharmaceutical company. 
 
The ICEM “5 by 5” project (five counsellors each in five countries) aims at up-scaling voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) at the workplace. 
 
The current reach of HIV testing services remains poor. The low level of VCT is an issue. HIV testing and counselling services are the entry point to HIV prevention, care and treatment. Without the knowledge of an individual’s HIV status no timely access to care, treatment and support can be undertaken and no protection of unborn children (PMTCT) can be affected. For the community a wider knowledge of the HIV status and its links to interventions can lead to a reduction in denial, stigma and discrimination and to collective responsibility and action. 
 
The ICEM is convinced that counsellors coming from unions and being the peers of employees can better convince them to take an HIV test than medical staff employed by companies or public servants. They can reach out to families of workers and often have standing in the community to increase uptake outside the workplace. They also give a better guarantee that such testing of individuals is confidential, will be accompanied by counselling and is only to be conducted with informed consent. 
 
The training is done in line with certified curricula and ends in recognised accreditation of the VCT Counsellors.
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Canadian CEP Humanity Fund in Solidarity Action
The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers’ Union of Canada (CEP/SCEP), affiliated to the ICEM, has for the last 15 years assisted partners in the global South. Among the current projects supported by the Humanity Fund are two directly related to the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic: fighting HIV/AIDS in the petroleum sector in Chad and HIV/AIDS education and training in Nigeria. 
 
The CEP Humanity Fund raises money with a 1-cent an hour contribution negotiated through the collective bargaining process. The Humanity Fund is building partnerships with workers’, community and women’s organisations, which are involved in improving living and working conditions, organising workers, defending human rights and organising health and safety courses. 
 
For more information go to <a href="http://www.cep.ca">www.cep.ca</a>. CEP is also affiliated to UNI and IFJ. 
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Brazil and Thailand Defy Big Pharmaceutical Companies
Brazil will bypass the commercial patent on a crucial anti-AIDS drug manufactured by Merck in order to ensure that those who desperately need treatment can get a cheaper, generic Indian-made version. 
 
The country will import a generic version of Efavirenz for the price of USD 0.45, less than half of the price of USD 1.10 offered by Merck. Brazil offers free AIDS treatment and Efavirenz is taken by about 75,000 of a total of 180,000 who are on antiretroviral drugs. 
 
Thailand approved generic production of two anti-AIDS drugs in November 2006. It recently announced a decision to adopt compulsory licensing for two more antiretroviral drugs. Abbot Laboratories, the licence holder of one of the drugs, Kaletra, then took a decision to withhold new drugs from Thailand in retaliation. 
 
In Canada and other countries, AIDS Action Now and churches took protest action on 26 April, on the eve of Abbott’s annual general meeting. 
 
Under the rules of the World Trade Organisation, a compulsory licence can be granted in a health emergency or if the pharmaceutical industry abuses its pricing. 
 
In a related development, the Clinton Foundation AIDS Initiative concluded an agreement with Indian generic manufacturers Cibla and Matrix Laboratories for the procurement of second line antiretrovirals, which are very expensive and used when AIDS sufferers have developed resistance to first line drugs. The deal is financed by UNITAID. 
 
(Source: NZZ am Sonntag, Switzerland, 6 May 2007 and Newsweek, International Edition, 9 April. For further reading on compulsory licensing, go to <a href="http://www.twnside.org"></a><a href="http://www.twnside.org.sg">www.twnside.org.sg</a> for Martin Khor’s article “Patents, Compulsory Licensing and Access to Medicines”) 
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South Africa: Delayed State AIDS-Fighting Body going at last
The newly constituted South African National AIDS Council (Sanac), which will be the lead agency in the fight against HIV/AIDS, was officially launched on 1 May after years of delays by the government. 
 
The council, which is chaired by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, has endorsed the five-year national strategic plan for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). 
 
Last year saw increased pressure from opposition parties, anti-AIDS groups and the Congress of South African Trade Unions on the government for it to be more effective in the fight against the epidemic. 
 
The main goal of the five-year plan is to reduce the rate of new HIV infections and mitigate the effect of AIDS on individuals, families and communities. Targets of the plan to be reached by 2011 include: providing treatment to 80% of adults who need it; reducing the proportion of adults starting antiretroviral treatment in hospital to 30%; increasing the number of HIV patients on treatment overseen by nurses to 70%; and reducing the rate of new infections by 50%. 
 
Sanac’s membership includes the government at a ministerial level and leaders of business, labour and civil society. 
 
(Source: Business Day, Johannesburg, posted on the website 2 May 2007) 
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Nigeria: Federal Government Approves Workplace Policy on HIV/Aids 
Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Hassan Lawal, announced the approval of the workplace policy on HIV/AIDS when he launched a new ILO report on discrimination in the world of work. 
 
Lawal said the policy provided guidelines to facilitate the establishment of workplace responses to HIV/AIDS in both the formal and informal sectors. He said the policy would also protect the rights of infected and affected people, while also sensitising them on options of redress. 
 
The minister stated that the policy would build the capacity of management and workers in handling HIV/AIDS issues in the workplace. 
 
(Source: This Day, Lagos, 13 May 2007) 
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News from ILOAIDS: ILO constituents renew commitment to act on AIDS
In 2001, governments, employers and workers agreed the ground-breaking Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. Translated into over 40 languages, a reference point for laws and policies in over 70 countries, the Code of Practice will now be complemented by a Recommendation on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. 
 
To take forward the workplace response to AIDS, the March 2007 session of the ILO Governing Body decided to place HIV/AIDS on the agenda of the International Labour Conference in 2009. 
 
This means that the ILO has now begun work towards the adoption of a Recommendation. A first discussion will be held during the International Labour Conference in June 2009, and the new standard is expected to be adopted as the outcome of a second discussion in June 2010. 
 
Recommendations provide guidance for states and for employers' and workers' organisations, among others, and form a basis for ILO promotional and assistance measures. 
 
(Note by the Editor: Agreement was not reached on a Convention which is the stronger instrument and which the workers’ representatives would have preferred). 
 
(Source: ILOAIDS Website)
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News from the Global Union Programme and Global Union Federations
The German Government has agreed to raise the issue of a regular HIV/AIDS review at the upcoming G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, 6 – 8 June. The German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said, in a letter to the Chair of the Global Unions AIDS Programme, Alan Leather, that the German Government would present the findings of its own review to the G8 and discuss the need for additional monitoring exercises. Global Union leaders also raised the issue during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 7 May. 
 
The Global AIDS Alliance, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance and numerous other organisations have joined the call for universal access and the need for accountability by monitoring progress through a high-level permanent working group. 
 
The Global Unions representative also lobbied ministers and government delegations at the WHO World Health Assembly in Geneva in May for a G8 high-level, permanent working group, which will ensure that responding to and reporting on the epidemic takes place regularly at the G8 summits. 
 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS updates (no. 20 and 21 of 1 and 15 May) the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) reports, among others, on its work with the World Bank in the Transport Forum where workers’ rights and HIV prevention were key issues, on the HIV/AIDS situation in Kazakhstan and on a meeting in Berlin on European Employers’ and Trade Unions’ response to HIV/AIDS (see: <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>). 
 
In its most recent newsletter on EFA and HIV/AIDS Prevention at Schools, the Education International (EI) has published, among others, an article on the ban of sex education in schools in Maharashtra state, India. The Indian teachers’ union AIFTO condemned this ban, which is also in force in a number of other Indian states <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/efaids">www.ei-ie.org/efaids</a>.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 21

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Arrests and injuries from police gun-fire haunt Democratic of Congo’s (DRC) trade unions, as activists struggle to exert their rights in the war-torn but resource-rich African country. 
 
On 22 May, General Secretary Jean-Benoit Ntando of the ICEM affiliated mining and energy trade union, Organisation des Travailleurs Unis du Congo (OTUC), was arrested near Kinshasa. He was leading a demonstration of Foire Internationale de Kinshasa (FIKIN) workers and along with two other union leaders, was detained at a police detention centre in Limete, Kinshasa. 
 
The three were released two days later.
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The main reason for industrial action by the FIKIN workers’ was non-payment of salaries and other benefits, a persistent problem in the DRC. In spite of the many promises by the company, workers, as well as middle managers, suffer from non-payment of wages for up to 17 months. Trade unionists also were protesting against the abusive dismissal of co-workers, and the employer’s failure to consult with the union on important decisions, as required by the company’s statutes. 
 
In a memorandum addressed to the DRC’s Minister of Portfolio, Jeannine Mabunda, on 22 May, the FIKIN trade union delegation called for the removal of the company’s top-level management. 
 
The situation for the workers at the state-run diamond mine called Société Minière de Bakwanga (MIBA) near Mbuji-Mayi, in south-central Kasai-Oriental Province, also remains precarious. 
 
A strike there by some eight ICEM-affiliated mining unions over non-payment of wages began on 23 April, but was suspended four weeks later after a new interim management team was installed. Although the company did pay one month’s back wages, the dispute regressed when MIBA used police force against workers. 
 
Ngandu Ntumba, a union leader of the ICEM-affiliated SYTRAME-CDT, disappeared for 48 hours into the hands of DRC’s security forces, while another SYTRAME trade unionist named Tshimpaka was shot in the leg by police, and then was trampled by police forces as they rushed other protesters. This occurred in mid-May. 
 
The victim remains in a hospital in Bonzola in eastern DRC, after doctors removed a bullet from his left leg. But he is still without proper medical necessities. The ICEM is cooperating with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in order to get the necessary care and medicines to him.
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 Léon Ngoy Bululu 

Also in the DRC, Vice President Léon Ngoy Bululu of the Solidarité Syndicale des Travailleurs et Cadres du Congo, an affiliate of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) was released from Makala prison in Kinshasa on 15 May. Bululu was arrested on 20 April following an appearance on local television, where he criticised the state-owned transport agency ONATRA. 
 
A hearing on 11 May had already acquitted him of all charges. Both ITF and ICEM had demanded his release.

Dangerous Times for Mining Union Activists in Congo

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