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Multi-stakeholder negotiations in Indonesia, bringing together major sportswear brands, key manufacturers and five unions – including ITGLWF affiliates SPN and Garteks – have cumulated in the signing of a protocol to protect trade union rights. 
 
The negotiations began in November 2009 following a major Play Fair campaign and a commitment by major sportswear brands to engage country-by-country with trade unions in order to agree concrete steps to bring about improvements to working conditions in the industry. 
 
The protocol, signed on 7 June, addresses the fact that unions in Indonesia’s garment and footwear sectors are frequently denied the time and space they need to carry out their duties. The protocol outlaws all forms of anti-union discrimination and requires that a CBA, where none exist, be negotiated within six months. The agreement provides for the release of union officials from work duties in order to carry out their union activities; requires provision of adequate office, meeting and notice board space; gives unions the freedom to distribute information without interference; and commits signatory factories to facilitate a check-off system for collecting union dues. 
 
Initial signatories comprised multinational brands adidas, Nike and Puma, their key suppliers, and five Indonesian unions including SPN and Garteks. Playfair 2012 launched an action, exactly one year before the London 2012 Olympics, to encourage additional brands to commit to the protocol. The action was well supported and since then Pentland – owners of the Speedo brand, Asics, and New Balance have agreed to sign the protocol. 
 
Although implementation is in the embryonic stages, some steps have been taken to socialise the protocol. adidas have held workshops for their 58 Indonesian suppliers to inform them about the protocol and encourage them to agree to its provisions, and Nike have promised that all of their suppliers will know about the protocol by the end of October. ITGLWF affiliate Garteks report that the protocol has opened the door for them to negotiate a CBA and they have also seen their membership increase in that factory. 
The ITGLWF is urging all garment and footwear brands sourcing from Indonesia to sign the protocol.

Multi-Stakeholder Negotiations Lead to Garment Framework Agreement

The ArcelorMittal Health and Safety Committee, created in June 2008 in a common effort by the company and unions to improve safety in ArcelorMittal, issued its first report of activities on 15 August called “Together for Safety.” The number of fatalities has declined since 2008, but remains unacceptably high in the company. 
 
In 2008, ArcelorMittal management and unions signed an agreement to create a Joint Health and Safety Committee to address the high number of fatalities in the company’s units. The Committee is composed of representatives of the IMF, the European Metalworkers’ Federation, the United Steelworkers (USW), CNM-CUT, a mining area representative, and company Health and Safety representatives. 
 
On 15 August, the Joint Global Health and Safety Committee launched its first report, concluding it has had a positive impact on the number of fatalities, which it ascribes to good workplace cooperation between trade unions and management. 
 
Since its inception, the Committee has created local health and safety committees and made site visits in priority company sites in Kazakhstan, Brazil, Mexico, Czech Republic, Romania, South Africa, USA, Argentina, and Ukraine. During these visits, local union members and management met with committee members to review the local safety situation and develop a health and safety action plan. The committee has then arranged follow-up visits. 
 
The committee concludes that it has had a positive impact on the number of accidents in the workplace, especially fatalities, and helped reduce risk faced by workers. It has also helped to improve communication and cooperation between unions and management, locally and globally. 
 
The committee, however, also notes an increase in the number of fatalities in the last year – from 36 in 2009 to 41 in 2010, which is considered to be unacceptably high by both unions and management. 
 
There remain issues of dispute between unions and management. The company has publicised a set of “Golden Rules” for safety and associated actions, including penalties for violations, while unions fear that this violations policy will impede safety by dissuading workers to report about minor accidents and near misses, thereby creating a lazy safety management culture. 
 
There is also joint criticism of inconsistent responses to requests for health and safety training, and a deficient dialogue on the subject at some business units and work sites. 
 
The parties remain committed to the committee’s work, and see the joint report and accompanying union and management statements as evidence for a working dialogue and commitment to building a positive workplace culture. 
 
The report, “Together for Safety,” has been issued in English, and will be published also in French, Spanish, German, and Portuguese. 
 
For further details, contact Joint Committee co-chair Rob Johnston at <a href="javascript:void(0);/*1316099350265*/">rjohnston@imfmetal.org</a>.

Common Efforts Input to Workers’ Safety at ArcelorMittal

Similar to integration on the global level, European industrial union federations are integrating for greater strength and more social power. As part of that, the European Mine, Chemicals, Energy Federation (EMCEF), the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF), and the European Trade Union Federation – Textiles, Clothing and Leather (ETUF-TCL) issued a recent common and joint position on the Eurobonds debate aimed at the European Central Bank and the Council of the European Union. 
 
General Secretaries Michael Wolters (EMCEF), Ulrich Eckelmann (EMF) and Luc Triangle (ETUF-TCL) warned banks again could be the nemesis of the real economy and the fight over Eurobonds must be put on hold while action is focused on supplying the real economy with liquidity instead. 
 
The three federations said creation of a Eurobond market is no guarantee that banks will make necessary industrial investments with an economic environment that still allows speculation and opportunism to exist. This bodes badly for small- and medium-sized industrial enterprises, in particular, and lack of investment here could be a death knell. 
 
“The recovery of industry – and hence millions of jobs – is seriously threatened,” stated the three federations. “It is foolish and short-sighted to exclusively focus on austerity measures despite the need to discuss budget consolidations and develop a fair framework for responsible governance. 
 
Advocating the Financial Transaction Tax as a start, EMCEF, EMF, and ETUF-TCL said “sustainable investments are required to secure the stability of the real economy.” Necessary investments can be made by European Union future investment bonds which must be limited in time, related to specific projects, and financed by levies placed on the capital of wealthy speculators that caused the financial crisis in the first place.

European Trade Federations Demand Economic Liquidity for Job Creation

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Codelco, the state-owned mining company of Chile and world’s largest copper producer, reached early terms with three of its five mining unions at El Teniente in Region VI ten days ago. The 40-month agreement will take effect on 1 July 2011 and will cover 2,500 of El Teniente’s 4,000 miners. 
 
The branches of Federación de Trabajadores del Cobre (FTC) that agreed to terms were Sindicato No. 5, Sindicato No. 7, and Sindicato de Trabajadores Caletones. One of the two other branches rejected the proposal, while the other was not included in bargaining. 
 
The package is expected to be considered by those mineworker trade union branches in the coming days. 
 
The collective agreement includes a 3.85% wage increase on 1 July and a CLP 12.3 million (€17,680, US$25,324) bonus, which matches the bonus paid miners at other Codelco divisions in 2010. It also includes an optional loan of CLP 3 million, and a 10% increase in the annual bonus that comes on Chile’s national day, 18 September.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Chile.png" width="250" height="115"/>
El Teniente is an underground mine that includes some 2,400 kilometres of shafts. It includes an ore processing operation producing molybdenum, and its output of copper lingots and copper anodes is 404,000 tonnes per year. In 2010, it accounted for 27.2% of Codelco’s US$5.8 billion profit. 
 
At another Codelco copper operation, Chuquicamata, part of the El Norte division, FTC branches and management met 12 April to discuss staffing requirements. The Chuquicamata mine recently shed a number of jobs due to union-negotiated early retirements as the operation prepares for a conversion from an open-cast mine to an underground one. 
 
FTC Sindicato No. 1 Vice President Héctor Roco said the union, and three other FTC branches at Chuquicamata, want workers to be given the opportunity to transfer to areas where retirements have lowered job rolls, and they also want a say in the planning of the transition to underground mining. 
 
Codelco employs 17,000 miners in Chile at five divisions: El Norte, Salvador, Andina, El Teniente, and Ventaras.

Early Accord Comes to One of Codelco’s Copper Mines in Chile

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The ICEM-affiliated Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF) condemned the recent actions of managers at a joint venture copper-gold project in Baluchistan province owned by Barrick Gold of Canada and Antofagasta Ltd. of the UK. Managers at the Reko Diq project of Tethyan Copper Co. (TCC) suddenly turned its back on a budding social dialogue forum with the TCC Employees’ Union and suspended 12 union activists. 
 
This despite a pledge by Tethyan Copper managers to engage the All Pakistan Labour Federation (APLF) in signing a charter of demand to begin serious discussions over workplace matters at the set of 19 gold and copper deposits in the Chagai District of the southwestern Pakistani province. The charter ended a hunger strike in front of the company’s offices in Nok Kundi.
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1104.pakistan.quetta press.JPG" width="294" height="170" alt=""/>
 Sultan Mohammad Khan (center) at News Briefing 

But shortly after, Tethyan Copper reneged on reinstating five of the 12 workers, sacking them, and then of 14 April fired four TCC Employees’ Union leaders, including President Ghulam Hayder Baloch and Chairman Mazir Ahmad Baloch. At a press conference at the Quetta press club on 17 April, PCMLF General Secretary and APLF leader Sultan Mohammad Khan denounced the company’s backpeddling and urged journalists and others to apply pressure for reinstatement. 
 
“Management of Tethyan Copper ignored an environment of brotherhood and refused to fulfil its commitment,” he said. “The workers of Reko Diq are of the view that TCC is not offering them anything other than a job, and that job hangs by a loose thread. They feel helpless and powerless now in front of this company because if they demand their legal rights, they feel they will be terminated.”
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1104.pakistan.quetta press.2.JPG" width="230" height="142" alt=""/>
Australian-based TCC was bought by Antofagasta in 2006 and immediately Barrick’s joined as a joint venture partner on the Reko Diq project to help alleviate Antofagasta’s debt burden. The copper-gold porphyry mineral deposits are said to be worth US$100 billion, with copper reserves of 12.3 million tonnes and gold reserves of 20.8 million ounces. In 2010, the enterprise drew 1.98 million ounces of gold from Reko Diq.

Mine Workers’ Federation Condemns Barrick Gold, Antofagasta in Pakistan

Dear Pulp & Paper Comrades, 
 
The month-long struggle for a fair national collective agreement by 4,000 members of ICEM affiliate Ammattiliitto Pro continues today. In fact, in anything, following a two-week strike against UPM that ended last week, the union has ramped up lawful industrial action. 
 
A <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4394-Paper-Dispute-in-Finland-Worsens;-Strike-Expands" type="internal">full ICEM report</a> from yesterday, 25 April, can be read without going into too many details here. 
 
In short, a scheduled two-week strike action that was to have started on Wednesday, 27 April, has been moved up to today. The strike actions, this time numbering 1,500 Pro members, will be against all Stora Enso operations in Finland, as well as against Metsäliitto and its related and partly-owned paper companies – Metsä-Botnia, M-real, and Metsä Tissue. The reasons for moving strike action up are primarily Stora Enso’s heavy-handed attempt to bust a lawful overtime ban the union has put in place, and the fact that Proliitto enters government-mediated bargaining today over the dispute with the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF). 
 
In your own short words, send a message of congratulations to Pro leaders for waging this gutsy fight on behalf of union members, and send them another note of solidarity. They are <a href="mailto:Antti.rinne@proliitto.fi">Antti Rinne</a>, <a href="mailto:Jukka.hamalainen@proliitto.fi">Jukka Hamalainen</a>, and <a href="http://Matti.koskinen@proliitto.fi">Matti Koskinen</a>. 
 
They truly have ratcheted up pressure against the industry in Finland and by doing this, it will ensure that white-collar, technical, and clerical workers in the pulp and paper sector in Finland will get their fair share.
 
<hr/>
Campaign to Save Sappi’s Paper Mill in Biberist, Switzerland 
 
Another hot issue in European pulp and paper is Swiss union Unia’s campaign to prevent Sappi from closing a printing and writing papers mill (one Sappi bought from M-real) in Biberist, Switzerland. 
 
A <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4393-ICEM-Joins-Swiss-Workers’-Campaign-to-Keep-Sappi-Paper-Mill-Open" type="internal">full ICEM report</a> can be accessed here. 
 
The campaign is exciting because the whole community of Biberist, located some 40 kilometres north of Bern, has rallied to Unia’s campaign. The mill manager is bucking Sappi Europe’s decision to close what now has become a productive and profitable mill. And last week, the Sappi EWC pleaded with management to keep the mill open. Full details can be found in the ICEM story. 
 
Do your part: send a short message to Unia’s representatives that you support the union’s initiatives. They are <a href="mailto:Manuel.wyss@unia.ch">Manuel Wyss</a>, <a href="mailto:Markus.baumann@unia.ch">Markus Baumann</a>, and <a href="mailto:David.binder@sappi.com">David Binder</a>.

Finnish Paper Strike Heats Up; Further Help Needed

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1004.mayday.jpg" width="283" height="93"/>
The ICEM has joined with the 11 other Global Union Federations (GUFs), as well as the International Trade Union Confederation and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD in issuing a joint 1 May statement. That statement follows below. 
Winds of change for social justice and democracy 
 
1 May 2011
Today as trade unionists around the world celebrate the role of workers in the fight for democracy and social justice, the international union movement takes inspiration from winds of change sweeping across Arab countries. 
 
Global Unions salute the courage of working men and women and the independent trade unions in the vanguard of this historic fight for freedom. 
 
We pledge our support to their struggle and we condemn without reservation the tyranny of regimes, in the Middle East and elsewhere, who continue to deny their people fundamental rights and who use violence to silence voices of dissent. We urge the international community to act to end this oppression. 
 
At the same time, in the name of hundreds of millions of working people who yearn for an end to inequality, discrimination and exploitation, Global Unions reaffirm their demand for a full-scale transformation of the world economy. 
We seek an end to the culture of political and corporate neglect that has created a gulf between rich and poor and we call for new commitments to respect workers’ rights, to create the framework for social justice and to combat the scourge of unemployment. 
 
The time has come to turn away from the failed policies of the past. We must abandon programmes of austerity that tear into the fabric of society and that diminish people’s lives. We must end the scandal of falling living standards caused by the growth of informal, unprotected and precarious work and, particularly, the grotesque exploitation of migrant workers. There must be action now to rescue a lost generation of young people who yearn for jobs and a decent future. 
But none of this will happen unless governments put their people first by regulating the finance sector and by curbing the excesses of corporate power. 
All governments must invest in job creation, in education and training, in programmes to strengthen investment in quality public services and in providing a universal social protection floor. The largest and most powerful economies, in the G20, must provide the lead for this. 
Governments must put finance at the service of the real economy and reclaim the wealth needed to put the world economy to rights by taxing banks and finance, including urgent action to introduce a financial transactions tax. 
States must confront corporations who profit from scandalous exploitation of vulnerable workers and who fail to respect union rights and global labour standards. 
Unless there is an immediate change of direction in governance and management of the world economy, the noble aspirations of the Millennium Development Goals will not be met and there will be no progress to stop the catastrophe of climate change. 
 
Globalisation can only work if it brings sustainable wealth for all and promotes action for a just transition to a sustainable world built around principles of strong economies, social justice, and green jobs. 
 
Global Unions will work together to expose governments who refuse to change and who are withdrawing from provision of services, imposing fiscal cuts and attacking public sector workers with devastating effect on the lives of all people, particularly women. 
 
We will continue to isolate, condemn and target those companies that are reckless in their disregard for labour standards and who prey upon the weakest in the workforce. 
 
Finally, Global Unions in the Middle East and elsewhere will continually strive for peace in the face of dictatorship and corruption. Exploitation and political instability caused by an absence of the rule of law and democracy and economic injustice means that war and social conflict is a constant risk. 
 
Today the global challenges are as great as we have ever faced, but the union movement is in good heart. Our proud traditions of solidarity are the foundations of 
social progress, democracy and peace, and they give us the strength to make real the dream of a global economy based upon justice, equality, humanity and sustainability.

Global Labour’s Joint 1 May Statement

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/BWI New.jpg" width="100" height="90" alt=""/>     <img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEM100.jpg" width="100" height="86" alt=""/>
The ICEM joined the Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI), yesterday in launching a global campaign for equal rights of Holcim CAL workers in India.
Join the <a href="http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?Index=3442&Language=EN">campaign yourself by sending a message to the Holcim CEO</a> via the BWI website here. 
The Indian Cement Workers Federation (INCWF) an affiliate of both global union federations, has conducted a long-running campaign calling for equal rights, conditions, and salaries for contract workers, as stipulated under Indian law. Holcim India continuously neglects this legislation, specifically at its subsidiaries ACC in Bhilai and Ambuja Cement in Baloda Bazar.
The State High Court of Chhattisgarh ruled in favour of contract workers at Holcim Jamul Unit, instructing the company to regularise CAL employees and replace the "sham" contracts currently in place. Holcim India is yet to act positively on the court ruling. Workers at Jamul have conducted a "sit in" protest since 3 April.
On Holcim's purchase of ACC and Ambuja Cement, both companies were members of the Cement Manufacturer's Association and signatories to the National Wage Agreement for the sector. It is extremely unfortunate that under Holcim's ownership, this has been reversed, removing employee's protection from the National Agreement, blocking their right to bargain collectively.
See a recent <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4245-Finally-Excellent-Wage-Gains-Won-by-Indian-Cement-Workers" type="internal">ICEM report</a> on the positive national settlement for the Indian cement industry here.
The INCWF, backed by BWI, ICEM, and joint Swiss affiliate UNIA, are calling on the company to enter into dialogue so as to resolve these issues, respect global labour standards, Indian law, and end the discriminatory treatment of contract workers at Holcim.
Holcim is the second largest producer of cement in the world. An average salary for Indian contract workers is US$2.17 a day, and a high amount on limestone are factors moving Holcim to shift production to India from countries such as Spain and the US.
See the <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Holcim%20Akermann%2028%204%202011.pdf" type="internal">joint BWI-ICEM letter to Holcim</a> CEO Markus Akermann here.

Global Campaign Launched for Indian Cement Contract Workers

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF) elected new leadership at an extraordinary General Assembly, held 3 May in Luxembourg. Some 90 delegates unanimously voted for Michael Vassiliadis, President of German trade union IG BCE, as President of EMCEF, while former ICEM officer Michael Wolters was named Acting General Secretary. 
 
They replace EMCEF President Hubertus Schmoldt, who retired from IGBCE in 2009, and General Secretary Reinhard Reibsch, who now retires. The assembly welcomed General Secretary Peter Scherer of the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) and President Valeria Fedeli and General Secretary Patrick Itschert of the European Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers’ Federation. These two European federations together with EMCEF are expected to integrate in 2012, creating a single industrial trade union federation for Europe. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0907.Michael%20Vassiliadis.jpg" width="165" height="140"/>
New EMCEF President, Michael Vassiliadis
General Secretary Bernadette Segol of UNI-Europa also addressed the assembly. She is likely to be elected General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) when the ETUC holds its Congress next week in Athens. 
 
Founded in 1996 in Luxembourg, EMCEF represents some two million members in 38 European countries. Delegates on 3 May discussed the Secretariat's report on activities and finances, and then went into a detailed report on the future of European trade union activities, including the role of a new industrial union federation in Europe. 
 
The General Assembly also gave approval to three resolutions: affirming the fight against contract labour and precarious forms of work, affirmation to create a new European industry trade union federation; and giving support to Romanian affiliates fighting against extreme austerity measures there. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1105.emcef.jpg" width="220" height="165"/>
Schmoldt, Vassiliadis, Wolters, Reibsch
Vassiliadis, in his first speech as head of EMCEF, underlined the importance integration: “We need combined forces to respond to major social, political, economic, and environmental challenges.” He also praised Schmoldt, who he said transformed EMCEF from a loose association of trade unions to an influential trade union federation. 
 
Elected President of IGBCE in October 2009, Vassiliadis has been on IGBCE’s six-member Governing Board since 2004, and has directed areas of works councils, shop steward development, trade union education, and youth activities for the German union. Originally from a Bayer plant near his home in Essen, he sits now on the supervisory boards of chemical companies BASF and Henkel, as well as serving as deputy chairman of the potash producer Kali and Salz and Evonik Steag. 
 
Wolters hails from Hamburg’s chemical sector. He began with IG Chemie in 1990, did youth work for the union in eastern Germany then and in 2001 became the director of the union’s Dresden office. He worked at the ICEM from 2005 until 2007 and since has been working in IGBCE’s International Department in Hannover. 
 
ICEM was represented at the EMCEF General Assembly by Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal Özkan.

New Leadership Comes in at EMCEF

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on how the HIV/AIDS project in India includes women, on ART adherence in Ethiopia, and reflect on the UN’s efforts to match commitment and declarations with concrete results. 
 
Indian Mineworkers’ Federation Involves Women 
 
In the framework of the HIV/AIDS project in India, which is sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, the Indian National Mineworkers’ Federation (INMF) organised a training programme for women peer educators and counsellors in Kolkata. Twenty-one participants from five different coal companies, most of them para-medical staff from company clinics, attended the two-day course. 
 
Participants discussed the basics of HIV and AIDS, voluntary counselling and testing services, perspectives of people living with HIV and AIDS and behaviour change. The ILO Delhi office sent a resource person to talk about the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work and the new Recommendation No. 200 concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work. Participants also elaborated an action plan for activities in their workplaces and communities. 
 
On International Women’s Day, 8 March, two one-day programmes on HIV/AIDS and the workplace were organised in Dhanbad and Asansole. A total of 63 women attended the programmes which were organised by two master trainers who had received training in earlier stages of the project. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
US Confirms Pledge to Global Fund, Other Donors Backtrack 
 
The US Congress agreed on 15 April that the US will give US$1.05 billion to the Global Fund during the fiscal year that ends on 30 September 2011. This is the same amount that the US committed for the previous year. 
 
After Republicans took control of the House, they moved to cut this to US$0.6 billion. Eventually, after much backroom negotiation, agreement was reached on the US$1.05 billion figure. Congress passed the legislation, and President Barack Obama signed it. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Global%20Fund%20logo.gif" width="250" height="53"/>
However, one standard aspect of such legislation is that the US will give no more than 33% of the total given by all countries to the Global Fund. Thus, if all other donors do not give twice as much as the US commits, the US contribution will be reduced. 
 
It is not yet known whether other donors will give twice as much as the US has promised. One problem is that a new trend has emerged whereby a few donors do not live up to their commitments. The most notable example of this is Italy, which has not paid any part of its 2009 and 2010 pledges of US$ 183 million per year. In addition, Spain has only paid US$134 million of the US$250 million it pledged for 2010, and Ireland has only paid US$11 million of the $48 million it pledged for 2010. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 144 of 20 April. 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 alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Ethiopia to Boost ART Adherence 
 
Patients taking their antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs irregularly risk developing drug-resistant strains of the virus. A three-month campaign by Addis Ababa's health bureau hopes to boost adherence to ARVs in the Ethiopian capital by improving communication between patients and health service providers. 
 
A 2009 study by the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO) found that on average, 72.3% of patients on ARVs were still on first-line medication one year after starting treatment. The remaining people are lost. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Ethiopia.png" width="170" height="78"/>
Insufficient food, high transport costs to drug collection points, and stigma-related issues such as fear of disclosure are some of the main reasons why HIV-positive Ethiopians fail to stick to ARVs. Such failure can hasten progress from HIV to AIDS; patients taking their drugs irregularly also run the risk of developing drug-resistant strains of the virus, requiring significantly more costly second- and third-line ARVs. 
 
Addis Ababa's health bureau is partnering with the national AIDS Resource Centre (ARC) on the three-month campaign, launched in March and funded by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Through a mass-media campaign and the use of toll-free telephone HIV/AIDS information services, it seeks to promote "astewai" (responsible patients), and "tagash" (tolerant service providers) as part of its efforts to improve adherence. 
 
Some 26 state-run health centre, five state-run hospitals and 13 private facilities that provide ART in Addis Ababa will participate in the campaign, with a plan to roll it out to the rest of the country should it prove successful. 
 
(Source: IRIN Plus News, Addis Ababa, 13 April) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Fund Selects Co-Chairs for Expert Panel on Corruption 
 
The Global Fund has selected two prominent people to co-chair the panel of experts that will be conducting an independent review of the Fund’s financial safeguards. They are former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae, and former US Health and Human Services Secretary, Michael O. Leavitt. 
 
The panel is part of a broader set of measures that the Global Fund is implementing to strengthen the Fund’s financial and risk management systems. Some of these measures, including the panel, were in response to the recent media coverage of corruption in the administration of Global Fund grants in a few sub-Saharan African countries, and to the reaction of some donors to the corruption revelations. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1105.unaids.botswana pres.jpg" width="128" height="169"/>     <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1105.unaids.american.jpg" width="136" height="169"/>
Festus Mogae, Michael O. Leavitt
The co-chairs will select a small group of eminent persons and experts to join the panel. The Global Fund says that the panel will assess the Fund’s current practices in financial oversight, and will make recommendations to help strengthen the Global Fund’s fiscal controls and anti-corruption measures. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 142 of 17 March. 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 alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Burundi: ‘Die-in’ Protest over Lack of HIV Care 
 
NGOs fear the erratic drug supply could lead to the deaths of people living with HIV. Hundreds of Burundians living with HIV/AIDS recently staged a demonstration in the capital, Bujumbura, to protest against a lack of treatment. 
 
Men, women, and children lay on the ground for 10 minutes to "show the government that if nothing is done rapidly - this week, this month – we will all die," said Jeanne Gapiya, a leading Burundian HIV activist. 
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The protest was staged on 29 March by REMUA, Reseau de Reinforcement Mutuel des Acteurs de la Première Ligne, a network of six NGOs providing HIV treatment to more than 9,000 people – about one-third of all people receiving antiretrovirals in Burundi. 
 
The protest was staged on 29 March by REMUA, Reseau de Reinforcement Mutuel des Acteurs de la Première Ligne, a network of six NGOs providing HIV treatment to more than 9,000 people – about one-third of all people receiving antiretrovirals in Burundi. According to Gapiya, despite funding from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2010, organizations caring for HIV-positive people had not signed agreements with the National Council for HIV/AIDS Control (CNLS) to access the cash. 
 
The Global Fund approved about US$35 million to fight HIV in Burundi under its eighth round of grants. An estimated 150,000 Burundians are living with HIV; the pandemic has left more than 20,000 orphans in the central African country. 
 
(Source: IRIN Plus News, Bujumbura, 4 April) 
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News from Global Unions 
 
The <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">International Transport Workers’ Federation</a> (ITF) in its latest HIV/AIDS updates No. 104 and 105 in April, reports on HIV training courses for Burmese migrant workers, mainly fishermen, in Thailand and on a Southern Africa workshop on HIV/AIDS and TB in the transport sector, organised in cooperation with the ILO and UNAIDS. 
 
Dr Syed Asif Altaf, the ITF Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator has published, together with Robert Lovelace, Senior Fellow for the Trade Union Sustainable Development Unit, an article in the upcoming issue of the UN Chronicle on Labour, HIV and the Workplace – <a href="http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/">Working to Get the Job Done</a>.  
 
The EFAIDS (Education for All and HIV and AIDS Education) project of the Education International (EI) is ending after five successful years. Life saving skills training has been implemented by 80 member organisations in 48 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. An independent evaluation of the five-year programme is being conducted and the findings will be shared at the EFAIDS closing conference in mid-May. 
 
The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) reports that its affiliate in Zambia reached out to hundreds of workers through HIV/AIDS workplace education. During the educational activities, workers were trained in the usage of condoms and care and support while at the same time linking the training to health and safety. 
 
The latest issue of the SWHAP (The Swedish Workplace HIV and AIDS Programme) Newsletter can be accessed at <a href="http://www.swhap.org">www.swhap.org</a>. The website also gives useful links to a Peer Educators’ Monitoring Booklet and How to Start a Workplace Programme. SWHAP is a joint programme of the International Council of Swedish Industry (NIR) and the Swedish Industrial and Metalworkers’ Union (IF Metall). It is sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). 
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Five Years Ago: From the May 2006 Issue (No. 8) 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In current issues, we refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In the May 2006 issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, we reported on the comprehensive review the UN General Assembly undertook on the targets agreed by member states at the 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS). UNGASS adopted the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. This Declaration provides a comprehensive framework to halt and reverse the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2010 and includes specific and measurable milestones for 2003, 2005, and 2010. Few of the targets have been met. 
 
Interestingly enough, the Declaration says in chapter 49: “By 2005, strengthen the response to HIV/AIDS in the world of work by establishing and implementing prevention and care programmes in public, private and informal work sectors, and take measures to provide a supportive workplace environment for people living with HIV/AIDS.” 
 
The General Assembly in 2006 adopted a Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, without setting new targets but reaffirming the targets of the 2001 Declaration of Commitment. The Millennium Development Goals still stand. They say in Article 6.A: “Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS” and 6.B: “Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it.” As stated in various UN and UNAIDS documents, targets for “universal access” do not necessarily require 100% coverage. 
 
In June 2011, the General Assembly will undertake a comprehensive review of the progress achieved in realising the Declaration of Commitment and the Political Declaration in High Level Meeting (UNGA-HLM, see e-bulletin 67, April 2011).
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This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter – How to Subscribe 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="mailto:press@icem.org">press@icem.org</a>. Please put “subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin” in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 68, May 2011 

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