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	Trade unions from around the world agree on plans to establish IndustriALL Global Union in June 2012, a new global union to represent workers in manufacturing, energy,&nbsp;mining,&nbsp;and textile sectors at the global level.

	Meeting at the ILO in Geneva on 29 February, more than 200 trade union leaders from around the world spoke of the serious challenges working people face in the current political and economic climate. Having greater strength and building power across the supply chain at the global level is the motivating force for the creation of the new global union.

	The new organization will bring together affiliates of International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), the International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF).

	The joint executive committee meeting of the ICEM, ITGLWF and IMF discussed the draft Statutes and Action Plan for the new organization and agreed on the proposed new name IndustriALL and logo.

	The joint meeting noted the proposed candidates for the political leadership of the new organization. The importance of including women in both the political leadership and representative structures of the new global union was argued for and included in the proposed Statutes.

	A founding Congress of the new organization will take place in Copenhagen, 18-20 June 2012. The proposed name, Statutes and Action Plan will be decided on at the founding Congress.

IndustriALL Name of New Global Union Federation

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	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: 160px;height: 97px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	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

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	The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) is demanding that labour and regulatory law in the province of Ontario be toughened in the wake of the social calamity perpetrated by Caterpillar Inc. in the recent lockout/closure of a rail electric diesel factory in the south-western provincial city of London.

	With that nearly all labour law in Canada is governed by the provinces, CAW demanded in a 29 February letter to Labour Minister Linda Jeffrey that Ontario toughen its labour statutes as remedy to lax investment regulations. Specifically, the CAW demands that more powers be granted the Ontario Labour Relations Board to stamp out bad-faith bargaining strategies.

	The CAW is campaigning for a stronger and more modernized labour code in Ontario because of Caterpillar&rsquo;s subsidiary, Electro-Motive Diesel, blackmailing workers and a community in choosing between non-liveable wages and a major plant closure. (See prior <a href="-Caterpillar-to-Close-Canadian-Train-Locomotive-Plant">ICEM report</a> here.)

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 145px" width="390">&nbsp;

	Ken Lewenza

	In the letter, CAW President Ken Lewenza said, &ldquo;The company&rsquo;s unjustifiable behaviour &ndash; and the resulting devastation now being brought to bear on workers and the community &ndash; has touched a nerve with Canadians and triggered broad public support.&rdquo;

	The CAW is proposing powers of expedited interest arbitration in pitched labour disputes, as well as new provisions to prevent employers from evading collective agreements by using a lockout.

	Also put forward is a ban on scab replacement workers during a dispute, and restoring workers&rsquo; plant closing rights to negotiate adjustment plans. The CAW also says fairness demands the lengthening of time for giving plant closing notice, and a minimum two weeks&rsquo; pay for each year of service, with elimination of the five-year service tie-in.

	The CAW letter also calls for an Industrial Inquiry Commission, as stipulated in Section 37, Ontario Labour Relations Act, in order to investigate Caterpillar carnage on workers in the province and the city of London.

	&ldquo;The Caterpillar debacle demonstrates all too well the ease with which an employer can stall out the negotiation process, bargain in bad faith with impunity and manufacture a dispute in an attempt to evade contractual obligations,&rdquo; Lewenza stated.

	&ldquo;Caterpillar did not misjudge or misinterpret Ontario&rsquo;s labour laws; rather, they understood them all too well, and exploited the laws&rsquo; weaknesses as a key part of their overall strategy.&rdquo;

Update Labour Laws, CAW Tells Ontario in Caterpillar Aftermath

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the ICEM World Congress and ICEM&rsquo;s involvement in ICASA, as well as the problems the Global Fund is facing. 
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ICEM World Congress 
 
HIV and AIDS featured prominently at the 5th ICEM World Congress held in Buenos Aires from 24-26 November. 
 
The Congress publication of Global Info highlighted the ICEM&rsquo;s HIV and AIDS work in a two-page spread. The Action Programme, which was unanimously adopted by delegates, makes repeated reference to the importance of the role of trade unions in fighting the pandemic at the workplace. With the adoption of the Action Programme delegates expressed their full support for the merger with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). HIV and AIDS work will take a prominent place in the new organisation which will come into existence in June 2012. 
 
At the Congress, the ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant maintained a command post that contained HIV and AIDS material and he talked to many delegates on the ICEM&rsquo;s work on HIV and AIDS, as well as on the importance of the ILO Recommendation No 200 concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, which was distributed at the Congress in print form. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
ICEM at ICASA 
 
The ICEM and its affiliate in Ethiopia, the National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical and Mine Trade Unions (NIFECM), made a great impact at the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa when the NIFECM President, Firew Bekele Afework, gave the oral presentation of an abstract on the HIV and AIDS work in the mining sector in Ethiopia, which is supported by the Danish LO/FTF Council. 
 
The abstract, entitled &ldquo;HIV and the Workplace, Awareness and Prevention in the Mining Sector in Ethiopia &ndash; Trade Unions Take their Responsibility,&rdquo; raised much interest among participants and drove home the message of the importance of workplace HIV and AIDS interventions, and the role of trade unions, whose potential is often underestimated. 
 
ICASA was held in Addis Ababa from 4-8 December under the theme &ldquo;Own, Scale up and Sustain&rdquo;. 
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Global Fund Cancels Round 11 
 
The Global Fund Board has cancelled Round 11 in light of the Global Fund&rsquo;s financial difficulties. This difficult decision was made at a two-day Board meeting in Accra, Ghana, 21-22 November. The wording for the resolution did not include the word &ldquo;cancel&rdquo; or anything implying it. Instead, the Board resolved &ldquo;to convert Round 11 into a new funding opportunity in 2014.&rdquo; 
 
The original decision to launch Round 11 in August 2011 was made at a Board meeting in December 2010. At its meeting in May 2011, the Board did not make any changes to its plans for Round 11 as an estimated US$1.6 billion would be available for that round. But the estimate of funds available for Round 11 declined to US$0.8 billion in September 2011, and then to a negative amount in November. 
 
The Global Fund has long had a policy that the financing of Phase 2 renewals of existing grants has a higher priority than the financing of new grants. As a result, the Board concluded that almost all of the US$8.2 billion in revenues that is now projected to arrive by the end of 2013 will be needed for renewals, leaving no money for Round 11. The next replenishment period will be 2014&ndash;2016. Given that there is no money for Round 11, the next opportunity for countries to apply for new grants will be during the 2014&ndash;2016 period. 
 
Why was Round 11 launched and then cancelled? And what does the decision to cancel Round 11 tell us about the Global Fund&rsquo;s financial condition? Unlike what some news reports suggest, the Global Fund has billions of dollars in the bank, with billions more expected to arrive during the next two years. The problem is that most of that money is needed for the current and renewal phases of existing grants. In addition, the Fund has introduced a more cautious methodology for estimating how much funding it will receive in future. 
 
Primarily because of these two factors, the Global Fund now estimates that until 2014, it will have almost no money for new grants. Hence, the need to cancel Round 11. It is not accurate to say that Round 11 was cancelled because of decisions by donors since May to cancel, reduce or delay their pledges, because that is not happening, although the Fund has serious problems with a few donor countries. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issues 167 and 170 of 23 November and 9 December respectively. 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>) 
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Global Progress in HIV Response 
 
Global progress in both preventing and treating HIV emphasizes the benefits of sustaining investment in HIV and AIDS over the longer term. The 2011 joint report by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and UNAIDS Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Response indicates that increased access to HIV services resulted in a 15% reduction of new infections over the past decade and a 22% decline in AIDS-related deaths in the last five years. 
 
Advances in HIV science and programme innovations over the past year add hope for future progress. In times of economic austerity, it is essential to rapidly apply new science, technologies and approaches in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of HIV programmes in countries. 
 
While there are successes in increased access to testing of pregnant women and subsequent treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission, as well as an expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in general, a lot still needs to be done. More than half of the people who need antiretroviral treatment are still unable to get access to it (and many do not even know that they are infected). 
 
Worldwide, the vast majority (64%) of young people aged 15-24 living with HIV today are female. The rate is even higher in sub-Saharan Africa where girls and young women make up 71% of all young people living with HIV - essentially because prevention strategies are not reaching them. 
 
In 2010, HIV epidemics and responses in different parts of the world vary with shifting trends, progress rates and outcomes. Sub-Saharan Africa has reached an ART coverage rate of 49%. But prevention is still lacking with 1.9 million new infections in the region, where 22.9 million people, two thirds of the world&rsquo;s total, are living with HIV. Asia shows a stabilizing epidemic overall, but new infections are very high in some communities. Of the 4.8 million people living with HIV in Asia, nearly half (49%) are in India. Eastern Europe and Central Asia presents a dramatic growth in HIV, with new infections increasing by 250% since 2001. Middle East and North Africa records the highest number of HIV infections ever in the region (59,000) in 2010, which represents a 36% increase over the past year. Latin America and the Caribbean have a stabilizing epidemic with 1.5 million living with HIV in Latin America and 200,000 in the Caribbean. 
 
The report is also critical about the decrease in funding in the wake of the financial crisis. 
 
Echoing these developments and figures, UNAIDS released a separate report called &ldquo;2011 UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report.&rdquo; 
 
(Source: UNAIDS Press Release, 30 November) 
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Botswana: Mogae in Call to Legalise Homosexuality, Prostitution 
 
Botswana should decriminalise homosexuality and prostitution to prevent the spread of HIV, said Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana. Mogae, who heads the government-backed Botswana AIDS Council, said it was difficult to promote safe sex when the practices were illegal. He also called for condoms to be distributed in prisons. 
 
Mogae said that Botswana should not regard homosexuals as criminals. Similarly, arresting prostitutes does not help to protect them or their clients from being infected. He also said that the government&rsquo;s failure to give prisoners condoms has worsened the pandemic. &ldquo;If people go to prison HIV negative and come out of it HIV positive, it means that prisons are one of the sources of infection,&rdquo; he told the BBC. 
 
Botswana has one of the highest infection rates in the world &ndash; 17% of the population are HIV positive. When Mogae was President, it became the first sub-Saharan country where antiretroviral drugs were widely available for free. 
 
(Source: BBC News, 19 0ctober) 
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Burundi: &lsquo;Die-in&rsquo; to Protest Lack of HIV Care 
 
Hundreds of Burundians living with HIV and 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 ten minutes to &quot;show the government that if nothing is done rapidly - this week, this month &ndash; we will all die,&quot; said Jeanne Gapiya, a leading Burundian HIV activist. 
 
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. Global Fund grants to Burundi are channelled through a coordinating body called the Intensification and Decentralization Programme for the Fight against HIV/AIDS (PRIDE), which funds CNLS, which in turn pays for HIV-positive people&rsquo;s healthcare. 
 
(Source: IRIN/PlusNews, Bujumbura) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Health Effects of Financial Crisis: A Greek Tragedy 
 
Greece has been affected more by the financial crisis than any other European country. There are signs that budget cuts in health care have led to worsening health outcomes, especially within vulnerable groups. 
 
A significant increase in HIV infections occurred in late 2010. The latest data suggest that new infections will rise by 52% in 2011, compared to 2010, with half of the currently observed increases attributable to infections among intravenous drug users. Budget cuts in 2009 and 2010 have resulted in the loss of a third of the country&rsquo;s street work programmes. Many new HIV infections are also linked to an increase in prostitution and associated unsafe sex. 
 
Overall, the picture of health in Greece is disturbing. It reminds us that, in an effort to finance debts, ordinary people are paying the ultimate price: losing access to care and preventive services, facing higher risk of HIV and in the worst cases losing their lives. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.thelancet.com">www.thelancet.com</a>, volume 378, 22 October) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
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 updates 115 and 116 of 1 and 15 November, respectively, reports on a week-long organising and VCT campaign in the road transport sector in Togo, UNESCO&rsquo;s new AIDS strategy, on education sessions for Cambodian fishermen and on the effects of austerity measures in Europe, especially on infections by drug users. 
 
On 30 November, on the occasion of World AIDS Day 1 December, the ITF launched the report on a comprehensive and cross-regional HIV and AIDS survey in the port sector. The survey examines the impact of HIV and AIDS among port communities and illustrates the need for union action and support. It also highlights the importance of ILO Recommendation 200 concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Five Years Ago: From the December 2006 Issue (No. 15) 
 
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 December 2006 e-bulletin, we reported on the initial HIV and AIDS workshop in India in Puri, Orissa, in November. The objectives of the workshop included the achievement of a solid knowledge about the HIV/AIDS epidemic; the introduction and advocacy of the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work; the development of workplace policies and of a work plan of activities with sustainable funding sources. From this initial workshop the Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INMF) in cooperation with the ICEM developed a comprehensive programme which has been running from 2008 to the end of 2011. Corporate partnership with funding from the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim made this project possible. 
 
We also reported on the latest HIV and IADS figures published in the UNAIDS/WHO 2006 Epidemic Update. An estimated 39.5 million people were living with HIV. There were 4.3 million new infections in 2006 with 2.8 million (65%) of these occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and important increases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where in some countries infection rates have risen by more than 50% since 2004. In 2006, 2.9 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses. The 2010/2011 look a bit better (see article above). 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; 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 &ldquo;subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin&rdquo; in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 75, December 2011

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The unjust decision to dismiss Rodolfo Vecino Acevedo, President of ICEM affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO), was reversed on 12 January. Heavy pressure was exerted on the Colombian government and the management of Ecopetrol, the 95% state-owned oil company. 
 
Letters were sent to Ecopetrol president Javier Gutierrez Pemberthy from all corners of the world, from trade union organisations and activists angered by the blatant attempt to derail the union and punish Vecino for his role in the strong campaign for improved conditions and salaries at Canadian-based Pacific Rubiales. 
<img alt="" src="" width="216" height="159" />
Rodolfo Vecino centre, with Manfred Warda and Carlos Bustos
The decision to dismiss Vecino and end his 27-year employment at Ecopetrol was taken on 13 December by the company&rsquo;s Office for Internal Discipline, and was only overturned after the company president bowed to pressure and instructed overturn the office&rsquo;s decision. 
 
This victory must now send a strong message to Ecopetrol&rsquo;s Office for Internal Discipline that they must end the ongoing attempts to dismiss other USO officials and activists. The USO General Secretary Edgardo Lozano was to be the next target. 
 
The shoddy charge used to dismiss Vecino had been linked to his participation at a political event marking the anniversary of the death of a previous Vice-President of the CUT. 
 
Legislation had been manipulated which stipulates individuals holding public office cannot be involved in partisan politics. This legislation clearly should not apply to trade unionists, and this decision being overturned has avoided a dangerous new precedent. 
 
See more details in the <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4832-ICEM-Affiliates-Called-on-to-Support-Sacked-Colombian-USO-President-Rodolfo-Vecino">ICEM news article</a> here.

Global Pressure Gets USO President Reinstated at Ecopetrol

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On 1 January, Rio Tinto&rsquo;s aluminium subsidiary Alcan threw 780 Canadian members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9490 out of work at the Alma smelter and refinery in Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region, Qu&eacute;bec. 
 
The callous lockout, as reported here in this <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4837-USW-Affiliate-in-Québec-Locked-Out-by-Rio-Tinto-at-Aluminium-Plant ">ICEM dispatch</a>, came exactly at contract expiration of a prior five-year labour pact and simultaneously, Rio Tinto did little to hide the fact that because global aluminium prices had slumped, a full 11% of Alcan&rsquo;s workforce would face layoffs. 
 
Last week, the ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) lodged a strong complaint with Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese over the assault by lockout on Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma members at this most modern of Alcan&rsquo;s smelting/refining facilities. That letter can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/3.ICEM-IMFletterRioTintoAlma1.18Jan.pdf ">here</a>. 
<img alt="" src="" width="239" height="160" />
photo: lapresse.ca
Trade union affiliates across the world are now being asked to also send letters to Albanese. We ask you to take the attachment herein, modify appropriately, place on your letterheads, and fax to Rio&rsquo;s corporate offices in London and Melbourne. 
 
Those fax numbers are +44 20 7781 1800 (London) and +62 3 9283 3707 (Melbourne). Be sure to e-mail this letter as well to the <a href="mailto:info@icem.org">ICEM</a>, <a href="mailto:unionrights@imfmetal.org">IMF</a>, and the <a href="mailto:bdavis@usw.org">USW</a>. As the USW&rsquo;s global campaign against Rio Tinto for fairness and justice mounts, more and more activity will ensue. 
 
Already, several Canadian trade unions and a few international ones have reached out to the USW and to Local 9490 to offer aid, assistance and support. One notable example came last week when another union representing metalworkers in the region, Le Syndicat National des Employ&eacute;s de l&rsquo;aluminium d&rsquo;Arvida (SNEAA), an affiliate of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), presented USW Local 9490 with an interest-free loan of C$1 million. 
<img alt="" src="" width="229" height="160" />
SNEAA President Alain Gagnon and Local 9490 President Mark Maltais
In making the presentation, SNEAA President Alain Gagnon expressed deep concern over Rio Tinto/Alcan&rsquo;s intransigence in bargaining with fellow Alma metalworkers. 
 
This intransigence is reflected in the single biggest issue in the dispute &ndash; the company&rsquo;s desire to have unlimited contracting out rights. Alcan has substituted the retirement of each full-time, USW-represented worker with a subcontracting employee. Company documentation reveals that the expected ratio of hours worked by subcontractors will go from 10% in 2010 to 27% this year. 
 
When Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma attempted to put a floor on outsourced work, or to put guidelines on addressing subcontract work, Alcan refused to address such issues. And at midnight, 31 December, Rio Tinto/Alcan showed its contempt toward any such dialogue with a lockout. 
 
Make sure your union takes action and registers its protest with Rio Tinto.&nbsp;

ICEM, Metalworkers Urge Action in Rio Tinto Canadian Lockout

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
An agreement was reached yesterday, 22 January, after a marathon 15-hour bargaining session between Bulgarian state-owned Maritsa East Mines (BEH-EAD) and two ICEM affiliates. The settlement ends a seven-day coalminers&rsquo; strike in Stara Zagora province that saw ICEM intervention last week. 
 
The strike started at 20h00 on 15 January and was carried out jointly, cooperatively, and ultimately successfully by the Federation of Independent Miners&rsquo; Unions (KNSB/CITUB) and Podkrepa&rsquo;s Miners&rsquo; Federation. The settlement produced a partial payment to a bonus that was promised the 7,000 miners last July, but more importantly, calls for improved working conditions, an increase in investment at the three open-cast mines, and a commitment not to consider privatisation. 
 
Also, the settlement outlines guidelines to improve health and safety at Bulgaria&rsquo;s largest mining complex, a key point raised in the ICEM intervention. The unions won assurances that the state company will make BGN 20 million (&euro;10.2 million) available for safety. 
<img alt="" src="" width="122" height="159" />
The final talks occurred overnight on 21-22 January in Radnevo in south-central Bulgaria, center of the Maritsa mining and power generation facilities. 
 
In the <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/5.ICEM.Maritsa%20East%20Mines,%20Bulgaria.20Jan.pdf ">ICEM letter</a> to Prime Minister Boyco Borissov and Economy, Energy, Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov, General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;Although remuneration issues are part of the dispute, we are of the certain belief that health and safety, lack of adequate equipment, and refusal of mine management to engage in social dialogue as mandated by European social charters are legitimate reasons for miners to withhold their labour.&rdquo; 
 
Maritsa East Mines CEO Evgeni Stoykov had sought to get the strike declared illegal, but on 20 January BEH-EAD withdrew such a petition submitted to a Bulgarian court. Also on that day, the state National Electricity Company (NEK) suspended electric power exports to Turkey, Greece, Serbia and Macedonia in order to cover its own domestic needs. In 2011, NEK exported a total of 10.5 billion KWH to those countries. 
 
The suspension emboldened striking miners, with several hundred manifesting outside the headquarters of the company on 21 January. That sparked the urgency of weekend talks and produced the accord, which both unions said meet their requirements in ending the strike. 
 
The Maritsa East Mines, Bulgaria&rsquo;s largest deposits of lignite coal, supply 90% of the coal for the country&rsquo;s power industry. The mines supply coal to four thermal power stations, three that are state-owned by BEH-EAD and the other one that is owned by ContourGlobal of the US. 
 
Central to the dispute was revocation of an agreement signed on 12 July 2011 over a bonus premium for exceeding 2011 production levels. A targeted level of 27 million tonnes was surpassed and miners, who work 12-hour shifts, produced a total of 33 million tonnes, bringing a revenue stream to the company of BGN 500 million (&euro;255 million). 
 
Although miners did not get their full bonus demands, BGN 1,000 per worker (&euro;509), that was offset by management retreating from cuts to a staffing plan which would have seen 450 jobs, or 6% of the workforce, furloughed. Such downsizing would have affected safety. The unions also won commitments to improve on continual shortages of equipment, spare parts and monitoring devices, which also impacted safety. 
 
Maritsa East miners earn average monthly salaries of BGN 1,500 (&euro;767).

Week-Long Coal Strike Ends in Bulgaria

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="59" />
The ICEM has responded with anger and outrage over the latest cold-blooded murder of a trade unionist in Colombia. Mauricio Redondo, 36, and his wife, Janeth Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez Carlosama, were murdered in their home in the village of Tetey&eacute;, in the southern department of Putumayo, on 17 January at 19h30 by two gunmen. 
 
Mauricio Redondo was a provincial leader of ICEM Colombia affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO) and both he and his wife were activists in a community group that advocated for better working conditions, environmental stewardship, and labour and human rights in the booming oil and natural gas fields of the Putumayo basin in southwest Colombia.
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="141" />
In fact, four days before the killings,&nbsp;a meeting in the municipality of Orito,&nbsp;at a&nbsp;forum&nbsp;called Primer Foro Petrolero por el Derecho al Trabajo, la Reivindicaci&oacute;n Social y Econ&oacute;mica de Orito, Redondo was an active speaker in talks to open public protests over these issues. According to initial reports, the two gunmen were wearing work uniforms of the local oil contracting company Empresa de Energ&iacute;a del Bajo Putumayo, EEEP (Energy Company of Lower Putumayo) and fired multiple gunshots into the couple. Redondo and Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez are survived by five young children. 
 
&ldquo;Once again we witness the price that dedicated trade unionists in Colombia pay when they attempt to stand up for a dignified way of life,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda, who was in Colombia when the murders happened. 
 
&ldquo;Along with USO, we mourn the grisly deaths of Mauricio Redondo and Janeth Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez and we call on Colombia&rsquo;s federal and provincial prosecution teams to expend all efforts in apprehending and bringing to justice those responsible.&rdquo; 
 
Mauricio Redondo was employed by Medellin-based P.E.I. Energy, an upstream oil and gas drilling company. He was a leader of the 220-member USO committee in Orito, in which 40% are employees of Ecopetrol and 60% employed by contract companies of the state-held energy company. 
 
The deaths of the couple came just days after three other USO Orito leaders &ndash; Manuel Coronado, Jos&eacute; Socimo Erazo and Julio Vargas &ndash; were threatened by calls made to their mobile telephones. It also came after a bomb threat was directed at the USO regional office in Orito.
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="105" />
Said Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) Human Rights Director Alberto Vanegas, the worst aspect of the 17 January heinous crimes are that &ldquo;five children were left as orphans. This is what we leave with such murders: orphans and widows throughout the country.&rdquo; 
 
The killings of Mauricio Redondo and Janeth Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez mark the first murders of trade unionists in Colombia in 2012. In 2011, at least 29 trade union leaders were killed in calculated and cold-blooded political assassinations.

ICEM Condemns Assassination of USO Leader, His Wife in Colombia

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The start of 2012 has seen deadly circumstances facing Colombian trade unionists deteriorate even further. The leadership of ICEM-affiliated Sintraelecol, the Electric Power Workers&rsquo; Union, is now being systematically threatened. 
 
Sintraelecol leaders Marcelino Jos&eacute; L&oacute;pez Perez and Danuil G&oacute;mez Perez have escaped harm in three attempts on their lives in a period of six weeks, from 19 December, in the Northern city of Monter&iacute;a C&oacute;rdoba. The only way to ensure their safety is to arrange for them to leave the country, since no protection is offered by the authorities or by the employer. 
 
The ICEM is currently working on their exit. 
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Danuil G&oacute;mez Perez
Martin Porto and Walberto Figueroa are other Sintraelecol leaders working at Electricaribe, a subsidiary of Spanish energy provider Gas Natural, who have received death threats. The four trade unionists believe that the threats and attacks are directly related to their union activities. 
 
In the latest attempted murder on 1 February, hit men on motorbikes armed with revolvers approached the car of Marcelino L&oacute;pez while he was visiting an infirmed co-worker at his home. Fortunately for L&oacute;pez, he was not in the car at the moment of attack and his bodyguards managed to apprehend one of the thugs, taking him immediately to police. 
 
Sintraelecol has condemned the lack of urgency by the authorities and the National Protection Unit of the Interior Ministry&rsquo;s Human Rights Office in assessing the risk facing its leaders. And the ICEM has also. The investigation is still in the evaluation phase. 
 
Even full-time bodyguards cannot ensure safety for Sintraelecol&rsquo;s leaders, however. The ICEM is pursuing other avenues to ensure assassinations do not occur. Local management has failed to relocate Marcelino L&oacute;pez and Danuil G&oacute;mez to Bogota for their safety, although they are contractually obliged to do so in these circumstances. 
 
See a <a href="http://vimeo.com/27211869">moving documentary</a> into the effects of a culture of murders with impunity in Colombia, in Spanish.&nbsp;

Sintraelecol Leaders Targeted, ICEM Demands Colombia, Employer Give Protection

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	Tuluy Kalyoncu, the President of ICEM affiliate Turkish Electricity Authority of Cyprus Workers&rsquo; Trade Union, or EL-SEN, easily admits it: without the ironclad clenched collective fist of each and every one of his union&rsquo;s 600 members, the state-run electric company, KIB-TEK, would be on unimpeded course straight into the hands of a private-sector generating company favorable to Ankara.

	And with that, so would a number of other state-owned enterprises in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus become pawns to the profiteers. EL-SEN, together with its national labour centre, T&Uuml;RK-SEN, deploying both fortitude and strategic vision, are clearly leading a growing mass movement in Northern Cyprus that includes opposition political parties, NGOs and most other unions.

	A sampling of that mass movement took place when many of those groups held a first-step manifestation in Lefkoşa on 30 January. This action was tame, but unless the ruling government retreats from Turkey&rsquo;s neo-liberal agenda, upcoming street actions will be powerful and ever more demanding.

	<img alt="" height="161" src="" width="224" />

	EL-SEN Leaders at 30 January Manifestation

	The EL-SEN and T&Uuml;RK-SEN leadership of this movement was vividly seen in a series of events that began 19 January with a paralyzing strike that shut the electric grid, except for parts that the union and its members deemed life-essential. And that was then reflected in government&rsquo;s retreat, albeit temporarily, when it published in its official gazette a union-submitted restructuring plan for KIB-TEK.

	That restructuring calls for a board of directors that is fully autonomous from the government, and one that will take decisive action to make KIB-TEK feasibly sound. EL-SEN objects to all government departments, agencies, and quasi-public institutions receiving free electrical power from KIB-TEK, for instance.

	The government&rsquo;s publication of the union&rsquo;s restructuring plan came five days after it declared the strike illegal and four days after EL-SEN did quit the strike, but continued a work stoppage through civil disobedience. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4849-Northern-Cyprus-Imports-Scabs-to-Break-Electric-Utility-Work-Stoppage">ICEM news article</a> here.) It also came after the union received broad support, including remarkable solidarity from the Free Pancyprian Union of Electricity Authority Employees (FPUEAE) on the Greek side of the island, who made sure no power from the south was exported northward.

	But the struggle is far from over. The ruling government still has a draft bill before the Northern Cypriot Parliament to push ahead with privatisation. EL-SEN has put forth a different legislative proposal that would keep the utility in state hands and restructure it into a viable, low-cost energy provider that benefits all citizens of Northern Cyprus.

	EL-SEN leadership and Prime Minister İrsen K&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k and his team will meet this week to discuss this alternative legislation. Most importantly, a plan must come forward to make the ill-managed company solvent.

	&ldquo;Our struggle is now with the strength of our membership,&rdquo; said EL-SEN President Kalyoncu. &ldquo;We have proven that 600 workers can stand and resist a political decision,&rdquo; adding that resilient vigilance has now taken hold by El-SEN union members and it must resonate with all citizens of Northern Cyprus.

El-SEN Draws Cypriot Government into Electric Privatisation Stalemate

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