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Bargaining in UK&rsquo;s corrugated paperboard industry concluded this week, with negotiators for Unite the Union and GMB coming to 2010 wage terms with the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI). The CPI, representing major corrugated boxboard and packaging employers at some 50 plants mainly belonging to D.S. Smith, SmurfitKappa, and SAICA, agreed to raise their wage offer from 2.1% to 2.5%. 
 
The offer, if accepted by paperworkers from the two unions in January, will be retroactive to 1 September 2010, the date a prior one-year accord expired. Unite National Officer Peter Ellis said the tentative settlement falls into the upper level of median pay awards in all industries in the UK this year, and Unite&rsquo;s bargaining panel will strongly recommend acceptance.
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Unite National Officer Peter Ellis
The settlement averts a vote for industrial action, a ballot both Unite and GMB members were about to file for&nbsp;on 10 January. Unite represents 2,500 workers in the corrugated industry, while GMB covers some 800 workers in the industry. 
 
Contract talks began in July, but became bogged down in October when CPI offered a pay hike of less than half of the retail price index. 
 
Meanwhile, Unite and Kimberly Clark reached an early accord recently for 2011, covering 500 workers at two towel and tissue mills, the Northfleet mill in Kent and the Barrow-in-Furness mill in Cumbria. The 2011 pay award, effective 1 February, will be 1.5%, with Unite also winning a lump sum bonus of &pound;1,450. That lump sum will also be calculated into the pension contribution, thus raising the benefit level.

UK’s Unite, GMB Settle Corrugated Paper Talks; Vote to Come in January

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ICEM&rsquo;s Turkish affiliate Petrol-İş, the Petroleum, Chemical and Rubber Workers Union, has been conducting an aggressive organizing campaign now for two years. The main objective has been to strengthen public confidence in unions, and to convey the union's positive message about improving work standards, not only to unorganized workers but also for families and within the local communities. 
 
The campaign adopted an approach which seeks to break down the negative public prejudices and attitudes towards unions. A prior ICEM report on the union&rsquo;s activities can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3595-Petrol-Iş-Continues-Aggressive-Recruitment-Drives-in-Turkey ">here</a>. In this context, Petrol-İş has been targeting a number of companies to organise, but the union is confronted by comprehensive attacks by employers. The anti-labour Turkish legislation also does not help. This creates much pain for workers seeking a say in their working lives, as well as for the union. 
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Here are some examples: 
 
Polyplex Europa Polyester Film San. Tic. A.S., located in Corlu province, is a subsidiary of Indian multinational Polyplex Corporation Ltd. It produces thin polyester film with manufacturing facilities in India, Thailand, and Turkey. In Corlu, about 250 workers are employed. The organizing work of Petrol-İş was completed over the latter part of 2010. Then, on 23 December, the employer fired six Petrol-İş members and erected a primitive partition made of canvas between union members inside the factory and the six sacked workers protesting outside. On 7 January, company management, in order to attack the union&rsquo;s recruitment efforts, went further and dismissed 15 more workers. Today, because workers want the benefits of a trade union, a total number of 21 have been fired. 
 
Now, members of the union are carrying on protest actions in front of the factory with support from friends inside the factory. Union workers outside the factory have set up a tent in order to continue their protest actions under ardous winter conditions. 
 
ICEM, as well, has taken initiative by writing a letter to the management of the company in India. Petrol-İş Is has met with the General Consulate of India in Istanbul to intervene on the issue. 
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In July 2009, Petrol-İş Is organised workers at BERICAP Kapak San. Ltd. Sti., located in the Gebze district of Turkey. The enterprise is a subsidiary of BERICAP GmbH &amp; Co. of Budenheim, Germany, and produces plastic caps and covers. When management heard about the organizing, they dismissed six workers. Workers then staged a series of protest actions. The union, Petrol-İş, signed a collective agreement on 26 January 2010. But the employer has never fully recognized the existence of the union at the workplace. 
 
A systematic and hostile attitude and behavior by company management towards the union workers have escalated tensions at the workplace. And recently four of the union members were dismissed without any compensation on 25 December 2010. Ninety-eight of the total 120-member workforce are Petrol-Is members and they support co-workers. Recently, they started a protest action in front of the BERICAP factory. But this time the employer terminated the contracts of 98 Petrol-İş members without compensation. The industrial action still goes on. ICEM also visited Petrol-İş members via its Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, who gave solidarity messages of ICEM to the striking workers. 
 
Petrol-İş has recently organized Demo Plastik, a subsidiary of the French-based company AFE Plasturgie, which is located in the city of Bursa and employs 109 employees. Petrol-Is recruited 53 members in the plant. But when local managers learned of the union organizing, they immediately dismissed ten trade union militants. All the dismissed people then started to picket outside of the plant. The management continued to exert pressure on union members to resign from their membership, and the situation grew worse. The employer dismissed all the workers who refused to quit the union. 
 
The plant&rsquo;s management has established a subcontracting company which does all the business inside the plant. The workers who resigned from the union by force are now employees of the company-related sub-contractor company. The company also does not pay severance payments of the dismissed workers although labor law requires it. 
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ICEM immediately communicated with its French affiliate FCE CFDT, who contacted and met with senior leaders of the company. But so far there is no result. ICEM is now prepared to file a complaint before the OECD. 
 
Petrol-İş organised Sa-ba End&uuml;striyel &Uuml;r&uuml;nler İmalat ve Tic. A.S.,which is a auto-parts supplier to multinationals such as Ford, Isuzu, Fiat, and Renault. It produces plastic-based finished and semi-finished goods for industry. 
 
About 210 workers are employed at the workplace in the Istanbul area. But on 20 December 2010, four of the union workers were dismissed without cause and the whole workforce started protest actions in front of the factory. Then, Sa-ba management terminated the contracts of 95 union workers who supported their fired co-workers. Protest actions went on by the 99 fired union workers in front of the Sa-ba factory the next month. The ICEM send a protest letter to the Turkish-based company, as well as alerting the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) on the dispute. 
 
After a series of meetings with management, Petrol-İş has been recognised as bargaining partner and the dismissed workers, those wishing to return, have been reinstated. 
 
To send solidarity messages to Petrol-İş over their ambitious organising efforts in Turkey, click <a href="mailto:petrolis.international@yahoo.com">here</a> to send support.&nbsp;

Organising Campaigns of Petrol-İş of Turkey continue, but with Pain

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The ICEM affiliated trade union in Northern Cyprus, EL-SEN, played a central role in organising one of the largest rallies in the history of Northern Cyprus last Friday, 28 January, as well as a general strike on the same day. 
 
The popular demonstration of 30,000 people was organized by the &ldquo;Platform of Trade Unions&rdquo; to resist a raft of proposed employment laws that threaten the future for Cypriot workers. The regressive changes to labour law constitute another example of governments manipulating the global economic crisis to justify reducing workers&rsquo; rights in the long term. 
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EL-SEN President, Tuluy Kalyoncu, reported to the Secretariat that the so-called reform package will restrict the practical application of the right to organise and bargain collectively, privatise public institutions (even those turning a profit), legitimise the employment of unregistered foreign workers, cut the salaries of the workers and their pensions, and facilitate the continuation of a damaging black market. Regarding the black market, Northern Cyprus&rsquo; government accept that 50% of all economic activity goes unrecorded, creating a budget deficit to be paid for by workers. 
 
EL-SEN turned out close to 100% of all members at the rally. Disappointingly, the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus, İrsen K&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k, dismissed the significance of the popular demonstrations, playing down numbers of participants and arguing that municipalities controlled by opposition parties forced staff to turn out. 
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The admirable popular uprisings currently spreading throughout the Arab world should serve as a wake-up call to the K&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k administration that the legitimate grievances of workers must be heard and acted on. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda expressed full solidarity and support to the demonstrators. In a letter to Prime Minister İrsen K&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k, he said, &ldquo;A central concern that must be addressed is the right of workers to choose a trade union, and to bargain collectively as a social partner. Too often in TRNC, this principle is not only ignored but real barriers are put before workers, preventing basic freedom of association. We call on your government to adopt decent social conduct by adopting stricter rules and laws, and steeper penalties on employers who abuse workers&rsquo; rights.&rdquo; 
 
Warda&rsquo;s words of support were distributed widely during the demonstrations, calling on K&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k to adopt global labour standards, and practice those standards with legitimate trade unions, as opposed to encouraging an influx of labour brokers, and a general reducing of regulations, rules and codes essential in a democracy.

Northern Cyprus Resists Ankara’s Reforms

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Sintracarb&oacute;n, the ICEM trade union affiliate organising workers at Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, the world&rsquo;s largest open-pit set of coal mines, is on the verge of a walkout following a 99.9% strike vote last week. The 4,000-member union and Cerrej&oacute;n, which is owned by multinationals BHP Billiton, Xstrata, and AngloAmerican, have come up against difficult bargaining since December as they seek to renew the two-year collective bargaining agreement. 
 
Following frustrating talks Cerrej&oacute;n management, the union conducted a vote of its members between strike and arbitration tribunal, in line with Colombian legislation. Members decisively backed strike action in ballots collected last Friday, 28 January. On Saturday, 29 January, an assembly of Sintracarb&oacute;n delegates, was held in the city of Riohacha, and ratified the decision to strike with unanimity. 
 
Significantly, management has indicated that it will present a new offer to workers today, 31 January. If the offer is satisfactory to Sintracarb&oacute;n, a new collective agreement might not be far off. If not, a strike likely will occur before 6 February. 
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Talks began between the union and management on 9 December, and expired with no agreement following the end of the 40 days of bargaining and an extension on 17 January. 
 
In a letter to the President of Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, Le&oacute;n Teicher, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda criticised the company&rsquo;s tactic during negotiations, of contacting individual union members personally by phone. 
 
The main issues in talks are wage gains, status of subcontracted workers, pensions, and local community needs that have been displaced by the mine. 
 
The huge open-pit mining complex in the northern state of Guajira produces highly desirable low-sulphur thermal coal. The mine produces 32 million tonnes annually, with a majority of that shipped to Europe. But exports recently began also to China, a country sustaining industries that have a huge demand for coal. 
 
View the full ICEM letter to the company <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ICEM%20Carta%20Cerrejon%2019%20enero%202011.pdf">here</a>.&nbsp; 
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President of Sintrachaneme, Jairo Fernando Solano Cervantes
Also of concern to the ICEM at Cerrej&oacute;n, trade union organising of mechanics at the Chaneme company is still being scrutinized, with workers harassed and intimidated by management. Sintracarb&oacute;n changed its Statutes so that it could include outsourced workers at the mine complex, and played an important support role in the formation of the union Sintrachaneme a year ago. See previous ICEM report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3573-Union-Contract-Workers-Continue-Fight-for-Work-Rights-at-Cerrejón-in-Colombia">here</a>. President of Sintrachaneme, Jairo Fernando Solano Cervantes, is being targeted by sustained intimidation and harassment, stepped up since 14 December. 
 
This harassment has included a suspicious vehicle being parked outside his house that is conducting surveillance on Solano and his family. On one occasion, Solano was chased by unrecognized cars. In Colombia, the world&rsquo;s most dangerous country for a trade unionist, Solano must be protected by his employers. The ICEM is angered by this illegal intimidation, which is an attempt to crush the organizing of contract employees at Cerrej&oacute;n.

Strike Set as Cerrejón Miners Face Off with Managers in Fierce Colombia Bargaining

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A tentative labour agreement reached 26 January will likely be ratified late tonight, ending the 18-month strike between Brazilian multinational Vale and United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9508 in the Canadian province of Newfoundland/Labrador. The union is conducting the last of six explanation and ratification votes to members on the north coast of Labrador today, and by all indications the 124-member Local 9508 will approve a five-year labour agreement with Vale. 
 
The expected approval ends a bitter strike in which Vale &ndash; purchaser in 2006 of all mining assets of Canadian-based Inco &ndash; sought to roll back living conditions and work terms for 3,500 steelworkers in Voiseys Bay/Goose Bay, Labrador, and in Ontario. 
 
The Eastern Canadian tentative agreement last week came following intense pressure placed on Vale from a special provincial Industrial Inquiry Commission. That independent inquiry issued recommended solutions to end the strike early in January. (see recent ICEM report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4188-Vale’s-Arrogance-to-Eastern-Canadian-Miners-Communities-Government-Continues">here</a>.) The settlement, if approved tonight, comes just weeks before that same panel is scheduled to issue a second report on the integrity of Vale&rsquo;s operations in Labrador. 
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The company has been operating nickel, copper, and cobalt mining and processing operations with scab replacement workers. On 22 January, a leak from a retention pond in Voiseys Bay went undetected for eight hours, causing a processing plant there to stop production for nearly five days. 
 
On the last day of that shut-down, Vale managers called Local 9508&rsquo;s bargaining committee into talks and the two sides and with the aid of mediator Bill Wells struck a compromise deal. 
 
The new contract would begin tomorrow, 1 February, and run until 1 February 2016. A back-to-work protocol was also adopted in which all striking workers will be recalled to their jobs within a maximum of seven weeks. Workers returning will receive an immediate C$2,000 retention bonus and another such C$2,000 bonus after completing seven days of work orientation and training. 
 
USW Local 9508 achieved adequate wage increases, retained cost-of-living increases, and won excellent language regarding contracting-out practices. A compromise was made on a production bonus, the so-called nickel bonus. Although still achievable, several Vale-demanded components were added such as cash flow return on site investment and overall operational efficiency that are generally out of workers&rsquo; hands. 
<img alt="" src="" width="134" height="130" />
USW Local 9508 President Darren Cove
A C$.20-per-hour wage increase is gained in each year of the agreement, and workers&rsquo; starting wages, following return to work, will be lifted with the first increase plus accrued cost-of-living adjustments from 2009 and 2010. Future cost-of-living increases will be accrued quarterly and paid out on a yearly basis. 
 
Local 9508 won a extra&rsquo;s holiday, bringing from 11 to 12 the number of statutory holidays; staff working night shifts will receive a first-ever C$.30-per-hour shift differential; and a 10% work-site premium for work performed in remote areas will be added to salaries. 
 
The union&rsquo;s contracting-out language was expanded positively to prevent Vale from using outside contractors for the purpose of reducing full-time staff. 
 
The expected end of the 18-month strike today will likely mean settlements in the next few weeks of strikes by USW Local 9508 members at three contract companies on Vale&rsquo;s Labrador/Newfoundland properties. Those contractors represent security, catering, and a First Nation skilled-mechanics company called Ushitou Maintenance. Nearly 300 union members of Local 9508 have been on strike at those firms since mid-2010. 
 
The ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), Geneva-based Global Union Federations that have supported Canadian steelworkers in the long-running Vale disputes in Newfoundland/Labrador and Ontario, congratulate the members of Local 9508 for their resilience, as well as USW District Six in Canada for exemplary worker representation in facing off with an extremely adversarial mining house.

Pressure Mounts, Vale Settles in Eastern Canada

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS Project in 2010, on why the Global Fund is in the headlines for the wrong reasons, and on the five countries to watch in 2011 on the development of the pandemic. 
 
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
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The ICEM HIV/AIDS Project in 2010: Another Successful Year 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS Project implemented a full programme in 2010, the first year of a new cycle with sponsorship from solidarity support organisations SASK of Finland and FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands. 
 
At sub-regional level, the feminisation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been addressed in a women&rsquo;s workshop that was an overwhelming success. In some countries, activities only for women were organised taking the experience of women who had attended the workshop to the national level. 
 
Two sub-regional workshops for English and French speaking West Africa and for Southern Africa focussed on HIV/AIDS workplace policies and programmes. They also made participants familiar with the new ILO Recommendation No. 200, concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work. The concept of a worker&rsquo;s passport, which gives basic information on HIV and AIDS, as well as information on sites and clinics where support and care are available, was discussed and endorsed by participants. 
 
At national level, programmes were implemented in 11 sub-Saharan African countries. The space in this newsletter is not sufficient to give a full account of activities in all 11 countries, which include C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, the DR Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritius, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 
 
In Zimbabwe, training courses were again organised after an interruption of many years. Good examples in some countries, especially Nigeria and Tanzania, prompted the national coordinator in Ghana to organise the first VCT campaign under the auspices of the HIV/AIDS project in the country. In Mauritius, the national coordinator overcame the difficulty to access workers at their workplace by producing a DVD on HIV/AIDS and distributing it to shop stewards. Excellent results can also be reported from C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire where companies have been cooperating with trade unions on HIV/AIDS. Guinea is a relatively new target country. New foreign investment in the mining sector gives additional significance to the HIV/AIDS project in Guinea. 
 
Gratefully, additional funding from the Humanity Fund of the ICEM affiliate, the Communication, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada enabled us to run additional HIV/AIDS activities in Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago. 
 
In the first six months of 2010, programmes also continued in India with the support from the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, which has agreed to continue its support in 2011. 
 
With a financial contribution from the ICEM affiliated Industri Energi (IE) of Norway, the ICEM broke ground with a first HIV/AIDS workshop in a Middle Eastern country, Jordan. 
 
The second phase of the VCT campaign, sponsored by the Women&rsquo;s Department of the German ICEM affiliate IG BCE, was successfully implemented in Mwasa, Tanzania. 
 
The Danish solidarity support organisation LO/FTF continued support for the HIV/AIDS project in Ethiopia in cooperation with ICEM affiliate, the National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical, and Mine Trade Unions (NIFECM). 
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HIV/AIDS &ndash; Five Countries to Watch in 2011 
 
Things are generally more positive on the global HIV front: the number of new infections is down, treatment figures are up, and headway is being made in the fight to end discrimination against people living with HIV. However, there is still work to be done and progress in the fight against the pandemic has been uneven. IRIN/PlusNews lists five countries that could determine the future of the pandemic this year: 
 
South Africa - The sheer size of the epidemic in South Africa means it cannot be ignored: more than one million people are on treatment &ndash; the biggest antiretroviral programme in the world - and more than five million people are living with HIV. 
 
The country also offers the best-case scenario in terms of HIV/AIDS funding since the government is largely responsible for financing the country's AIDS efforts. South Africa does not rely heavily on external resources as other countries do. After years of dragging its feet, the government has introduced policies and initiatives aimed at strengthening the HIV/AIDS response, including a national HIV counselling and testing campaign, and the decentralization of ARV treatment, from doctors prescribing at hospitals, to nurses providing the drugs at health facilities. This year will provide an idea of how these measures pan out. 
 
Russia - With 37% of the country's estimated 1.8 million intravenous drug users (IDUs) believed to be living with HIV, Russia is dealing with one of Eastern Europe's largest HIV epidemics. The country has been heavily criticized for its refusal to adopt evidence-based, harm-reduction techniques for treatment of drug users. Russia prefers instead to put IDUs in prison, where clean needles are harder to find, thereby raising the HIV threat. Experts say unless the drug policy changes, HIV prevalence is likely to continue increasing. 
 
Uganda - Once hailed as a beacon in the fight against HIV, Uganda&rsquo;s prevalence rate fell from 18% in 1992 to about 6.1% in 2004. The government's aggressive prevention campaigns focused on abstinence, sexual fidelity, and condom use, becoming the foundation of national HIV prevention programmes across sub-Saharan Africa. Today, however, UNAIDS reports that the country's HIV prevalence is between 6.5 to seven percent. 
 
There is also evidence of apparent reversals in preventive sexual behaviour in the general population, reports the Uganda AIDS Commission. The proportion of adults who say they had sex with a person who was not a permanent partner has grown since 1995, from 12% to 16% for women and from 29% to 36% for men. 
 
Haiti - The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the country a year ago damaged its health infrastructure extensively. While most patients who were on life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs before the quake were traced and put back on treatment, the country's HIV programmes remain unstable. 
 
Reports of sexual abuse and transactional sex in Port-au-Prince's tent cities raise the possibility of increased infections, while the threat of tuberculosis in the overcrowded camps is also high. As the country continues to rebuild basic services this year, it will be important for the government, faced with multiple competing interests, to ensure that HIV/AIDS receives the attention it needs. 
 
India - More than 80% of all donor-funded antiretroviral drugs used in developing countries are Indian-manufactured generics. However, an imminent Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union could potentially see the country lose its ability to produce the cheap generic medicines so vital to healthcare in poor nations. 
 
The EU is pushing for data exclusivity, which means Indian generic manufacturers would no longer be able to use existing drug trials to make identical generic drugs. Instead, they would be required to conduct their own clinical trials, delaying access to poor countries for these drugs for several years. EU officials say data exclusivity clauses in the FTA will take into consideration the role India plays in producing generic medicines for the developing world. 
 
With increasing pressure on India and other developing nations to adhere to tighter intellectual property laws, 2011 could be critical to the future of HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions. 
 
(Source: PlusNews, Nairobi, 28 January) 
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Global Fund in the Headlines 
 
On 23 January, the Associated Press (AP) ran a long story about the Global Fund entitled, &quot;Fraud Plagues Global Health Fund.&quot; The story was picked up by nearly 200 media outlets in the U.S. and 50 in other parts of the world. 
 
The story stated that in Mali, the Fund's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that US$4 million in funding was misappropriated. Half of Mali's TB and malaria grant money went to supposed &quot;training events,&quot; for which signatures were forged on receipts for per diem payments and travel expense claims. Mali has arrested 15 people suspected of committing fraud, and its health minister resigned without explanation two days before the audit was made public. 
<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="53" />
The AP story added that in Mauritania, the OIG found &quot;pervasive fraud,&quot; with US$4.1 million &ndash; 67% of an HIV grant &ndash; lost to faked documents and other fraud. And in Djibouti, the OIG found that about 30% of grant funding they examined was lost, unaccounted for, or misused. Much of this money went to buy motor vehicles. Almost US$750,000 was transferred out of one account with no explanation. 
 
In a commentary, GFO Editor Bernard Rivers wrote, &ldquo;When any entity gives multi-million dollar grants, there will always be corruption. The key issue is what is being done to unearth the corruption and minimise losses. The Global Fund is far better at investigating allegations of corruption and at recovering stolen monies than most or all other major aid donors.&rdquo; 
 
Another thing that distinguishes the Global Fund from other donors is its willingness to publish the details of the corruption that it has unearthed. In that sense, the Global Fund has become the victim of its own toughness and transparency. The Global Fund says that it has a &ldquo;zero tolerance&rdquo; policy with respect to corruption. That's the right approach! Every stolen Global Fund dollar is a dollar that can't be spent on saving lives. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 139 of 27 January. 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="" width="40" height="40" />
Ethiopia: Transport Sector Launches HIV Policy 
 
The Ethiopian government has unveiled an HIV policy for its transport sector, which has grown significantly in recent years alongside the rapidly expanding road network. Various national studies have shown that those working across the transport sector - especially drivers and their assistants - are vulnerable to HIV infection as they spend considerable time away from their families. 
<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="92" />
The country's Federal Transport Authority (FTA) and commercial transporters jointly issued the policy in December (Comment from the editor: no mention of the union having been consulted or involved). It sets up a national taskforce to raise funds from state and non-state actors to finance projects, including condom distribution, and helping transport staff and family members living with the virus. 
 
Transport workers often have sex with local sex workers when on the road for days at a time. According to the latest UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS country progress report on Ethiopia, a 2009 study found that truckers and intercity bus drivers formed 22% of the client base of sex workers. 
 
A 2009 government survey from mobile counselling and testing clinics in 40 towns located on the major transportation corridors that link Addis Ababa to Ethiopia's borders, found that 25.3% of the sex workers were HIV-positive. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Addis Ababa, 17 January 2011) 
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South Africa: Fighting Back 
 
With only 0.7% of the world&rsquo;s population, South Africa has 17% of its HIV/AIDS sufferers &ndash; some six million in a population of almost 50 million. After a decade of denial by the government, authorities are fighting back. 
 
South Africa has the world&rsquo;s biggest antiretroviral treatment programme, providing ARVs to around one million patients. This means that two-thirds of those in need of ARVs are now getting them. But the target of 80% by the end of 2011 is unlikely to be hit, mainly because of the lack of medical staff. 
 
South Africa has also launched the world&rsquo;s biggest testing campaign aimed at checking 15 million people within 15 months. But although new infections fell by a third between 2002 and 2008, they are still running at more than 400,000 a year. According to research in South Africa, barely four out of ten sexually active men use condoms. Another reason for the continued spread is the exceptionally high rape rate. 
 
(Source: The Economist, 4 December 2010) 
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News from Global Unions 
<img alt="" src="" width="70" height="70" />
The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) in its latest HIV/AIDS update No. 98 of 15 December and 1 January, reports on a seminar organised by the Communication and Transport Workers Union of Tanzania (COTWU-T) on HIV/AIDS workplace policies and collective bargaining. COTWU-T believes that serious and continued HIV/AIDS workplace interventions can minimize or control the transmission of HIV to workers. It is therefore the union&rsquo;s strategy to ensure that there are guidelines for implementation so as to combat the epidemic from the grassroots. As long as the Collective Bargaining Agreement is a tool for improving working conditions, a clause specifically mentioning the fight against HIV/AIDS and its impacts should be openly elaborated. This is why COTWU-T looks for every opportunity to establish and conclude a CBA with a clause on HIV/AIDS. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Five Years Ago: From the February 2006 Issue 
 
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 February 2006 issue of the e-bulletin, we reported on the preparations for the 16th International AIDS Conference (IAC), which was to be organised in Toronto in August. In cooperation with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), a Global Labour Forum was planned to be organised during the IAC to underline the impact and effectiveness of HIV/AIDS policies and actions at the workplace to fight the pandemic. Labour has since made sure that its voice be heard at subsequent International AIDS Conferences. 
 
We also gave figures which had been jointly released by China&rsquo;s Ministry of Health, the WHO, and UNAIDS on 25 January 2006 and which estimated the number of people living with HIV at 630,000 in 2005, down from an estimate of 840,000 in 2003. This was not necessarily a success story in prevention but rather due to errors in estimates. 
 
The survey therefore cautioned against complacency, saying the figure was still rising and the virus was spreading from high-risk groups to the general population. Experts have warned that China&rsquo;s increasingly mobile population faces a broader risk as more infections occur through drug injection and sexual contact. 
 
It is interesting to note that now on the UNAIDS website, AIDSinfo, on which country fact sheets can be accessed, information is given in graphs with rather wide brackets. One has to look very closely to determine that about 750,000 people were living with HIV in China in 2009. The band width is an extraordinary 550,000 to one million. Only one fact can be determined with certainty: the number of infected people has gone up constantly. 
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ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 65, February 2011

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ICEM conducted a project on organizing and social dialogue in Turkey in 2009 and 2010 with the support of the Dutch national labour centre, FNV, and its affiliate FNV Bondgenoten. Evaluation of the two-year work was made in a conference held on 29-30 November 2010 in the Turkish capital Ankara. 
 
Attended by more than 80 union representatives, the Conference hosted international delegates, namely Hans Hupkes, Celil &Ccedil;oban, and Mail &Uuml;rker from FNV Bondgenoten of the Netherlands: Mats Svensson from IF Metall of Sweden; Michael Wolters from IGBCE of Germany; Jorgen Juul Rasmussen from Dansk El F&ouml;rbund of Denmark; Jacques Caltot and Christophe Quarez from FCE-CFDT of France; Dimitra Penidis and Isabelle Verhaegen from CSC Batiment, Industri &amp; Energie of Belgium; and ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, who ran the project. 
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The Conference started with the speech of Mustafa Kumlu, President of Turk-İş Confederation and Tes-İş Union, who expressed appreciation for the activities of the project that covered some 600 union activists over the two-year period. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM takes the lead in organizing international solidarity for Turkish workers, and this project is a clear signal of that,&rdquo; said Kumlu, adding that Turkish unions support the creation of new manufacturing and energy workers Global Union Federation. Such an entity, he said, will create a large Turkish grouping of over 20 unions. 
 
Hans Hupkes, on behalf of FNV Bondgenoten, stressed the appreciation and satisfaction of his organization with the activities of the project. &ldquo;A lot has been done &ndash; and won &ndash; in such a short period. We gained spirit and a sense of solidarity without borders,&rdquo; he said. 
 
Warda said organising and social dialogue are two key elements of ICEM policy regarding multinationals. &ldquo;We need the ability to include companies inside Turkey in this process, and the FNV project, we believe, will serve us well to meet this objective.&rdquo; 
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ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan gave a report on project activities carried out in 2009-2010. The conference then listed observations and opinions of the unions supporting the project from Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, France, and Belgium. In a separate session, participating Turkish unions shared their observations and evaluated the set of conference. Trade union rights and freedoms in Turkey was one discussion item. A remarkable contribution was made by Sister M&uuml;zeyyen Acunal who was fired from her workplace in the paper industry because she pioneered an organizing drive there. 
 
For 2011 and beyond, an evaluation on the future of the project with an action plan will be developed. A common point was made that union organizing is very tough in Turkey. Current legislation makes it extremely difficult. In addition to mentioning the obvious difficulties, a consensus was put forward that new opportunities and tools, particularly international ones, need to be used. Organising campaign being conducted by Petrol-İş was mentioned as a good example. 
 
At the end of the discussions, Turkish unions agreed to develop capacity on using international tools in separate sessions for trade union officers. Specific bilateral groups between Turkish unions and unions from countries from where multinational investment to Turkey originates should be created. Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the Nordic nations were mentioned as priorities. 
 
Continuation of the struggle against Contract and Agency Labour, as part of ICEM&rsquo;s global CAL campaign, was defined as one of the priority areas. After the first national conference in 2008, an urgent second conference was identified as important, considering the recent pushes by the Turkish government to modify labour legislation for allowing more workplace flexibility and unlimited use of agency labour. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan commented: &ldquo;Our intensive project programme in 2009 and 2010 gave us a good opportunity to get together with a big portion of local union officers in the regions of Turkey. More than 600 people got a chance to learn and make use of international solidarity in day-to-day union activities. We now will embark on specific projects with concrete targets.&rdquo;

ICEM’s Two-Year Dutch FNV Project for Turkey Evaluated in Ankara

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Trade unions organizing employees at the German-based industrial gas company Linde in ICEM&rsquo;s Asia-Pacific Region creates a workers&rsquo; network at a first-ever meeting, held in Singapore on 13-14 December 2010. The meeting was realized with political and financial support provided by ICEM&rsquo;s long-standing project partner Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (FES) 
 
Union representatives from Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, and Vietnam attended the meeting while Michael Wolters, International Secretary of ICEM German affiliate IGBCE, Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM&rsquo;s Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer, Dr. Stefanie Elies, FES Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia, Andr&eacute; Edelhoff, FES Office Singapore, Yoon Hyo-Won, ICEM Asia-Pacific Project Coordinator, and Indah Saptori, ICEM Indonesian Project Coordinator, also participated. 
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The objective of this regional network meeting was defined as a first exchange of experiences in order to build a foundation for a steady network of unions representing workers at the Linde&rsquo;s regional locations. It was pointed out that it would not be possible to solve individual or local problems by this network meeting. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan presented information on the gas industry in general, while IGBCE&rsquo;s Wolters told of Linde&rsquo;s industrial structure in Germany and Europe. Specifically, Wolters defined the work of the Works Council system in Germany and the work of the European Works Council of the company. 
 
The participating union representatives gave information about the situation in their home countries, which varies from country to country. In Indonesia, labour relations for unions follow a high standard of regulations, and stable situations also exist at Linde plants in Singapore and Vietnam. But in Thailand, there are big problems and conflicts with the management, while the situation of the union in South Korea is extremely difficult. 
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&Ouml;zkan gave a perspective on the issue of Contract and Agency Labour, or &ldquo;precarious work.&rdquo; This was then discussed by participants regarding use of non-regular or short-term contract workers at Linde plants in Asia. At all of the locations have some variations of precarious work, such as broad outsourcing of work, use of temporary agency workers, or non-regular casual workers. In Thailand, logistics will be completely outsourced until 2012 with the effect of a wage reduction for workers affected. Global Framework Agreements and union networks were also discussed at the meeting. 
 
The participants of the meeting agreed to set up a regular e-mail communication system among them. Kelvin Tang from Singapore was given responsibility for forming the communication network. The participants committed to inform their local and national unions about the results of the meeting, and will as well address their local managements. One result of the December meeting is to organise a special meeting regarding the situation in Thailand.

Linde Industrial Gas Workers’ Network Created in Asia-Pacific

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The ICEM&rsquo;s affiliate in Pakistan, the Pakistan Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers (PCEM), is fighting against severe breaches of workers&rsquo; rights to organise and bargain collectively at the Swiss-based agri-chemicals multinational, Syngenta. 
 
On 23 December, members of the Syngenta Employees Union Pakistan, belonging to PCEM, arrived at work to find announcement in the company newspaper that their union&rsquo;s General Secretary had his employment terminated as of 22 December, with no justified reason given. Brother Imran Ali, who is also the President of the national union PCEM, had no warning prior to learning the news in the &ldquo;Daily Jang&rdquo; newspaper. 
 
In a letter to the Chairman and CEO of the global pesticide producer Syngenta, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda condemned the flagrant breach of conduct of local management as a clear attempt to dismantle the union. Warda highlighted the commitments of Sygenta in the company&rsquo;s Code of Conduct, and also in their signatory status to the Global Compact. See the full letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/158%20Letter%20to%20Syngenta%20management.pdf">here</a>. 
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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
Prior to Mr. Imran&rsquo;s sacking, he was summoned to the human resources department, where he was told by Mushir Ahmed Jaffery, personnel manager, Syed Saad Khalil, manager for Information Services, Col. Jalal, head of Security, and Rizwana Mujeeb, head of human resources, to sign a blank paper. When İmran refused, he was threatened with bad consequences if he refused to withdraw from his trade union activities. 
 
Imran, as labor union president, was about to submit a draft collective agreement which would have been effective as of 1 January 2011. 
 
Later in the same day that he was sacked, 23 December, the head of Syngenta&rsquo;s security in Pakistan, Jalal, a retired military officer in Pakistan, met with 50 union members who had worked at the company on temporary contracts and filed cases at the Labour Court for permanent employee status. Jalal threatened and intimidated the workers to withdraw their legal petitions and resign from Syngenta. One of those workers, Muhammad Nadeem, a diabetic and heart patient, suddenly died of a heart attack on 24 December, as a direct result of this pressure from management. 
 
Those workers had received the support of the Labour Court on 18 December, which declared in favour of their grievance petitions, entitling them to permanent employment immediately. Syngenta Pakistan management refused to acknowledge the judgement of the Labour Court. 
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The company management&rsquo;s refusal to consider the collective bargaining agreement, continued on 28 December as Jalal called in paramilitary forces to the Syngenta plant and threatened workers not to support the agreement or the union. Instead, he told them to join a yellow union, otherwise management would outsource the production unit and sack all current employees. The workers refused. 
 
The company responded to ICEM allegations saying that they had acted within the law and without regret. Brother Imran Ali is still awaiting reinstatement in his job, but with no indication from management that this will happen. 
 
The ICEM demands the full reinstatement of Imran, with full back pay and benefits, as well as the lawful recognition of the 50 workers who won their case in the Labour Court for rights to permanent employment at Syngenta.

ICEM Fights for Reinstatement of Union Leader in Pakistan

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Trade union members of IGBCE and Verdi downed tools on 24 January in a four-hour warning strike across Germany against fair-pay salary delays by RWE. The worksite actions came a day before the sixth round of 2010 wage talks in Dortmund, the last chance for RWE to make an equitable salary increase before a full strike ballot occurs. 
 
With worker anger inside RWE boiling over, senior managers of the major European utility provider find themselves at a pivotal point with its 26,000-member German workforce. 
 
The warning strikes last week proved discontent at RWE is wide and loud. Scores of local staffs and thousands of RWE workers held vocal assemblies sponsored by the unions that delivered the same message: workers will contribute to the economic success of the company, but they want fair and full participation to create that success. 
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Spirited demonstrations took place at many RWE gas and electric power stations and other workplaces, including lignite mines of RWE Power at Garzweiler, Hamach, and Inden. Coal-fired power plants at Niederaussem and Weisweiler also registered vocal support for further strike action. RWE&rsquo;s nuclear workers at Biblis, Emsland, and Gundremminger downed tools, and gas workers from Emsland and Gersteinwerk also took part in the stop-work actions. 
 
IGBCE urged RWE in a statement to make an acceptable wage offer. The ICEM affiliate said the warning strike is necessary in order to increase pressure on RWE at the bargaining table. A full and unlimited strike would also ratchet pressure on RWE&rsquo;s major German industrial customers. 
 
RWE had astoundingly withdrawn a 2.9% wage offer, while IGBCE and Verdi were demanding 6.5%. In place, the energy company proposed 2.4%. Salaries, however, are not the only issue. Worker demands for job security and halts to work-time increases also have thus far been unmet by RWE.

German Power Workers Close to Full Dispute with RWE

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