English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="59" />
Stefan L&ouml;fven, President of Sweden&rsquo;s largest industrial union, IF Metall, was elected today by the Presidium of the Social Democratic Party as Chairman of the resurgent political party. L&ouml;fven was nominated yesterday, 26 January, by the party&rsquo;s Executive Committee to replace H&aring;kan Juholt, who resigned last weekend. 

In a congratulatory note sent by General Secretary Manfred Warda yesterday, the ICEM said, &ldquo;We cannot think of a better, more effective and progressive leader for Sweden.&rdquo; The <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/9.ICEM%20Stefan%20Lofven.26Jan.pdf">full ICEM letter</a> can be found here. 

L&ouml;fven has been President of 355,000-member IF Metall since the union was formed on 1 January 2006 with the merger of the Swedish Industrial Union (Industrifacket) and the Swedish Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (Metall). Previously, he served as Vice President of Metall from 2002. The 55-year-old L&ouml;fven had been employed by that union since 1995, first as a national bargaining officer, then as Secretary, and from 1999 to 2002 as head of the Organising Department. 

&ldquo;With his very long and solid background in the trade union movement, Stefan will be an excellent leader of the Social Democratic Party,&rdquo; said IF Metall and ICEM Vice President Anders Ferbe. &ldquo;He has the power that can give stability and strength to our party.&rdquo; 

The Social Democratic Party had long been the dominant political party in Sweden, establishing the Nordic nation as a model of social fairness and justice both inside Sweden and throughout the world. But in consecutive elections in 2006 and 2010, the leftish party was dethroned and a center-right ruling coalition government took control. 

Warda, in his letter, pledged that the ICEM &ldquo;will stand with you in order that the Social Democratic Party once again not only leads Sweden, but continues to serve as the stellar social model for all the world to follow.&rdquo;
<img src="" width="140" height="45" alt="" />
L&ouml;fven was born in Stockholm but grew up in &Aring;dalen, &Aring;ngermanland, Sweden. His first industrial job was at a sawmill in Domsj&ouml; in 1979, but he then went to work that same year as a welder at the military and all-terrain vehicle manufacturer H&auml;gglunds and S&ouml;ner AB, now part of UK-based BAE Systems. He served as shop steward, sector president and branch president. 

Before his nomination was publicly announced by the Social Democrats&rsquo; Executive yesterday afternoon, he addressed staff of IF Metall, and said, &ldquo;I will keep my roots and my ideas about working life and social welfare for the benefit of all workers, not least of all the members of IF Metall.&rdquo;

IF Metall’s Löfven Takes Reigns of Sweden’s Social Democratic Party

WOMEN’S BULLETIN

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 130px;height: 63px" width="390" />

	Some 250 European trade union militants turned out today at Unilever&#039;s Rotterdam headquarters in the Netherlands to protest the world&#039;s third largest consumer products company&#039;s unrelenting shut-off of a final salary pension scheme for 5,200 UK workers. 
	 
	The manifestation, under the banner &ldquo;Unilever, Don&rsquo;t Make Workers Pay for Your Profits&rdquo;, saw representatives from no less than 23 European trade union organisations, as well as from the ICEM and the International Union of Food and Agriculture Workers&#039; Association (IUF). 
	 
	For three months now, Unilever has been trying to bully UK&#039;s Unite the Union, GMB, and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) into conceding a final salary pension scheme, to replace it with an average career earnings pension plan effective 1 July 2012. Unilever CEO Paul Polman&rsquo;s 2010-11 salary and bonus pay-out equaled &euro;8 million, while Unilever&rsquo;s UK employees face a slash of between 20-40% on their pension earnings.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 208px;height: 150px" width="390" />

	At today&#039;s manifestation, led by Unilever&#039;s European Works Council (EWC), the European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation (EMCEF), and the European Federation of Food, Agriculture, Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), rally leaders presented Unilever executive Rupert Chatwin with a declaration. 
	 
	In part, it read: &quot;We are very concerned that Unilever has been pursuing an approach of uncompromising unilateralism in the UK, which may be indicative of a change for the worse in Unilever&#039;s corporate culture. 
	 
	&quot;We believe that Unilever workers in Europe and around the world have good reason to fear for their futures. We have noted (CEO) Paul Polman&#039;s pledge to double Unilever revenue over the next ten years while promoting &#039;sustainable living&#039; but that he says nothing about sustainable employment.&quot;

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 200px;height: 150px" width="390" />

	Rally leaders present Declaration 
	From left, Michael Wolters, Simon Cox, Unilever&#039;s Rupert Chatwin

	Unilever EWC Chairman Hermann Soggeberg told the gathering, including scores of the company&#039;s UK staff, that on behalf of 30,000 European workers, &quot;We stand by your side in this dispute. You are on the front lines of what is just the beginning of bigger problems facing workers in Western Europe. 
	 
	&quot;The struggle you face in the UK is a struggle we must all tie into.&quot; 
	 
	Other speakers included EMCEF General Secretary Michael Wolters, EFFAT EWC and Transnational Companies&#039; Coordinator Simon Cox, as well as Unite Convenor Bill Hodgson from Unilever&#039;s Port Sunlight plant. 
	 
	Among some of the unions taking part: FNV Bondgenoten of the Netherlands, IGBCE of Germany, PRO-GE of Austria, FGA-CFDT of France, NGG of Germany, Petrol-Is of Turkey, FGTA-FO of France, FITAG-UGT of Spain, CGT of France, FLAI-CGIL, FAI-CISL and UILA-UIL, all of Italy, CNV of the Netherlands, and FGTB/ABVV of Belgium.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 95px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The Rotterdam manifestation comes just days two weeks after Unilever posted a strong set of financial numbers in its latest results and three weeks after UK workers from several Unilever sites descended on Davos, Switzerland, where Polman served as one of the co-chairs at the World Economic Forum.

	Unilever UK management did finally agree to meet with the unions on 9 February with the assistance of UK&rsquo;s Advisory, Conciliation and Mediation Services (ACAS), but the company is still adamant on closing the final salary pension scheme effective 1 July 2012.

Spirited Rotterdam Rally Calls on Unilever to Save UK Pensions

<img alt="" height="40" src="" width="40" />

	In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, our forst of the New Year,&nbsp;we report on HIV and AIDS activities of ICEM trade union affiliates in Colombia, we reflect on some of the important issues that occurred in 2011 and we report on some reactions to the cancellation of Round 11.

	<img alt="" height="40" src="" width="40" />

	Colombia: HIV and AIDS Campaign in 2012 
	 
	During a seminar organised for ICEM affiliates in Colombia in December 2011, participants decided to declare 2012 a year to campaign against HIV and AIDS at the workplace. 
	 
	Although the virus does not yet constitute a big problem in Colombia, it does not mean that this will remain so in the future. Especially in the mining sector, workers are vulnerable to the transmission of the HIV virus. Affiliates in Colombia have therefore decided to give more importance to awareness and prevention at mining sites and in other companies organised by them. 
	 
	The seminar received technical assistance from the Fran&ccedil;ois Xavier Bagnoud Foundation and from Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, a Colombian coal mining company jointly owned by Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Xstrata, which operates one of the largest coal mines in the world. Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n provides HIV and AIDS services in several locations in the Department of Guajira, where the mine is located. 
	 
	Affiliates in Colombia representing all ICEM sectors will participate in the work which, among other things, includes reducing stigma and eliminating discrimination through agreements with employers.

	<img alt="" height="40" src="" width="40" />

	HIV and AIDS: Some Big Stories in 2011 
	 
	It was a roller coaster of a year regarding HIV and AIDS in 2011. AIDS turned 30 in 2011 and with new evidence of the effectiveness of HIV treatment as prevention, experts are increasingly talking about &quot;the end of AIDS.&quot; At the same time, however, funding for HIV has become ever more uncertain, jeopardizing efforts to put new, life-saving science into action. 
	 
	The first case of HIV was reported in 1981, and 2011 was a year of reflection on the growth of the epidemic and progress made in the fight against it. In 30 years, an estimated 30 million people have died, another 34 million are living with the virus and an estimated 7,000 new infections occur every day. An estimated 6.6 million people were on treatment globally by December 2010, but some nine million people who qualified for antiretrovirals (ARVs) did not receive them. 
	 
	Regarding ARVs as prevention, the little pills that turned HIV from a death sentence into a chronic condition could now help us prevent new HIV infections. In May, a large, randomized controlled trial found that earlier initiation of HIV treatment led to a 96% reduction in HIV transmission to the HIV-uninfected partner. 
	 
	Regarding funding, in November, poor funding forced the Global Fund to cancel its 11th round of funding (see ICEM e-bulletin 75, December 2011). The international financing mechanism is responsible for about 70% of HIV treatment in developing countries. Earlier in the year, a report showed that funding fell from US$7.6 billion in 2009 to US$6.9 billion in 2010 - the first time funding has dropped in more than a decade of tracking HIV/AIDS spending. Between 2002 and 2008, spending rose more than six-fold before levelling off in 2009. 
	 
	In April, stemming the virus experienced disappointing prevention trials when a three-country study, known as FEM-PrEP, was halted after daily doses of the ARV Truvada, used as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), failed to prevent HIV infection in the women participating. 
	 
	The year 2011 also saw threats to generic ARVs. According to activists, the European Union (EU) last year continued to push for tougher intellectual property rules in its negotiations with India over the terms of a free trade agreement. India, known as the &ldquo;pharmacy of the developing world,&rdquo; produces the vast majority of generic ARVs used in developing countries. 
	 
	In July, Gilead Sciences became the first pharmaceutical company to sign a licensing agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool. The patent pool was established in 2010 by the international health financing mechanism, UNITAID, and aims to stimulate innovation and improve access to HIV medicines through the negotiation of voluntary licences on medicine patents that enable generic competition and facilitate the development of new formulations. The agreement allows for the production of several of Gilead&#039;s HIV medicines (see the piece below on Johnson &amp; Johnson). 
	 
	The UN also set new target levels last year. &quot;Zero new infections, zero stigma and zero AIDS-related deaths&quot; was the bold new goal set during the UN High-Level Meeting on AIDS in June. The meeting concluded with the adoption of a declaration that seeks, by 2015, to double the number of people on ARVs to 15 million, end mother-to-child transmission of HIV, halve tuberculosis-related deaths in people living with HIV, and increase preventive measures for the &quot;most vulnerable populations.&quot; 
	 
	(Source: Plus News, Nairobi/Johannesburg, 29 December 2011) 

	<img alt="" height="40" src="" width="40" />

	Reactions to the Global Fund Cancelling Round 11 
	 
	The Global Fund&rsquo;s decision to do away with Round 11 is &ldquo;short-sighted&rdquo; because it comes at a time when science had shown that the end of HIV/AIDS is &ldquo;within our grasp.&rdquo; This was the view expressed by the Health Global Access Project (Health GAP), M&eacute;decins Sans Fronti&egrave;res (MSF), the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition, and the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in the days after the Global Fund Board moved to cancel Round 11 and announce tough new rules for grant renewals. 
	 
	In a statement released on 23 November, Health GAP referred to &ldquo;game changing&rdquo; new scientific findings that HIV treatment not only saves lives, it reduces the risk of sexual transmission of HIV transmission by 96%. Further funding would have enabled scale-up of lifesaving treatment and prevention services for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria to millions of poor people in developing countries. 
	 
	MSF said that on the ground in hard-hit countries where it works, the devastating effects of the overall funding crunch are becoming apparent. For example, MSF said, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is already severely capping the number of people able to start on ARVs, and other countries are facing a shortage of ARVs. MSF pointed out the shocking incongruence between both the new HIV science and political promises on one hand, and the funding reality that is now hitting the ground on the other. 
	 
	ITPC said that the lack of political and financial commitment to the AIDS response is &ldquo;deeply worrisome.&rdquo; It said that &ldquo;the millions of people living with and fighting against these deadly diseases will pay an enormous price. Rather than building on the new evidence that AIDS treatment saves lives and prevents new infections, and ramping up treatment programmes to try to end this epidemic, donor governments are now implicitly supporting a policy of triage, determining who lives and who dies. ITPC said that the shortfall in funding for the Global Fund is &ldquo;an insignificant amount in comparison to the bank bailouts made by the U.S. and European governments.&rdquo; 
	 
	The International HIV/AIDS Alliance said news that the Global Fund Board had decided to cancel Round 11 has devastated civil society organisations across the Alliance&rsquo;s global partnership. 
	 
	In an article that appeared in the newswire service Reuters, a coalition of AIDS activist organisations said that southern African countries, hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, are likely to be most affected by the situation at the Global Fund. The coalition said that countries that rely heavily on Global Fund aid, including Swaziland, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, are expected to see increasing fatalities and infections as a result of funding shortfalls. 
	 
	Organisations and individuals are being urged to sign a Call for Action demanding that the Global Fund and its Board mobilise the necessary resources to create a new funding opportunity in 2012 in the amount of US$2 billion. The Call to Action is being organised by a number of concerned civil society activists. Organisations and individuals can indicate their support for the Call by writing to Jacqueline Wittebrood of International Civil Society Support, at <a href="mailto:jw@icssupport.org">jw@icssupport.org</a>. The Call to Action demands that the Global Fund hold an emergency donor conference and issue a new call for proposals before the International AIDS Conference in July 2012. 
	 
	Elsewhere, Stephen Lewis, Co-Director of AIDS-Free World and former United Nations&rsquo; special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, gave an excellent speech at Yale University in the US regarding the Global Fund&rsquo;s cancellation. That speech, presented 28 November 2011, can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1201.Stephen_Lewis_Aids_Free_World.pdf">here and it is well worth reading</a>. 
	 
	(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 169 of 5 December. 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="" height="40" src="" width="40" />

	Laos: Looming Threat of Increase in HIV Prevalence 
	 
	Out of a total population of 6.3 million, the national prevalence in Laos of 0.2% among 15-49-year-olds puts the 8,500 reported HIV/AIDS cases there nearly a decade behind that of its neighbours. Thailand&#039;s HIV prevalence is at 1.3%, or more than half a million people living with HIV; Cambodia&rsquo;s is estimated at 0.6%, translating to nearly 70,000 people living with HIV. 
	 
	There are 1,600 people on ARV treatment in Laos and the number is expected to jump to 7,000 by 2015, according to the government. As the country increasingly opens its borders, health workers are bracing for a potential concentrated and catastrophic outbreak in a country where HIV prevention is not yet a priority. 
	 
	The concern is an emerging epidemic among at-risk populations. Among men who have sex with men and sex workers in concentrated areas like Vientiane, the reported prevalence is above 5%. Nationwide, there are at least 11,000 high-frequency sex workers, 50,000 men who have sex with men and 40,000 amphetamine-type stimulant users, including 1,600 injecting drug users. 
	 
	The global recession has left health workers wondering what will happen to the country&#039;s US$43 million Global Fund HIV/AIDS grant, $24 million of which has been disbursed since 2003 to the government. The HIV grant in Laos is up for review in June 2012. Because of its financial problems, the Global Fund will finance only essential services of ongoing programmes that end before 2014. 
	 
	(Source: Plus News, Vientiane, 2 December 2011) 

	<img alt="" height="40" src="" width="40" />

	Swaziland: Activism over Failing Health Care System 
	 
	Swaziland&rsquo;s deepening financial crisis is taking a toll on service delivery and the country is experiencing an unprecedented number of protests. A new wave of activism is rising in Swaziland as people living with HIV take to the streets in protest, many of them for the first time in their lives, over continued shortages of antiretroviral treatment. 
	 
	More than a quarter of adult Swazis are living with HIV and about 47,000 people nationwide were on ARVs at the end of 2009, according to UNAIDS, while an estimated 90,000 are in need of treatment. 
	 
	In 2010, the Swazi government announced that it would take over funding for all ARVs from the Global Fund but lack of money, partly due to reduced revenues from the Southern Africa Customs Union and also attributable to the extravagant spending of the royal household, led to the 2011 shortages. The country is calling on donors to come to its aid. In August 2011, the US President&rsquo;s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) gave the country US$7 million in emergency funding, but this was only for first-line ARVs. 
	 
	(Source: IRIN/Plus News, Mbabane, 13 December) 

	<img alt="" height="40" src="" width="40" />

	Johnson &amp; Johnson Refuses to Licence Drug Patents 
	 
	Despite continuing to earn record profits and a company credo that calls for putting patients first, on 19 December, the American pharmaceutical and health products giant Johnson &amp; Johnson continued to turn its back on people living with HIV/AIDS in many developing countries by telling the Medicines Patent Pool it refuses to license its patents on the three lifesaving HIV/AIDS drugs &ndash; rilpivirine, darunavir and etravirine. 
	 
	Over the past two years, Doctors Without Borders/M&eacute;decins Sans Fronti&egrave;res (MSF) has been urging Johnson &amp; Johnson, and other companies holding HIV drug patents, to take this critical step of joining the Pool. The Pool would license patents on HIV drugs to other manufacturers and the resulting competition would dramatically reduce prices, making them much more affordable in the developing world and allow new combination medicines. 
	 
	In refusing to join the Medicines Patent Pool, Johnson &amp; Johnson says there is no urgency for making these drugs widely available in developing countries. That is simply not true. MSF now provides treatment to more than 180,000 people living with HIV worldwide, and is beginning to witness the inevitable, natural phenomenon of treatment failure, whereby people develop resistance to the drugs they are taking and need to graduate to newer medicines. 
	 
	Furthermore, rilpivirine, darunavir and etravirine were identified among the key drug formulations needed for HIV treatment by the Medicines Patent Pool, UNITAID and the World Health Organization&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS Department. Although Johnson &amp; Johnson is already engaging in voluntary licensing with some generic companies, the company decided against taking the extra step of joining the Pool to improve access for people living with HIV. In saying no to the Medicines Patent Pool, Johnson &amp; Johnson has made a conscious, wilful decision to turn its back on people living with HIV in the developing world. 
	 
	There are now more than six million people receiving lifesaving HIV treatment worldwide. This did not happen because individual companies lowered their prices for specific countries or worked out exclusive deals with certain generic companies, which is what Johnson &amp; Johnson is doing with their newest HIV medicines. Antiretroviral treatment was made more accessible because of competition among many generic companies which helped bring prices down by 99%, from US$10,000 per patient per year to roughly US$150 per patient per year. 
	 
	(Source: Website of the U.S. section of Doctors Without Borders/M&eacute;decins Sans Fronti&egrave;res (MSF) 

	<img alt="" height="40" src="" width="40" />

	News from Global Unions 
	 
	The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>), dedicates the entire issue its latest HIV/AIDS update 117 of 15 December to the feedback they received from affiliates of activities on World AIDS Day.

	<img alt="" height="40" src="" width="40" />

	Five Years Ago: From the January 2007 Issue (No. 16) 
	 
	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 January 2007 issue of the ICEM e-bulletin, we reported on the Regional Workshop in Johannesburg in December 2006. The workshop was the fourth in a series of workshops held in the framework of the HIV/AIDS projects for the African region during the 2005-2006 project cycle. It followed two workshops for national coordinators in 2005 (on initiation and strategies and developing the collective bargaining manual) and one earlier in 2006 on peer education. 
	 
	The objectives of the workshop were: to identify immediate targets for fundraising, to build arguments on co-investment, to develop own workplace programmes and to write HIV/AIDS projects. The workshop was based on website research and project identification and project writing in small groups. 
	 
	On fundraising for HIV/AIDS activities, it was stressed that funding sources are decentralised. Partnerships have to be built at national and international level and &ldquo;friendly technicians&rdquo; have to be found to help in the development of proposals as unions lack the capacity to work with non-traditional methods and arguments (public/private partnerships, co-investment). The working of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) was explained. The need to have unions on the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) was emphasised. 
	 
	We also informed on a report, Strengthening Resistance: Confronting Violence Against Women and HIV/AIDS. Women in both the global South and North face not only staggering rates of HIV infection, but also unabated levels of violence, whether at the hands of male partners, police, or community members. When women are, or are even perceived to be HIV positive, they are at risk of violence, discrimination and other human rights violations. And when women are sexually assaulted, whether in conflict situations or in their homes, they are at risk of contracting HIV. UNAIDS estimated at the time that there were 17.7 million women living with HIV.

	<img alt="" height="40" src="" width="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. 76, January 2012

<img alt="" src="" width="130" height="63" />
The unjust decision to dismiss Rodolfo Vecino Acevedo, president of the Colombian Oil Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (USO) was reversed yesterday, 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. 
 
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 yesterday after the company president bowed to pressure and instructed overturn the office&rsquo;s decision. 
<img alt="" src="" width="163" height="159" />
Rodolfo Vecino
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&nbsp;Monday's <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4832-ICEM-Affiliates-Called-on-to-Support-Sacked-Colombian-USO-President-Rodolfo-Vecino">ICEM news article</a> here.

International Pressure Achieves Reinstatement for Colombian USO President Rodolfo Vecino

The quest to resist austerity measures imposed on public services and public-sector workers in the wake of the financial crash is a noble one and one worth fighting. But global unions need also look within boundaries of certain countries to witness an unparalleled assault on public-sector workers and trade unionists who courageously step up to lead those workers. 
 
I refer specifically to the troubling and untenable trade union situation in Iraq, where reconstruction to essential, publicly-owned industrial sectors has come at a steep price to ordinary Iraqi workers and the brave men and women who lead them toward a true democratic society. 
 
In Iraq, roughly 80% of all industries are in the public sector. Yet even as foreign investment arrives, and privatization of certain manufacturing sectors appears inevitable, trade unionism is prohibited. It is still illegal to be a member of a trade union, just as it was under the dictator Saddam, and two years into the rule of the occupation forces (2005), Decree 8750 was mandated that forbid unions from owning property, holding bank accounts, or collecting fees from workers. 
 
It is unconscionable that seven years after the fall of Saddam, and 23 years after his notorious Public Law 150 banning all trade union activity in the public sector, Iraq is still without a legal framework for industrial relations that meets ILO standards. Sadly, the Saddam-era ban was one of the few laws not overturned by the occupation administration when it took power. 
 
In 2005, the provisional government of Iraq did re-draft the country&rsquo;s constitution. Section 22 of that constitution calls for a new labour law to defend the rights of workers to unionize and bargain collectively. But due to political stalemate, lack of will by Iraqi politicians across all political parties, and indifference by the United States government, a Labour and Social Security Law that was written by the ILO has not even been considered by Iraq&rsquo;s Council of Representatives. 
 
Instead, Iraq&rsquo;s Cabinet members resort to ministerial orders that close union offices, confiscating all materials, equipment, and literature. The most recent such order, in July against all unions attempting to operate in the electric power industry, was carried out in a day, showing the government to be serious in its clamp-down on unions, perhaps as a signal to foreign investment. 
 
With the order shutting electrical union offices, a threat was also issued warning workers and trade union leaders that they would be incarcerated under Iraq&rsquo;s Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005 if they tried to protest the shutdowns. This came only months after the al-Maliki government laid down an order banning trade unionists from travelling abroad unless they got a hard-to-get &ldquo;internal visa&rdquo; from the Supreme Ministerial Committee. 
 
This was the government&rsquo;s response to trade unionists from a whole range of Iraqi unions who for several years had travelled to Jordan, Lebanon, Europe, or America for union training and development programs. Donors and trade union organizations such as the British Trades Union Congress (TUC), the American AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, and ICEM have supplied that support and training. 
 
In 2007, at the ICEM&rsquo;s World Congress in Bangkok, Iraqi trade union development and full trade union rights for the country&rsquo;s unions became a priority in our work plan. That was reiterated at our 2010 Executive Committee where a strongly worded resolution was adopted condemning the government&rsquo;s most recent repressive tactics. &ldquo;We demand the immediate repeal of all restrictions on union activity and the immediate enactment of fair labour legislation which fully complies with ILO Conventions and provides fundamental human and trade union rights as provided in the Iraqi constitution,&rdquo; read the statement. 
 
To be sure, other trade union bodies and Global Union Federations have taken up the cause in order to achieve this. At the 97th International Labour Congress in June 2008, five labour organizations, including ICEM, TUC, AFL-CIO, Public Services International (PSI), and Education International (EI), stood in front of the Committee of Standards and condemned Iraq&rsquo;s ruthless attack on trade unionism. 
 
The ICEM is proud of the work it has done with Iraq&rsquo;s unions and with trade union leaders, but we know that far more needs to be done. The ICEM is even prouder of the great trade union leaders who have risen inside Iraq against what would seem insurmountable odds to carry out a most noble struggle with perseverance and self-sacrifice. 
 
One is Hashmeya Muhsin Al-Saadawi, the first woman to head a trade union in the Arab world and one leader who was forcefully removed from her office in Basra this past July when the government closed the union offices in the electrical sector. As president of the General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians of Iraq (GUEWT), affiliated to both the ICEM and the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW), Hashmeya Muhsin in 2009 won the Dutch labour center FNV&rsquo;s prestigious Febe Elisabeth Velasquez award. 
 
The award, along with a cash prize, is given to a trade union leader who takes risks in defending workers&rsquo; rights in countries where they are routinely violated. In poverty-ridden Iraq, however, what she did with the prize money is most exemplary: she produced a training manual for launch of an Iraqi social security campaign to promote social justice and equality as means to achieve job opportunities, decent work, and health, education, and quality living. 
 
The ICEM offers this as the way in which to go about nation-building. 
 
There are many other Iraqi trade union leaders who have stood tall in the face of repression, and we owe it to them to raise full ire outside Iraq to what is happening to them within. Some have been arrested, others forced from their work and transferred away from co-workers and their families to remote job sites because they led protests against salary curtailments, cuts to food rations, or common social entitlements withheld. 
 
I would be remiss to not mention the dozens of Iraqi trade union leaders have paid the ultimate sacrifice for their union activities &ndash; their lives. Dedicated unionists such as Hadi Saleh of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), Shukry al-Shukry, a founder of the IFTU, Ali Hassan Abd of the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union, Dr. Adnan Al-Abed, an academic and adviser to the GFIW who reviewed the ILO&rsquo;s labour law proposal, Moaaid Hamid of the GFIW, Ahmed Adris Abas of the Transport and Communications Workers&rsquo; Union, Thabet Hussein of the General Union for Health Sector Workers, General Secretary Najim Abd-Jasem of the Mechanic Workers Union, Hassan Hamza, president of the Hotel and Tourism Workers&rsquo; Union, and Majiid Karim, an executive member of the GFIW, to name only a few, all were assassinated in order to stifle union activity. 
 
The assassination of journalists, as well, has regrettably set civil society back in Iraq. In recent weeks, the lives of Ryad al-Saray in Baghdad and Safaa al-Khayat in Mosul ended because cowards could not bear a free and open society, and their deaths serve as reminders that public-sector life in Iraq is dangerous and deadly. 
 
One has to ask, how far has Iraq come since the overthrow of Saddam? Is destroying Iraq&rsquo;s labour movement the way to ensure a stable, civil society in which democratic institutions can thrive? By neo-liberal norms in an age of greed-filled privatization, free and democratic trade unions do stand in the way to unfettered access of a country&rsquo;s resources. 
 
But for the vast majority of Iraq&rsquo;s citizens, after five decades of living under severe repression, they want better. Nationalist sentiment inside Iraqi society considers electricity, the oil sector, pipelines, ports, transportation, and other enterprises as integral public services that stand as guarantees of sovereignty and economic well-being for all citizens. 
 
There can be little debate that war makes privatization easier. First you destroy the infrastructure, and then you re-build with no-bid contracts awarded to favored corporations. Iraqi unions have seen this first-hand over the past seven years, and the fights they wage to defend what is rightfully theirs, against forces of neo-colonialism, are heroic and just. Global Union Federations like the ICEM recognize this, we recognize it as a shining example of what public-sector trade unionism is all about, and we pledge to continue to do what is necessary to assist Iraqi trade unions in winning their fight.

Iraq: Trade Union Repression Must End

<img alt="" src="" width="80" height="69" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="80" height="80" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="90" height="75" />
Three Global Union Federations, representing a total of 52 million workers worldwide, signed a Global Framework Agreement this week with GDF SUEZ, the world&rsquo;s second largest gas, water services, and electric utility. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI), and Public Services International (PSI) reached a &ldquo;Global Agreement on Fundamental Rights, Social Dialogue, and Sustainable Development&rdquo; following productive negotiations with Paris-based GDF SUEZ. 
 
The agreement contains best practice language regarding trade union rights, including full respect for International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise), Convention 98 (Right to Organise and Bargaining Collectively), and Convention 135 (the Workers&rsquo; Representatives Convention), and a number of other international instruments. GDF SUEZ pledges to facilitate access to employees by trade unions or workers&rsquo; representatives in a spirit of cooperation and transparency. 
 
The Global Framework Agreement also commits the parties to &ldquo;positive and constructive industrial relations inside all GDF SUEZ companies,&rdquo; as well as promoting such practices with business partners. It sets forth a framework regarding employee training, health and safety, and stable and sustainable employment, including priority on direct employment and adherence of company subcontractors to pay social security and pension contributions for their workers. Because of the nature of their work, another important commitment of the company that was agreed is to respect the principles contained in ILO Convention 94 related to labour clauses in public procurement. 
<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="176" />
Left to right: BWI Assistant General Secretary Marion Hellmann, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, GDF SUEZ CEO G&eacute;rard Mestrallet
It also pledges environmental stewardship that enjoins labour and management to combat climate change, protect workers&rsquo; rights and interests in accord with the principles of Just Transition, and supports efforts to control the impact on the environment of the company&rsquo;s resources and activities. 
 
It commits GDF SUEZ, the three Global Union Federations, and trade unions to cooperative social dialogue to achieve additional agreements, including on training, occupational heath and safety, restructuring, and sustainable development and climate change. (See the agreement <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1011GDFgobagreeEN.pdf">here</a>.) 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said: &ldquo;This agreement embodies social principles that truly stand out in terms of corporate conduct. ICEM intends to hold these principles to be the new measuring bar for Global Framework Agreements.&rdquo; 
 
Added BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson, &ldquo;Employers such as GDF SUEZ have a significant influence in shaping labour policy and practices and we believe this agreement will improve the working and living conditions of tens of thousands of building workers.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="177" />
Peter Waldorff, PSI General Secretary, said, &ldquo;We want to make clear our position as a global union: PSI opposes privatisation of public services and will always defend publicly-owned and operated public services. However, this agreement affirms our commitment to work together with our affiliates, Global Union Federations, and GDF SUEZ to develop and strengthen social dialogue and to ensure that the agreement is understood by managers and trade union leaders and applied in all regions and countries.&rdquo; 
 
GDF SUEZ Chairman and CEO G&eacute;rard Mestrallet said: &ldquo;The signature of this worldwide agreement puts a seal on the Group&rsquo;s commitment to social and environmental responsibility. It illustrates the vitality of the social dialogue at GDF SUEZ that has always been an engine of our industrial development.&rdquo; 
ICEM, representing GDF SUEZ workers in the gas and electric energy sectors, covers 20 million union members of 467 national trade unions in 132 countries. BWI, covering GDF SUEZ workers in building, construction, and energy services, represents 12 million workers through 328 trade union affiliates in 130 countries. PSI, representing water and waste treatment workers of GDF SUEZ, has membership of 20 million and affiliation of 650 trade unions in 150 countries. 
 
GDF SUEZ has a total global workforce of 200,650 workers and operates in 40 countries. 
 
For further information, contact: Dick Blin (ICEM Information Officer), <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842; Genevi&egrave;ve Kalina (BWI Information Officer), <a href="mailto:genevieve.kalina@bwint.org">genevieve.kalina@bwint.org</a>, +41 22 827 3786; Teresa Marshall (PSI Communications Coordinator), <a href="mailto:teresa.marshall@world-psi.org">teresa.marshall@world-psi.org</a>, +33 450 40 1152.

Global Union Federations ICEM, BWI, PSI Sign Global Framework Agreement with GDF SUEZ

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
At last month&rsquo;s ICEM Presidium meeting in Turkey, the body recommended that ICEM solicit donations to assist the valuable communications vehicle RadioLabour with its continuing start-up costs. RadioLabour is a unique web-based broadcasting network that airs valuable labour programmes across the global north and global south. 
 
It was launched early in 2010 and is the brainchild of Marc Belanger, former labour educator at the ILO in Turin, Italy. It can be found at <a href="http://www.radiolabour.net">here</a>.&nbsp; 
<img alt="" src="" width="101" height="134" />
Marc Belanger
&ldquo;Since RadioLabour has come on line, the ICEM has used this valuable twice-weekly labour reporting service frequently,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We recognise the valuable connection that RadioLabour has amongst trade unionists in the developing world. In its short existence, RadioLabour has proven to be a low-cost, unencumbered, yet effective voice for global labour.&rdquo; 
 
ICEM affiliates, and individuals as well, are encouraged to keep RadioLabour working by making a bank transfer to: 
RadioLabour, c/o 115 Douro St., Peterborough, Ontario, Canada K9H 1H5 
Account number: 008020168416 
The Bank of Nova Scotia, c/o 111 Hunter St., Peterborough, Ontario, Canada K9H 7G5 
Swift Code/BIC: NOSCCATT 
Canadian Clearing Code: CC0002000802

ICEM Seeks Affiliate Financial Contributions to RadioLabour

Action Needed/ Votre intervention est souhaitée/ Se requiere acción urgente

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The ICEM continues to support the campaign for the rights of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. The State Enterprise Workers&rsquo; Relations Confederation of Thailand (SERC) has teamed with LabourStart to call on the Royal Thai Government to end the illegal and unjust practice of blocking Burmese migrants from access to the Workers&rsquo; Compensation Fund (WCF). 
 
The social security fund provides compensation for workers who incur injuries or disease from their work. Burmese migrants are denied rehabilitation assistance and are denied the right to register as disabled if they suffer permanent disabilities from occupational accidents. 
 
Following three years of protest by the ITUC-affiliated SERC, the ILO&rsquo;s Committee of Experts in February 2010 ruled that this denial of access for Burmese migrants was a breach of ILO Convention 19, on equality of accident compensation, which Thailand has ratified. 
<img src="" width="150" height="69" alt="" />
The Thai government&rsquo;s response has been to outsource the compensation of migrant workers to private insurance firms. This cannot create equality of accident compensation with Thai nationals who remain covered by the WCF, and is in breach of international law and human rights standards. 
 
Over two million Burmese migrants currently work in Thailand, most in low-skilled, dangerous jobs. While the majority of these workers entered Thailand illegally, over one million have registered to work. 
 
Labour activists submitted a petition to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 26 October, calling for action on this issue and on the general abuse of migrant workers in Thailand. The LabourStart campaign condemns the Thai government&rsquo;s inaction on the human trafficking of migrants. 
 
Visit the LabourStart Act NOW Campaign <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=783">here</a>, to send a message to the Thai Government.

Burmese Migrant Workers in Thailand Warrants Support

Archive