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The ICEM-affiliated Teamsters Union (IBT) in the US has mounted a voracious campaign against Germany&rsquo;s BMW Group to preserve 68 auto-parts warehousing jobs in Southern California. The campaign to stop the outsourcing of family-supporting parts distribution jobs from a BMW warehouse in Ontario, California, has stretched eastward across America and now has gotten very active support from Unite the Union in the UK and IG Metall in Germany. 
 
In early June, the 7,500-member IBT Local 495 of Covina, California, was told by North American BMW that it intended to terminate a collective agreement upon expiration on 31 August and outsource the jobs of Teamster members to an un-named logistics provider. Instead of rolling over and negotiating severance packages, the union and its members fought back. 
 
They began a pressure campaign that has seen trade unionists and supporters handbilling BMW auto dealerships across the US, and Local 495 has zeroed in specifically on the Jackson Lewis LLP law firm. Jackson Lewis is a union-busting legal firm that regrettably BMW North America retained for anti-worker services in industrial relations. 
<img alt="" src="" width="368" height="121" />
The IBT has gained support and mobilisation of other American unions at BMW&rsquo;s five parts distribution depots in the US, as well as from trade unionists at BMW workplaces in Europe. 
 
The union has established a lively website entitled <a href="http://www.bmwultimatemisery.com/ ">&ldquo;BMW: The Ultimate Misery&rdquo;</a> and produced a video from a spirited 26 July protest in front of the Jackson Lewis law offices in Los Angeles. (View the <a href="http://vimeo.com/26990405 ">video</a> here.) 
 
Earlier, on 21 July, a Day of Action was held in not only BMW&rsquo;s US warehouses, but also inside BMW facilities in the UK. Workers wore stickers supporting the California Teamsters and passed out leaflets demanding that BMW not destroy California jobs. Members of the International Longshoremen&rsquo;s Association (ILA) at an import distribution centre in the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey two years ago successfully fended off outsourcing, as did United Auto Workers (UAW) members at a BMW parts warehouse in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. 
Both unions now assist the California workers in resisting closure. IBT local unions in America&rsquo;s eastern states are handbilling BMW dealerships on a daily basis. The Ontario warehouse workers use weekends away from the job to draw attention to BMW&rsquo;s unfair decision by handbilling dealerships up and down the US West Coast, from Southern California to the state of Washington. 
<img alt="" src="" width="308" height="161" />
Teamsters handbilling in Seattle
In the UK, Unite Assistant General Secretary and head of Manufacturing, Tony Burke, is now spearheading a petition drive aimed at BMW&rsquo;s European Works Council (EWC). Unite members are demanding that an extraordinary meeting of the EWC meeting slated for 10 September be moved up to August in order to place the scheduled Ontario closure squarely on the agenda. They want BMW to reverse the North America decision. 
 
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll continue to expand this campaign inside the US and internationally in the weeks to come,&rdquo; said Local 495 Secretary-Treasurer Bob Lennox. &ldquo;Working with other US unions and now with unions in Europe, we&rsquo;re convinced that we&rsquo;ll get a positive resolution for our members and that means retaining our jobs.&rdquo; 
 
The Ontario, California, warehouse handles 200,000 auto parts for just-in-time delivery to BMW car dealerships and other auto-supply outlets on the West Coast. The ICEM believes such work is best done by experienced and direct-employed BMW workers and urges the German company to retain loyal Teamster members for the good of its business and to preserve family-sustaining jobs.

US Teamsters Ardently Resist BMW’s Auto Parts Outsourcing

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The ICEM conducted a seminar entitled &ldquo;Modern Occupational Health and Safety Management in the Mining Industry,&rdquo; in Tbilisi, Georgia, on 4-8 July. The seminar was facilitated with the financial support of the ILO through its Moscow branch, and included the participation of ILO specialists. 
 
Representatives of ICEM affiliates in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, as well as respective national trade union centres, were brought together with trade union leaders responsible for workers&rsquo; safety and health. 
 
ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, was the central topic. ILO Conventions 187 and 155 on occupational health and safety, and their related Recommendations were also studied by participants. In-depth discussions were conducted over the systematic and preventive approach of the ILO, particularly in the mining industry, and risk assessment and implementation of state standards for enterprises were studied. 
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At the opening session, Confederation of Trade Unions of Georgia President Irakli Petriashvili, took the floor. He noted the relevance of the chosen topic, as well as the importance of the realisation of such a project in Georgia. As before, the relationship between unions and the government remain strained, he said, and there is no social dialogue. Most importantly, there is no legal basis for the adoption of necessary documents concerning labour protection. 
 
Petriashvili thanked international trade union representatives for their participation, which would again pressure the Georgian government to respect the national trade unions and their struggle for workers&rsquo; rights. 
 
Especially significant was involvement in discussions from representatives of ICEM affiliated unions in Armenia and Azerbaijan. The trade unions in these countries are working closely with their governments and employers. Armenia ratified Convention 176 back in 1999, while Azerbaijani participants reported a good situation for workers in the mining industry. In Georgia, there is no possibility of ratification of ILO Convention 176 in the foreseeable future, due to a total lack of dialogue between unions and the government. 
 
The seminar was attended by the ICEM Representative for Central and Eastern Europe, Anatoly Surin, and ICEM Health, Safety, Sustainability Officer, Brian Kohler. From the ILO, Viking Husberg, Specialist in Occupational Safety, and Oksana Gerasimova, Occupational Safety Coordinator of ILO Moscow took part. Also participating was Martin Hahn, Chief Specialist of the ILO responsible for the mining industry.

ICEM, ILO Conduct Mine Safety Seminar in Tbilisi, Georgia

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A two-year organizing campaign conducted by ICEM Turkish affiliate Petrol-İş, the Oil, Chemical, and Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union, has faced serious difficulties at targeted worksites. The anti-union Turkish labor legislation, which has been criticized by the ILO and whose major conventions have been ratified by Turkey, as well as hostile employer actions are the main reasons why. 
 
Petrol- İş has been picketing several factories to showcase this absence of genuine union rights. The ICEM was recently in Turkey supporting the union&rsquo;s organizing drives. General Secretary Manfred Warda and Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan visited in early July to lend support. 
 
They first visited workers at Polyplex in the Corlu free trade zone, close to the Bulgarian border. Workers at Polyplex were in their 240th day of struggle after joining Petrol-İş in November 2010. When management learned of the drive, they used different tactics to get rid of the union, including firing 22 workers seen as union activists. 
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Manfred Warda Addresses Workers of Polyplex Europa
The Turkish Ministry of Labour and Social Security authorized Petrol-İş as the lawful bargaining unit on 5 January 2011. But managers immediately used the anti-labour provisions of Turkish legislation to delay collective bargaining by filing an appeal at a local labor court alleging that Petrol- İş had not signed up the required majority of workers. This stood as clear signal that Polyplex Europa would not recognize the union&rsquo;s existence. Such an appeal could run for two years, thus denying workers union rights. Both ICEM and Petrol-İş asked the company for a meeting to reconcile, but Petroplex consistently refused. Union representatives met with the General Consulate of India in Istanbul and stressed that the current situation brings a bad public image to the reputation of India. 
 
&ldquo;I am here on behalf of the entire ICEM family to show our solidarity,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;We applaud the workers&rsquo; honorable struggle and we vehemently protest the Indian company Polyplex because of disrespect to workers&rsquo; rights guaranteed by international conventions.&rdquo; 
 
Warda and &Ouml;zkan later visited dismissed workers at the Aroma-Polifarma pharmaceutical company in the same region. A large majority of 300 workers at Aroma-Polifarma became Petrol-İş over the last few weeks. This came because of inhumane working conditions such as extended working hours, up to 16 hours per day; short breaks, only a maximum 30-minute break for lunch; inadequate drinking water in which some workers developed kidney problems; and most shamefully, cameras in the dressing rooms, even in the women&rsquo;s room. 
<img width="248" height="162" alt="" src="" />
Warda and Petrol-İş President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın (center) with Polifarma Workers
The day before the ICEM visit, Polifarma dismissed some 150 workers because they were suspected of joining the union. In his letter to the owners of the company, the Kumrulu family, Warda said the sackings are clear violations of basic human and labour rights which can never be accepted or tolerated. &ldquo;I am sure most of these practices are subject to measures in Turkish penal and labor legislation,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;Under all these circumstances, on behalf of the whole ICEM family, I vehemently protest all that you&rsquo;ve done &hellip; and urge you to immediately&rdquo; cease and desist. 
 
The ICEM delegation also went to the city of Gebze where dismissed workers of German-based Bericap were in their 200th day of resistance to the company&rsquo;s mass dismissals. Petrol-İş organised workers at Bericap in July 2009, following dismissal of six workers initally for attempting to unionise. On 26 January 2010, a collective agreement was agreed to in hopes of a mature labour relations relationship. 
 
But local management never intended to fully recognize the existence of Petrol-İş and began implementing a hostile attitude against the union and union members. Under such negativity, four union members were dismissed without justification on 25 December 2010 with no union rights being adhered to. In response, some 100 Petrol-İş members started an industrial action in front of the workplace. Local management terminated employment contracts of all those protesting and failed to provide any severance compensation. The Bericap situation became a prominent case in Turkey, which created an environment against the company and workers won the support of different community groups. (A short video of a <a href="http://www.evrensel.net/news.php?id=9396">Bericap Manifestation</a> can be seen here.)&nbsp; 
 
ICEM and Petrol-İş several times tried to initiate dialogue with Bericap in order to reinstate the dismissed workers, but reciprocal good will from the company never resulted. ICEM also informed its German affiliate, the IGBCE, the German Metalworkers&rsquo; Union, IG Metall, and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), since the German unions represent workforces there. Labor inspectors appointed by the Labour and Social Security Ministry recently disclosed their report after investigations. The report clearly states that local managers abused workers&rsquo; rights. Bericap Turkey is now liable and must pay compensation to the dismissed workers. In addition, local management must pay penalties since deficiencies and legislative misalignments were found during the inspection. 
 
&ldquo;Bericap cannot behave irresponsibly to its employees,&rdquo; said Warda in his address to striking workers on the picket line. &ldquo;We will give a last chance to the company to solve this problem in a peaceful way. Otherwise an international &lsquo;shame campaign&rsquo; will be launched.&rdquo; Immediately after the visit, ICEM sent another letter to Bericap Managing Director Alexander Krautkramer to take immediate actions to restore good-faith labour relations. 
 
&ldquo;We are pleased to have the support and solidarity of the ICEM in these struggles,&rdquo; said Petrol-İş President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın. &ldquo;Our international partner has offered tremendous support in all our organizing drives and we know success will come with global solidarity from all workers of these companies worldwide.&rdquo;

ICEM Lends On-site Support to Workers Organising with Turkey’s Petrol-İş

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The annual meeting of ICEM&rsquo;s International Nuclear Workers&rsquo; Union Network, (INWUN) took place in the US city of Boston on 14 July, preceded by a two-day ICEM Electric Power conference. Some 30 union delegates from ten nations attended, including unions representing nuclear power station workers, uranium miners, and staff employed along the nuclear supply chain, including fuel conversion and enrichment processes. 
 
INWUN was founded inside the ICEM in 2004 and was incorporated as an official workers&rsquo; network of the Global Union Federation (GUF) in 2008. It is presided over by David Shier of the Canadian Power Workers&rsquo; Union (PWU), who stressed the importance of adding more unions to the network once conclusion of a new GUF is built with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and the International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation. 
<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="159" />
IGBCE&rsquo;s Ralf Barttels
This year&rsquo;s event featured in-depths looks at the US lockout by Honeywell of members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669 in Metropolis, Illinois, as well as a spirited question and answer session of leaders of the 220,000-member Japanese affiliate Denryoku Soren, or the Federation of Electric Power Related Industry Workers&rsquo; Union. That focused on the cooling down and aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station following March&rsquo;s earthquake and tsunami. 
 
Denryoku Soren leaders Takashi Wakasugi, Kiyoaki Kotabe, and Manabu Sasaki spoke of the courage that came to workers and union staff working at Fukushima in the days immediately following when hundreds of ICEM affiliates poured moral and physical support to the Japanese union. &ldquo;Your encouragement and solidarity enabled all of us to press forward with restoration work as strenuous as it was,&rdquo; said Wakasugi, Denryoku Soren&rsquo;s Policy Officer. 
 
The USW was represented at INWUN by Vice President James &ldquo;Kip&rdquo; Phillips, Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie, and the local&rsquo;s Vice President, Tim Goines. The lockout by Honeywell, ongoing now for 55 weeks (see recent ICEM <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4538-Honeywell-Threatens-Safety-by-Extending-Lockout-of-USW-Members-">news dispatch</a> here), pits a multinational company against a group of 228 workers, who represent the safety and security of a community of 6,400. 
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Ukraine Atomprofspilka President Valeriy Matoc, with Lesia Semeniaka Seated
Since last July, Honeywell has been attempting to operate the uranium conversion plant with scab workers and several near-miss safety and environmental occurrences have happened. INWUN delegates condemned the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission&rsquo;s decision to grant licenses to Honeywell to operate the plant with scab workers, and a letter to that extent was sent to the American agency. 
 
INWUN delegates also heard reports from individual countries, including the German union IGBCE on the de-commission of all nuclear facilities by the year 2022. IGBCE Representative Ralf Barttels made clear that although the union accepts closure of power stations in harmony with the wishes of the German public, the union has lobbied successfully to retain uranium enrichment, nuclear fuel production, research and development, and manufacture of nuclear components. 
 
French delegates told of their ongoing efforts to achieve a Global Framework Agreement with Areva, as well as their court efforts to block outsourcing by the global nuclear provider in France. Delegates to INWUN also pledged to build a more coordinated dialogue with employer federations in the nuclear industry, particularly around safety. A representative from the industry-based World association of Nuclear Operations (WANO) also addressed the group.

INWUN Conference Hears Heroic Deeds of Japanese Nuclear Workers

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st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }The Confederaci&oacute;n Nacional de los Metal&uacute;rgicos (CNM) affiliated to the CUT trade union central, and globally to the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), is mobilising workers for a 2011 wage campaign. The one-million-strong metalworker federation represents 50% of all Brazilian metalworkers, and is now pushing for deserved pay increases in collective agreements across the sector.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Some regions have made good gains, while negotiations continue elsewhere, ahead of a 1 September deadline.</div>
The campaign in S&atilde;o Paulo State was kick-started on 21 July when 2,000 unionists of 14 trade unions manifesting in front of Industry Federation of S&atilde;o Paulo (FIESP). CNM/CUT President Paulo Cayres addressed the gathering, along with the presidents of the 14 unions, representing 250,000 workers in the state. 
<img alt="" src="" width="242" height="160" />
<div>Included in the demands is the extension of maternity leave from 120 days to 180. Other demands include: automatic increase of salary in line with inflation, increased wages, improved minimum wage, freedom of organisation in all workplaces, reduction of work week to 40 hours with no reduction in wages.</div>
Demands were delivered to the Industry Federation of the Minas Gerais region on 29 July.
Metalworkers of Sapiranga, Southern Brazil, settled on an 8% salary increase and 10% hike in the minimum wage, as well as solid improvements to social allowances, including education, child care, and pensions.
<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="161" />
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CNM/CUT President Paulo Cayres
ABC regional workers in S&atilde;o Bernardo rejected an offer last Tuesday from management and issued a strike warning.
Metalworkers of Itu, Porto Feliz, Boituva, and Cabre&uacute;va, 100 kilometres west of S&atilde;o Paulo, were organising united fronts at plants from 3-10 August, ahead of difficult bargaining with management.
United in the struggle for a fair wage increase, workers in the southern city of S&atilde;o Leopoldo halted production at two large companies in the area last week. Unionists linked arms at the gates of Rossi and Taurus 05, paralysing the sites for four hours on Thursday morning, 11 August. Similar scenes occurred in neighbouring Inpel on Wednesday 10 August, where a large mobilisation caused a one-and-a-half hour work stoppage.

CNM/CUT in Brazil Mobilises Campaign for Salary Gains

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<div> 
The ICEM joins the wide condemnation of the Malawi government&rsquo;s vicious crackdown on human and trade union rights. A raft of recent legislative changes has systematically curtailed civil liberties, freedom of the press, and increased impunity of government agencies and officials. 
 
In the African nation, Section 46 of the Penal Code was amended, allowing the Minister of Information to ban publications which are deemed to be contrary to the public interest. The Civil Procedure Bill was also amended, denying plaintiffs the right to instant relief when their rights are under threat by a government agency or officer. This latter amendment also allows police to search any house without a search warrant.</div>
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<div><img alt="" src="" width="240" height="159" /> 
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<div>Civil society groups have given President Mutharika until 17 August to respond to their grievances. &quot;If nothing happens, the nation will hear from us,&quot; stated Robert Mkwezalamba, General Secretary of the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU), referring to a petition of grievances submitted to the President. 
 
Nationwide popular protests on 20 July were brutally repressed by shocking police violence, leaving 19 people dead including a 13-year-old boy. The violence used by the Malawi government has been widely condemned, and attention is now on Mutharika&rsquo;s regime to peacefully reach agreement with protest groups, and reverse the country&rsquo;s archaic legislation. 
 
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has initiated an <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1074">electronic campaign</a> through LabourStart. Please support it here. </div>

Campaign to Halt the Bloody Repression of Malawi Trade Unionists

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
from International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation 
 
Some 10,000 workers and citizens from every part of Korea participated across the night of 9-10 July in the &quot;Hope Bus&quot; march to the Hanjin shipyards in Korea to protest against dismissals in breach of contract and precarious work, and to make a solidarity visit to hunger-striking protester Kim Jinsuk. After a culture festival at Busan, the participants started a candlelight march to the shipyards. One kilometre from the yard riot police blocked the road and opened fire on marchers with water cannons and liquid tear gas. 
 
Kim Jinsuk has been denied access to medical treatment since 5 July, when her doctor was physically prevented from seeing her. The company has also stopped her from getting necessities and a recharged mobile phone. 
<img alt="" src="" width="252" height="161" />
Marchers attacked with tear gas
The president of a national trade union centre, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), planned on taking part in the hunger strike on 13 July to call on the Hanjin Corporation to bargain in good faith. 
 
The Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) will hold a press conference on 14 July to announce protest letters to the Korean president Lee Myung-bak to the press. 
 
The International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) sent a letter to the Korean president on 4 July, calling for the Korean government to stop all violence against the workers at Hanjin Heavy Industries shipyard and Yuseong Piston Ring factories, to push the companies to start collective bargaining and lift the lock-out, stop the persecution of union officials, members and sympathizers, and to respect the ILO Conventions on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. 
 
The IMF, KMWU and LabourStart have launched a campaign calling on the Korean government to end the violence immediately. Join the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1046 ">LabourStart campaign</a> through this link.

Korean Metal Workers’ Continue Struggle at Hanjin Shipyards

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;

	In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the HIV/AIDS project in India, on Women&rsquo;s Day in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire and on the renewal of mining licences in South Africa being linked to HIV and TB workplace policies. We also address a call to the Canadian government to bring up the HIV/AIDS issue at next month&rsquo;s G8 Summit in the US.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;

	HIV/AIDS Workplace Project in India

	The final report of the HIV/AIDS workplace project in India reveals the enormous impact the project has had. Sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, the project ran from August 2008 to the beginning of 2012.

	Sixty-one master trainers were trained, who in turn organised 28 programmes in which 709 peer educators received skills training. Particular attention was also given to women who received training in courses exclusively for women. Furthermore, sensitization programmes were organised for para-medical staff and teachers and students of company schools.

	In follow-up programmes at grass-root level, almost 20,000 people benefited from awareness and behaviour change messages.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Women&rsquo;s Day Activity in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire

	The HIV/AIDS Coordinator for Francophone West Africa, Charlotte Nguessan, organised a very successful symposium on Violence Against Women for women workers in the petroleum sector of C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire. More than 200 women attended the deliberations; the Human Resources Directors of the companies were also present at the meeting. Sexual violence is a factor in transmitting HIV infections. An appeal was made to stop all forms of violence against women and to introduce effective sanctions when such violations happen.

	In a statement on International Women&rsquo;s Day on 8 March, the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS called on world leaders to provide resources to stop HIV infection of women. Worldwide, women constitute around half of people living with HIV and AIDS. They represent 59% in sub-Saharan Africa and 53% in the Caribbean. In all regions, HIV prevalence in women has increased dramatically throughout the years.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	South Africa: No HIV and TB Workplace Policy, No Mining Licence

	Speaking to hundreds of mine workers and community members in the mining town of Carletonville, South Africa, on World TB Day, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, a former General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), urged the mining industry to improve TB services, upgrading health centres to allow for the treatment of drug-resistant TB and to extend health services to those from surrounding communities and mines that may have limited access to healthcare.

	At the same event, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu announced that mining companies which have HIV, TB and workplace safety policies audited by her ministry will have to submit their policies as a prerequisite for renewing their mining licenses.

	As part of the deputy president&#039;s call for all mine workers to be screened for TB and HIV in the next year, World TB Day celebrations were accompanied by HIV and TB screenings, during which at least 1,220 people were examined for TB and 260 people were tested for HIV.

	As in many countries in Southern and East Africa, South Africa&#039;s high TB incidence is fuelled by a high HIV prevalence. Although many people carry TB, only 10% will ever develop the active disease. But because of their compromised immune systems, people living with HIV are up to 37 times more likely to develop active TB.

	Miners are also at a higher risk of TB due to bad living conditions, often in the poorly ventilated, overcrowded single-sex hostels that have historically characterized mining in South Africa, and have facilitated TB transmission. Miners exposed to high levels of silica dust also often acquire a serious respiratory illness called <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/Report/92240/SOUTH-AFRICA-Glimmer-of-justice-for-sick-gold-miners">silicosis</a>, which increases their risk of developing active TB.

	(Source: IRIN News, Carletonville, 26 March)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	G8 AIDS Campaign

	Trade unions throughout Africa and Canada are calling on the Canadian government to champion a focus on HIV and AIDS at the next G8 Summit at Camp David, Maryland, in the US on 18-19 May 2012 with the theme &ldquo;An AIDS-free Generation by 2015.&rdquo;

	A lobbying campaign delivers messages directly to Prime Minister Stephen Harper within Canada and through Canadian Embassies or Consulates throughout Africa. They are asking Canada to lead in calling on the G8 to implement the 2011 UN Political Declaration on HIV &amp; AIDS and to replenish new resources to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. They also want G8 countries to implement the ILO&rsquo;s Recommendation 200 concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, and strengthen the G8&rsquo;s Accountability Framework.

	Unions contend that the UN Political Declaration&rsquo;s targets on AIDS are a time-bound road map, which are a logical extension of the G8 commitment to reach universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Progress must be monitored through the G8 accountability mechanism. The same approach should be applied to the G8&rsquo;s numerous affirmations of support for a fully-funded Global Fund.

	(Source: CLC and ITUC emails)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The Global Fund Finance Beyond Governments

	Of every US$1 contributed to the Global Fund, more than 95 cents comes from the governments of rich countries. The Global Fund has been trying for years to obtain more revenue from other sources. Despite sizeable donations from foundations like the Gates Foundation (US$750 million donated for the period 2011&ndash;2016) and private sector companies (Chevron pledged US$55 million for the period 2008&ndash;2013) &ndash; and despite product marketing campaigns such as (PRODUCT) REDTMwhich has generated US$180 million for the Global Fund to date &ndash; such contributions still account for only a very small proportion of revenues.

	Governments and activists have been searching for innovative ways to generate additional revenues &ndash; not just for the Global Fund itself, but also for the fight against specific diseases and for health and development more generally. Two of the ideas that have been explored are a tax on airline tickets and a tax on financial transactions.

	The tax on airline tickets is already a reality. Between 2006 and April 2011, the tax raised US$2 billion for UNITAID, an international facility for purchasing drugs for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. The size and scope of the tax vary by country. This is still a sizable amount considering the fact that only nine countries implement the tax of which Chile, France and the Republic of Korea are the most important. The airline tax constitutes 70% of UNITAID&rsquo;s revenues.

	In September 2011, UNITAID commissioned a study on how to implement a financial transactions tax (FTT) on a national basis. Authors of the study estimated that a very small tax on a variety of financial transactions could generate &euro;265 billion annually in the G20 countries. The idea of using an FTT to fund international development has been around for at least a decade but it is unlikely to be implemented universally.

	(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 178 of 13 March. 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>)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	African Sex Workers Top HIV Infection List

	Prostitutes in sub-Saharan Africa have one of the highest rates of HIV infections in the world, an international study has established. The research findings also recommend that prostitution should be legalised to make working conditions for sex workers more tolerable and reduce their rate of HIV infections.

	The study, which was released last Thursday, was funded by the World Bank and the UN and carried out by the US-based John Hopkins School of Public Health. It was published by The Lancet, a medical journal.

	It recommends an urgent scale up of HIV programmes. The researchers sampled about 100,000 prostitutes from 50 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Middle East. They found that of all the prostitutes in the 50 countries, those in sub-Saharan Africa had the highest HIV prevalence. The survey, undertaken between the years 2007 to 2011, ranked prostitutes in Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe as having the highest rates of HIV infections.

	(Source: Africa Review, Nairobi, 19 March)

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	ILO at UN Human Rights Council

	At its 19th Session on 20 March 2012, the UN Human Rights Council held a panel discussion on giving a voice to people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. The importance of workplace action was mentioned by the ILO, government of Brazil and government of France.

	Alice Ou&eacute;draogo, Director, ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the world of work (ILO/AIDS), underlined that protection of human rights at work is essential and that 2010 ILO Recommendation on HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, the first human rights standard focusing on HIV/AIDS, should be widely used for improving legal protection of against discrimination. The importance of the workplace in protecting the rights of people living with of affected by HIV/AIDS was highlighted by Brazil and France.

	Moyses Toniolo, National Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Brazil, said there were many forms of discrimination that people living with HIV/AIDS experience in the workplace. It was important to demystify HIV/AIDS, to stress that it could not be disseminated in the workplace through social interactions and to change people&rsquo;s perceptions of people who were infected so that those who lived with HIV/AIDS were no longer stigmatized.

	(Source: ILO/AIDS website)

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	News from Global Unions 

	The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org/">www.itfglobal.org</a>), in its latest HIV/AIDS update 120 of March reports on the establishment of the first network of HIV positive transport workers. USAFERI received its registration as a community based organisation from the Kenyan government.

	The April 2012 Newsletter of the Swedish Workplace HIV and AIDS Programme (SWHAP), jointly run by the International Council of Swedish Industry (NIR) and the Swedish Industrial and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (IF Metall), reports on a meeting of its Peer Educator Network. Peer educators are at the heart of most HIV/AIDS programmes. Their work is demanding and stressful and it is thus important for them to meet for debriefing and sharing of experience and strategies to help them cope with their roles.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />

	Five Years Ago: From the April 2007 Issue (No. 19)

	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 April 2007 HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, we reported, among other items, on the G8 campaign and on C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire being on the right track; two topics which also appear in this April 2012 issue.

	The G8 campaign in 2007 was lead by the Global Union AIDS Programme, which regrettably has ceased to exist. We made model letters available which were to be sent to German embassies, as the G8 in that year took place in Heiligendamm, Germany. As Germany also held the EU Presidency in the first six months of 2007, it organised an EU Presidency Conference in Bremen in March choosing HIV/AIDS as the main health policy topic. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, gave the keynote speech.

	Important (and understandable because of the German double presidency) was her repeated reference to the G8 Summit. Germany had put HIV/AIDS on the agenda of the Summit and she promised that progress would be made.

	The outcome document of the Conference in Bremen, the Bremen Declaration, made reference to trade unions: &ldquo;We invite the employers and trade unions to ensure non-discriminatory policies for people living with HIV/AIDS and vulnerable groups in the workplace and to reduce fears of infection, stigma and discrimination among staff by providing objective, evidence-based information, and access to prevention, testing, treatment and care according to the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.&rdquo;

	On the other topic dealt with in the April 2007 issue, it is regrettable that the civil war in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire brought to nought many achievements and disrupted HIV and AIDS services. However, to the extent possible work in the ICEM-sponsored project continued and companies have become more cooperative.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 79, April 2012

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390">

	&ldquo;Local Actions, Global Impact&rdquo; was the motto of the annual Job Stewards&rsquo; Seminar of the ICEM Canadian affiliate, Office and Professional Employees Union (COPE) Local 378, which was held 9-11 March in Vancouver, British Columbia. COPE Local 378 represents 14,000 union members at public- and private-sector companies in the western Canadian province and affiliates to the ICEM through rank-and-file membership in the electricity and gas sectors.

	The seminar offered an opportunity to meet and work with both new and experienced shop stewards, as well as leading union officials with nine weekend-long workshops and courses that includes global solidarity and campaigns.

	The ICEM was represented by Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan and he delivered a presentation on global union solidarity, the ICEM, and the new Global Union Federation, IndustriALL.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 234px;height: 141px" width="390">&nbsp;

	Kemal Ozkan

	&ldquo;Global solidarity is one of the major items of this seminar,&rdquo; said COPE Local 378 President David Black. &ldquo;This course starts to make the links between the experience in our own working lives and communities and workers in other countries.&rdquo; The seminar noted that &ldquo;in an increasingly shrinking world, our struggles are often the same even though they may be half way around the globe.&rdquo;

	The participants discussed the economic circumstances they find themselves in and the ongoing globalization of the world&rsquo;s economy. The seminar designed a toolbox to provide activists with an opportunity to make links with workers in other countries and to demonstrate solidarity with them.

	The seminar also welcomed Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia and Juan Linares from the National Miners&#039; and Metalworkers&#039; Union (SNTMMSRM), or Los Minerosof Mexico as guests. G&oacute;mez, General Secretary of Los Mineros, has been living in exile in Vancouver for over four years through the support of ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW), while Juan Linares was imprisoned in Mexico from 2008 to 2011 after returning to his home country after attending the convention of British Columbia Federation of Labour.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 289px;height: 103px" width="390">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Both G&oacute;mez and Linares have been persecuted and threatened by the Mexican government despite the fact that courts there have dismissed false charges against them over the handling of union funds. Linares, in an emotional speech, cordially thanked participants for the support and solidarity delivered by COPE Local 378.

	Following the close of the seminar, COPE Local 378&rsquo;s Gwenne Farrell wrote to the ICEM, stating, &ldquo;I can tell that we had approximately 165 participants in attendance and the feedback they have given me is that they now fully support the work we are doing with the ICEM.

	&ldquo;Moreover, the course that I facilitated on Global Solidarity trained some of our activists on what they can do to help with a number of global issues.&nbsp; Thank you for making a difference to our members and for doing such a great job promoting ICEM.&rdquo;

Canadian COPE Union Ties Local Actions into Global Impact

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Week-long strikes at seven Queensland, Australia, metallurgical coal mines ended today, but a dogged 16-month labour dispute between three ICEM union affiliates there and the BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) continues. On 27 March, just when progress was being made on a new version of an enterprise labour agreement after two weeks of steady talks, BMA reneged on pivotal language, causing the latest round of protected industrial actions.

	For the 3,500 miners of Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU), and the Electrical Trades Union of Communications, Electrical, Plumbing Union (CEPU), the setback means they are no closer to a collective agreement under Fair Work Australia than when bargaining began in December 2010.

	For BMA, which twice now has rejected the unions&rsquo; Single Bargaining Unit (SBU) offer of third-party mediation, it means more disruption at the world&rsquo;s largest coking coal mine pits with workers likely to take yet another legal round of stop-work actions next week.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 145px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	On 2 April, BHP Billiton, the lead operator of the 50/50 joint venture, announced force majeure to customers in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, India, Latin America and Europe. It informed steel producers that it would be unable to meet its coal-delivery contracts due to the labour disruptions and wet weather in the Bowen Basin of central Queensland.

	Management also announced at the outset of last week&rsquo;s seven-day strike that at the end of April it would again use its Fair Work law privilege to conduct a second mail ballot directly to workers without SBU involvement. The first time it did such, last October, miners rejected the throwback management rights&rsquo; proposals by 92%. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4731-Australian-Miners-Reject-BMA-s-Contract-Proposal-by-92">ICEM report</a> here.)

	Last week&rsquo;s failed bargaining saw BMA regress on commitments it made in earlier days and earlier rounds of bargaining over family-friendly work rosters and other language that had been tentatively agreed to in principle. Issues that remain in dispute include the role of unions in safety matters, working hours, housing, and inequality for contract workers.

	On the company&rsquo;s backtracking, the strike leader of the largest union representing BMA miners, CFMEU Queensland District President Stephen Smyth said, &ldquo;The level of contempt they&rsquo;re showing for their workers is truly astonishing.&rdquo;

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 241px;height: 160px" width="390" />

	Stephen Smyth

	That contempt rests in the belief that BHP Billiton believes it can cling to one-sided work rules common in the dead-and-gone WorkChoices legislation of pre-2009. The contempt toward miners and current Australian labour law is also evident in a leaked early March e-mail from BHP Billiton Coal Division CEO Marcus Randolph. In it, he told his Bowen Basin mine managers &ldquo;this is the fight we had to have&rdquo; and the work-rule issues in dispute &ldquo;are not negotiable, not now, not next month and not next year.&rdquo;

	Meantime, with BMA&rsquo;s seven Queensland mines that produce one-fifth of the world&rsquo;s metallurgical coal, prices are soaring and the ripple effect from Australia&rsquo;s nastiest labour dispute in decades is being felt in rail and seaborne transport, and in steel-making centres across the globe.

	(An <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4879-Queensland-Coal-Strikes-to-Resume-against-BHP-Billiton-Mitsubishi-Alliance">ICEM report on SBU</a> strikes from February 2012 can be found here.)&nbsp;&nbsp;

Intentional BHP Billiton Strife in Australian Coal Dispute Continues

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