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Nashville, Tennessee, USA 
May 12-13, 2009
A g e n d a

&nbsp;
Monday, May 11, 2009 
 
Arrival of participants 
 
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 
 
08:00 Registration 
 
09:30 Opening of the Conference: 
Stan Johnson, International Secretary-Treasurer/Chairman of the Rubber&amp;Plastics Conference of USW 
 
10:00 General Report on ICEM Activities 
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary 
 
10:30 Presentation: &ldquo;Global Industry Trends and Challenges&rdquo; 
Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Kemal%20presentation%201.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
 
11:00 Coffee-break 
 
11:30 First panel discussion: &ldquo; Effects Of Global Crisis on the Industry and Trade Union Challenges&rdquo; 
Peter Bakvis, ITUC/Global Unions <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/PETER%20BAKVIS%20PRESENTATION.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
Fabio Lins, CNQ-CUT, Brasil 
Jacques Caltot, FCE-CFDT, France 
Alexander Sitnov, RCWU, Russia 
K.K. Siritharan, NUECMRP, Malaysia 
 
Discussions 
 
13:00 Lunch 
 
14:30 Presentation: &ldquo;Collective Bargaining, Wage Developments and Employment Relationship&rdquo; 
Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Kemal%20presentation%202.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
 
15:00 Second panel discussion: &quot;Rising Hardships and Distortion in Work Relationships&quot; 
Pedro Wasiejko, SUTNA-CTA, Argentina 
Edwin Cisco, FAWUL, Liberia 
Kevin Johnson, USW, USA <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/rubber%20presentation%20johnson.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
Holger Michel, IG BCE, Germany 
 
16:00 Coffee-break 
 
16:30 Discussions 
 
Summary of panels 
 
17:00 End of first day work 
 
19:00 Conference dinner 
 
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 
 
09:30 Presentation: &ldquo;Global Trade Union Response Against Challenges&rdquo; 
Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Kemal%20presentation%203.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
 
10:00 Third panel discussion: &ldquo;Global Agreements, Global/Regional Company &amp; Sector Networks and Campaigns&rdquo; 
Cyrille Poughon, FCE-CFDT, France <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/rubber%20poughton.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
Jesus Delgado, FIA-UGT, Spain <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/rubber%20delgado.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
Fabio Lins, CNQ-CUT, Brasil <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/rubber%20futinal.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
Michael Mersmann, IG BCE, Germany 
Melinda Newhouse, USW, USA <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/rubber%20newouse.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
 
11:00 Coffee-break 
 
11:30 Presentation: &ldquo;Healthy and Safe Work and Environment; Sustainable Development&rdquo; 
Brian Kohler, ICEM Health, Safety and Sustainibilty Officer <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Health%20&amp;%20Safety%20Rubber%20Conf.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
 
12:00 Fourth panel discussion: &ldquo;How To Improve Health And Safety for Workers; What Kind of Industrial Policy for Greener Environment by Securing Jobs&rdquo; 
Jim Frederick, USW, USA <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/rubber%20usw.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
Jacques Caltot, FCE-CFDT, France <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/rubber%20caltot.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
 
13:00 Lunch 
 
14:30 Presentation: &ldquo;Action Plan For Upcoming Period&rdquo; Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/rubber%20kemal%204.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
 
15:00 Fifth panel discussion: &ldquo;How To Better Coordinate Global Union Solidarity, Support and Cooperation&rdquo; 
Jerry Fernandez, USW, USA <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/rubber%20usw%202.pdf">(click for presentation)</a> 
Phil McNulty, T&amp;G-AMICUS, UK 
Pedro Vasiejko, SUTNA, Argentina 
Austin Natee, FAWUL, Liberia 
 
16:00 Coffee-break 
 
16:30 Discussions 
 
Summary of panels and presentation of action plan 
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary 
 
16:45 Election of Industry Chairman 
 
Closing speech of Chairman 
 
17:00 End of the conference 
 
Thursday, May 14, 2009 
 
Departure of participants

ICEM World Conference for the Rubber Industry

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ICEM'in d&ouml;rt yılda bir d&uuml;zenlenen Lastik İşkolu D&uuml;nya Konferansı 12-13 Mayıs 2009 g&uuml;nlerinde ABD'nin Tennessee Eyaleti&rsquo;nin Nashville kentinde 70'i aşkın katılımcıyla toplanıyor. ABD Birleşik &Ccedil;elik İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası'nın ev sahipliğini yapacağı Konferans&rsquo;ı, aynı zamanda sendikanın genel başkanı olan, ICEM Lastik İşkolu B&ouml;l&uuml;m&uuml; Başkanı Leo Gerard y&ouml;netecek. 

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="140" />
Leo Gerard, ICEM Lastik İşkolu B&ouml;l&uuml;m&uuml; ve Birleşik &Ccedil;elik İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası Başkanı 
ICEM Kimya ve Lastik İşkolları Sorumlusu Kemal &Ouml;zkan &ldquo;K&uuml;resel Sekt&ouml;rel Trendler ve Sorunlar&rdquo; konusunda bir sunum yapacak. 
 
Konferans şu beş konuda yapılacak &ccedil;alışma toplantılarından oluşacak: &ldquo;K&uuml;resel Krizin Sekt&ouml;r &Uuml;zerindeki Etkileri ve Sendikal Sorunlar&rdquo;, &ldquo;&Ccedil;alışma İlişkilerindeki Zorluklar&rdquo;, &ldquo;K&uuml;resel S&ouml;zleşmeler, K&uuml;resel/B&ouml;lgesel Ağlar ve Kampanyalar&rdquo;, &ldquo;İş&ccedil;i Sağlığı ve G&uuml;venliğinin İyileştirilmesi: &Ccedil;evre Bağlamında İstihdam Politikaları&rdquo; ve &ldquo;K&uuml;resel Sendikal Dayanışmanın, Desteğin ve İşbirliğinin Koordinasyonu&rdquo;. 
 
ICEM İş Sağlığı, G&uuml;venliği ve S&uuml;rd&uuml;r&uuml;lebilirlik B&ouml;l&uuml;m&uuml; Sorumlusu Brian Kohler sekt&ouml;rde iş sağlığı ve g&uuml;venliği konusunda bir sunum yapacak.

ICEM&#039;in Dünya Lastik Konferansı ABD&#039;nin Nashville kentinde toplanıyor

The 4th World Congress of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) opened today, 22 November, in Bangkok, Thailand, with a full slate of speakers, as well as pointed discussion on the future course of the 20-million-member Global Union Federation (GUF). Some 840 trade union leaders from 176 national trade unions in 75 countries are attending the three-day Congress at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. 
 
Global union leaders also addressed the risks to workers of asset-stripping private equity firms, and delegates heard recent examples of job losses caused by such speculative financial tools. The quadrennial Congress, gathered under the banner &lsquo;Global Unity &ndash; Global Equality,&rsquo; continues on Friday, 23 November, with an address by Maung Maung, head of the exiled Burmese labour federation FTUB. 
 

<img height="253" alt="" src="" width="380" />
Italo Rodomonti and Manfred Warda signing ICEM-WFIW integration agreement
The Congress will also consider a host of motions, including one on Burma, labour disputes occurring in the host country, Thailand, a location change of the labour federation from Brussels, Belgium, to Geneva, Switzerland, and one on creating closer cooperation with other GUFs. The election of ICEM General Secretary and President will also occur on 23 November. 
 
Following a welcome by Kyoshi Ochiai of Japanese labour federation UI Zensen, chairman of ICEM&rsquo;s Asia-Pacific Region, delegates heard from Rawi Pupaga, head of ICEM&rsquo;s Thai umbrella of labour unions. He delivered news that a negotiated settlement is near at hand with Thailand&rsquo;s Health Ministry to halt the interim government&rsquo;s plan to privatise the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation. 
Today&rsquo;s session included formal integration of the World Federation of Industrial Workers into the ICEM, a Christian-based network of trade unions. 
 
Featured speaker in the opening session was Guy Ryder, General Secretary of the 168-million-member International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Ryder&rsquo;s comments centered on the shifting and real sentiment inside global trade unions of consolidation and closer cooperation. He spoke on the founding in January 2007 of the Global Unions Councils, an action-oriented structure to link the work of the world&rsquo;s 11 GUFs, as well as the ITUC and the Trade Union Advisory Committee of the OECD. 
<img height="285" alt="" src="" width="380" />
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana
&ldquo;This will not be a dead piece of administration bureaucracy,&rdquo; Ryder promised. &ldquo;We now have the opportunity to work together to identify common priorities, and to design and fund work plans which will benefit from our combined talents, expertise, and strength. 
 
In a keynote speech delivered by ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, the president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) of South Africa, he addressed growing trade union concern on the increasing number of deaths occurring in the mining industry. &ldquo;How many more deaths, anguish, and sorrow must be visited upon innocent mineworkers, their families, and the communities in which they live before we can say enough is enough?&rdquo; he asked. 
 
The Congress opened to the sad news that 100 coal miners had perished in a methane gas explosion in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. And Zokwana&rsquo;s own union, the NUM, has now planned a one-day strike for 4 December across the entire mining sector of South Africa to protest the lack of regard for health and safety by mining houses operating in the mineral-rich nation. It will mark the first total shutdown of all mines in South Africa in 20 years. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda presented the GUF&rsquo;s Secretariat Report, and cited several examples on where union action or voter power has changed the agenda for capital markets. &ldquo;We should never agree with any government&rsquo;s argument that they cannot control the so-called invincible forces of globalisation,&rdquo; he said. 
 
Warda highlighted the ICEM&rsquo;s work on helping to stop the spread of the HIV/AIDS around worksites of the extractive industries, as well as giving instances in which engagement with multinational companies on meaningful social dialogue has produced tangible results. 
 
Henk Van Der Kolk, president of the national union FNV Bondgenoten in The Netherlands, addressed the issue of private equity, and how the rapid movement of capital has undermined workers&rsquo; rights and created mass job losses. He challenged the ICEM to examine how private equity funds are violating the code of conduct of the OECD, as well as rules of the WTO. He also suggested the time might be ripe for the ICEM, or the ITUC, to seek Global Framework Agreements with private equity concerns in order to bring a social dimension to such capital funds. 
 
The Bangkok Congress of the ICEM is featuring speeches and appearances by seven Iraqi trade unionists coming from the oil sector as well as the electric power sector.

ICEM Congress Opens with Cry of Better Mine Safety, Curbs to Capital Markets

Throughout a one-day, 21 November, ICEM conference on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL), taking place prior to the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s 4th ICEM World Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, speaker after speaker confirmed that the trend of industry subcontracting is rapidly increasing throughout the world. 
 
Predominant is the continuing trend of subcontracting in developing nations. With few exceptions, the 300 trade unionists attending cited specific problems with agency, temporary, short-term contract, or self-employment labour, relating directly to the lack of a (decent) employment relationship. 
 
For many of the world&rsquo;s workers, affecting most industries, a prior, normal relationship has been reduced to one of much lesser quality. For others, the relationship has changed to a mere commercial one, with workers&rsquo; taking the job security risks, and an erosion of social benefits affecting both workers and society. 
<img height="113" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The ICEM conference produced several examples in which subcontracting is becoming rampant on several continents. In the mining and diamond sector of India, virtually all miners are contract labourers. In Thailand and Korea, examples were cited where CAL work is omnipresent. 
 
Africa was described as globalisation&rsquo;s play ground. In the mining sector of sub-Saharan Africa, many problems are created by investors who think anything in the employment realm is possible. Other examples came from a wide variety of countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, United States, Japan, Tanzania, Peru, and the UK. 
 
A special contribution came from Hassan J&rsquo;Aama, President of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU). 
 
The conference also delivered, however, case studies in which unions and trade unionists have succeeded in rolling back the trend. One such example came from Brazil. At the oil firm Petrobras four years ago, there were three contract workers for each permanent worker. Today, after sound bargaining by trade unions, the ratio is one permanent worker to every one-and-a-half contract worker. 
 
Chile, Uruguay, South Africa, Macedonia, and Croatia were also quoted as countries where progress has been made, both legislatively and at the collective bargaining table. 
<img height="333" alt="" src="" width="250" />
Hassan J&rsquo;Aama, President of Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Given the difficult situation in many countries, and the need by many to hear how others deal with temporary or agency labour, the ICEM was called upon to continue and intensify its three-year-old campaign on this employment issue. 
 
A key ingredient of this work is the need to guarantee that all CAL workers - everywhere - are entitled to the same wages, benefits, and work rights as the permanent workers. 
 
Also stressed was the importance of legislation efforts in regard to contract and agency labour, preferably at nation-wide level. The principles of the ILO Recommendation 198, the Employment Relationship Recommendation, will be an important tool in this. 
 
Finally, it was agreed that unions need to reach out to short-term contract or temporary workers. In too many countries, such workers have faced resentment from trade union members. Setting up unions, or union divisions, for CAL workers, or &ndash; by many, the preferred option &ndash; simply bringing CAL workers into existing union structures, is seen as an important and needed accomplishment.&nbsp;

Contract and Agency Labour - a Global and Negative Phenomenon

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Calling South Africa&rsquo;s mining industry &ldquo;the killing fields within our economy,&rdquo; the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) submitted a report on mine safety 14 November to the National Parliament&rsquo;s Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy. 
 
The NUM listed eight recommendations needed to reduce the number of accidents and deaths occurring in South African mines. They include obtaining better detection technology on seismic geological events; legislation that will provide steeper fines on mining houses, up to imprisonment for executives when tragedies do occur; enabling legislation to nationalise mines when mining companies are found negligent in death-related accidents; and a mandatory review and heightened training of safety representatives by companies and the government, which must include risk assessment criteria enabling miners to detect and report hazardous conditions. 
<img height="115" src="" width="250" alt="" />
The report cited the number of deaths and injuries per million hours worked in South Africa&rsquo;s mines since the year 2000. And it specifically highlighted the fact that, even though the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1996 sets forth a procedure for legal prosecution in mine safety negligence, no such prosecution has occurred dating back to the year 2000. 
 
&ldquo;Given the gravity of this situation and the need to send a clear message to employers that profit maximisation must not be pursued at the cost of our members&rsquo; lives,&rdquo; the NUM report concludes, we have no alternative but &ldquo;to embark on a National Strike.&rdquo; 
 
In mid-October, the NUM filed for certification for such a strike with the Commission on Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA). That governmental agency, along with the NUM and the Chamber of Mines, is currently in the consultation process that is mandatory before any legal strike can occur.

NUM Recommends Broad Mine Safety Changes to South Africa’s Parliament

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
New Zealand&rsquo;s Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) is giving support to a Private Member&rsquo;s Bill put forward by an MP that would give labour agency workers the right to be covered by a collective agreement. 
 
Labour MP Darien Fenton has submitted the legislation to New Zealand&rsquo;s Parliament, saying contract labourers and agency workers are often placed in a workplace to do the same job that full-time workers perform. But, he added, they are paid less and have fewer rights. 
 
The proposed legislative change is called the Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Bill. 
<img height="50" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Fenton saw first-hand the unfairness faced by temporary workers. He recently visited a worksite where temporary workers from an agency are employed. &ldquo;Entitlements are few and far between,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There are no entitlements to breaks apart from lunch. There are no shift payments, no overtime rates, no weekend rates or other allowances, even though directly-employed workers receive these things. 
 
&ldquo;Under my bill, workers like these will be able to join the collective agreement in force at the workplace, thus ensuring they have the same pay and rights as directly-employed workers.&rdquo; 
 
Since Fenton&rsquo;s bill is a Private Member&rsquo;s Bill, in New Zealand it means that it will have to wait to be drawn from the ballot before it is brought before Parliament.

Private Member’s Bill Surfaces in New Zealand on Agency Labour

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
French rubber workers at the Goodyear-Dunlop twin plants in Amiens rejected a company restructuring plan that would increase work hours. With a 65% vote, the two factories, totalling 2,700 workers, said &lsquo;no&rsquo; to the American company&rsquo;s plan to reduce weekly rotation teams from five to four, and cut weekend pay for each worker by 10%. 
<img height="150" alt="" src="" width="115" />
All the primary French unions at the plants, including ICEM affiliate CFDT, recommended that workers reject the plan, and following the vote, they urged a quick return to dialogue to re-shape the restructuring plan. 
 
Goodyear&rsquo;s plan would also eliminate 450 jobs over three years through attrition. The company is seeking reorganisation of the plants in northern France in order to implement a &euro;52 million modernisation plan to produce high-performance tyres. But the reorganisation would increase work time by rotation of shifts every eight days. Weekend work would also have increased from 28 to 35 hours, had workers accepted the plan.

French Goodyear Workers Reject Reorganisation that would Increase Work Hours

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Trade unions in the UK are campaigning behind a Private Member's Bill that would give equal treatment to the more than one million contract and agency workers employed in the UK. 
Both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and UK&rsquo;s largest union, Unite, are campaigning for legislation that will give agency workers the same rights as full-time, permanent staff. Also on board are the unions GMB, Unison, Communication Workers Union, and the Union of Construction, Allied Trades, and Technicians (UCATT). 
<img height="108" alt="" src="" width="92" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="90" alt="" src="" width="90" align="absMiddle" />
The campaign begins after draft legislation, called the Temporary Agency Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Bill, was brought by Labour MP Paul Farrelly. The unions are also pressing that a European Directive on full rights for contract and agency workers be adopted before the end of the Portuguese Presidency, which ends at year&rsquo;s end.
The TUC said if negotiations on an EU Directive fail to make progress, the British government must pass domestic legislation. The Blair government broke a pledge to support a 2006 Private Member&rsquo;s Bill by Farrelly, a promise that was made in the 2004 Warwick Agreement. Farrelly's bill did get the support of more than 100 Labour MPs. 
<img height="72" alt="" src="" width="155" />
&quot;Too many employers are replacing permanent staff with badly paid, insecure agency staff,&rdquo; said TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber. &ldquo;Far from providing a bridge to permanent work, this runs the risk of creating a whole underclass of temporary workers.&rdquo; 
Barber said the simple solution is an EU Directive that would give UK agency workers new rights to equal treatment from the first day on the job. But UK&rsquo;s government has led a blocking minority at the EU, which has prevented progress on a Directive that would provide equal treatment for contract and agency workers.

UK Unions Campaign for Legislation Granting Agency Workers Full Rights

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Mobilisation of European trade unions is in full force, counting down to a 4 December European Day of Action in Rotterdam, Netherlands, against food and chemicals company Unilever&rsquo;s unjust job cuts. The mobilisation is being headed by the European Federation of Food, Agriculture, and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), and has the full support of the European Trade Union Congress (ETUC), the European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Federation (EMCEF), and the ICEM. 
In August, the Anglo-Dutch company announced a global reorganisation plan that would make redundant one-tenth of its 180,000 employees. Unilever would close 60 workplaces, out of 300 worldwide. In Europe, the company&rsquo;s global plan results in 10,000 to 12,000 job losses, with 20 to 25 plants endangered over the next 3 years. 
<img height="46" alt="" src="" width="146" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="85" alt="" src="" width="100" align="absMiddle" />
In The Netherlands, where a number of strikes have already occurred, FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Voeding came to agreement with Unilever recently over a new collective agreement, as well as job security terms over closure of three Dutch plants by the end of 2008. The plants targeted for closure are in Delft, where Calv&eacute; food products are made; in Loosdrecht, a plant making Knorr food products; and in Vlaardingen, a Lever Faberg&eacute; plant where consumer products are made. 
 
The job security terms state that plant-site Works Councils will study the company&rsquo;s plans and be allowed to develop alternatives. Those alternatives will then be seriously considered by the company in consultations with workers&rsquo; representatives. The two unions also agreed to fair compensation for any proposed job cuts. Unilever also guarantees that there will be no compulsory redundancies. 
In the collective agreement, running from May 2007 to March 2009, Dutch workers received a retroactive backpay award of 3% to last May. On 1 March 2008, they will receive a structural pay raise of 3.5%. The contract covers 3,000 workers. 
<img height="203" alt="" src="" width="200" />
For the 4 December manifestation, the ICEM and EMCEF issued a joint declaration regarding Unilever&rsquo;s global restructuring. In part, it reads, &ldquo;Unilever&rsquo;s August 2007 announced restructuring is the wrong response to the financial community&rsquo;s criticism of the company.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM, along with its sister Global Union Federation, the International Union of Food Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF), cites Unilever&rsquo;s anti-worker behaviour elsewhere as well. In India, the company has engaged in union-busting with the Hindustan Lever Employees Union at a factory in Assam. In trying to avoid social dialogue with the union, Unilever sold the food operation to a shell company. In Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan, at a foods and tea factory, Unilever called in armed militia to break workers protest against a plan to replace 950 permanent jobs, out of 1,200, with casual and contract workers. 
<img height="75" alt="" src="" width="70" />
In Vinheido, Brazil, Unilever took an uncompromising position in collective negotiations that set the worst precedents on implementing precarious work. Likewise, in Chile, South Africa, and Colombia, Unilever has exhibited clear and negative attitudes relating to labour relations.

European Unions to March 4 December Against Unilever’s Restructuring

<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
1. The ICEM Women&rsquo;s Conference Runs 17-18 November in Bangkok 
2. Africa &ndash; More Women in Governments 
3. Mexico &ndash; Discrimination Is on the Rise 
4. The Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) Meets in Washington 
5. &lsquo;Molecular condom&rsquo; Is Developed To Fight HIV/AIDS 
6. From Our Readers 
7. Resources
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
1. The ICEM Women&rsquo;s Conference Runs 17-18 November in Bangkok
All systems are go for the ICEM Women&rsquo;s Conference, which will kick off week-long events of the ICEM&rsquo;s Fourth Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. The Women&rsquo;s Committee will be meeting on 17 and 18 November, and most delegates will stay on to attend Congress as delegates. The conference theme is &ldquo;Women &ndash; Work &ndash; 21st Century.&rdquo; 
 
The theme blocks for the conference will cover peace, contract and agency labour, women&rsquo;s health in the broadest sense, and the work-life balance. Presentations, debates, and working groups will contemplate these subjects and decide on a work plan covering these issues for the next four years. Congress motions will also be discussed. 
 
The conference will elect the chair and vice-chair of the Women&rsquo;s Section, who in turn will sit on the ICEM Presidium. We look forward to seeing you in great numbers in Bangkok! 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
2. Africa &ndash; More Women in Governments 
In Morocco, seven women were appointed to head strategic ministries, ranging from energy to culture. This compares with two in the previous government. In Senegal, the new Senate has double the number of women. There are now 40 women in that body, out of 100 total, and this compares with the previous chamber, which had only 18 women. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
3. Mexico &ndash; Discrimination Is on the Rise 
A recent Mexican report indicates that accusations for job-related discrimination have gone up astronomically. From 2001 to 2006 the accusations of sexual harassment went up by 122%, firing for pregnancy-related causes by 106%, work-related violence by 61% and general discrimination by 133%. 
 
Employers tend to consider pregnancy to be a crime, instead of it being normal and a social responsibility. The Women&rsquo;s Institute considers sexual harassment to be one of the reasons why women are not promoted. The salary gap in Mexico is between 7% and 35%. The old forms of discrimination still remain, but they have been joined by new ones &ndash; emphasis on size, stature, figure, physical appearance, and simply on being single. 
 
Discrimination is banned by the Constitution, but the Labour Ministry feels that not much can be done against it because there are too loopholes. The main problem is that there is no culture of equality. Economic necessity also forces women to accept jobs that they know beforehand discrimination exists. But when women are heads of families, they have little choice. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
4. The Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) Meets in Washington 
The Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) met in Washington on 5-6 November. The Commission worked on the Draft Declaration of San Salvador: Gender, Violence, and HIV and redrafting its statutes. CIM, a specialized organization of the Organization of American States, is the principal forum for generating hemispheric policy to advance women's rights and gender equality. 
 
Established in 1928 at the Sixth International Conference of American States (Havana, Cuba), the CIM was the first official intergovernmental agency in the world created expressly to ensure recognition of the civil and political rights of women. As such, it has played a crucial role in making the participation and support of women a legitimate and indispensable part of governance and international consensus building in the Americas. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
5. &lsquo;Molecular condom&rsquo; Is Developed To Fight HIV/AIDS
Kavita Gupta, a female doctoral student from India at the University of Utah in the US, has developed a &quot;molecular condom.&quot; The condom is really a microbicide gel that kills HIV, and is designed to allow women more control in preventing AIDS since partners need to be involved in the application. 
The university is partnering with a contraceptive marketer to sell the products in India, where AIDS in increasingly being seen as a feminized disease. AIDS is spreading most rapidly in India among young women, according to the World Health Organization, and 2.5 million people there carry the virus. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
6. From Our Readers 
 
The Women&rsquo;s Committee in the Petrochemical, Mines and Energy Workers Union in Palestine held a four-day workshop to train women. The aim of the workshop was to enable women to make plans and support women&rsquo;s issues so that they would have experience and insight into women&rsquo;s activities in Arab countries and the world. 
The workshop dealt with women and democracy, new technologies, public speaking, and support mechanisms for women workers. The women had many ideas about trade unions and society. At the end they received a diploma. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
7. Resources
<a href="http://www.siyanda.org/docs/WGEKN_sen_ostlin_george.pdf">Unequal, Unfair, Ineffective and Inefficient Gender Inequity in Health</a>: Why it exists and how we can change it - Final Report to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health - September 2007 - Women and Gender Equity Knowledge Network 
<a href="http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTOGMC/EXTEXTINDWOM/0,,menuPK:3157100~pagePK:149018~piPK:149093~theSitePK:3156914,00.html">World Bank&rsquo;s website &ndash; Extractive Industries and Gender</a> 
<a href="http://www.mdgmonitor.org">http://www.mdgmonitor.org</a> 
UN&rsquo;s new website to track progress on the Millennium Development Goals. 
<a href="http://www.catalystwomen.org">http://www.catalystwomen.org</a> 
On reports on gender stereotyping at work, inclusive work environments and women&rsquo;s progress in business. 
<a href="http://www.uchastings.edu/?pid=3624">http://www.uchastings.edu/?pid=3624</a> 
Work Life Law, a site dealing with family responsibilities and discrimination 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Feature_stories/lang--en/WCMS_084620/index.htm">Women in the workplace</a>: New ILO report highlights how action in the world of work can help reduce maternal deaths 
<a href="http://www.observatoriogeneroyliderazgo.cl/">http://www.observatoriogeneroyliderazgo.cl/</a> 
Women Leadership (in Spanish) 
<a href="http://www.generoycomercio.org/">http://www.generoycomercio.org/</a> 
Gender and Trade (in Spanish) 
<a href="http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Gender%20Gap/index.htm ">The Global Gender Gap Report 2007</a> 
<a href="http://nomasviolenciacontramujeres.cl/cms/">http://nomasviolenciacontramujeres.cl/cms/</a> 
Chilean network against domestic and sexual violence (in Spanish)

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 26

Archive

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ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 26

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