English

Español

Français

Русский

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy 

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2021-2025

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL 

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia 

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean 

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Logos of IndustriALL Global Union

Press

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Contract workers in the oilfields of Colombia are fighting for fair conditions and union rights with multinational sub-contractors and state-run Ecopetrol in eastern departments of the country. ICEM’s militant affiliate Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) is leading the fight on behalf of exploited contract workers and has recruited over 4,000 workers since July. 
 
A solidarity caravan sets off today from capital Bogotá to a major rally at the Campo Rubiales oil sites. Tomorrow the caravan will hold a forum in Puerto Gaitán with discussions to cover trade union rights across the sector in Colombia and the history of the current struggle. The caravan will then spend 12 October visiting various oil fields of Puerto Gaitán. On 14 October, the alliance of national and international trade union groups will return to Bogotá and hold a large action in the capital, bringing attention to the campaign. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Colombia.USO.jpg" width="120" height="130"/>
Contract workers cut oil production by 25% by blockading major roads in Puerto Gaitán 18-21 September and forced Colombia’s Interior Minister to the table. 
 
The grievances aired by staff of oil service subcontractors include poverty wages, sub-standard housing, poor sanitation, poor transport, degrading treatment, all imposed on a workforce precariously employed on fixed-term contracts for two-to-three years. Conditions in workstations in the oilfields around Puerto Gaitán are described as similar to concentration camps. 
 
The campaign has achieved recent improvement from Pacific Rubiales, the company agreed to fill 100% unskilled positions with local people, to build 3,000 housing units, and donate US$1million to a local hospital. 
 
Significantly workers and local communities have been united in protest to great effect, targeting specifically the environmental degradation taking place, high local unemployment with many jobs not filled by area residents, and a lack of social investment in local health and education. 
 
Guilty companies include Canadian-based Pacific Rubiales and Petrominerales, Cepcolsa, a subsidiary of Spanish-based CEPSA, and 90% state-owned Ecopetrol itself. Pacific Rubiales is funding a large disinformation campaign labeling USO trade unionists as "armed criminals, forcing work stoppages." 
 
Canada’s Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union and USO have formed a united front, adding leverage against the Canadian-based multinationals.

Colombian Oil Workers Continue Battle for Rights, Solidarity Caravan 10-14 October

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
Under strong intimidation and threats, 6,500 workers at the government-owned Mahshahr Bandar Imam Petrochemical complex, in the South-West of Iran, took strike action on 28 September, demanding an end to management’s use of subcontracting firms at the plant. Workers’ rights are continuously undermined by intermediary companies, in a familiar pattern seen around the world. Workers are not directly employed by the factory where they work, and so are unable to bargain collectively with management, forced to work in substandard conditions with low wages and allowances, all based on precariously temporary contracts. 
 
Workers at the Tabriz petrochemical company at the plant conducted an 11-day strike in March this year on the same demands. That strike was suspended after an empty government promise to respond to workers’ demands within three months. While CAL workers do not receive their production and efficiency bonuses, their contract agency collects those benefits. Despite of management threats and arrests of union activists, the union is committed to continuing the action until their demand is met. 
 
On paper, the management has supposedly committed itself to eliminating the subcontracting firms for some time but its actual implementation in most facilities is yet to happen. 
 
The Free Union of Iranian Workers reports that on the seventh day of the strike, three oil workers were summoned to the security office and immediately put under arrest. These were Mansour Abbasi, a worker with the Khawrazmi subcontracting company and a workers’ representative; Mohammad Bagher Bagheri, worker at Fars Industries contracting company and a workers’ representative; and Jasem Bandarani, another worker at the Khawrazmi subcontracting company. The arrests followed protest rallies near the main offices of the petrochemical complex which included marches and chants. The three arrested workers have since been released. 
 
Reports suggest over 70% of Iranian workers are employed on temporary contracts, with no job security. Many other shocking abuses are reported, from poverty wages often beneath the low minimum wage, non-payment of salaries for up to 18 months, extremely dangerous working conditions, and little to no legislative protections.

Iranian Petrochemical Workers Strike, Demanding Elimination of Subcontractors

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
Seventeen Chinese miners died last week at the Anping coal mine in southwest Guizhou province, as a new wave of coal mine explosions, cave-ins, and floods hit the country’s mining industry. The latest happened at the Anping mine in the Lihua township of Libo county, when an early morning methane gas blast happened on 4 October. 
 
There were 28 miners in pits at the time of the blast. Thirteen died instantly, while rescue efforts pulled 15 from the mine. Four died in a hospital within a day following the explosion. The mine is owned by privately-held Liuzhou Zhengling Group Ltd., a machine tool manufacturer based in the autonomous Guangxi Zhuang region. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Mine Entrance.jpg" width="221" height="160" alt=""/>
The mine only started trial production in June and initial conclusions found that safety rules had been breached and inadequate measures were practiced that failed to relieve the build-up of methane gas. 
 
On 25 September, at least five miners died when a shaft collapsed at a mine in Yunnan province owned by the partially stated-owned Yunwei Group of Yunnan Coal Chemical Group Ltd. The cave-in happened at a colliery near the city of Qujing. Twenty-three miners were working at the time of the collapse, with 16 escaping and only two of the seven who were trapped managed to be rescued. 
 
And on 16 September, ten miners died in flooding at a mine in Shanxi province owned by the China National Coal Group. Official Chinese statistics for the first seven months of 2011 reveal 1,083 mine deaths. The Chinese state said there were 2,433 fatalities in 2010 and 2,631 in 2009, although the real number of mine deaths is thought to be many times more because thousands of mine deaths go unreported in China.

Coal Mine Accidents Raise Death Toll in China’s Collieries

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBriefAlert.jpg" width="120" height="59"/>
ICEM Austrian affiliate PRO-GE and GPA djp, the Salaried Employees, Print, Journalism, Paper Union, sent stern warning last week to metal and industrial employers on 2011 wage packages. After second round bargaining failed on 12 October to close pay differences, workers surprised the industry by launching one-to-three hour warning strikes the very next day. 
Some 300 Austrian employers witnessed workers’ reaction last Thursday to the bosses’ proposal of a miserly half-percent above the 3.1% offer tabled in the opening round on 4 October. The strikes escalated on 14 October when the unions targeted 60 employers for 24-hour work stoppages. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.pro ge.jpg" width="160" height="160"/>
PRO-GE and GPA djp are negotiating on behalf of 170,000 metal, mining, and energy workers in Austria. Workers and their unions are steadfast that 5.5% is due them on 1 November. Their rationale is that productivity gains combined with healthy balance sheets and a September inflation rate of 3.6% warrants nothing less than the 5.5%. 
“We know that the money is there,” said PRO-GE Chief Negotiator Rainer Wimmer. 
PRO-GE and GPA djp have laid down a precision perfect strategy of rapid mobilization keyed on bargaining developments, or non-developments as was the case last week. The unions held hundreds of meetings with workers inside companies from 5-7 October after first round talks went nowhere, and then they held 400 mobilization meetings on 10-11 October in preparation for the 12 October second round. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.pro ge reiner.jpg" width="105" height="160"/>
Rainer Wimmer
Going into Friday’s escalated industrial actions, leaders of the two unions offered to continue talks over the weekend but a shell-shocked employers’ association representative would only say that 20 October is the next scheduled bargaining date. That means more job actions are likely to occur early this week, with the ICEM learning that the number of enterprises in which workers chose strike actions last week grew exponentially. 
Industrial workers realize that a 5.5% wage increase is fair compensation for inflation and a fair share of the expected 2011 economic growth of 3% that has been brought on by industrial productivity. In 2009, during the height of the financial crisis, metal/industrial negotiations produced a 1.45% salary increase, while in 2010 that increase was 2.45%. Now, Austria is posting strong export numbers and purchasing power during the first half of 2011 is on the climb. 
In a joint statement, Wimmer and GPA djp Deputy Federal Director Karl Proyer said, “The fact that sustainable wage and salary increases are economically viable means that we can further support and strengthen purchasing power, thus boost the economy of Austria.” 
Just some of the workplaces where 24-hour stoppages took place on Friday include the engine-maker MAN in Steyr, Opel assembly at Aspern Airfield, Opel powertrain at Donaustadt, Schindler-Aufzüge in Vienna, Doppelmayr chair lifts in Wolfurt, Bosch in Hallein, Magna car parts in Steyr, Andritz AG in Graz, and Salinen AG salt mines in Ebensee.

Wage Shame Drives Austrian Metalworkers into Warning Strikes

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBriefAlert.jpg" width="120" height="59" alt=""/>
By a 61% vote on 15 October, members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1005 in Hamilton, Ontario, ended U.S. Steel’s total chokehold on the livelihoods of 900 Canadian workers. Union members accepted a three-year labour agreement that ends a 49-week lockout at the steel mill. 
 
The agreement means workers will begin returning to jobs tomorrow, 18 October, for week-long health and safety training. The new pact is not altogether satisfactory because it creates a two-tier pension scheme with new hires placed in an inferior plan, and it ends cost-of-living indexing for 9,000 retirees, a key issue in the 14-month dispute.
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.us steel. bill mahoney.jpg" width="218" height="163" alt=""/>
U.S. Steel pressured steelworkers into submission by first imposing the lockout on 7 November 2010, and then supplying its Canadian customers from the former Stelco mill in Hamilton with finished steel from American mills. In the end and after nearly one year, most of Local 1005’s members were on the verge of losing unemployment insurance funds, which coupled with the USW’s C$200-a-week strike benefit gave workers about two-thirds of their normal income. 
 
The agreement contains a C$3,000 ratification bonus, to be paid within 60 days of Saturday’s vote, and it also includes a lump sum pay-out of C$1,000 to retirees taking in less than C$1,500-per-month in lieu of annual pension indexing. Active workers will also see reduced cost-of-living annual increases. 
 
A profit-sharing plan for active employees will be implemented in the fourth quarter 2011. It will come from a pool of money totalling 6.5% above C$25 million in earnings from the Hamilton Works and could mean an added C$3,500 in income per worker. Union members will receive credited service for the 11 months of the lockout, meaning some workers will be closer to taking retirement. 
 
All workers will be recalled and they will be guaranteed 26 weeks of employment at 40 hours per week. That countered a U.S. Steel proposal from mid-September in which the company sought call-back language that would have left many workers without jobs long after ratification and the end of the lockout. 
 
In the new agreement, which takes effect today, new hires will not be included in the existing defined benefit pension scheme and placed in a union-administered plan that will see U.S. Steel contribute C$2.50-per-hour worked. 
 
On USW Local 1005’s website, union leaders said, “We have made a huge effort so that the members can make an informed vote on whether to accept or reject this contract. We wanted to ensure that they are fully aware of the situation they face and of the responsibilities towards not just themselves and their families, but also towards the retirees, the future generation of workers, their union and their community. This whole process has shown that there are serious challenges facing us going forward.”

Canadian Steelworkers Ratify U.S. Steel Pact, Lockout Ends

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBriefAlert.jpg" width="120" height="59"/>
ICEM affiliate Ammattiliitto Pro, the trade union of salaried workers in Finland, and Metalliliitto, the country’s Metalworkers’ Union, began a first wave of strike action this morning across Finland. Some 32,000 workers – 25,000 metalworkers and 7,000 represented by Ammattiliitto Pro – are on full work stoppages at 45 targeted companies. 
 
If national conciliation again fails next week and the days that follow, metalworkers and salaried staff at another 35 companies will join the strike on 7 November. Overtime bans are now in effect across Finland’s metal and technology sector covering 200,000 workers, including 10,000 members of the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff (YTN). That union of top-level supervisors is expected to join the strike on 1 November if no deal is accomplished. 
 
“The strike is running well so far,” said Pro Vice President for the Industrial Sector Markku Polokangas, the salaried staff’s lead negotiator. “The amount of pressure on employers will increase in the coming days, we are certain.” Polokangas also said the union is organising support strikes among Pro’s membership in other sectors, such as telecommunications and chemicals. 
 
The two unions and the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, or Teknologiateollisuus, the employers’ federation, were in marathon mediation sessions with National Conciliation Esa Lonka throughout the week. The latest session broke off last night and Metalliliitto's 38-member Council gave a near-unanimous mandate to begin the strike.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/FINLAND Metalli.jpg" width="100" height="102"/>
Ammattiliitto Pro’s membership had earlier given leadership of the union a mandate for strike action. 
 
Although the two sides are in general agreement with the 4.3% wage increase over two years that Finnish social partners agreed to on 13 October, major discord in metal and tech negotiations center on how that amount will be split. Finnish employers want discretion on paying some workers far less than the 4.3%, while the unions want the increase given to everyone across the board. 
 
Another difference is over a three-day yearly training and education period. Employers seek the discretionary right to award it, while the unions want it across the board. Tied to that is the manner in which workers age 55 and above will receive the three-day training allocation. 
 
Among just some of the 45 corporations that saw strike action taken against them this morning at 06h00 were ABB, Boliden, Kone elevators and Kone cranes, the mining concern Talvivaara, the Metsa set of engineering companies, iron and steel maker Rautaruukki, Sandvik Mining and Construction, Valmet Automotive, Outotec, Patria aerospace and land companies, and Ruukki Metals and Engineering. 
 
On 7 November, among 35 other companies expected to join the strike will be a large number of workers employed by the Nokia-Siemens joint venture called NS Network.

Strikes Begin in Finnish Metal, Technology Sector

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
Unions organising employees of the world’s largest coal producer, Coal India Ltd., achieved a significant hike in profit-linked annual bonuses for 300,000 members on 17 October. The annual bonus for permanent employees will now be INR21,000 (US$438), up from 17,000. 
 
Negotiators also achieved a bonus for contract and agency workers, who have never before received bonuses at Coal India. Unions compromised on their original 23,500 INR demand. 
 
The settlement, which also includes an INR1,000 INR Diwali gift to all workers, avoided a proposed three-day strike last week. 
 
When negotiations broke down at earlier stages, all five trade union confederations in India, INTUC, BMS, HMS, AITUC and CITU, jointly organised large actions, and jointly backed strike actions. Strong unity throughout the campaign is a positive development for all Indian workers. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/B. K. Das.jpg" width="108" height="178" alt=""/>
INMF General Secretary B. K. Das
Talks were brokered by the Indian Coal Minister, between Coal India, and the ICEM affiliate Indian National Mineworkers’ Federation (INMF) and other unions, following a concerted campaign which included a one-day strike by 300,000 miners on 10 October at eight coal producing subsidiaries of Coal India. In reaching settlement, all parties agreed to seek to finalise negotiations for the next national annual wage agreement by 31 December 2011. 
 
Coal India’s decision to reward shareholders with a 39% dividend pay-out on profits strengthened the workers’ resolve with all 400,000 employees standing to share only 13% of all profits. 
 
Coal India is India’s largest employer. Last financial year, it posted a 12.9% (US$2.4 billion) jump in net profit. 
 
There was more positive labour news in India on 17 October, as the government’s Minister of Labour and Employment, Mallikarjun Kharge, told the Standing Labour Committee in New Delhi that the Labour Ministry is making efforts to extend all benefits now available to permanent workers to contract workers. Specifically, unions campaigned for amending the Contract Labour Act of 1970 so that contract workers would be automatically absorbed into permanent employment, especially when contract labour is blocked. 
 
The Minister also gave positive indications on the need for a National Labour Code for minimum wages, maximum hours of work, and minimum standards of safety and health at the workplace.

Strike Averted as Indian Coal Miners Win Improved Bonuses

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on a survey on HIV/AIDS workplace policies and on the call for proposals for Round 11 by the Global Fund. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Workplace Policies: Survey Reveals Progress by ICEM Affiliates 
 
Since 2005, the ICEM has implemented a comprehensive HIV and AIDS programme. National coordinators acquired knowledge and skills; hundreds of peer educators were trained; tens of thousands of workers and members of the communities attended awareness meetings and VCT campaigns and queued up for being tested and counselled. At a time when still more than two new infections occur for every additional person receiving antiretroviral treatment, prevention is a priority. 
 
Although no baseline information exists, it can be assumed from anecdotal evidence that, with the exception of South Africa, in 2005 only some HIV/AIDS policies unilaterally drafted by companies existed. While more workplace policies and HIV and AIDS clauses in collective agreements have now been concluded, progress in this respect is still unsatisfactory. The ICEM has made a model workplace policy available for its affiliates. This aspect of the HIV and AIDS work of the ICEM and its affiliates has to be intensified. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMlogos/ICEM_AIDSlogopale100.jpg" width="100" height="132"/>
No doubt, non-discrimination is the key to any strategy to fight HIV and AIDS at the workplace. Workplace policies negotiated and agreed by unions and employers are a first step. The effectiveness of such policies depends on employer commitment and the ability of a union to monitor implementation of the policy. While such policies commit the parties morally, their implementation can still be weak and workplace policies, as a rule, cannot be legally enforced. Therefore, the establishment of clauses in collective agreements provides one of the strongest measures to deal with HIV and AIDS at the workplace. 
 
A preliminary survey conducted during the recent African regional workshop for nine sub-Saharan African countries revealed that affiliates have started to engage employers or sectoral employers’ bodies, such as Chambers of Mines, in discussions and negotiations to conclude bilaterally acceptable policies and draw up programmes. 
 
To give but a few examples: in Ghana, major mining houses have HIV/AIDS workplace policies. Although some were initially drawn up unilaterally, the Ghana Mine Workers’ Union (GMWU) is now involved in the implementation. In Mauritius, collective bargaining agreements with ten companies, out of 36 which are bargaining partners of the ICEM affiliate Chemical, Manufacturing, and Connected Trades Employees’ Union (CMCTEU), contain non-discriminatory clauses. Affiliates Associated Mine Workers’ of Zimbabwe (AMWZ) and the Zimbabwe Energy Workers’ Union (ZEWU) have negotiated and concluded industry-wide HIV/AIDS workplace policies for the mining and energy sectors. 
 
It has to be seen how further commitments to include specific HIV and AIDS clauses in collective bargaining agreements will bear results. Employers’ awareness of the threat of a spread of HIV infections to their operations helps. The existence of a national legislative framework is conducive. And union strength, leadership commitment, and membership support are absolute prerequisites. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Fund: Call for Proposals for Round 11, Change in Grant Architecture 
 
The call for proposals for grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will open on 15 August. Deadline for submitting proposals is 15 December. This is later than expected and poses some problems. As decisions concerning Round 11 funding will only be made by the meeting of the Global Fund Board in 2012, countries which have grants expiring would need special extension funding to avoid interruptions, especially of treatment. 
 
Furthermore, new eligibility criteria apply for Round 11. Under the “history of funding” criterion, 78 countries, which have a history of recent funding for one or more of the diseases, are ineligible to apply in Round 11 for those components. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Global%20Fund%20logo.gif" width="250" height="53"/>
The Global Fund is also going to implement new grant architecture. It is designed to streamline and improve both the applications process and programme implementation. One of the ways it does so is by consolidating programmes and grants so that there is only one agreement per principal recipient (PR) per disease or health systems strengthening (HSS) programme. 
 
Grant consolidation involves merging two or more existing grants for the same PR and disease into one. Anytime two or more existing grants have been consolidated into one, a single-stream-of-funding (SSF) agreement is signed with the PR. SSF agreements are very similar to the grant agreements that have been used up to now. The most significant differences are (a) the provisions for periodic reviews (replacing Phase 2 reviews); and (b) the fact that the SSF grant agreements will be revised after each periodic review and whenever additional funding for the PR is approved in a future round. Under the new grant architecture, the periodic reviews will be carried out at the same time for all SSF agreements for a given disease/HSS programme, regardless of how many different PRs are involved. 
 
By the time proposals for Round 11 are approved, the Global Fund will be well on its way to implementing the new grant architecture. Grants will be replaced by single-stream-of-funding. All proposals submitted for Round 11 have to be consolidated proposals. For all of the proposals approved in Round 11, single-stream-of-funding agreements will be signed with PRs. In most cases, a single-stream-of-funding agreement will cover not only new initiatives included in the proposal, but also all of the PR’s active “grants” for that disease. By the time the Round 12 single-stream-of-funding agreements have all been signed, the old grant agreements will be an endangered species. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 152 of 5 July. 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"/>
Nepal: Migration Main Factor for HIV Prevalence 
 
HIV prevalence in Achham is estimated at 1.7%, but many residents, who have never left the remote western district, know HIV only as “Bombay [Mumbai] disease.” Naming HIV after India’s bustling commercial city is considered the most logical explanation for what happened to men who were healthy when they migrated for work and returned home years later sick. The district has supplied cheap migrant labour to cities such as Mumbai for years. 
 
Although HIV prevalence in Nepal’s general population is a low, 0.5%, the country has been experiencing a concentrated epidemic among high-risk groups such as seasonal migrant workers. The government found that in 2008, 41% of all HIV cases in the country were among labour migrants. 
 
Testing and public awareness for HIV are said to be increasing in Achham, where nearly 70% of households migrate at some stage, according to the ILO. An inclusive maternal care programme at district hospitals, which provide women with US$20 if they give birth on-site, has helped control mother-to-child transmission of HIV; the Achham District Hospital reports only 42 cases of transmission since 2005. 
 
(Source: PlusNews, 27 July) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Swaziland Crisis Affects Treatment 
 
Unease is mounting in Swaziland after reports that supplies of antiretrovirals are dangerously low. Resources have never been adequate to tackle the world’s highest HIV infection rate in the tiny kingdom, but in recent months, the cash-poor government and dwindling donor funding have led to increasing panic among people living with HIV. One in four Swazis between the ages of 15 and 49 is living with HIV – at 26.1%, the world's highest prevalence – in a population of about one million. 
 
More than 64,000 Swazis were receiving ARVs by the end of June, a number expected to climb to about 69,000 by the end of July, according to the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Ministry of Health. However, 200,000 Swazi adults are believed to be HIV-positive. 
 
Swaziland is in the grips of an acute financial crisis. Social services have been cut and public servants are facing looming retrenchments. The government is the country's biggest employer. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture last month reported a 29,000-million-tonne shortfall in the annual maize requirement – the country’s staple food – of a total of about 114,000 million tonnes. 
 
The Southern African Customs Union (SACU), comprising Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland, applies a common set of tariffs and disproportionately distributes the revenue to member states. It has provided an economic lifeline to Lesotho and Swaziland, in particular, which have small impoverished populations, large numbers of HIV-infected people, and few or no natural resources. SACU revenue accounted for about 66% of the Swazi government’s income two years ago. Following a reorganization of customs union receipts, it will only make up 32% of this year’s budget. 
 
Government has requested financial assistance from South Africa, which is obliged to consider the loan to avoid a humanitarian crisis on its doorstep and a flood of economic refugees. But Swazi NGOs, led by the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations, and organizations in South Africa, such as the national trade union centre, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), are calling for political reforms to be linked to any financial aid. Swaziland is also the last absolute monarchy in the world. 
 
(Source: PlusNews, Mbabane 18 July) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Debt Swap Agreement Benefits Global Fund 
 
The Global Fund has brokered debt swap agreements before, but not like the latest one between Germany and Egypt. 
 
Under the Global Fund’s Debt2Health mechanism, creditors (i.e., countries that are owed money) may agree to write off a portion of the debt owed to them, on the condition that the debtor countries (i.e., the countries that owe money) invest an agreed-upon amount in local programmes approved by the Global Fund. Until recently, four Debt2Health agreements had been concluded – three involving Germany and, respectively, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Cote d’Ivoire; and one between Australia and Indonesia. 
 
In June 2011, Germany agreed to write off €6.6 million of Egyptian debt. What makes this agreement unique is that Egypt has agreed to contribute half of the €6.6 million to Global Fund programmes to fight malaria in Ethiopia. This is the first time that a debt swap arrangement under the Debt2Health mechanism has involved reinvestment in programmes in a country other than the original debtor. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 154 of 25 July. 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"/>
New Hope in Fight Against AIDS 
 
Aids drugs designed to treat HIV can also be used to reduce dramatically the risk of infection among heterosexual couples; two studies conducted in Africa have shown for the first time. The findings add to growing evidence that the type of medicines prescribed since the mid-1990s to treat people who are already sick may also hold the key to slowing or even halting the spread of the disease. 
 
The research involved 4,758 “discordant” couples, i.e. in which one partner was HIV positive and the other negative, in Kenya and Uganda and more than 1,200 sexually active men and women in Botswana. The studies found that daily Aids drugs reduced infection rates by an average of at least 62% when compared with a placebo. 
 
The idea of such "pre-exposure prophylaxis," known as PrEP, has gained traction in the past year, following results of other research showing a fall in infection rates among gay men taking Aids drugs. 
 
(Source: aljazeera.net, 14 July and Health Day News, 13 July) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
News from Global Unions 
 
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF – <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) in its latest HIV/AIDS Update 110 of 1 and 15 July, reports on a long-term HIV/AIDS workplace education project in cooperation with the National Union of Seafarers of Sri Lanka, which will cover all sectors represented by the union in Colombo Port, as well as four seafarers’ and maritime schools in Sri Lanka. The programme is funded by UNAIDS and the ILO and the UNFPA will provide technical guidance. 
 
In anticipation of the next call for proposals for funding for Round 11 by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) issued a circular to all its affiliates and to the Global Union Federations. The circular gives details for a step-by-step approach to include workplace-related components in proposals submitted by Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM). As cited above, Round 11 will open on 15 August; the deadline for submitting national proposals is 15 December. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Five Years Ago: From the August/September 2006 Issue (No. 11/12) 
 
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 August/September 2006, we reported on the 16th International AIDS Conference which was held in Toronto from 14-18 August 2006. Over 20,000 scientists, politicians and activists participated in the event. The labour movement was well represented, highlighting the impact of HIV and AIDS on the workplace and outlining the role of workers in fighting the pandemic. 
 
Prior to the Conference, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) organised a two-day labour forum with the support of the ILO. The forum convened union representatives from all over the world who expressed their support for intensifying the involvement of trade unionists and unions and to build strong coalitions with civil society organisations. On the occasion of the labour forum the CLC released a new report, “Labour Fights AIDS,” which demonstrates that unions are at the fore in the global fight against AIDS 
 
The ICEM abstract written for the Conference was accepted for a poster exhibition. The ICEM was also invited to speak on “The importance of social dialogue and workers’ participation in public/private partnerships” at a Satellite Meeting Session with the theme “From the workplace to the community – Co-investment to access prevention, treatment and care in public/private partnerships.” 
 
Several broader trends emerged from the Conference. Although still inadequate, treatment is becoming more available. However, those on antiretrovirals (ARVs) remain infected and require treatment indefinitely. This requires a re-emphasis on prevention. Despite many years of research at huge cost, a vaccine has not yet been found. 
 
Also noted was that prevention techniques away from consent-requiring condom use focus on female protection to empower women to take control. 
 
In that issue, we also reported on the 2nd Global Fund Partnership Forum in Durban in July 2006 and on the renewed commitment made by the G8 meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, to tackle HIV/AIDS and to create a regular monitoring of its work. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
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. 71/72, August/September 2011

<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"> 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/></div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"> 
An unbroken chain of solidarity and staunch resolve by all 157 members of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 2228 staved off contract concessions in Canada recently. On 8 August, union members ratified a three-year agreement with Sandvik Materials Technology Canada, a subsidiary of Swedish industrial giant Sandvik AB, with an 80.6% vote, ending a successful strike that began on 13 July. 
 
On 9 and 10 August, CAW members returned to their Arnprior, Ontario, factory knowing they bested the company’s mid-July “last, best offer” of pension reductions, cost-of-living (COLA) rollbacks, and contract language deletions. After Sandvik made some modifications in its original proposals in talks on 29 July, changes that CAW members saw as insufficient and which they rejected. The company returned to bargaining in early August with more revisions that essentially left a prior labour agreement intact. 
</div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"> </div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1108.caw sandvik.jpg" width="295" height="159"/> 
</div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; COLOR: rgb(255,0,0)"> </div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; COLOR: rgb(255,0,0)">26 July Protest in Mississauga (CAW President Ken Lewenza, kneeling, center, giving an early prompt how strike would end)</div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"> 
There will be no changes to the roll-in effect of the COLA, no changes to job security, and pension benefits will remain the same. In addition, there were some benefit improvements and strengthened contract language regarding layoffs. A 1% wage increase is also due at the beginning of the third year. 
 
“I’m humbled by the level of support the membership ha shown in their first-even strike, in the facility’s more than 30-year existence,” said CAW Eastern Ontario Area Director Harry Ghadban. Local 2228 Unit Chairman Derek Mosley said: “We could not have done it without the unwavering support from the membership and the support from the national union. 
 
“We are proud of the solidarity of our membership in fighting back concessions and holding tough until a negotiated settlement was reached.” 
</div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"> </div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1108.caw sandvik 2.jpg" width="215" height="161"/> 
</div>
On 26 July, hundreds of CAW members turned out to manifest at Sandvik’s Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario. 
 
And on Local 2228’s blog after the 8 August ratification vote, one union member stated: “We can all hold our heads high as we return to work knowing we sent a message to management saying we will not accept your final offer, we go back on our terms. I cannot express how proud I am.” 
 
Sandvik Materials Technology in Arnprior manufactures stainless steel and nickel alloy speciality tubing used in the nuclear, aerospace, automotive, and oil and gas industries.

Canadian Auto Workers Win 27-Day Strike at Sandvik Metals

<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"> 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/></div>
Union members of Sindicato No. 1 de Trabajadores de Minera Escondida, a branch of Chile’s Federation of Miners (FMC), returned to work on 5 August after a 15-day strike at the world’s largest copper mine, majority owned by BHP Billiton. Mineworkers voted by 65.5% to 34.5% on 4 August to end the strike after their leaders negotiating the previous two days with Escondida management. 
 
Those talks produced a memorandum of agreement providing a remedy to a dispute over a 2010 production bonus. But equally important, the memorandum addressed several grievances and breaches by Escondida management from a 2009 labour agreement. 
 
Sindicato No. 1, representing Escondida’s 2,375 direct-employed miners, said of the memorandum, “the company promises to solve a series of labour issues such as establishing a new attendance policy, regularising a certification system based on competency for promotions, and reformulating the criteria for calculating a production bonus.” These were just some of the issues in dispute inside a four-year labour agreement that was signed in November 2009. 
 
In 2010, Escondida – 57.5% owned by operator BHP Billiton, 30% by Rio Tinto, and 12.5% by Japanese holding companies connected to Mitsubishi – saw profits of US$4.3 billion, up 35% over that of 2009. Last week’s amended bonus to each worker amounts to CHP 2.65 million (pesos), or US$5,800. Miners will receive that on 25 August.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1107.escondida.2.JPG" width="245" height="161"/> 
 
Sindicato No. 1 Files Papers in a Labour Court in Late July
Escondida called the strike illegal and said throughout that it would not negotiate with the union. But as the days wore on and production was crippling revenue from the rich mining complex, that changed. In a statement after signing the memorandum of agreement, the company said workers had ended their “illegal work stoppage” and “this action is due to the success of talks between the parties. 
 
“Minera Escondida reiterates that dialogue and respect are the foundation for maintaining a beneficial relationship with its workers.” 
 
Besides the aforementioned issues, that respect includes a more transparent system for the production bonuses; restoration of a housing allocation that lifts restrictions on where miners may use those stipends; safer and higher-quality bus transport service, and compensation for tickets; no retaliation, redundancy, or punishment for union or strike activity; and review on why the company installed surveillance cameras. 
 
Miners will also be paid their salaries for the 15-day strike. Sindicato No. 1 de Trabajadores de Minera Escondida had filed labour court charges on several of the issues involved in the strike. 
 
For its part, the union said it hopes to maintain and deepen channels of communication with management, but also will stay vigilant that the issues agreed to in the memorandum will get addressed and resolved. 
 
Minera Escondida consists of two open-pit copper mines some 170 kilometres southeast of Antofagasta, in Chile’s Region II. It also consists of two concentrator plants, Los Colorados and Laguna Seca, which have a combined capacity of 330,000 tonnes per day. The company operates two pipelines and a filter plant on the Pacific Ocean Port of Coloso. 
 
In 2010, Escondida’s production totaled 1.087 million tonnes, consisting of 786,603 tonnes of copper concentrate and 300,098 tonnes of copper cathodes. The Escondida mine complex provides 7% of the world’s copper supply.

FMC Copper Union at Escondida Wins Dialogue Guarantees

Archive