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The repressive Mugabe regime today found six activists guilty on fabricated charges of inciting public violence. They had been arrested a year ago, together with 39 other people for discussing the Arab Spring and viewing video footage on the popular uprising in Egypt. They had initially been charged with treason, but during the course of the court process, the charges were reduced and the other 39 people cleared.

	The six Zimbabwean activists, Munyaradzi Gwisai, Tafadzwa Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo and Welcome Zimuto, face jail sentences of up to 10 years, to be handed down tomorrow.&nbsp;

	Three of the six, Munyaradzi, Tafadzwa and Tatenda work with the Zimbabwe Labour Centre a non profit organisation that gives legal support to unions and workers on labour matters and&nbsp; provides educational programmes.&nbsp;

	The right to meet, discuss events in the world, share ideas and speak openly and freely is a basic human right for which activists should not be victimised and vilified.&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Send your SMS text message now to the people who can limit the unfair sentence tomorrow.

	Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena + 263 712 801 172

	Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri + 263 712 808 290

	Police Minister Kembo Mohadi +263 712 605 424

	Security Minister Didymus Mutasa +263 0712 200 532

	Send: &quot;Do NOT send the 6 Harare activists to jail!&quot;

Urgent! Send SMS to Call for Justice in Zimbabwe NOW

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />

	In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the ICEM HIV/AIDS regional workshop in Johannesburg, developments at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and on the severe consequences arising from the funding crisis.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />

	Regional HIV and AIDS Workshop in Johannesburg

	A very successful sub-Saharan Africa regional workshop was organised in Johannesburg from 14-16 February. With the active participation of national coordinators from ten countries, a review of activities in 2010 and 2011, the first two years of the present three-year project cycle, was conducted. Participants also presented country plans for 2012, the last year of the current project.

	Key challenges and opportunities for the future and creative methods of addressing HIV and AIDS in the current social and economic environment were elaborated. In further group work, key elements for a possible new project cycle for 2013-2015 were developed. The outcome of this work were power point presentations from three groups which constitute valuable input for a possible new project.

	Evelyn Serima, HIV/AIDS Technical Specialist in the Decent Work Team for East and Southern Africa at the ILO Pretoria office, gave a presentation on progress in the implementation of ILO Recommendation 200 concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work and on new targets for 2015, especially the UNAIDS triple zero initiative &ndash; zero new infections, zero death and zero discrimination. Her presentation was highly relevant for the work on a project beyond 2012.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The Global Fund at Ten Years &ndash; Not a Happy Anniversary

	At the end of January, the Global Fund celebrated its tenth anniversary. These past 12 months, which ended with the Board persuading the Executive Director to resign, have been the Fund&rsquo;s most difficult to date.

	The stage was set for the Global Fund&rsquo;s problem-filled 2011 when the Fund said in October 2010 that it needed well over US$13 billion to meet anticipated demand for 2011&ndash;2013 but donors pledged only US$11.7 billion.

	Then on 23 January 2011, the Associated Press published an article entitled &quot;Fraud Plagues Global Health Fund,&quot; based on public reports from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The story took off like wildfire. Alarmed, some of the Global Fund&rsquo;s donors held back on delivering their promised contributions pending clear action by the Fund to deal with fraud.

	The OIG&rsquo;s findings on fraud were obviously important and required action. But the OIG made little distinction between outright fraud and multiple lesser crimes such as documenting expenditures using photocopies rather than originals.

	The Fund set up a High Level Panel to review how the Fund identifies and manages risk in its grant-making. The panel issued a report in September that was daunting in terms of the number of things it said need fixing.

	The downhill trajectory continued when the Global Fund, having launched Round 11 in August 2011, cancelled it three months later because of inadequate funding.

	Then came a final nose-dive when the Global Fund Board, after reviewing the events of the past year and conducting an in-depth assessment of the managerial performance of Michel Kazatchkine, the Fund&rsquo;s Executive Director (ED), concluded that Dr Kazatchkine had to go. He resigned on 24 January 2012 after the Board had appointed a General Manager to whom all top management would report.

	The Global Fund performs vital work affecting millions of lives. The Fund cannot afford to have a second year like 2011, and might be permanently damaged if so.

	(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 175 of 6 February. 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>)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Delayed Disbursements of Grants Threatens South Africa&rsquo;s TAC

	The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), a sub-recipient (SR) for a Round 6 HIV grant in South Africa, has experienced significant delays in receiving disbursements. TAC says that because of these delays, the organisation is perilously close to having to shut its doors. TAC is known world-wide for its pioneering advocacy work in South Africa on HIV treatment.

	The South Africa National Department of Health (NDOH) is the principal recipient for the HIV grant. Under its contract with the NDOH, TAC was due to receive 6.5 million rand (US$833,000) by the start of July 2011 to cover expenses between then and the end of 2011.

	TAC has still not received any of this funding. On 1 January 2012, TAC was due to receive a further disbursement of 2.7 million rand (US$346,000) to cover expenses for January to March 2012. That funding has also not yet been received, increasing the shortfall to 9.2 million rand (US$1.2 million).

	On 23 November 2011, TAC issued a statement in which it said that the organisation faced possible closure because of the lack of funds. The statement said that TAC depended on the Global Fund grant for a large portion of its work. It added that the delays were primarily due to poor administration by the NDOH.

	(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 176 of 20 February)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Zimbabwe: Improved AIDS Levy Collections

	With global funding for HIV/AIDS on the decline, Zimbabwe&#039;s innovative AIDS levy &ndash; a three percent tax on income &ndash; has become a promising source of funding for the country, with a dramatic increase in revenue collected in the past two years.

	The levy was introduced in 1999 to compensate for declining donor support, but low salaries and the poor performance of industry meant not enough money had been collected until recently. In its 2010 report on Zimbabwe&#039;s progress in implementing the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2001, the government admitted the levy was &quot;essentially non-existent in 2007-2008 due to economic challenges the country was facing.&quot;

	According to the National AIDS Council Board, a total of US$20.5 million was collected in 2010 against US$5.7 million the previous year; non-audited figures for 2011 suggest a collection of US$25 million.

	Although 347,000 people are on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment in the country, another 600,000 need the medication. The treatment gap widened after Zimbabwe adopted the new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines that recommend starting treatment earlier.

	The AIDS levy contributed almost a quarter of the money to purchase ARVs, while 76% of the treatment programme was financed by international donors such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the UK Department for International Development. But Zimbabwe &ndash; one of the hardest countries hit by HIV/AIDS &ndash; still needs a lot more funding to cover the worrying treatment gap.

	(Source: IRIN, Harare, 3 February)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	South Africa to Produce Active Ingredients for ARVs

	South Africa is to build a ZAR 1.6 billion (US$ million) pharmaceutical plant to produce the ingredients for antiretroviral drugs. The plant is a joint venture between the government and Lonza, a Swiss chemicals and biotechnology company.

	So far, most antiretroviral drugs used in South Africa are manufactured locally but all the active ingredients used in them are imported. South Africa is the world&rsquo;s largest market for antiretroviral drugs. Pharmaceutical imports are one of the most important contributors to the country&rsquo;s trade deficit.

	(Source: Business Day, Johannesburg 10 February)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	DR Congo: Alarm Bells over Poor Funding

	The lives of thousands of HIV-positive people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are at risk as the country faces declining donor funding and a severe shortage of treatment, according to M&eacute;decins sans Fronti&egrave;res (MSF).

	More than one million people are living with HIV and of the 350,000 people who qualify for antiretroviral treatment, only 44,.000 &ndash; 13% &ndash; receive it. Seventy-five percent of funding in the DRC comes from the Global Fund, 25% from UNITAID and from PEPFAR, the US President&rsquo;s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Earlier World Bank funding ended in 2011.

	As the DRC did not qualify for funding under the 9th and 10th round of Global Fund grants, it is using funds from previous rounds which will last at the most to 2014, not counting up-scaling. UNITAID funds through the Clinton Health Access Initiative are for paediatric and second-line ARVs and PEPFAR provides funds for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission.

	(Source: IRIN, Nairobi/Kinshasa, 2 February)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	News from Global Unions

	The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org/">www.itfglobal.org</a>), in its latest HIV/AIDS update 119 of 1 and 15 February, reports on the signing of a policy on HIV and AIDS of the Confederation of Railway Workers of Bolivia with two railway companies. It also draws attention of affiliates to the process of reviewing ILO Recommendation 200 concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, and the importance of trade unions getting involved in this process of monitoring the implementation of Recommendation 200.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Five Years Ago: From the March 2007 Issue (No. 18)

	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 March 2007 issue, we reported on the signing of a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with the Swedish paper multinational Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA), which included an HIV/AIDS clause. The company agreed to comply with the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.

	We pointed out the importance of such a clause for affiliates. If a company agrees to comply with the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, this opens a whole range of possibilities for negotiations and activities for the unions organising inside a GFA company. The ten key principles of the Code of Practice include non-discrimination, gender equality, confidentiality, prevention, care and support. A GFA applies to all operations of a company worldwide. Often, local management is not familiar with a GFA signed by their head office. Insist on implementation and compliance!

	Regrettably, only a minority of ICEM GFAs include an HIV/AIDS clause.

	We also reported on the appointment of a new Executive Director at the Global Fund, Michel Kazatchkine. He resigned recently (see e-bulletin February 2012, No. 77).

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 78, March 2012

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390">

	The third phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry&rsquo;s investigation of the Pike River mine explosions of November 2010 that killed 29 concluded in mid-February in Greymouth, New Zealand, and several experts testified to the inherent weak safety mechanisms in place by Pike River Coal Ltd.

	The latest set of hearings also reveal a company that was 18 months behind on orders to deliver &nbsp;premium metallurgical coal, and in the words of a technical services manager who resigned just days before the first explosion, &ldquo;There was no way the company would delay coal production&rdquo; because of safety concerns.

	The manager, Pieter Van Rooyen, testified that workers had given him notice of inadequate methane drainage pipes, requesting that drilling cease until rectified. Despite passing that on in writing to senior operational managers, nothing was done. Van Rooyen said the decision to begin hydro-mining deep within the shaft without constructing a second exit &ndash; and in areas of high methane gas build-up &ndash; was strictly for &ldquo;cash-flow purposes.&rdquo;

	&nbsp;<img alt="" height="159" src="" width="183" />&nbsp;

	An electrical engineer who investigated New Zealand&rsquo;s worst mining accident in 100 years said the faulty Pike River electrical systems multiplied chances for disaster since stray currents in many mechanical instruments produced sparks. Pike River&rsquo;s main exhaust fan was located underground, an anomaly to modern mining.

	In late October 2010, the company was warned by a regulatory agency that the stability of an expanded roof in an underground area was worrisome, and again nothing was done. A mine safety expert from Australia testified that the blast was caused by a roof collapse deep inside the mine, causing a massive release of gas. When the underground fan failed, the gas could have ignited from a small spark.

	For 16 months now, the bodies of the 29 have remained entombed inside the South Island mine, despite efforts by families to recover their loved ones. In this inquiry round, photos of two miners who were sighted dead near self-rescue units were shown. The photos indicate that the miners might have survived the initial blast on 19 November 2010. In the following days, five more major explosions occurred.

	Pike River Coal Ltd. killed 29 miners, including 26 New Zealanders, a miner from South Africa, one from the UK, and another miner who was an Australian national. The mother of this Australian miner named Josh Ufer is currently speaking out in Australia on the necessity to maintain full trade union involvement in all mine safety matters.

	As the Single Bargaining Unit led by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) wages a battle against BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi to retain union-mandated safety deputies and open cut examiners inside Queensland collieries, Joanne Ufer is versing the dangers inherent in unilateral management control of safety matters in union advertisements.

	The final phase of the Pike River Royal Commission of Inquiry will convene next month, with the commission&rsquo;s report and findings to be issued in September.&nbsp; See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4681-Pike-River-s-Royal-Inquiry-Sees-Troubling-Safety-Issues-Inside-NZ-Mine-Disaster">ICEM report</a> following the commission&rsquo;s second phase hearings.

‘Disaster Waiting to Happen,’ Pike River 3rd Inquiry Told

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Union members, affiliated to Unite the Union in the UK, rejected 5 March a redundancy proposal from Austrian packaging company Mayr-Melnhof that would have ended a 19-day lockout at a plant in Merseyside, near Liverpool. Workers rejected it 138-1 largely because management still insists on its own discretionary powers in disbursing redundancy packages to 49 workers.

	Unite has escalated a campaign against the Vienna-based paper carton and packaging company primarily because Mayr-Melnhof has retracted and reduced buy-out terms in this set of talks, and has substantially broken from redundancy pay-outs and terms commonly established in past consultations.

	In talks on 29 February and again on 3 March, the company proposed a social fund to bridge the difference paid in its 2008 and 2010 layoffs, with lesser packages offered now. But the social fund would be discretionary, based on subjective criteria unilaterally set by the company, which underscores Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s bargaining posture throughout this set of 2012 talks.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 203px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Len McClusky (right) Speaks to Unite Strikers at Mayr-Melnhof

	Workers at the Bootle, Merseyside, plant began lawful industrial actions on 10 February over Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s intransigence with six-hour &ldquo;switch strikes.&rdquo; &nbsp;Walkouts rotated from 06h to noon, and from noon to 18h. On 18 February, managers locked workers out and began manoeuvring to move equipment and product out of the factory.

	Workers then entered the factory and staged a shop-floor sit-in to prevent removal. Despite several sets of talks since, Mayr-Melnhof has steadfastly resisted any workable compromise proposed by Unite, and the lockout has continued.

	The union has brought the dispute to Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s Packaging Division workers in Germany, and the ICEM has issued a call for <a href="/en/19-Pulp-Paper/4918-Packaging-Workers-Need-Support-">Solidarity Action</a>, which can be viewed and acted upon here. Trade unionists inside the company&rsquo;s Karton Division, led by Austrian affiliate Pro-Ge, have brought attention to the company&rsquo;s hostile UK labour relations inside Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s eight European paper mills, and Pro-Ge has also protested loudly to CEO Wilhelm Hoermansedar.

	Unite, meanwhile, is preparing an industrial ballot at Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s other UK packaging plant, in Deeside, North Wales, on grounds that the company is worsening redundancy terms and conditions from previously agreed. The Bootle plant produces food packaging from tea bags to breakfast cereal to pet food packaging, with Kellogg&rsquo;s the plant&rsquo;s biggest customer.

Mayr-Melnhof Lockout Continues at UK Packaging Plant

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Legitimate strike action by five bargaining units comprising 600 cement workers in total, members of the ICEM affiliate Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago, turned into a company lockout early this week as Trinidad Cement Ltd. (TCL) seeks to gain individual work agreements to break the strike.

	The OWTU began a 90-day strike action on 27 February at the company&rsquo;s two cement and ready-mix bag plants at Claxton Bay and Mayo, but the company countered that on Monday, 5 March, by issuing intent to lockout notice. That means both TCL and TCL Packaging, part of the Caribbean cement company&rsquo;s TCL Group, can now try to coerce staff into signing yellow-dogs contracts.

	The OWTU is confident cement workers will continue to man the barriers and also has expressed a desire to return to the conciliation process. The two sides, negotiating a 2009-2011 contract, are split on the wage issue, with OWTU seeking 16% while TCL is offering only 7%. The OWTU signed a contract for a total of 9% in wage increases over a similar period recently for 5,000 oil workers employed by state-held Petrotrin. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4903-OWTU-Reaches-Excellent-Terms-with-Petrotrin-in-Trinidad-and-Tobago">ICEM report</a> here.)

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 240px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	OWTU President General Ancel Roget Addresses Cement Workers

	Foto: Rishi Ragoonath/Trinidad &amp; Tobago Guardian

	The cement strike sent shock waves through the twin-island nation&rsquo;s construction industry after management announced cement inventories would only last one week. TCL immediately began importing cement and ready-mix from its Caribbean Cement subsidiary in Jamaica and its Arawak Cement in Barbados.

	The strike became tense on the evening of 28 February and morning on 29 February when police drew guns and swung batons at strikers as forces left the factory Claxton Bay. The OWTU filed a formal complaint with the police over certain officers&rsquo; use of force in confronting the strikers.

	Since that incident, calm has been maintained at picket lines, and the OWTU has kept a vigilant strike camp near TCL&rsquo;s plant in Claxton Bay. OWTU and TCL held conciliation meetings between 9 February and 23 February, but strike notice was then given when the company refused to increase its wage offer.

Trinidad Cement Declares Lockout to Coerce Individual Labour Agreements

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Some 100,000 union workers in South Africa will march today, 7 March, for two causes &ndash; an outright ban on labour brokers and scrapping the planed e-tolling, or pay-to-drive on Gauteng freeways. Some 32 manifestations will occur today across the country today in actions sponsored by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

	The strike is against a government recommendation that failed to get consensus in year-long discussions before the national Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) that would allow employers to use workers provided by labour brokers for up to six months.

	COSATU is also protesting turning the country&rsquo;s first motorways into toll roads, something that clearly turns public services into commodities. &ldquo;These roads are national assets for the use of the people of South Africa,&rdquo; said COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, &ldquo;not a commodity which can be used to make profits at our great expense.&rdquo;&nbsp;

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 190px;height: 160px" width="390">&nbsp;

	Zwelinzima Vavi

	COSATU is intent at ending the practice of labour brokering, which it compares to human trafficking. Statistics now show that one-third of all South African workers are temporary employees without social benefits. COSATU wants the responsibility of labour brokers to be limited to matching employees for employers, and that responsibility must end at the door to the workplace.&nbsp;

	COSATU believes precarious workers can easily be intimidated into not joining a union and Vavi said that&rsquo;s why the organisation&rsquo;s Central Executive Committee is insisting &ldquo;that every effort is made to mobilise workers employed by labour brokers to join actions on 7 March.&rdquo;

	In Johannesburg, Vavi, who will stand for re-election at COSATU come the union confederation&rsquo;s congress in September, will lead marchers starting at the Library Gardens to the Gauteng premier&rsquo;s office, and then past the offices of the Chamber of Mines and the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation. Multiple marches will be held in various cities in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces.

South African Workers March Today to Ban Labour Brokers

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 120px;height: 59px" width="390" />

	At a general membership meeting and news conference today in Qu&eacute;bec, 780 union members of Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma were told that the lockout imposed on them &ndash; in its 11th week &ndash; by Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Alcan aluminium subsidiary now has the undivided attention of key workers&rsquo; groups connected to the mining giant.

	United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9490 President Marc Maltais and USW Deputy District Five Director Guy Farrell told a packed news conference of their two-week mission through the US West and then on to Australia and New Zealand, where the trade union Mining and Maritime Initiative brought this piece of corporate terrorism front and centre before the company&rsquo;s most militant workers and unions in Oceania.

	Maltais and Farrell also laid out plans for the mass rally in Alma, a city of 30,000 in the Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region of Qu&eacute;bec, a manifestation expected to draw 5,000 to 10,000. Earlier at the membership meeting, USW District Five Director Dan Roy told victimised metalworkers that they are up against one of the most egregious examples of corporate crime ever committed in Canada.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 320px;height: 141px" width="390" />

	&nbsp;USW&rsquo;s Guy Farrell Speaks at Brisbane Manifestation

	The lockout came ostensibly over the union&rsquo;s contract demand to stop the continual erosion of permanent jobs by establishing limits on outsourcing. And it occurred even before several other issues were tabled in bargaining.&nbsp; Alcan prematurely locked workers off their jobs on 30 December, a day before the prior five-year agreement had expired.

	With aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange down more than 25% from spring 2011 and inventories high, the opportunity to reverse that by bringing one of the world&rsquo;s premier and low-cost smelters down to one-third operational capacity was too much to resist.

	And Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma learned this month what they feared had been happening since the lockout began: Rio Tinto, under an opaque agreement signed with Qu&eacute;bec in 2006 when Alcan was a stand-along Canadian company, is selling unused hydro-electric power back to the province of Qu&eacute;bec because Alma is operating only 122 of 432 electrolytic production cells. The company is pocketing C$15 million per month at taxpayer expense, while holding a community&rsquo;s top-paying jobs hostage with a lockout. Worse, the province does not need the excess power but is obligated to buy it due to the 2006 agreement.

	&ldquo;These are the people&rsquo;s resources,&rdquo; said Farrell. &ldquo;The atrocities this company is committing against Qu&eacute;bec and Quebecers is incomprehensible, yet they are happening right before our eyes.&rdquo;

	The 31 March manifestation will occur a day after the ICEM&rsquo;s North America affiliates meet in Alma in the first of two bi-annual meetings. Protestors will assemble at 13h30 at the Galeries Lac St-Jean shopping mall and march to Parc le Festiv Alma for the manifestation that begins at 15h. (See <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/RTA_CARD4ENG_high.pdf">full manifestation flyer</a> here.)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 87px;height: 155px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Local 9490&rsquo;s Marc Maltais at MUA Forum

	Maltais and Farrell reported today on their two-week mission that saw them get support from Rio Tinto&rsquo;s borax miners in Southern California. International Longshore &amp; Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30 faced its own lockout from the world&rsquo;s second largest resources company, and USW Local 9490 was keen to learn their fightback strategy.

	From those late February meetings both in Boron and Los Angeles, Maltais and Farrell journeyed to the state of Utah where they met with USW local union leaders at Rio&rsquo;s Kennecott Copper mines. Some 1,000 steelworkers and members of other unions, including the International Association of Machinists (IAM), waged a bitter six-month strike there in 2002-03.

	From 4 to 9 March, the Canadians were in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, their message was heard by hundreds of delegates at separate forums of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU) in Brisbane. On 5 March, Australian supporters including members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the MUA, AMWU and Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU) joined Maltais and Farrell in a protest against Rio Tinto on Queen Street in Brisbane.

	At the mass MUA meeting there on 6 March, the two were surprised to see the MUA selling Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma&rsquo;s trademark orange shirts, emblazoned &ldquo;Australia and New Zealand Mining and Maritime Union Fight War on Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Workers.&rdquo; Proceeds and other donations were give the two, including from a stop at Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Bell Bay, Tasmania, aluminium smelter that was hosted by the AWU, the union fighting for a first enterprise agreement there.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 345px;height: 161px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	ICEM Turkish affiliate Maden-İşDisplays Long Distance Solidarity with Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma

	In New Zealand, the visit from 7-9 March sponsored by ICEM affiliate Engineering Printing &amp; Engineering Union (EPMU) and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ), included a meeting with Rio Tinto aluminium producing workers at the Tiwai Point smelter in Invercargill. It also included another demonstration, this time on 9 March in front of Rio Tinto offices in Wellington.

	Throughout the western US trip and the Australia/New Zealand union-building visits, Maltais and Farrell had along a union banner to which trade unionists signed their name and pledge to join the Alma lockout fight. That banner was unfurled and hung in Local 9490&rsquo;s union hall this morning.

	While the two were concluding their trip in New Zealand, back home in Alma, on 8 March, International Women&rsquo;s Day, women&rsquo;s-only forum was held attended by 100 spouses and women workers. The event was billed as a unique chance to share experiences of the then 68-day lockout, the hardships, the loss of income and the emotional turmoil inflicted by a rich multinational on citizens of Qu&eacute;bec Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region.

	With a call two weeks ago by provincial Premier Jean Charest to return to bargaining still unheeded by the company, the experience of pain, sacrifice and uncertain futures is sure to continue for the 780 families and for even more in the wider community who depend on the family-supporting pay days from the Alma smelter.

	To read further information on this corporate attack on working families, click <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4908-Locked-out-Alcan-Workers-Take-Dispute-to-Business-Doorstep">here</a>, <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4875-Rio-Tinto-s-Euro-Works-Council-Irate-over-Québec-Aluminium-Lockout">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4837-USW-Affiliate-in-Québec-Locked-Out-by-Rio-Tinto-at-Aluminium-Plant">here</a>.

Locked-out Canadian Steelworkers Build Global Unity as Mass Rally Nears, 31 March

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	ILO Deputy Director General and long-time trade unionist Guy Ryder is receiving full support from the ICEM and its affiliates to be elected as the 10th Director-General of the ILO on 28 May.

	The 56 titular members of the ILO Governing Body are eligible to vote in the election; half are from governments, and a quarter each from employers and workers&rsquo; groups. ICEM affiliates are lobbying their home governments. Write to your government today. Ten of the government seats are permanently held by major industrialized countries. The remaining seats are filled on a rotating basis, for three-year terms. The employers and workers elect their own representatives.

	The Governing Body met on 30-31 March for hearings of candidates and the election will be held on 28 May. The outgoing Director-General, Juan Somavia will leave the post on 30 September 2012. The Director-General is elected for a five-year term.

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	Ryder is running on a platform of strengthening the ILO in order to fulfill its mandate of promoting social justice and beating the global jobs crisis, with particular emphasis on youth who are becoming increasingly excluded from society.

	Ryder seeks to concretise the fundamental principle of tripartism throughout the work operations of the ILO and beyond, and to unite the ILO&rsquo;s constituents to deliver on the decent work agenda. Ryder argues that only through consistent technical excellence can the organisation consolidate its authority in the world of work.

	Another important priority of Ryder&rsquo;s candidacy is to seek to reverse the increasing global trend of growth in the informal economy.

	Guy Ryder&rsquo;s vast experience and knowledge of the mechanisms and work of the ILO, of leadership of complex organisations in transition as General Secretary of the ICFTU and ITUC, and of all issues in the world of work combine to make him clearly the deserved candidate to succeed Somavia as Director-General.

	The candidature of Guy Ryder is formally submitted by ITUC President Michael Sommer and Luc Cortebeeck, trade union members of the ILO Governing Body.

	See Ryder&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/correspondence/wcms_175249.pdf">CV</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/correspondence/wcms_175250.pdf">Vision Statement</a>&nbsp;for the candidature here.

ICEM Affiliates Rally Behind Guy Ryder to Head ILO

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	Some 80 representatives from 20 Turkish affiliated trade unions of the ICEM, the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and the International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) came together in a Precarious Employment Conference in Ankara on 25-26 April 2012.

	Generously supported by Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), the meeting coincided with Turkey government consideration of new employment strategies, policies that have seen wide debated inside the country&rsquo;s union movement.

	Following the conference, General Secretaries of the three Global Union Federations (GUFs) &ndash; Manfred Warda of ICEM, Jyrki Raina of IMF and Klaus Priegnitz of ITGLWF, along with ICEM&nbsp; Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan &ndash; met with Faruk &Ccedil;elik, Turkey&rsquo;s Minister of Labour and Social Security. The meeting surfaced the important conclusions of the conference and the country&rsquo;s record regarding enforcement of trade union freedoms.

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	Turkish Union Leaders, from left, Nazmi Irgat, Adnan Serdaroglu, Mustafa Kumlu, Ferudun Tankut

	The trade union leaders demanded that the government take the necessary measures to ease the concerns of Turkish unions on both counts. The global delegation also met with Kemal Kılı&ccedil;daroğlu, Chairman of Republican&rsquo;s People Party (CHP), main opposition party at the National Parliament, on several draft bills modifying labour life regulations on trade union rights, flexible working forms and occupational health and safety.

	The FES conference saw delegates from Turkey and elsewhere define objectives of the government&rsquo;s revamped strategies, including: dissemination of employment of definite periods; legitimization of hiring workers through private employment agencies; inserting different forms of flexible work into the nation&rsquo;s labour code; abolishing the current severance payment system with a new system that will lower employers&rsquo; direct responsibilities; changing minimum legal wage applications, such as lower wages for young workers and different regional minimum wage systems; and workplace security instead of employment security.

	Speakers at the meeting&rsquo;s opening underscored the potential repercussions of the new strategies on work life. &ldquo;Flexible working forms, unlike what we are told, are costly and create problems rather solutions,&rdquo; said Mustafa Kumlu, ICEM Executive Committee member President of both the Turk-İş Confederation and Tes-İş trade union.

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	Meeting with Turkey Labour &amp; Social Security Minister

	&ldquo;New strategies will claim to bring together flexibility and security, but we know what is waiting us &hellip; unsecured jobs and more poverty, just like what exists now in the textile industry,&rdquo; said Nazmi Irgat, who is an ITGLWF Vice-President, President of Teksif union and Organizing Secretary of Turk-İş.

	&ldquo;The government proposes a new modern slavery system with this employment strategy, and we will never accept it,&rdquo; added Adnan Serdaroğlu, President of IMF affiliate Birleşik Metal-İş, who also serves as General Secretary of DISK Confederation. Ferudun Tankut, President of another IMF affiliate, &Ccedil;elik-İş, and Vice-President of the Hak-İş Confederation, said the government&rsquo;s strategy &ldquo;has been put into place without soliciting opinions, proposals or agreements of social partners. Our country is missing an important opportunity.

	The participants listened to Erhan Batur, Deputy Undersecretary of Ministry of Labour and Social Security, who gave an overview on the legislative efforts of the government for bettering work life in Turkey. Warda, Raina and Priegnitz briefed the assembled on the foundation of the new GUF, IndustriALL Global Union, and defined the struggle against precarious employment that the organization will undertake as a global priority.

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	The three strongly cited the difficulties Turkish workers have in being able to exercise fundamental trade union rights such as freedom of association because of poor labour legislation.

	ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan, IMF&rsquo;s Jenny Holdcroft and ITGLWF&rsquo;s Ashling Seely gave specific examples from their respective sectors on the rise of precarious employment throughout the world. Participants also welcomed union representatives Horst Mund from IG Metall of Germany, Sascha Meier from FNV Bondgenoten of the Netherlands, Berivan &Ouml;ng&ouml;r&uuml;r from Unionen and Mats Svensson from IF Metall, both of Sweden, and all shared their experiences and union policies on precarious employment in their countries.

	The conference heard extensive reports from Turkish participants through three panel discussions on precarious employment in Turkey. The panels had themes of economic, social and legal settings; the ggovernment&rsquo;s employment strategy and possible repercussions to work life; and fighting against precarious employment through union organizing. Luc Demaret from ILO-ACTRAV gave a report on international labour standards and protections of precarious employment.

	In the summary and conclusions, Turkish and global unions underlined the importance of solidarity and active campaigning against all forms of precarious employment. Turkey has been defined as one of the countries where IndustriALL will embark on a campaign against precarious work. Delegates mandated the global unions to take action, vis-&agrave;-vis the government for overcoming potential challenges arising from its strategies.

FES Turkish Confab Defines Precarious Work as Priority for New GUF

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	A two-day strike by ICEM Indonesian affiliate KSP2KI at one of the world&rsquo;s largest paper mills this week produced sizeable salary increases for over 13,000 workers. With strike support from nearly all workers at Asia Pulp and Paper&rsquo;s (APP) PT Pindo Deli&rsquo;s twin mills in Karawang, West Java, the union achieved substantially more than the minimum government-mandated increase that APP was at first willing to distribute.

	The two-year accord becomes retroactive to 1 April and grants workers, in some cases, a doubling of that provincial government minimum. KSP2KI, or &nbsp;Federasi Serikat Pekerja Pulp Dan Kertas, the Pulp and Paper Union of Indonesia, announced a three-day strike on 7 May but by yesterday, management had resumed talks and agreed to across-the-board increases.

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	Last month, managers of the 900,000-metric-tonnes-per-year paperboard, writing papers and tissue mills had unilaterally decided on the minimum increase while still in bargaining. The strike and yesterday&rsquo;s bargaining lifted the wage increase from 9.14% to 18% for most workers, with increases to 14.14% and 11.14% in other job classifications.

	That translates to an average IDR (Indonesia Rupiah) monthly increase of 139,363 (US$15.12). The minimum monthly pay at PT Pindo Deli in Karawang had been IDR 1,450,000 (US$157), so the pay grid for most workers will climb to above US$180-per-month.

	The ICEM commends the KSP2KI &ndash; a union with 7,650 members at the twin Karawang mills &ndash; for the well-organised strike action and subsequent result, and encourages all workers at Karawang, including workers of outsource companies operating inside the mills, to take up union membership.

	APP is part of Indonesian Sinar Mas Group and operates some ten paper machines and 14 paper-coating machines in the Karawang No. 1 and No. 2 mills in West Java. It also operates wholly-owned or majority-controlled pulp and paper mills &ndash; some nine in total &ndash; in other parts of Indonesia.

Short Strike Wins Big Pay Gains at APP Paper Mills in Karawang, Indonesia

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