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Mission to Ghana &ndash; Breakthrough in ICEM Pilot Project 
 
Key elements of the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Project are the pilot projects. In identifying areas where we can make a real contribution, the ICEM has developed the concept of such projects in cooperation with major mining companies. 
These projects target health clinics operated by the companies, which provide functioning medical services to their workers and immediate dependents. The clinics can be used to expand their services to the broader community in the area and provide voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) as well as antiretroviral treatment (ART). 
 
The ICEM concept has now received recognition at the AngloGold Ashanti mine in Obuasi, Ghana. Building on discussions between the ICEM and management in Johannesburg, AngloGold Ashanti is now involved in a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Health. The project is intended to provide HIV clinic services, including voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and antiretroviral treatment (ART) to employees, their dependents and the community of Obuasi. 
In a good example of a co-investment project, the company makes the infrastructure of the hospital and the medical staff available. It provides VCT and ART to its employees and their dependents at its own cost and gets reimbursed for such services provided to the community. 
 
During a joint mission with representatives of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator visited the Obuasi mine. Members of the delegation were briefed at the company&rsquo;s Edwin Cade Memorial Hospital on the HIV/AIDS programme. Weekly health briefings at the Obuasi office of the Ghana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union will involve the union in the programme. 
The delegation also visited the Malaria Control Centre which was opened by the President of Ghana on 28 April. The malaria control programme covers the spraying of all houses in Obuasi. 
 
The joint ICEM/GFATM mission was a first for the global union movement. Representatives of the Ministry of Health/Ghana Health Service, as principal recipient of the grants, and members of the Country Coordinating Mechanism were briefed on the advantages of public/private sector co-investment projects for the implementation of Global Fund grants. 
In all meetings the point was made that the private sector includes business and unions. The ICEM can take credit that this concept has been recognised by the Global Fund when exploring further co-investment projects in other countries. 
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United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS 
 
Heads of state and government, ministers and more than a thousand representatives of civil society and the private sector gathered in New York for the follow-up to the 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) and a comprehensive review of the progress made in achieving the targets agreed by member states five years ago when the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS was adopted. 
 
Trade unions attending the event have urged government representatives and HIV/AIDS activists to focus on workplace strategies to address stigma and discrimination attached to HIV/AIDS. 90% of the 40 million people who are HIV infected are found in the working age population. Many of them live in daily fear of losing their jobs. 
The workplace is particularly well-positioned to combat discrimination in society and it holds tremendous potential for awareness-raising, prevention, treatment and counselling. More attention must be directed to the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, which speaks directly to the need for partnership and social dialogue in the workplace. 
 
Trade union representatives have also approached government delegations to seek support for the creation of a high-level G8 Working Group on HIV/AIDS. This ongoing campaign had already targeted health ministers attending the World Health Assembly of the WHO in Geneva in May. It will continue at the International Labour Conference of the ILO in June. 
 
As reported in the May issue of this e-bulletin, the UN produced two reports prior to the meeting, which can be accessed on the UNAIDS website <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>. On the eve of the High Level Meeting, UNAIDS launched the 2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic. This special edition, marking the 10th anniversary of UNAIDS, contains the most in-depth date from countries to date, based on progress reports from 126 countries. 
(The outcome of the Conference and the UNAIDS 2006 Report will be given more detailed attention in the July issue of this e-bulletin). 
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Global Fund Calls for Round 6 Proposals 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has issued its Sixth Call for Proposals. The application form and support documentation are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/apply/call6">www.theglobalfund.org/en/apply/call6</a>. Proposals have to reach the Global Fund by 3 August. 
 
The Global Fund does not have offices in any country. The application process is devolved to the national level. All proposals have to go through the Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCM). The composition of the CCMs is supposed to be representative of all stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including civil society, the private sector and organisations of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). 
Very few CCMs include trade unionists. This should not prevent trade unions to work through members of the CCM who are sympathetic to their cause and to find cooperating partners who can develop workplace-related project ideas into proposals for the CCM. 
 
The role of the workplace in the fight against HIV/AIDS is recognised. No workplace activities can be efficiently implemented without unions. The role of national unions and their international bodies, the Global Unions Federations, is acknowledged by international organisations such as the ILO, the WHO and UNAIDS. 
 
The Global Fund is keen to build public/private partnerships and to implement co-investment projects. Without the involvement of the private sector, universal access to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and to anti-retroviral treatment (ART) is not possible or will be further delayed. The private sector is business and trade unions as the workers&rsquo; representatives. 
The ICEM has worked with the Global Fund to establish this principle in public/private co-investment projects. 
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FNV Report Acknowledges Contribution of ICEM Projects 
 
In a report entitled &ldquo;Trade union support in the struggle against HIV/AIDS&rdquo;, FNV Mondiaal, the international trade union development organisation of the Dutch national centre FNV, stresses the importance of HIV/AIDS as a trade union issue. 
FNV Mondiaal is currently supporting 12 HIV/AIDS-related projects in cooperation with Global Union Federations and national unions. Fighting the pandemic is one of the priorities of its business plan 2005-2008. 
 
The report cites the ICEM project, which also enjoys the support of the Swedish LO/TCO, as a good example of integrating HIV/AIDS issues in collective bargaining and global framework agreements. 
The report gives credit to the ICEM&rsquo;s efforts to build partnerships, especially in Ghana, to decrease the incidence of HIV/AIDS in mining companies and to upscale VCT and ART. It further acknowledges ICEM&rsquo;s role in working with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and national Country Coordinating Mechanisms to involve unions and generate additional funds. 
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Australia and AIDS 
 
Two initiatives have been launched in Australia to try to stop the spread of HIV infections in Asia, from where 40% of the disease&rsquo;s growth is forecast to come over the next few years. 
The first is a partnership between the Australian government and the Bill Clinton Foundation. Australia will provide USD 18 million to work with the Foundation in China, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea to provide test kits and antiretroviral drugs. The government-Clinton coalition will work with a second cooperative effort involving Australian companies that have operations in Asia. 
(Source: The Economist, 1 April 2006) 
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South Africa: May Day Focus on HIV/AIDS 
 
Along with a number of trade unions throughout Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions focussed its 1 May activities on HIV/AIDS under the theme &ldquo;AIDS &ndash; The New Struggle&rdquo;. It emphasised breaking the silence and building solidarity with the slogan &ldquo;Each one teach one! Test, Treat and Fight for Life&rdquo;. 
Sectoral summits with employers and other stakeholders are planned during 2006 and mining companies will be asked to create a fund to assist with the scaling up of access to care and treatment in Lesotho and Mozambique, where the pandemic has been fuelled by migrant labour to the mines. 
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Fighting HIV/AIDS &ndash; Lessons from Brazil 
 
In the history of the response to the HIV pandemic, Brazil is best known for its pioneering decision in 1996 to offer free combination antiretroviral treatment to all citizens. 
The government-funded treatment programme has improved the health and extended the survival of countless Brazilians, has saved the country billions in hospital cost and has inspired similar efforts elsewhere &ndash; including the US President&rsquo;s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the WHO&rsquo;s 3x5 Initiative. 
Between 1996 and 2005, the government spent a total of USD 3.5 billion in response to HIV and AIDS, including USD 2 billion for antiretroviral drugs. All the money for drug treatment has come from internal funds; about 11% of total expenditure has come from World Bank loans, spent chiefly for prevention programmes and to establish a national laboratory network for the clinical monitoring of patients. 
 
Brazil&rsquo;s persistent and aggressive efforts to prevent new HIV infections have probably played an equal if not greater role than treatment in slowing down the spread of the virus and containing the country&rsquo;s epidemic. At the beginning of the 1990s, the epidemics in Brazil and South Africa were at a similar stage, with a prevalence rate of about 1.5% among adults of reproductive age. 
 
However, by 1995, the year before Brazil&rsquo;s treatment programme was established, the epidemic in South Africa began to explode with a prevalence already greater than 10%, whereas the infection rate in Brazil had declined by half. The early success of prevention efforts allowed its national treatment programme to be feasible logistically and financially by limiting the number of people infected. 
In turn, access to free treatment has made Brazilians more willing to be tested and has made it easier to address the types of behaviour associated with transmission. 
 
In Brazil, during the week before Carnival, citizens who ventured to catch a bus, buy a beer or mail a letter were likely to be reminded by their government to use condoms. Postal costumers received condom brochures along with their stamps. Public health officials, contracted with Coca-Cola distributors, delivered condom posters to bars along with the soft drinks. Prevention efforts targeting high-risk parts of the population have achieved impressive success, particularly among injection-drug users and commercial sex workers. 
 
An important factor in making the programme affordable was the expertise of the domestic pharmaceutical industry, which allowed the country to produce generic versions of antiretroviral drugs with patents that had been registered before 1996, predating Brazil&rsquo;s signing of the TRIPS agreement. 
For newly developed drugs, Brazil may still decide to issue compulsory licenses in the future on the basis of the WTO Doha declaration that the TRIPS agreement should be interpreted and implemented by member countries &ldquo;in a manner supportive of WTO members&rsquo; rights to protect public health, and in particular, to promote access to medicines for all&rdquo;. 
 
(Source: The New England Journal of Medicine, No. 19, 11 May 2006) 
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News from ILOAIDS 
 
A new brochure &ldquo;The workplace: gateway to universal access&rdquo;, published in April, gives a succinct overview of the role of the ILO in reducing discrimination and increasing access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. 
 
Published in May, &ldquo;Saving lives, protecting jobs&rdquo; is an interim report of the International HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Programme, also known as Strategic HIV/AIDS Responses by Enterprises (SHARE) and financed by the US Department of Labor. Under the programme, almost 2,800 government officials and key members of workers&rsquo; and employers&rsquo; organisations have received in-depth training on developing policies and implementing programmes on HIV/AIDS. Over 2,000 workers have been trained as peer educators. 
 
Both publications can be accessed at <a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids">www.ilo.org/aids</a>. 
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REMINDER TO ICEM AFFILIATES 
 
This is your newsletter &ndash; contribute to it! 
 
ICEM affiliates are already engaged in a wide range of activities; some have formal agreements with companies; others run education and awareness programmes at the workplace. 
 
To spread the information on new agreements and campaigns and to build on best practices, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to hiv.aids@icem.org. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 9

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&nbsp;
&nbsp; Enactment of the unpopular WorkChoices labour reform law in Australia will reverse the course on gender equality in the workplace, said Sharon Burrow, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
&nbsp;Contents<a name="BackUp"></a>
<a href="#A1">1. WorkChoices Act - Australian Women&rsquo;s Rights Hit Hard</a> 
<a href="#A2">2. Nepal - Equality for Women Goes from Strength to Strength</a> 
<a href="#A3">3. USA - A New Movement for Family-Friendly Policies</a> 
<a href="#A4">4. Canada - C$100 Million Pay Equity Settlement</a> 
<a href="#A5">5. China - Women&rsquo;s Pay Still a Long Way from Equal</a> 
<a href="#A6">6. Colombia - Court Legalises Some Abortions</a> 
<a href="#A7">7. Finland - 100 Years of Women&rsquo;s Suffrage</a> 
<a href="#A8">8. Malaysia - Give Women What is Fair</a> 
<a href="#A9">9. Mexico - Women Allege Sex Abuse by Police</a> 
<a href="#A10">10. Switzerland - Work-Life Balance Means a High Return on Investment</a> 
<a href="#11">11. UK - Iraqi Women Visit Trade Unions</a> 
<a href="#A12">12. Resources</a> 

<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A1"></a><a name="1"></a>
1. <a name="1"></a>Australia &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Rights Hit Hard 
 
The Australian government&rsquo;s industrial relations reforms have set back women&rsquo;s fight for equal rights at work by decades, according to the national labour centre, Australian Council of Trade Unions. 
 
ACTU president Sharan Burrow told a recent women&rsquo;s conference that female equality in the workplace was unachievable under WorkChoices. She said, &ldquo;We were already struggling&hellip;.now with WorkChoices we&rsquo;ve lost the tools to do anything about it.&rdquo; The tools included the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, unfair dismissal laws and equal pay principles. She said the changes had angered many women who had fought hard in the past three decades to try to achieve equality. 
 
But she also predicted the Howard government&rsquo;s reforms will prompt a new generation of women to rally behind the cause for work rights. Burrow is the first woman ever to serve as president of the ICFTU. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A2"></a><a name="2"></a>
2.<a name="2"></a> Nepal &ndash; Equality for Women Goes from Strength to Strength 
 
The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) congratulates all women in Nepal for the new victory in the fight for equality. The House of Representatives made one more landmark declaration guaranteeing the right of women, by providing a 33% requirement in all state bodies. 
 
It will secure women a one-third representation on all security forces, bureaucracy and constitutional bodies, including Parliament. It will be imperative for every political party and mass organisation to follow the same rule. Moreover the declaration put an end to the patriarchal nature of the existing citizenship law and ensured citizenship to all. 
 
Now Nepali citizenship will be awarded on the basis of both mother and father, contrary to the previous practice of citizenship based on the father&rsquo;s only. By this declaration all discriminatory laws and practices against women will be annulled. The demands were the major agenda of Nepali women&rsquo;s movement including working-class women, the trade union movement and gender-friendly organisations. 
 
The ICEM congratulates GEFONT and all women in Nepal on this important achievement in the immediate aftermath of the political capitulation of King Gyanendra.
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A3"></a><a name="3"></a>
3.<a name="3"></a> United States &ndash; A New Movement for Family-Friendly Policies 
 
Patti Devlin from LIUNA wrote about the new movement for family-friendly policies because of the family crisis in America. Mothers and families are in trouble. A full quarter of families with children under six live in poverty, at least 9 million children have no health care, and far too many parents cannot afford to stay home with sick children. 
 
Working toward common sense, family-friendly policies, like those covered in The Motherhood Manifesto, will help all families. To support common sense family-friendly policies that protect and invest in mothers, children and families. Please sign the petition at: <a href="http://www.momsrising.org/">www.momsrising.org</a>.
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<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A4"></a><a name="4"></a>
4.<a name="4"></a> Canada &ndash; C$100 Million Pay Equity Settlement 
 
BCE Inc., Canada&rsquo;s largest telephone company, agreed to pay about C$100 million to workers represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers&rsquo; (CEP) Union of Canada. 
 
The union filed suit in 1992 to seek equal pay for Bell&rsquo;s largely female operators, and dining and housing-service employees. About 2,000 people who work or have worked full time as operators would each receive between C$25,000 and C$30,000, plus an adjustment to their pensions. 
 
&ldquo;People have waited a long time for this settlement,&rdquo; said CEP President Bryan Payne. The settlement covers current and former employees who worked for Bell between 1993 and 1999. Most of the people covered by the proposed agreement no longer work for Bell because their jobs were cut in the 1990s.
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A5"></a><a name="5"></a>
5. <a name="5"></a>China &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Pay Still a Long Way from Equal 
 
While more Chinese believe both genders are equal, a recent national survey by the All-China Women&rsquo;s Federation found women were still in a passive and disadvantageous position in the workplace. 
 
According to the survey, the employment rate of women age 18 to 49 has decreased by more than 16 percentage points compared to 1990. More than half of all laid-off workers are women. For working women in cities, their average income is roughly 70% that of men, representing a disparity of about 7% wider than a decade ago. This could be based on the fact that far fewer women want to have a voice in the managerial affairs of their units, even though China has many more women leaders in every aspect of social life than ever before, said survey analysts. 
 
According to the survey, only about 42% of women staff are concerned with the politics of their organisations, in contrast with more than 58% of men. 
 
While most men surveyed said their suggestions had been taken on board, most of the women said their suggestions had only brought &ldquo;negative&rdquo; results. It is this attitude towards the ability of women that freezes almost 65% of women in low-ranking positions, said Deng Li from the federation. &ldquo;While gender equality is widely recognized in China, the social tradition and climate promoting a subordinate female role in relation to the male role persists,&rdquo; Deng said. 
 
Consequently the survey found 20% of the men had promotion opportunities in the past three years, while only a little more than 16% of their female counterparts had the same opportunities. 
 
In addition, fewer women have been protected by proper unemployment and retirement pensions, which Deng said will prompt the federation to suggest that the National People&rsquo;s Congress write &ldquo;safeguarding equality in employment&rdquo; into the Law on the Protection of Women&rsquo;s Rights and Interests. 
 
&ldquo;Discrimination against women has become the most severe problem in the employment market in China, ranging from higher recruitment requirements for women to scarce promotion opportunities and humiliating workplace abuse,&rdquo; Deng said. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A6"></a><a name="6"></a>
6. <a name="6"></a>Colombia &ndash; Court Legalises Some Abortions 
 
Colombia&rsquo;s highest court has legalized abortion under limited circumstances. The decision is expected to embolden women&rsquo;s rights groups across Latin America to use courts in their countries to try to roll back some of the world&rsquo;s most stringent abortion laws. 
 
The court overturned Colombia&rsquo;s complete ban on abortion and ruled that the procedure would be permitted when the life of a mother was in danger, or the foetus was expected to die or in cases of rape or incest. 
 
The lawyer in Bogot&aacute; who brought the case fought on the grounds that Colombia was violating its own commitments to international human rights treaties ensuring a woman&rsquo;s right to life and health. The court, explaining its decision, said the life of a foetus could not be put ahead of the life of the mother, and called the complete ban &ldquo;disproportionate&rdquo; and &ldquo;irrational.&rdquo; Advocates of abortion rights say the arguments are applicable to other Latin American countries as well. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A7"></a><a name="7"></a>
7. <a name="7"></a>Finland &ndash; 100 Years of Women&rsquo;s Suffrage 
 
Finns are celebrating a century of being the first country to grant women full political rights. On the First of June, 1906, a law was enacted giving all citizens the right to vote and full political rights for women, the first country in the world to do so. A year later, 19 women were elected into the 200-member single chamber. In 1893, New Zealand became the first country permitting women to vote, but it initially did not allow them to compete in elections. 
 
Finland&rsquo;s Foreign Minister, Erkki Tuomioja, said the country was among &ldquo;the most advanced nations in gender equality. We&rsquo;re not perfect, we have a lot to do still, but we are an example for the rest of the world,&rdquo; Tuomioja said in an article distributed by the Associated Press. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A8"></a><a name="8"></a>
8. <a name="8"></a>Malaysia &ndash; Give Women What is Fair 
 
Referring to the complaint that salary should not be the basis for maternity pay, companies still treat women indifferently, especially when it comes to maternity leave. Employers could be charged in court if they sack a female employee just because she is pregnant, as provided by the 1955 Employment Act. Many companies give two months&rsquo; paid maternity leave (up to the fifth child), even though their salaries are above RM 1,500. 
 
Efforts are being made to amend the Employment Act for the definition of workers to include those who earn more than RM 1,500. The Malaysian government has not ratified ILO Convention 183 on maternity protection, which sets a requirement for 14 weeks&rsquo; paid maternity leave, parenting leave for the spouse, breastfeeding breaks for nursing mothers and provision of childcare centres. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A9"></a><a name="9"></a>
9.<a name="9"></a> Mexico &ndash; Women Allege Sex Abuse by Police 
 
Mexico&rsquo;s human rights agency said on 30 May it has filed complaints with prosecutors after nearly two dozen women claimed they were raped or sexually abused by police following a violent protest. 
 
The allegations are the most serious to arise against police, frequently accused of corruption and violence, during the administration of President Fox, said Guillermo Ibarra, coordinator-general of projects and communication for the Mexican National Human Rights Commission. He said seven women reported that they were raped and 16 others, including three foreign nationals, said they were sexually abused by police who detained them after violent clashes last week in the town of San Salvador Atenco. 
 
Ibarra said his panel has filed criminal complaints with the attorney general&rsquo;s office in the central state of Mexico, where local, state and federal police officers have been accused by the women in the alleged abuses. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A10"></a><a name="10"></a>
10. <a name="10"></a>Switzerland &ndash; Work-Life Balance Means a High Return on Investment 
 
The Swiss union UNIA has found that work-life balance is profitable for companies; that it provides an 8% return on investment. 
 
A government study proves this figure for three reasons. Mothers come back to work after their maternity leave, which lowers the rate of fluctuation and reduces costs for new hiring. New hiring costs for bringing low-paid workers (CHF 4,000 to 90,000) on to payrolls is significant, and making better use of part-time workers means that companies use their human resources more efficiently. And finally, work-life balance makes it possible for mothers to have qualified careers in spite of their family responsibilities. Motivation and company image were not taken into account in these figures. 
 
In addition, in the chemical and pharmaceuticals industry in the Basel region, UNIA managed to boost maternity leave from 16 to 18 weeks. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="11"></a>
11.<a name="11"></a> United Kingdom &ndash; Iraqi Women Visit Trade Unions 
 
Iraqi and Kurdish women trade unionists visited the UK in March with the support of the Trades Union Congress, and unions Unison and Amicus. 
 
The delegation consisted of Nazanin T. Ali, Head of Women&rsquo;s Affairs at the Kurdistan Workers Syndicate, member of the Service Workers Union; Hoda S Rafiq, member of the Kurdistan Journalists&rsquo; Union, who works for the Kurdistan Workers Syndicate newspaper; Hassana Abdulsatar, member of the Mechanics, Metal and Printing Workers Union, and a member of her union&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s committee; and Violet Issa Qalaab, President of the Oil and Gas Workers Union Al Zubair Branch and member of the Iraqi Women&rsquo;s League. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A12"></a><a name="12"></a>
12. <a name="12"></a>Resources: 
 
The EU&rsquo;s Responsibility at the WTO: Environment, Gender and Development, written by Women in Development Europe and Friends of the Earth Europe, 2006. 
 
This publication aims to contribute to a constructive dialogue between civil society representatives from the North and the South, and representatives from the EU that could contribute to an EU trade policy consistent with social and gender justice and environmental sustainability. 
The first part reports on the public hearing, entitled &ldquo;The EU&rsquo;s Responsibility at the WTO: Environment, Gender and Development,&rdquo; highlighting issues such as the commoditization of natural resources under the WTO, the importance of people&rsquo;s food sovereignty, the gender dimension of the trade agenda and biosafety. 
The second part consists of an analysis of the outcome of the Hong Kong Ministerial meeting, from a feminist and environmentalist perspective. Available online at: 
<a href="http://www.eurosur.org/wide/Globalisation/WTO06.pdf">http://www.eurosur.org/wide/Globalisation/WTO06.pdf</a>
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 12

&nbsp;<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Unions from France and Belgium convened early this month in Montreuil, France, to discuss a complete lack of information to workers over the merger plans of Owens Corning&rsquo;s Reinforcements Business with Saint-Gobain&rsquo;s Reinforcement Composites Businesses, known as Vetrotex. 
 
Under the auspices of the F&eacute;d&eacute;ration Nationale du Verre et de la C&eacute;ramique CGT, the CGT Owens Corning l&rsquo;Ardoise and V&eacute;trotex St Gobain Chamb&eacute;ry met with representatives of the Belgian FGTB et CSC, representing Owens Corning workers in Battice, Belgium. 
<img height="52" src="" width="80" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; <img height="53" src="" width="80" alt="" />
The consultations concluded with the unionists condemning the fact that neither Owens Corning, a US multinational, nor French Saint-Gobain had taken the trouble to answer the questions posed by the unions since the announcement of the merger was made last July. Workers are extremely concerned about the planned merger&rsquo;s impact, including a possible sale of one or more of the two companies&rsquo; entities. 
 
The trade unionists from the French and Belgian unions said that they have not been provided information on either a social or industrial plan, thus creating the fear of the negative consequences that workers could face if the merger becomes reality.

French, Belgian Unions Meet Over Possible Owens Corning, Saint-Gobain Merger

&nbsp;<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A court in France last week sided with French energy trade unions, who argued that Gaz de France (GDF) needed to provide more information first to its European Works Council (EWC) before it can merge with Franco-Belgian utility group Suez. The court decision is likely to have serious repercussions on the planned &euro;80 billion merger between GDF and Suez. 
 
The unions filed the complaint after GDF failed to provide EWC members with crucial information, needed to get an informed opinion back to the company. The consultation process between the GDF and its EWC is one of the necessary steps in the merger process. The French judge last week ruled that GDF cannot take any decision on the merger before the EWC has given its opinion on the deal. 
 
Trade unions are requiring from GDF information on the &ldquo;social impact&rdquo; of the planned merger. The unions are particularly concerned over the impact on employment, and seek details on the consequences of possible job losses and/or relocations in countries like France, The Netherlands, Italy and UK. 
<img height="100" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Because of the court decision, it became impossible for the boards of the companies to meet and take decisions last week, making it, in turn, impossible for shareholders to vote on the merger before the end of the year. That means that a vote on the merger will be postponed to some time early next year, possible until March or even later. 
 
With French public opinion strongly in favour of state-controlled utility services, and with the French presidential elections looming early next year, unions representing GDF workers now believe it possible that the entire merger will be abandoned, particularly if the Socialist Party in France wins election. 
 
On a separate issue, French unions at GDF strongly protested the planned decision by the presidents of GDF and Suez to assign only three seats, out of a total of 24, of the Administrative Council of the merged group to union representatives. That number would be the bare legal minimum. At GDF, unions have six seats out of 18. 
 
A joint French trade union front, consisting of CGT, FNEM FO, CFE-CGC, and CFTC, has been resisting the government&rsquo;s forced privatisation of Gaz de France, through the merger with the French-Belgian water and power concern. Another energy union, FCE-CFDT, while also hostile to the privatisation of GDF, suggests a separate solution, advocating a partnership between GDF and Suez. In a press release last week, FCE-CFDT repeated that position, saying it would have solved a lot of the current problems.

Unions Win Important Legal Battle in GDF-Suez Merger Saga

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The worst Polish mining tragedy in three decades claimed 23 lives on 21 November, as a methane gas explosion struck deep inside the Halemba mine in Ruda Slaska in Poland&rsquo;s southern Silesia industrial region. The mine, which had not been operating since March 2006, is owned by the state-run Kampania Weglowa (KW), the EU&rsquo;s largest mining company. 
 
The miners were some 1,000 metres underground when the methane gas ignited. They were sent into the 50-year-old mine to retrieve equipment, valued by the company at US$23 million. The shafts in which they were working had been closed last spring, due to dangerously high concentrations of gas. 
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Poland&rsquo;s President, Lech Kaczynski, visited the area and declared a three-day national period of mourning from 23-25 November. All cultural and sports events across the country were cancelled. The government also announced a special fund totalling US$234,700 for family members of the victims. 
 
Some 60 persons, including 23 surviving children, will share the compensation award, expected to amount to about US$10,000 per person. 
 
Poland&rsquo;s Higher Authority for Mining set up a special commission to investigate the tragedy, with work beginning on 24 November. The KW supervisory board will meet on 11 December to take up the reasons and consequences of the catastrophe. Meanwhile, KW has dismissed general directors at all 17 of its collieries in Poland, and the mines will be managed by technical and administrative personnel.

23 Miners Killed inside Poland’s Halemba Coal Pit

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The ICEM has written to the leaders of Maoist political parties in Nepal, protesting against the recent attacks on trade union representatives by Maoist groups in the country. 
 
The latest of these assaults took place on Saturday, 18 November, at a mill owned by Bhrikuti Pulp and Paper Nepal Ltd., in Gaindakot in the Nawalparasi district of Western Nepal. 
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NICIWU's Tika Ram Paudel
Tika Ram Paudel, the Central Treasurer of ICEM affiliate Nepal Independent Chemical &amp; Iron Workers&rsquo; Union (NICIWU), and Shree Mahato, the NICIWU Vice President at Bhrikuti&rsquo;s mill, were brutally attacked by Maoists.
Both were beaten after Paudel, who had been receiving Maoist threats over the last few months, was summoned &ldquo;for consultation&rdquo; by Maoists, who had suddenly appeared at the plant.
Regrettably, more reports on violence against trade unionists have come out of Nepal recently. The ICEM was also informed by its affiliates of an attack on GEFONT trade unionists by Maoists in Hotel Malla. 
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These violent incidents are deplorable in view of the fact that the country is just months out of a period of brutal repression by the government. Last spring, the people of Nepal removed their autocratic King Gyanendra from power. And within the past month, a peace agreement was signed between Maoists rebels and the government, ending a ten-year period of fighting. 
 
In the ICEM letter, the Global Union Federation joined the call by NICIWU to &ldquo;strongly demand the Maoist leadership to respect the peace code of conduct,&rdquo; as well as &ldquo;to investigate the incidents immediately.&rdquo; Reportedly, the Maoist leadership has already committed itself to investigate the incident. However, earlier such promises have been broken. The ICEM will continue to monitor the fragile state of peace and security not only in the Himalayan country as a whole, but also inside the workplaces of Nepal.

Situation Remains Precarious for Nepalese Trade Unionists

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French multinational Saint-Gobain, one of the world&rsquo;s largest companies in the building materials sector, has quickly taken advantage of the Howard government&rsquo;s WorkChoices law in Australia to undermine enterprise bargaining in favour of individual labour agreements. 
 
The company has imposed the practice at two plant sites in the Sydney area, intending to break collective representation by ICEM affiliate National Union of Workers (NUW). 
 
As a result, Saint-Gobain Abrasives Pty. Ltd. staff at the Lidcombe and Wetherill Park worksites are currently on strike, seeking a new collective bargaining agreement. The strike started after it had become clear that Saint-Gobain, instead of starting negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement, was applying to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission to terminate the existing one. 
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As part of the same process, Saint-Gobain is attempting to have employees sign Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). AWAs are individual contracts, whose key characteristics are that they prohibit the right of employees to bargain collectively and exercise other rights of union membership.
The use of AWAs, and the refusal to bargain collectively, is inconsistent with international law. This was recognised, in July 2005, by the Special Committee on the Application of Standards of the ILO, which found that Australia is not meeting its obligations to protect the rights of workers through the provision of AWAs. 
 
On top of all that, on 8 November, the Federal Court of Australia determined that Saint-Gobain unlawfully terminated the employment of two NUW delegates. The two employees, Jeff Gearin and Tony Seymour, who had been working at the site for 18 and 30 years, were dismissed, according to the company, for lack of skills. In court proceedings, it became apparent that the necessary training would have taken &ldquo;two to three hours&rdquo; and that one of the two had earlier asked for the training, a request that management had denied. 
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NUW delegates Jeff Gearin and Tony Seymour
In a letter to the company, the NUW quotes the third principle - on freedom of association and collective bargaining - of the UN&rsquo;s Global Compact, which the company joined in June 2003. 
 
The ICEM has been in direct contact with its French affiliates in the materials sector in an effort to press Paris-based senior management of Saint-Gobain to respect freedom of association at the Australian plant. The ICEM and French unions are also seeking an end to Australian management&rsquo;s pressure on Lidcombe and Wetherill Park employees to accept individual contracts, and want management to begin earnest negotiations with the NUW toward a new collective agreement.

Saint-Gobain Initiates Regressive WorkChoices Law in Australia

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Last week&rsquo;s kidnappings and poor rescue attempt of seven Eni SpA employees by the Nigerian Navy has prompted FEMCA-CISL, ICEM affiliate in Italy, to make a second demand within a month on the Italian energy company concerning its Global Framework Agreement with the ICEM. 
 
This time, FEMCA-CISL contacted senior management of Eni with concerns over how to report on workers&rsquo; security to the agreement&rsquo;s partners. Earlier in November, the union had already voiced, in a letter to Eni&rsquo;s top managers, its displeasure over a brewing dispute with the two ICEM affiliated oil workers&rsquo; unions in Nigeria, PENGASSAN and NUPENG. That dispute, covered in the 13 November issue of InBrief (see: <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2022-Nigerian-Unions-Close-to-Second-National-Strike">/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2022-Nigerian-Unions-Close-to-Second-National-Strike</a>) relates to Eni providing more security in Nigeria to expatriate workers than to native Nigerians. 
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FEMCA-CISL, along with the ICEM and Italian trade unions FILCEA-CGIL and UILCEM-UIL, is signatory to a Global Framework Agreement with Eni, Europe&rsquo;s fourth largest oil producer. The agreement has been in effect since June 2001. 
 
On 21 November, armed militants raided Eni&rsquo;s Saipem subsidiary offshore loading vessel Mystras, located some 30 miles off Rivers State, and captured seven foreign nationals. The next day, Nigerian Navy forces engaged in a fire fight with the militants, killing one worker &ndash; the 58-year-old British production superintendent of the vessel &ndash; as well as injuring one other employee. Two of the kidnappers also were killed, as well as one Nigerian seaman. 
 
In the message to the Italian management, FEMCA-CISL demanded that the issue of the company&rsquo;s security in Nigeria be included on the agenda of the very next meeting of partners of the Global Agreement. The union also insists for the agreement&rsquo;s partners to be timely informed on any security occurrences anywhere in the world. The company should furthermore inform the unions of all initiatives and discussions with local workers&rsquo; representatives. 
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The demand stems from a health and safety stipulation contained in the Global Agreement. In that, the company commits to deploy its best efforts to improve the safety and health of its workers. In part, it reads, &ldquo;Eni guarantees the highest standards of health and safety for its employees and the communities in all the areas of the world where it operates.&rdquo; 
Eni&rsquo;s Saipem and Agip subsidiaries in Nigeria have been the targets of recent violence in the Niger Delta. On 6 November, gunmen took 48 workers &ndash; all indigenous Nigerians &ndash; hostage at Agip&rsquo;s Tebidaba flow station in Bayelsa State over an environmental dispute, reportedly over pollution caused by gas flaring. And earlier, militia took workers hostage at a Clough Creek flow station, also in Bayelsa State. 
 
The violence has caused Eni to declare force majeure in Nigeria, forcing the company to halt export of 60,000 barrels-per-day of crude oil.

Eni’s Global Agreement Called into Play over Nigerian Security Concerns

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Photos - Imerys demonstration South West 18 November 2006

Photos of the march and rally can be found <a href="/index.php?id=21&amp;doc=2038&amp;la=EN">here</a>.
A march and mass rally against Imerys&rsquo; rash restructuring in the UK'S&nbsp;South West was held on Saturday, 18 November, in St. Austell.
Sponsored by UK trade unions Transport &amp; General Workers Union (TGWU), Amicus, and GMB, the colourful march&nbsp;featured French, American and global union representatives, who reminded Imerys workers in the Cornwall and Devon region that the company will grant nothing without a fight. The march culminated with the rally and speeches at Polkyth Carpark. 
 
The march and rally, in which 450 people participated,&nbsp;was part of a build-up to an industrial ballot that the UK unions will take in the South West Imerys, a Paris-based multinational that produces building materials. Imerys is targeting some 610 jobs to be made redundant at its kaolin mine and processing operations in the South West by the end of next year.
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The restructuring has gained global attention through the TGWU&rsquo;s outreach to other unions representing Imerys workers around the world. 
Speakers at Saturday&rsquo;s event included Serge Gonzales, from the French trade union F&eacute;d&eacute;ration Force Ouvri&egrave;re (FO) Mat&eacute;riaux, C&eacute;ramique et Thermique, who is Secretary of Imerys&rsquo; European Works Council; Keith Fulbright, a shop-floor leader at Imery&rsquo;s Sylacauga, Alabama, calcium carbonate mine and plant, who is President of Local Branch 3-0516 of the United Steelworkers (USW) of America; and Dick Blin, a representative of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers' (ICEM) Unions, the Brussels-based Global Union Federation, which includes Imerys&rsquo; trade unions worldwide. 
 
Also speaking were&nbsp;Jennie Formby, TGWU National Secretary, and Laura Lamprell, TGWU Regional Industrial Organiser. 
 
&ldquo;Imerys has exhibited utter contempt in regards to workers, their families and, indeed, the entire well-being of communities built by the labours of English China Clay,&rdquo; said Formby. &ldquo;That contempt has stretched from the manner in which they made the announcement last July, to the manner in which they&rsquo;ve conducted the consultation process with the workers&rsquo; representatives.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;We have told Imerys that their anti-social policies in the UK will affect their reputation globally,&rdquo; said Serge Gonzales. &ldquo;We demand of Imerys a reversal to the anti-worker conduct that it is displaying in various countries throughout Europe.&rdquo; 
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In Sylacauga, Alabama, Imerys also has demonstrated a record of union-busting and non-adherence to its social obligations. The USW has fended off two de-unionisation efforts by the company since the turn of the decade, and it is only now, through renewed strength of the USW among the 500-member workforce, that the company has tempered its anti-worker agenda. 
 
&ldquo;The lesson that I bring about Imerys from America to workers of the South West is this: &lsquo;Stay united, stay focused,&rsquo;&rdquo; said the USW&rsquo;s Keith Fulbright. &ldquo;Our experience is that Imerys will attack when they know the union is weak. It was only after we signed nearly every worker into the union that everyone began displaying that fact on the shop floor. It was only then that Imerys backed off.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;Imerys must begin making real commitments to workers and communities of the South West,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;The ICEM guarantees that unless fairness and respect are granted, we will do everything in our power to bring this dispute into all the company&rsquo;s global workplaces.&rdquo;

Anger at Imerys Expressed at Rally in UK&#039;s South West

Archive

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 9

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 12

French, Belgian Unions Meet Over Possible Owens Corning, Saint-Gobain Merger

Unions Win Important Legal Battle in GDF-Suez Merger Saga

23 Miners Killed inside Poland’s Halemba Coal Pit

Situation Remains Precarious for Nepalese Trade Unionists

Saint-Gobain Initiates Regressive WorkChoices Law in Australia

Eni’s Global Agreement Called into Play over Nigerian Security Concerns

Photos - Imerys demonstration South West 18 November 2006

Anger at Imerys Expressed at Rally in UK's South West

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