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Industrial employers must do much more to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. 
 
That was one of the main calls when trade union representatives from Africa and Asia met in South Africa this Monday to discuss ways of tackling the pandemic. 
 
Taking part were unions affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which organised the conference. Support came from the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Swedish metal and allied workers' union Metall and the Danish general workers' union SiD. 
 
Unions also have an important part to play in the fight against HIV/AIDS, delegates emphasised. The ICEM and its affiliated unions should focus on workplace activities, as well as undertaking and disseminating research on HIV/AIDS in the ICEM's sectors. This research should include the cost/affordability and availability of HIV/AIDS drugs. 
 
The conference was held in Africa in view of the especially serious HIV/AIDS problem in many African countries. From the discussions, it was clear that the nature of the HIV/AIDS challenges, the profiles of the spread of HIV/AIDS and the perceived priorities differ from country to country and from region to region. However, the participants agreed on the key challenges and priorities. 
 
In particular, it was felt that employers in ICEM sectors have much further to go in accepting the reality of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and their responsibilities for preventing the spread. Employer action should include the provision of medical resources for tackling HIV/AIDS in their workplaces. 
 
Given the clear links between single-sex hostel accommodation for male workers in a number of ICEM sectors and the spread of HIV/AIDS, the participants demanded that employers provide proper family housing for such workers. Employers' "hostel culture" attitudes should be eliminated. 
 
Employers must meet the HIV/AIDS challenge through effective partnerships with organised labour. These must include joint cooperation to fight the stigmatisation and/or victimisation of those living with HIV/AIDS. 
 
Many participants felt that the ICEM and its affiliated unions could and should do a lot more to help fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and support those living with HIV/AIDS. 
 
At the same time, it was recognised that the ICEM and its affiliates needed to concentrate their efforts where they are likely to make the most impact. Many other groups and organisations are working on the HIV/AIDS issue. They have special skills and expertise which it would be pointless for unions to try to duplicate. So the ICEM should focus mainly on the workplace. Activities there would also provide opportunities to promote HIV/AIDS awareness in the broader community. 
 
In this regard, it would be important to work with the ILO and seek ILO funding. The prevention of discrimination and/or victimisation of those living with HIV/AIDS could be helped through the development of an ILO Convention, or the modification of existing relevant Conventions. It was felt that the ILO could be particularly useful in providing "training the trainers" assistance, as well as other means for diffusion of best practices. 
 
It was recognised that ICEM-affiliated unions would sometimes need help in developing negotiating positions, as well as in fighting the social exclusion of those living with HIV/AIDS - and of their families. 
 
Given the need to focus activities on the workplace, it was felt that the ICEM should consider inviting employers from ICEM industries to an ICEM conference or conferences on HIV/AIDS. Additionally, there would be an ongoing need to lobby employers' associations in order to raise the profile of HIV/AIDS and the importance of tackling it in the workplace. 
 
One important use of the ICEM's influence would be to put pressure on governments - in addition to companies - to ensure the wider availability of medical treatment. It should also address international financial institutions and seek funding for targeted HIV/AIDS activities in ICEM sectors. 
 
The ICEM's HIV/AIDS activities must strongly emphasise the importance of programmes for the empowerment of women, the conference insisted.

HIV/AIDS: African and Asian Unions' Action Call

The Colombian government must act now to halt the continuing wave of assassinations directed against trade unionists. 
 
That was the call today from the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) following a new upsurge of killings in Colombia. 
 
The ICEM condemned the brutal murder this Monday of two mining union activists employed at a coal mine in northern Colombia. The mine is owned by the US-based multinational Drummond. 
 
Valmore Locarno Rodríguez and Victor Hugo Orcasita, President and Vice-President of the mine workers' local union at Loma mine, were pulled from a company-chartered bus while on their way to work. They were shot execution-style by gunmen, some of them dressed in military uniforms. The other miners on the bus were forced to witness the killings. 
 
In a protest over the murders, the mine's 1,200 workers struck, halting all production. The miners are members of ICEM affiliate Sintracarbon, the Colombian national mine workers' union. 
 
"We utterly condemn these vile murders," said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs today, "and we demand that the Colombian government bring the perpetrators to justice without delay. These killings are just the latest in a long series of assassinations directed against trade union activists in Colombia. Last year alone, at least 129 Colombian trade unionists were murdered. Unless and until the authorities make a real effort to investigate these crimes, and bring them to an end, the suspicion must remain that the gunmen are not acting alone." 
 
Higgs also called for a full investigation into the recent death of Dario Hoyos. 
 
Hoyos was murdered in unexplained circumstances in his home town of Fusagasugá earlier this month. No further details have emerged about the killing. Dario Hoyos used to be the Colombian coordinator for the Miners' International Federation, a forerunner of the present ICEM. "This was a tragic end to a life devoted to the defence of the Colombian workers," Higgs said. 
 
Meanwhile, the murder of the Loma mine leaders has also drawn protests from miners in the USA, where the Drummond company is headquartered. Last year, Drummond decided to close most of its US coal mines and begin operating new mines in Colombia. 
 
"We strongly condemn these assassinations of our trade union brothers," said American union leader Jerry Jones today. Jones is Vice-President of the ICEM-affiliated United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). He is also an ICEM Vice-President. 
 
"When Drummond chose to switch many of its operations to Colombia," Jones pointed out, "it did so knowing that country's hostile political climate and egregious human rights violations. The UMWA would hope that Monday's assassinations might make Drummond rethink its decision. The UMWA's prayers and condolences go out to the families, friends and co-workers of Brothers Locarno and Orcasita, and we offer our full support and solidarity to the Colombian mine workers' union

Colombian Miners' Leaders Murdered

Joining the European Union means working one-third more and kissing goodbye to the five-day week. 
 
That, at least, is what the Hungarian government is trying to tell the country's workers. 
 
It has tabled amendments to the Hungarian Labour Code that would seriously undermine workers' legal rights. The government argues that the anti-labour proposals are needed to bring Hungarian law into line with EU directives. Hungary aims to be one of the first Central European countries to join the EU. 
 
The draft legislation will be put to the vote before the end of this month. That is why all of Hungary's union confederations are joining together in a demonstration tomorrow (Saturday 24 March) against the proposed changes. 
 
According to the country's Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers' Unions (VDSz), the amendments would: 
 
- extend the working week up to 48 hours 
- eliminate the daily work break 
- oblige employees to work six days instead of five days per week 
- increase the maximum amount of overtime from 144 hours to 300 hours per year 
- reduce the weekly rest period by two hours 
- considerably expand the definition of seasonal work. 
 
And even before the parliamentary vote, the proposed changes are having an industrial impact. 
 
"In several workplaces within the chemical industry, the weekly working time is 36 hours," explains VDSz President György Paszternák. "The employers, encouraged by the government proposals, decided to increase weekly work times to 48 hours. So in these cases, working hours will increase by more than 30 percent. In the case of other workers, currently on a 40-hour week, it means a 20 percent increase. 
 
"But wages will remain the same," Paszternák points out. "The government and the employers say this is in line with European principles, which lay down a 48-hour working week." 
 
The government and employer claims are, of course, nonsense - as Fred Higgs points out in a letter to the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán. 
 
Higgs is General Secretary of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), to which the VDSz is affiliated at the global level. 
 
"Mr. Orbán," Higgs writes, "I'm afraid your government's proposal shows a complete misunderstanding of European Union legislation. The whole EU social policy and directives aim to improve labour standards in Member States, not to reduce the protection of workers. In reality, working hours have been cut during the past decade, and in most EU member states, the regular working week is now well under 40 hours. Recent reports in France show that the government's decision to cut the working week to 35 hours has produced tens of thousands of new jobs. This clearly demonstrates that shorter working hours are an efficient policy in the fight against unemployment." 
 
And Higgs has sent a copy of his letter to Romano Prodi, the President of the European Commission. 
 
Because when it comes to European harmony, Viktor Orbán is singing the wrong tune.

Hungarian unions fight longer hours

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) has urged the Chevron Corporation to settle strikes at two US coal mines. 
 
Currently, 520 members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) are on strike against Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company (P&M), a wholly-owned Chevron subsidiary. The strike at the McKinley mine near Window Rock, Arizona on the Navajo Nation territory, involving 310 UMWA members, has been ongoing since May 14. At the Kemmerer mine in Kemmerer, Wyoming, 210 UMWA members have been on strike since May 28. The UMWA is affiliated at the global level to the 20-million-strong ICEM. 
 
In a letter to David J. O’Reilly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chevron Corporation, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs expressed concern about "the company’s retention of outside legal counsel which has the reputation for promoting, instead of resolving, conflict; the company’s hiring of military-type security guards (one of whom has already been arrested by Navajo police), and the company’s demand that the union accept a pension package inferior to those offered by your competitors in the coal industry." 
 
"The United Mine Workers of America is a valued affiliate of our federation," Higgs continued, "and we intend to do everything possible to support them, including notifying our affiliates around the world with members employed by Chevron Corporation and Caltex Petroleum Corporation about the ongoing dispute. I strongly urge you to do everything possible to bring about a speedy end to this dispute." 
 
Already responding to the solidarity appeal is the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE), which represents approximately 2,000 Chevron oil and chemical workers in the United States. "We will support the UMWA in any way we can," said PACE Executive Vice President Robert Wages. "We will mobilise our members at Chevron’s oil and chemical operations to ensure that justice is won at these coal mines." PACE is also affiliated globally to the ICEM. 
 
"We are grateful for this show of support and solidarity," said Jerry Jones, UMWA Vice President and the union's chief negotiator with P&M. "Our members on strike at McKinley and Kemmerer are stronger and more resolved than ever and, with this show of support from other Chevron workers in the US and around the world, I am certain we will win a fair and just contract with P&M."

Settle US Coal Strike, Global Union Tells Chevron

The United Mine Workers of America has successfully negotiated new collective bargaining agreements with Pittsburg & Midway Coal Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of energy multinational Chevron. 
 
Union members at the company's Kemmerer, Wyoming, mine voted on Aug. 1, overwhelmingly ratifying the agreement by 82%. 
 
The miners were lent significant support by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), to which the UMWA is affiliated at a global level. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs had written to Chevron CEO David O'Reilly, urging the company to settle the dispute. In addition, ICEM oil union affiliates from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, India, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States all communicated their concern to Chevron. 
 
Important assistance came from the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE), which represents approximately 2,000 Chevron workers in the United States. PACE mobilised its members at Chevron's oil refineries and chemical plants and urged the company to settle the coal dispute. 
 
"We're very pleased with this agreement, and, obviously, so are our members," said UMWA Vice-President Jerry Jones, who led the union's negotiations. "We are extremely grateful for the solidarity and support we have received from the ICEM and from its oil worker union affiliates around the world." 
 
"This is a great example of what can happen when union workers stand up for one another across borders and across industry lines," he said. 
 
"Solidarity is what won this strike," added UMWA President Cecil Roberts. "The members of this local union, along with their family members and our supporters, really proved that if we stick together, we can prevail." 
 
210 UMWA members were involved in the strike at the Kemmerer mine, which started on May 28. 
 
UMWA members at the company's McKinley mine, near Window Rock, Arizona on the Navajo Nation, will vote on the tentative agreement covering that operation on Sunday, Aug. 6. The McKinley strike, involving 310 UMWA members, began on May 14.

US Miners Win Chevron Agreement

Leading US industry magazine Rubber & Plastics News has praised a recently signed global labour agreement. The magazine says the worldwide union deal will give the Freudenberg company a competitive edge. 
 
Finalised this July, the agreement is between Freudenberg and the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Rubber & Plastics News devoted its main thinkpiece Opinion to the agreement. Here is the magazine's article in full, reproduced with permission: 
 
 
Freudenberg's global labour pact makes sense 
 
Give Freudenberg Group credit for demonstrating a social conscience by signing a global cooperative agreement with an international labour organisation. Give Freudenberg even more credit for being smart. 
 
The pact with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions sets guidelines for work rules and policies at the German sealing and vibration control producer's operations throughout the world. The agreement is a framework and therefore doesn't supplant local bargaining units and national trade unions. 
 
A worldwide labour pact may be anathema to tyre and rubber product companies that operate on a global scale and seek out low-wage regions. But take a close look at what Freudenberg has agreed. 
 
The company said it will recognise its employees' right to join trade unions and won't discriminate against them if they do. Unless a company is out to break a union, what's wrong with that? 
 
Freudenberg agreed to follow United Nations guidelines about forced and child labour. Any objections? The company said it will cooperate in striving toward job security and social justice and seek solutions to problems through "appropriate dialogue." Isn't discussion the key component of bargaining, anyway? 
 
Finally, Freudenberg made a commitment to environmental protection and safety in the workplace and with its products. What company would oppose that? 
 
While confirming policies it probably already pursues, Freudenberg has taken a big step toward keeping labour relations on an even keel. That gives it an edge over competitors that take a more combative approach to labour. 
 
__________ 
 
 
When it comes to smartness, Rubber & Plastics News is obviously no slouch either. 
 
But will the big players in the rubber and other sectors get the message?

Industry Press Lauds Freudenberg Agreement

Trade union unity and an end to government interference in union affairs. Those were the top priorities for Belarus unions as they met in Minsk on 10-11 October at the Congress of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB). 
 
It was a crucial event, because the Belarus unions are under massive pressure from the country's President Alexander Lukashenko and his administration. Labour rights have been curtailed and administrative meddling in union affairs is widespread. In fact, the holding of the Congress was in doubt at one stage because of a government decision to close a union bank account and of threats to prosecute union leaders. 
 
The world trade union movement has mounted a strong campaign in defence of Belarus workers' rights. This week, Lukashenko received a further protest from Fred Higgs, General Secretary of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
The Lukashenko administration has taken a whole series of measures that violate the basic trade union rights standards of the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO), Higgs pointed out. These abuses include "compulsory registration procedures sanctioned by liquidation of union organisations, minimum membership requirements, restrictions on the right to strike and discrimination against trade union members." 
 
Now, a special ILO mission is to visit Belarus in response to the unions' formal complaint over violations of core ILO standards. This was announced at the Minsk Congress by the ILO's Frank Hoffer. In a sign of the seriousness with which developments in Belarus are viewed, the mission will be headed by ILO Deputy Director-General Kari Tapiola. 
 
World union support was also very much in evidence at the FTUB Congress. Many national and international union federations attended, including the ICEM. 
 
ICEM regional coordinator Andrei Mrost brought the Congress a message of support from the international's affiliated unions worldwide. In particular, he expressed the solidarity of Serbian mining, energy and chemical workers. 
 
As Mrost pointed out, the Milosevic regime survived a major NATO bombing campaign, but could not withstand the wrath of organised labour ... 
 
Immediately after the Congress, Mrost met with all the ICEM's Belarus affiliates. They agreed that the unions are now the main bulwark of democracy in Belarus, and a plan of further action was drawn up on that basis. 
 
Russian trade unions were also prominent at the Minsk event, as they have been throughout the solidarity campaign. There are plans for a form of political union between Belarus and Russia. And as the Congress heard from Mikhail Shmakov, President of the Russian Federation of Independent Trade Unions, the draft labour legislation for this Belarus-Russia union combines the worst aspects of each country's current laws. 
 
Despite hostile campaigns in the state-run media, the Congress made it clear that the Belarus unions will not let themselves be gagged on issues that the government labels "political". The FTUB is not beholden to any political party, but it believes that unions have every reason to criticise current social and economic policy, to demand higher living standards and to protest against all attempts to transform their organisations into a voiceless and obedient appendix of the government. 
 
"Stop defaming the unions!" thundered FTUB President Vladimir Goncharik. "We all need to realise that we cannot survive alone. Only our concerted will and joint actions will lead us to success and help improve workers' living standards. Together, we are unions. Together, we will win." 
 
Goncharik received a standing ovation and was unanimously re-elected him for a five-year term. 
 
Also addressing the Congress was Belarus Prime Minister Vladimir Yermoshin. Clearly distancing himself from Lukashenko, the Prime Minister said he hoped the unions could settle their differences with the President. Yermoshin also condemned as "an error" the attempts by some enterprise managers to set up bogus "yellow unions", in response to presidential guidelines for splitting organised labour. 
 
Meanwhile, Belarus workers face economic disaster. Even on official figures, almost half the population is now below the poverty line. One in five industrial enterprises is unprofitable. Presidential decrees forcing enterprises to take out bank loans to finance wages have only made matters worse. The FTUB's Vladimir Goncharik condemned as short-sighted the current official policy of hindering the development of non-governmental economic sectors. 
 
The Congress passed an action programme for 2001-2005 and a resolution on trade union unity. It also decided to hold consultations on FTUB affiliation to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. And, bearing in mind that the sectoral unions are still under pressure and their bank accounts are frozen, the FTUB Council was empowered to coordinate protest action. 
 
The message from the Minsk congress was very clear. The Belarus unions are standing firm, and world labour is standing with them.

Belarus Unions Stand Firm

Two international trade union federations are to unite next month. The move will further strengthen unions worldwide as they tackle the consequences of globalisation. 
 
As of 1 November, the Universal Alliance of Diamond Workers (UADW) will integrate with the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The unification was approved in Prague yesterday by the ICEM Presidium. 
 
Founded in 1905, the UADW has affiliates in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. These unions will now become members of the ICEM. They organise workers in diamond polishing and jewellery production. Both the UADW and the ICEM have membership in the mining of diamonds and gems. 
 
A new ICEM section will be set up, covering diamonds, gems, ornaments and jewellery production. The ICEM officer responsible for these sectors will be Yamina Zebchine-De Laet, who up to now was the UADW's Assistant General Secretary. 
 
"This is very good news for all the workers involved," said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs in Prague today. "Among other things, it will mean that all diamond and gem workers, from extraction through polishing to jewellery production, will now be organised within the same global union. This increases our ability to organise and defend these workers, and it further strengthens our credentials as the negotiating partner for multinational employers in these industries."

Diamond And Allied Workers Join ICEM

On 15 December, Chernobyl nuclear power station will shut down forever. Yet there is no safety net for the displaced Chernobyl workers and their families. 
 
Unions worldwide are to step up their pressure for an internationally financed social plan. 
 
"It is a disgrace that, one month before the shutdown, there is still no social plan in place," said Fred Higgs today. He is General Secretary of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). For over a decade now, the ICEM has been lobbying for a proper social closure plan at Chernobyl. 
 
Higgs is just back from Ukraine, where he discussed the crisis with Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and union leaders last week. The ICEM visit was timed to coincide with the Ukrainian government's official release of a social plan document for the Chernobyl workers. Drawn up with union participation, the plan has now been through the consultative process with the ministries concerned and is to be placed before the Ukrainian parliament. 
 
Only one important question remains - who will help pay for the safety net? 
 
This will have to include stimulation of new employment, retraining, health insurance, unemployment benefits and full pension provisions. 
 
But it will also have to cover the cost of refinancing infrastructure currently paid for by the power station. 
 
This is a crucial issue for the city of Slavutich, built to house the Chernobyl workers and their families after the nuclear accident in 1986. Up to now, the power station had been picking up the tab for about 97 percent of the city's infrastructure, from housing to schools, clinics and municipal services. 
 
For the 24,200 residents of Slavutich, new jobs are the crucial issue. Although it has been given the status of a special economic zone, only five new investment projects have materialised so far. 
 
For the municipal authorities, meanwhile, the biggest headache is a complete lack of funds. 
 
"When Chernobyl closes on 15 December, the power station will immediately cease to have any income," explains Higgs, who visited both the power station and Slavutich last week. "In turn, this means that the city will lose almost its entire budget." 
 
Hence the steep bill for refinancing the infrastructure. A tall order indeed for Ukraine's battered economy, but by no means impossible for the international community. After all, it has already pledged 700 million dollars towards sealing off the Chernobyl reactors. A further 175 million dollars' worth of western aid could go towards paying for new Ukrainian power plants to replace Chernobyl. 
 
Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko "has been pressing ahead with restructuring of the Ukrainian energy market, and she fully recognises the need for a Chernobyl social plan," Higgs said after his discussions with her. "The ICEM will cooperate with her in increasing our pressure on the G7 countries and other institutions for funding of the social plan." 
 
Higgs also held talks with ICEM Vice-President Aleksandr Jurkin, who chairs Ukraine's Atom Trade Union (ATU); with union officers and management at Chernobyl; with Aleksandr Stoyan, Chairman of the Ukraine Trade Union Federation; with Yuri Samoilenko, who chairs the Ukrainian parliament's environmental policy committee; and with Slavutich city officials. 
 
"Next April or May, the ICEM and the ATU will organise an international trade union event near Chernobyl," Higgs said. "By that time, we expect to see a properly financed social plan in place. These people have already suffered so many traumas. They must not be forced to see their whole community disintegrate once again."

Chernobyl Crisis: Unions Push Social Plan

Some 700,000 coalmine workers in India are to stage a six-day strike this month. 
 
The strike call was announced yesterday by Indian National Mineworkers' Federation (INMF), which is organising the action jointly with three other national unions in the sector. At the global level, the INMF is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Scheduled for 18-23 December, the strike has been sparked by the public sector coal industry's failure to implement a memorandum of understanding signed between the industry and the unions. Negotiations on the deal had taken over three years to complete. 
 
The INMF says management has "distorted and misinterpreted" the memorandum - particularly as regards the payment of cost-of-living adjustments. Management "has also backed out from their earlier promises of accepting unions' demands which include additional increments." 
 
As well as the industrial action, the INMF is planning demonstrations and publicity campaigns on the issue.

Indian Miners To Strike

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