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<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Negotiations to end a 23-week lockout by Honeywell Inc. against 228 members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669 in the US state of Illinois failed last week. The American company, which converts yellow-cake uranium into uranium hexafluoride (UF6) at the Metropolis, Illinois, plant, continued its inflexibility in finding a resolve to the dispute and to return experienced workers to their jobs. 
 
The 22-23 November bargaining came four days after many of the locked-out workers rode a bus throughout the night to demonstrate at Honeywell’s corporate headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey. The manifestation was meant to convince senior Honeywell executives that it was finally time to conduct serious bargaining and end the lockout, according to Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011.Honeywell 2.jpg" width="177" height="148"/>
Local 7-699 members at Honeywell's New Jersey offices, 18 November
But at last week’s bargaining, Honeywell only agreed to pay workers their accrued 2009 vacation time in pay, something owed them anyway because most workers had been denied their legitimate work furloughs this year due to the lockout. Further bargaining is scheduled for 13-14 December. 
Meanwhile, the transnational technology and manufacturing company continues to use scab replacement workers to run the highly dangerous plant, one which transforms uranium into UF6 gas and then is frozen and sold for feed to the nuclear enrichment process. 
 
Honeywell has replaced the locked-out workers with 200 scabs from the Shaw Group, Unbelievably, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted certification to re-start the four-stage production process in September. Since, the NRC has issued a number of violations for work infractions. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011.Honeywell 3.jpg" width="186" height="139"/>
Issues that separate USW Local 7-699 and Honeywell are retirement benefits and the company’s demand to create a two-tier pension scheme; Honeywell’s insistence on gaining broad contracting-out rights, which could mean the loss of many jobs and possible elimination of entire in-house departments; and weakening of workers’ seniority rights. 
 
Honeywell has offered a 3% pay increase, but its pension and work-rule demands are so detrimental that Local 7-669 has offered to accept a wage freeze for continuation of current contract items. 
 
The union has been uplifted by the tremendous support given workers by trade unions in southern Illinois, Kentucky, and elsewhere. Notably, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 160 of Murphysboro, Illinois, has provided money and food to locked-out steelworkers, and soon will hold a Christmas party for workers’ children. 
 
USW Local 550 in nearby Paducah, Kentucky, whose members are employed by US Enrichment Corp., a private sector company that buys Honeywell’s UF6, also has contributed greatly, as has local branch unions of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and the United Auto Workers (UAW). And recently, a financial contribution was sent to Local 7-699 from Germany’s IGBCE union. 
 
Prior ICEM reports on this lockout in the US can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4066-Talks-Fail-Between-USW-Honeywell-in-US-Uranium-Lockout" type="internal">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3977-Lockout-of-USW-represented-Uranium-Processing-Plant-in-US-Continues" type="internal">here</a>.

Talks Again Fail in Honeywell’s US Lockout of Steelworkers

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The Goodyear Tyre Makers’ Union in Thailand, part of ICEM affiliate Petroleum and Chemical Workers’ Federation (PCFT), conducted a strike from 5pm on 18 November until 3pm on 23 November, demanding equal treatment of workers doing the same job, and changes to the collective agreement on shift length and social benefits. 
 
The previous collective agreement expired on 11 August 2010. There have been 12 rounds of negotiation meetings between the union reps and management since mid July 2010, as well as nine rounds of meetings with government mediators, the latest 10 November. 
 
The trade union reps conducting the negotiations were repeatedly frustrated that the company officials in bargaining had no decision-making authority, rendering the talks fruitless. Although the management representatives in the talks agreed with the union on many points where improvement was needed, they were powerless to act. It was agreed that several serious violations of the collective agreement and of Thai labour law had occurred. 
<img border="0" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Goodyearblogbanner.jpg" width="370" height="82"/>
Workers at the Goodyear-Thailand Ltd. plant in Bangkok complained of many unfair dismissal cases. 
 
Meetings are continuing between the bargaining committees, and have been joined by the company Human Resources Director for the Asia-Pacific region, and also a mediator from the Thai Labour Ministry. 
 
Management informed workers that if they did not end the strike and return to work they would lose their social benefits. Striking workers were locked-out during the strike. Management will now not end the lock-out unless the union agree to separate the Work Rules from the collective agreement. This would give management the flexibility to sack workers. 
 
Among other demands, the union wants including into the collective agreement a limit of 7.5 hours work per day, an overtime wage for work which continues during the worker's rest time of 30 minutes at a rate of 1.5, 40 hours paid activity of union officials per year, improvements to the retirement and medical coverage. 
 
620 union members have been locked out since Monday 22 November. 
 
Since the beginning of the strike management has pressure on office and contract workers to sign individual contracts, to waive the union proposal, as well as any entitlements and social benefits which may be resulted from the ongoing bargaining.

Thai Goodyear Workers Strike over Harassment, Bargaining Frustrations 

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In a sign that the economic crisis has waned, at least in Germany, IG Metall reported that companies employing 20% of some total 3.4 million metal and electronics workers in the country to date have moved the scheduled 2011 wage increase up from April to February. Companies and their Works Councils including Audi AG, Bosch GmbH, Siemens, and Voith, the paper machine and engineering manufacturer, have agreed to pay the scheduled 2.7% increase in February. 
 
Several more companies are expected to do the same in the coming weeks. The union said some 670,000 workers are now on schedule to get the raise in February. In collective agreements negotiated in February 2010, IG Metall agreed to a historic job preservation pact in exchange for two lump sum payments of €320 each in 2010 and early 2011. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Berthold Huber IG Metall.jpg" width="110" height="122"/>
IG Metall President Berthold Huber
The 2011 percentage increase was scheduled for April 2011, but according to the agreement Works Councils were given the authority to negotiate the 2.7% sum effective two months prior to April 2011, but no later than two months after that date. The 25-month agreement last year also mandates that there will be no operational redundancies before 30 June 2012. 
 
IG Metall credits the early raises to a strong economic recovery in the country. 
 
Additionally, Siemens, in appreciation to its global workforce of 400,000 for exemplary performance throughout the crisis, announced earlier in November that it would grant a total of US$430 million in a “one-time special bonus.” The pay-out, to be made between December and January, will amount to about €1,000 per worker, with German workers getting the bonus in January and the 2.7% increase the next month.

Many German Metal, Electronics Workers to Get 2011 Pay Hike Early

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
In this issue of ICEM’s HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the HIV/AIDS Workshop in Trinidad & Tobago, on the 1 December World AIDS Day statements, as well as on the 2010 UNAIDS report.
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. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
OWTU: Make HIV/AIDS Workplace Policies a Priority! 
 
The President General of the Trinidad/Tobago’s Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), Ancel Roget, called on all companies, state or privately owned, to negotiate with unions and jointly adopt and implement HIV/AIDS workplace policies when he spoke at the opening of the OWTU/CEP/ICEM HIV/AIDS workshop in San Fernando, Trinidad & Tobago, on World AIDS Day, 1 December. 
 
OWTU can argue from a point of strength as it adopted its own workplace policy on HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses in June 2009. Roget also warned employers that the union would take decisive action against any employer engaging in covert HIV/AIDS testing of employees. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AncelRogetOWTUgenpres.jpg" width="130" height="162"/>
OWTU President General, Ancel Roget
The workshop was attended by some 45 participants from OWTU, as well as representatives from the country’s Communications Workers’ Union, Banking, Insurance and General Workers’ Union, Fires Services Association, and the Estate Police Association. It was sponsored by the Humanity Fund of ICEM affiliate Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada. 
 
The workshop put HIV/AIDS in the context of decent work to reduce and eliminate stigma and discrimination. ILO HIV/AIDS Technical Specialist Madhuri Supersad introduced the new ILO Recommendation No. 200 concerning HIV/AIDS and the World of Work. She said that a focus must be on prevention and that behaviour change and a prevention revolution must begin at the workplace. 
 
The ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant, Hans J Schwass, reaffirmed the Global Union Federation’s commitment to fight the pandemic. When for every one person put on treatment, there are two new infections, we know that prevention must be our focus and the workplace is an ideal entry point to eliminate stigma and discrimination, and advocate voluntary counselling and testing. He also drew attention to the ICEM website on which a model workplace policy and other materials and resources are available. 
 
Participants under the guidance of OWTU Head of Education and Research, Ozzi Warwick, who organised the workshop, worked on an action plan for 2011, which includes a January 2011 peer educators’ course for two unionists from each of the 27 OWTU units and a minimum of three activities by peer educators within six months of the training. Such activities should comprise workplace interventions, community awareness programmes, and interaction with youth groups and schools. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
ILO on World AIDS Day: Workplace Policies to Tackle HIV and AIDS 
 
On World AIDS Day, 1 December, ILO online spoke to Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Global Programme on HIV and AIDS and the world of work (ILO/AIDS) about progress made on giving effect to Recommendation 200 since its adoption in June 2010. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.ILO_Sophia_high[1].jpg" width="201" height="134" alt=""/>
Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Global Programme on HIV and AIDS 
Kisting said that the response to this strong human rights standard that can help improve the issues of stigma and discrimination at the workplace has been overwhelming. There is also an important understanding that countries need to report back to the Committee of Experts at the 2011 International Labour Conference on progress made in giving effect to the Recommendation. 
 
Referring to the Governing Body’s decision to develop a plan of action, she stated that one of the most important steps is the development of national workplace policies on HIV and AIDS and to make sure that these become part of national programmes and strategies so that the workplace is not separate from the broader national response to HIV and AIDS. 
 
(Source: ILO website Communication and Public Information) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Unions on World AIDS Day 2010 
 
In its World AIDS Day statement, the ICEM affirmed that HIV/AIDS is a social disease. HIV transmission mainly takes place along the fault lines caused by poverty, gender inequality, and social injustice. HIV/AIDS is also a workplace issue. The workplace is crucial for successful action to combat the pandemic. 
 
HIV and AIDS funds are in recession due to the impact of the global financial crisis; HIV and AIDS are not in recession. Still for every three people put on treatment, five more become infected. That is why awareness and prevention as well as advocacy for voluntary counselling and testing are crucial in the fight against the epidemic. These are also cornerstones of the ICEM HIV/AIDS project. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011.wad logo.jpg" width="110" height="96" alt=""/>
HIV is also a human rights issue closely related to workplace non-discrimination laws and regulations. The ICEM calls on its affiliates to negotiate and adopt HIV/AIDS workplace policies, which are rights-oriented, non-discriminatory, and do not victimise people living with HIV and AIDS. 
 
The statement of the Global Unions AIDS Programme (GUAP) reiterated the commitment by trade unions to give effect to the implementation of Recommendation 200. The workplace cannot be left out of a coherent strategy to control the epidemic. GUAP also called for the adoption of national HIV/AIDS workplace policies and for them to be rights-oriented, non-discriminatory, and mainstreamed into national Decent Work strategies. 
 
The International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) reminded unions that World AIDS Day is a focus for action in the workplace. The union movement is intensifying its push for national implementation of the new ILO Recommendation 200 on HIV and AIDS and the world of work. This landmark ILO instrument breaks new ground by providing a framework for HIV and AIDS to be dealt with as a workplace issue, and by reinforcing the human rights consequences of the pandemic. 
 
The ITUC also announced the result of the first-ever writing contest, “Positive Workers Write!” which was open to HIV positive workers in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
2010 UNAIDS Report: Beginning to Reverse the Spread of HIV 
 
The 2010 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) shows that the AIDS epidemic is beginning to change course as the number of people newly infected with HIV is declining and AIDS-related deaths are decreasing. 
 
Data from the report show that an estimated 2.6 million people became newly infected and that approximately 1.8 million died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2009. Both figures are down by about 20% compared to those five years ago. Still, 33.3 million are living with HIV. And there are two new infections for every one person starting treatment. 
 
From 2001 to 2009, the rate of new HIV infections stabilized or decreased in 56 countries around the world, including 34 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Among young people in 15 of the most severely affected countries, the rate of new infections has fallen by 25%, led by young people using safer sexual practices. Significant progress has also been made in the prevention of mother- to-child transmissions. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS Press Release, 23 November) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
International Guidelines Launched to Protect Health Workers 
 
Health Workers are at the frontline in providing prevention, treatment, and care for people living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. They are at risk of occupational exposure to HIV and TB, but often lack access to protection and treatment. 
 
To address this gap, new international guidelines were launched by the ILO, WHO, and UNAIDS to protect doctors, nurses, and other medical staff. There are an estimated 60 million health workers throughout the world. The 14 action points of the guidelines are based on respect for workers’ rights, as well as practical workplace health and safety programmes. 
 
(Sources: ILO, WHO, UNAIDS Press Release, 19 November) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Fund: Serious Deficiencies in Grant Management 
 
The Global Fund Observer devoted its entire issue 132 to reports released by the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) on deficiencies in grant management and poor performance of principal recipients (PR) in a number of countries. 
 
In Zambia, the PRs have shown evidence of significant financial management and control weaknesses, episodes of misappropriation and fraud, and losses of grant funds, according to a report issued by the OIG. The OIG concluded that the two governmental PRs, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, were not fit to continue as PRs. More than US$10 million in expenses was identified as either ineligible or not properly documented. 
 
According to the OIG, there are a number of significant deficiencies in Cameroon in the financial management control framework of the Ministry of Public Health, principal recipients (PRs) and sub-recipients (SRs). The OIG was particularly critical of the Ministry, which was the PR for five of the six grants. Some US$3.4 million constituted overpayments which have to be recovered. The PR for the sixth grant was Care Cameroon, a non-governmental organisation. The OIG found that the internal control environment at Care Cameroon was strong, and made only minor recommendations. 
 
Insufficient grant management was also reported for Haiti (prior to the earthquake) and Cambodia. 
 
As one consequence, Sweden did not announce a pledge at the Global Fund’s replenishment meeting in New York in early October because it was concerned about how the Global Fund is responding to findings by the OIG concerning misappropriated grant money. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 132 of 2 November. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>; to receive GFO send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Fund Should Expand Non-CCM Window 
 
In an interesting commentary published in the Global Fund Observer issue 133, the author, David Garmaise, argues that it is time for the Global Fund to make some changes to the eligibility criteria for proposals from organisations other than country coordinating mechanisms (CCM). It is evident that in many countries the needs of key vulnerable populations are not being addressed by the national response because CCMs too often are still dominated by government representatives. Civil society organisations could fill this gap. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Global Fund logo.gif" width="250" height="53" alt=""/>
The Global Fund has always discouraged applications from Non-CCMs, which can apply only if they are from a country that is without a legitimate government; that is, in conflict or in an emergency situation, or that is facing a natural disaster – or if they are from a country that suppresses, or has not established partnerships with civil society. Of the 150 Non-CCM proposals submitted in Rounds 5-9, more than 90% were deemed ineligible. The most common explanation provided for screening out these proposals was that the applicant had failed to explain why it had applied outside its national CCM. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 133 of 15 November) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
News from Global Union Federations 
 
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF – <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) in its latest HIV/AIDS updates No. 95 and 96 of 1 and 15 November, respectively, reports on HIV/AIDS workshops and strategic campaign meetings by its affiliates in the US, Tanzania, Ecuador, and South Africa. 
 
While we focus on sub-Saharan Africa, it is often forgotten that according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one million people are living with HIV in the US. More than one in five of those people living with HIV are unaware of their infection. Despite increases in the total number of people living with HIV in the US in recent years, the annual number of new HIV infections has remained relatively stable. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Five Years Ago: From the December 2005 Issue 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In future issues, we will refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In December 2005, The ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter reported on the Second Regional HIV/AIDS Workshop held in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the theme “Fighting for our Rights.” This workshop led to the publication of the ICEM Training Manual for Collective Bargaining on HIV/AIDS, a publication which is still relevant and widely used. Furthermore, as witnessed by this issue and previous activities, negotiating HIV/AIDS clauses in collective bargaining agreements and workplace policies has become a focus of ICEM’s HIV/AIDS work. This is also in line with giving effect to the new ILO Recommendation No. 200. 
 
The Epidemic Update 2005, a joint report by UNAIDS and WHO, which was summarised in the December 2005 newsletter, estimated that there were five million new infections in 2005, bringing the total number of people living with HIV and AIDS globally to 40.3 million. As the summary of the 2010 update in this issue shows, some progress has been made since then. But this is still far from satisfactory and universal access goals have not been reached at the end of 2010. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter – How to Subscribe 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="mailto:press@icem.org">press@icem.org</a>. Please put “subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin” in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 63, December 2010

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
The Building & Woodworkers International (BWI) is calling for trade unionists to register protests with the Indonesia minister of Manpower and Transmigration over jailing of a trade union leader of SP KAHUTINDO, a BWI affiliate. 
 
Sister Nurimah, a KAHUTINDO plant level chairperson at the San Yu Frame Moulding company in Semarang, was detained on 9 December and is still being held at a state prison in Bulu, Semarang, for an alleged assault charge from June 2006. Her arrest conveniently comes at a time when the KAHUTINDO branch was pressing for its first negotiation with the wood-products manufacturer. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.indonesia.bwi.jpg" width="180" height="135" alt=""/>
In June 2009, 434 of the company’s 700 workers registered for KAHUTINDO representation. A series of union actions had forced the company to the bargaining table, but BWI believes the arrest of Nurimah has been orchestrated by management to intimidate workers and halt bargaining. 
 
To register your protest with the Indonesian government, click <a href="http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?index=3236&Language=EN ">here</a>.

Take Up Protest for Woman Trade Unionist Jailed in Indonesia

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The lockout by U.S. Steel against 900 active workers and 9,000 retirees and widows at a steel mill in Hamilton, Ontario, gained national Canadian attention on 29 January when over 10,000 trade unionists assembled and manifested in wet snow in Hamilton. Some 75 busloads of citizens came to what’s known in Canada as “Steeltown,” angry at their government and manifesting under the slogan “The People vs. U.S. Steel.” 
View video footage of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAb_uR-UFv0">Hamilton Rally</a>. 
 
The Hamilton Day of Action for locked-out members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1005 served as a national rallying cry against the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper and other parliamentarians have failed to make accountable foreign multinationals which buy Canadian assets and then immediately furlough workers and cut living standards. 
 
Both the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL/CLC) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) lent heavy support in making 29 January this rallying cry, as well as national signal that this unprovoked lockout marks undeniably that Canadian investment law is deeply flawed. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.hamilton.quebecois.jpg" width="269" height="179"/>
Quebec Steelworkers in Hamilton 
Photo: John Maclennan
The day’s speeches, placards, and slogans stated just that that. Local 1005 is defending workers, retirees, and widows against an American predator that three years ago bought Ontario-based steelmaker Stelco but immediately began side-stepping a weakened Investment Canada Act. The OFL claims that contrary to provisions in the Investment Canada Act, U.S. Steel has cut 2,200 jobs Stelco jobs in Hamilton and the Nanticoke Works in those three years. 
 
One of the main speakers of the day, USW President Leo Gerard, minced no words in describing the head-lock that corporations have on workers and governments: “Everywhere on earth, these corporate bastards are trying to pick our pockets. I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand by and let them take our pensions. We have to demand that Harper stand up for Canada.” 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.hamilton leo gerard.jpg" width="231" height="169"/>
USW President Leo Gerard. (At right, USW Canadian National Director Ken Neumann) 
Photo: John Maclennan
The Investment Canada Act is supposed to provide a “net benefit” to Canadians when foreign ownership acquires Canadian-based assets. Steelworkers of Local 1005, along with retirees and widows from the Hamilton Works, made the strong statement Saturday that they are victims, thrown off their jobs because they refuse to have their rightful benefits stripped from them.
The U.S. Steel lockout, now beginning its 13th week, centers on the company’s demand that retirees and widows lose pension indexing calculations, a sum meant to meet inflation costs amounting to C$30 per year, depending on different pension levels. U.S. Steel also wants to close off the defined benefit plan for new workers, certainly no “net benefit” to young Canadian workers. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.hamilton rallypanorama1.jpg" width="369" height="161"/>
Photo: John Maclennan
Bus-loads of loyal steelworkers from Quebec arrived and made USW Local 1005 supporters proud that such national unity crosses provincial boundaries. Buses of steelworkers also came from Sudbury, Ontario, where a foreign multinational also has slashed jobs and living standards, as well as from U.S. Steel’s Great Lakes mill in the US state of Michigan. 
 
Union delegations turned out in full from the Canadian Autoworkers’ Union (CAW), Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The OFL and CLC led the larger call across Canada. Scores of trade union delegations from teachers’ unions, to the Ontario Public Service Union, to ICEM-affiliated Power Workers Union (PWU) and the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union also lent their support. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.us steel. bill mahoney.jpg" width="218" height="163"/>
Bill Mahoney
Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina, an outspoken critic of U.S. Steel’s conduct in his city, spoke at Saturday’s “The People vs. U.S. Steel” manifestation, as did MP Chris Charlton, the leading national politician currently out to refine the Investment Canada Act. Other speakers included CLC President Ken Georgetti, OFL President Sid Ryan, and Bill Mahoney, a victim himself who has put to words what Local 1005’s fightback symbolises. 
 
Called the “Protest Poet,” Mahoney has been retired from Stelco’s Hamilton Works for five works and has penned some 25 poems on social erosion. One, entitled “Scrooge Comes to Town,” reads: 
We are fighting for our dignity, united young and old 
All across the country, the story is being told 
Of our proud community whose dignity won’t be sold 
We are fighting for our country, Canada is our home. 
Prior ICEM reports on the struggle by USW Local 1005 in Hamilton can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4101-Flawed-Investment-Canada-Act-Again-Seen-in-Steel-Lockout " type="internal">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4190-Rally-Slated-29-January-in-Canada-to-Support-Locked-out-Steelworkers " type="internal">here</a>.

Over 10,000 Manifest in Hamilton Against Canadian Government, U.S. Steel 

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Release from International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) 
 
The Global Union representing workers in the garment industry is convened a meeting of jeans’ brands and retailers to raise awareness of the need to eliminate the use of sandblasting, a method used to give jeans a fashionably faded look. 
 
Patrick Itschert, General Secretary of the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF), said, “Sandblasting is an extremely harmful process which can cause silicosis. The meeting on January 20 in Brussels provides an opportunity to hear contributions by experts, to examine best practices, to exchange points of view and to discuss further steps for action. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Patrick Itschert.jpg" width="130" height="106" alt=""/>
ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert
“In Turkey, the world’s third largest exporter of jeans and the only country so far where the impact of sandblasting on the health of workers has come under scrutiny, 550 former sandblasting workers have been diagnosed with silicosis since 2005 and 46 have so far died of the disease. These officially-documented cases are just the tip of the iceberg both in Turkey and globally. 
 
“Clearly, government regulation is needed to ban the process or to enforce existing bans. However, in the absence of effective government regulation brands and retailers urgently need to take voluntary action. 
 
“Even if brands and retailers adopt rigorous standards regarding sandblasting, there will always be suppliers that do not enforce those standards, thus putting unsuspecting workers at risk. Therefore the best policy is to ban sandblasting altogether in the garment industry. Several leading brands have already done so and we believe others should now do the same”. 
 
Speakers at the meeting, entitled “Towards the Elimination of Sandblasting in the Garment Industry,” were trade union health and safety experts as well as brands that have taken the step to ban sandblasting.

ITGLWF Convenes Meeting of Jeans’ Companies on Perils of Sandblasting

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ICEM Colombian affiliate Sintracarbón averted a strike last week at the world’s largest set of coal mines, and accepted a two-year labour accord with Carbones del Cerrejón, the producer of rich thermal coal from La Guajira state that is owned jointly by AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata. 
 
In a statement, the ICEM praised the new contract, calling it a result of respectful social dialogue, a process set in place with ICEM assistance back in 2004. The economic stakes counting down to a planned 8 February by 4,200 Sintracarbón members were so high that Colombia Vice President Angelino Garzón and Vice Minister of Labour Relations Ricardo Echeverry brokered final talks. 
 
The two-year labour accord between the mining union and Cerrejón calls for a first-year wage increase of 6.5%, retroactive to 1 January 2011, and a 2012 increase of the greater between 5% or 2% above the Consumer Price Index. 
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But more importantly, Sintracarbón continued to make improvements at the bargaining table for the communities surrounding the massive coal complex and tangible gains for over 5,500 contract workers employed at Carbones del Cerrejón and Puerto Bolivar, the company’s deep-water port 150 kilometres from the mine. 
 
The union recorded improvements in health benefits for workers and their families, transportation stipends to reach medical care, education and scholarships for family members, and an increase in the number of housing loans for workers. 
 
Cerrejón stood firm on a first-year wage offer of 6% but following a 27 January strike ballot in which workers voted 96.4% for industrial action, the company first raised its offer to 6.3% and then 6.5% in mediation in Bogotá with the Vice President. 
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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
“We have witnessed both sides reach the brink of negotiations in the past several sets of two-year talks,” said General Secretary Manfred Warda in the ICEM statement. “The fact that Sintracarbón and Cerrejón have not had a strike in over 20 years is testament to mutual respect and shared responsibility by both the union and management in looking after the welfare of communities, workers, and their families.” 
 
The ICEM congratulates the union members of Sintracarbón for mobilising for job action and then winning a deserved 2011 pay increase of 6.5%, better than double Colombia’s current 3.19% CPI. The ICEM notes that Cerrejón is a highly profitable enterprise for the parent companies, as well as for Colombia, which exported 76 million tonnes of coal in 2010 – 31 million tonnes of which was generated by the members of Sintracarbón.

Sintracarbón, Cerrejón Reach Satisfactory Terms in Colombia

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from the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) 
 
The meeting is the first joint activity on the organization of trade union networks in Latin American companies organized by the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the Building and Woodworkers' International (BWI) to develop new strategies together with their affiliates. 
 
On 23-24 September, an international seminar on forming union networks in Latin American trans-national companies (TNCs) took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, representatives of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), the Building and Woodworkers' International (BWI), and the ICEM representing workers in metallurgical, chemical, construction and wood sectors took part. 
 
Supported by the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), the aim of the meeting was to exchange experiences on existing networking activities and joint planning of actions in these companies. GUFs and unions provided information on several companies, as well as on the relationship (or lack thereof) that currently exists between companies and unions. 
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Photo: IMF 
 
The companies reviewed were Vale, WEG, Votorantim, Petrobras, and Arauco Odebrecht. All of the companies are involved in more than one sector, and some engage in unacceptable anti-union practices. 
 
“Unfortunately, we have suffered so much abuse by foreign TNCs. But today we see that the Latin American TNCs are no different. Our experience also shows that the anti-union practices and disregard of workers' rights by some companies are even fiercer in the countries where the company has opened new operations than in their home countries,” said IMF Assistant General Secretary Fernando Lopes. 
 
During the meeting, all participants decided to support the workers struggle at Brazilian Vale's operations in Voiseys Bay, Canada, where 230 workers have been on strike since 1 August 2009, after the company would only accept to renew the collective agreement if the workers represented by USW agreed to a drastic reduction in conditions and increased job insecurity. 
 
The IMF Regional Representative for Latin America and Caribbean, Jorge Almeida said, "This meeting was also a first step in the region. In a few years, we will work on a global scale with the merger of three confederations overall: IMF (metalworkers), ICEM (chemical) and ITGLWF (textiles).” 
 
The meeting included affiliates from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru affiliated to IMF, ICEM, and BWI, and also included were representatives from IG Metall, Germany, and the US Solidarity Center, AFL-CIO.

FES Sponsors Tri-GUF Multinationals Seminar in Brazil

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A joint information campaign by the European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is proving successful in alerting trade unions and workers’ representatives to coming deadlines of REACH and the Chemical, Labeling, Packaging (CLP) regulation of the EU. The campaign is aimed at workers inside companies that market or use chemicals in their manufacturing. 
 
REACH is the Registration Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals regulation, an EU statute that took effect in 2007 and which is being phased in over several years. REACH requires industrial operators to register any chemicals they make or import in quantities above one tonne per year with the new European Chemicals Agency. 
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EMCEF General Secretary Reinhard Reibsch
The deadline for employers to register is 30 November 2010, and the EMCEF/ETUC campaign is asking workers to remind employers of this fact. The accompanying CLP regulation says they have to notify the new agency regarding the classification and labeling of all hazardous substances that go on the market, regardless of production volume. 
 
A 1 December 2010 exists for CLP Reclassification, while a 3 January 2011 deadline looms for CLP notification. 
 
The two European trade union federations see fulfillment of the requirements as job-saving measures in the European chemicals sector. “Workers in this industry are very interested in sustainable development of the sector based on high environmental values, social progress, and economic success,” said EMCEF General Secretary Reinhard Reibsch, adding the joint EMCEF/ETUC campaign is an extension of that.

EMCEF, ETUC Alert European Workers to REACH Deadlines

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