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<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the approval of Global Fund Round 10 grants, on World Aids Day activities, and on HIV and AIDS targets.
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 

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Global Fund Approves Round 10 Proposals 
 
The Global Fund Board has approved all 79 Round 10 proposals recommended by the Technical Review Panel (TRP), at a cost of US$1.73 billion over the first two years and US$4.72 billion over five years. This makes Round 10 the third largest round ever, after Rounds 8 and 9, respectively. These decisions were made at the Fund’s 22nd board meeting, held from 13-15 December in Sofia, Bulgaria. 
 
Unlike in previous rounds, the Fund did not have to delay approval of certain proposals pending further funding becoming available; sufficient funding will be available to cover all Round 10 proposals that the TRP recommended for approval. Also, the Board has not required that budgets be reduced. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Global%20Fund%20logo.gif" width="250" height="53"/>
The Board's decision as to which proposals to approve was, as always, entirely based on the advice it received from the TRP, an independent and non-political body of 43 experts from around the world. In total, the TRP reviewed 150 proposals, of which 78 were for HIV/AIDS, 48 for TB, and 24 for malaria. Malaria proposals were by far the most successful in Round 10, with 79% approved (as against 54% for TB proposals and 44% for HIV/AIDS). Over the last three rounds, malaria and TB proposal success rates have always been above 50%, but HIV/AIDS proposal success rates have always been below 50%. 
 
HIV proposals from the countries where the ICEM also has activities did not fare well: proposals from Botswana, DR Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mauritius, Mongolia, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe were rejected; most of these for repeated rounds. Only the HIV proposals from Guinea, South Africa, Zambia, and a smaller grant for Uganda were approved. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 135 of 16 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>) 
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World AIDS Day 2010 
 
ICEM affiliates all over the world organised or participated in activities on 1 December, World AIDS Day. 
 
In Trinidad and Tobago, the Oilfield Workers’ Trace Union (OWTU) organised an HIV/AIDS workshop in cooperation with the Humanity Fund of the Canadian affiliate Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union (see e-bulletin No. 63, December 2010). 
 
The Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (CEPPWAWU) of South Africa focused on their own staff and organised a “Lights for Rights” commemoration at the union’s head office. Mary Nxumalo, National Gender and HIV Coordinator, spoke of a positive step in engaging trade union officials in dealing with the pandemic. 

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The Canadian Automobile Workers (CAW) launched its new HIV/AIDS information manual entitled “HIV/AIDS: A Worker’s Issue, A Union Issue” on World AIDS Day. The booklet offers information on HIV/AIDS in Canada, prevention and transmission, model collective agreement language, and a wealth of other data. 
 
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) reports on activities of its affiliates in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Venezuela. In Namibia, the Namibian Transport and Allied Workers’ Union organised a trucker convoy which travelled through the capital Windhoek, distributing male and female condoms and leaflets. 
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Commentary by the Editor: 
Does the World Need More HIV and AIDS Targets? 
 
“UNAIDS in 2011 – Getting to Zero,” says the feature story on the UNAIDS website which introduces the new UNAIDS strategy 2011-2015 adopted by the Programme Committee Board in December 2010. The strategy aims to advance global progress in achieving country set targets for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, support, and care and to halt and reverse the spread of HIV and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development goals by 2015. 
 
Sounds familiar? Well, yes, 2010 just closed without having reached universal access – a commitment from the G8 summit in 2005. And a few years ago the WHO “3 by 5” initiative to provide three million people with antiretroviral treatment by the end of 2005 barely reached more than half of the target. 
 
Have such ambitious targets positively affected global HIV/AIDS efforts? Two views on targets are current. “People need targets,” says Sheila Tlou, UNAIDS head in eastern and southern Africa. “Aim for the sky and you’ll reach somewhere. Had countries been given lower targets, chances are they would only have realised half of that.”
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However, Alan Whiteside, executive director of the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division at the University of KwaZulu-Natal says “unreachable targets are demoralising and unfair to health workers expected to meet them with often inadequate resources.” 
 
A closer look at the details of targets also reveals that “universal” and “zero” do not necessarily mean what is commonly understood by it. The G8 universal access to treatment target was achieving “as close as possible to universal access to treatment of all who need it by 2010.” As close is possible was often defined as 80%. 
 
And do not be deceived by the fancy zero in the UNAIDS “Getting to Zero” logo. The goal for 2015 is: sexual transmission of HIV reduced by half. Universal access to antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV who are eligible for treatment is also to be achieved by 2015. But that was already the target for the year that just ended. 
 
We may need targets but we must not forget that the people who are held responsible for missing them are not the people who rolled them out, but the people on the ground charged with implementing them. And we must also consider that sometimes the goal posts shift and targets become more distant, as was the case when the WHO raised the recommended threshold for starting treatment form a CD4 count of 200 to one of 350. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Johannesburg, 1 December 2010; circular World AIDS Campaign of 13 December and feature story UNAIDS, 30 December)
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Drug Kit Helps Mothers to Protect Babies 
 
Close to 400,000 African babies are infected with HIV every year, in pregnancy, during birth, and through breastfeeding. The situation points back to the high HIV prevalence among women of reproductive age. Zambia, where some 85,000 women in the age group 15 to 40 are HIV positive, is one of the countries recognised for making progress in addressing the problem. 
 
The introduction of a new drugs kit called Mother-Baby Pack is expected to further reduce transmission. The kit is a pre-packaged set of medicines including maternal and baby prophylactic anti-retroviral medicines in line with WHO Guidelines. 
 
(Sources: IPS, Lusaka, 30 November) 

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Indonesia: Dramatic Increase in New HIV Infections in Bali 
 
Bali's dramatic increase of HIV prevalence among sex workers has changed the face of the epidemic on this famed tourist destination of 3.9 million local residents. In 2010, 25.9% of Bali’s 3,945 sex workers were living with HIV, up from 1.6% in 2000, according to the provincial health department. The HIV prevalence rate among sex workers nationwide in 2007 was 10.4%. 
 
The virus is taking hold of the general population in Bali as some 100,000 clients engage with commercial sex workers, of whom more than half do not consistently use a condom, and then go home to their regular partners. 
 
A decade ago, Bali's HIV problem – as was the entire country’s – was concentrated among intravenous drug users (IDUs). HIV in heterosexual men and women began its steady upward climb in 2005 in Bali, as the number of new infections of IDUs living with HIV steadily declined. Needle exchange programmes as part of an overall “harm reduction” initiative targeting drug users since 2007 helped to bring down new drug-related infections. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Denpasar, 3 January 2011)
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Ethiopia: 5-Year Plan to Half New HIV Infections 
 
Ethiopia's government has come up with an ambitious plan to halve new HIV infections, quadruple its annual condom distribution and put 85% of people who need life-prolonging HIV medication on treatment within five years. 
 
An estimated 1.2 million Ethiopians are HIV-positive. According to the government, the country's national prevalence is 2.4%, with stark differences between urban HIV prevalence, which stands at about 7.7% and rural levels of under one percent. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Ethiopia.png" width="180" height="83" alt=""/>
According to UNAIDS, Ethiopia has already managed to bring down new HIV infections by over 25% since 2001. The country's HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO) says prevalence among young people is dropping even more; in the capital it was halved. 
 
While this progress is impressive, stigma and ignorance are still common among young people. According to a recent study, a considerable percentage of young people had never heard of condoms or had no exposure to them. One third of young people aged 12-24 felt that moral people do not use condoms; 48% of young people felt that condoms should not be used within marriage; and roughly half felt that condoms are used by promiscuous people. 
 
According to the five-year plan, the government also plans to increase the coverage of antiretroviral therapy from 60 to 85%. Close to 400,000 Ethiopians require treatment for HIV. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Addis Ababa, 23 December 2010) 
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News from Global Unions 
 
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF – <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) in its latest HIV/AIDS update No. 97 of 1 to 15 December, reports on World AIDS Day activities of its affiliates (see article on WAD above). 
 
The ITF also published an HIV/AIDS survey in the civil aviation sector in order to improve understanding of the impact of HIV and AIDS in the aviation industry.
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/unions/ITF.jpg" width="80" height="80" alt=""/>    <img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/unions/BWI New.jpg" width="90" height="81" alt=""/>
The Building and Woodworkers’ International (BWI – <a href="http://www.bwint.org">www.bwint.org</a>) reports on in its work with loggers in Guyana. Guyana, a country of around 750,000, has an HIV prevalence of 2.5% in the age group 15 to 49. Thanks to the cooperation with the ILO and the support from the workplace programme of the US Department of Labor, HIV/AIDS workplace education and prevention programmes are now reaching even the most remote areas of the country, such as logging sites. 
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Five Years Ago: From the January 2006 Issue 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In current issues, we refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In the January 2006 issue of the e-bulletin, we reported on the long overdue commitment by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to ensure continued funding for treatment-based grants when they are denied Phase 2 funding, or they are approaching the end of their term. (Global Fund grants are approved for five years but can be suspended on the basis of a review after two years). Concern had earlier been raised over the fate of the people on treatment when a grant is suspended. 
 
The situation in South Africa, at the time, was characterised by denial at the highest level of government. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) joined activist group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) to push for a new approach to AIDS. In a joint statement with TAC and the South African Council of Churches, COSATU said, “We lament the continued refusal of our national government to declare the seriousness of the epidemic and to mobilise a response on the scale that is needed.” The new campaign, which was launched on World AIDS Day 2005, was designed to more deeply involve unions, employers, and churches in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The organisations demanded that by the end of 2006, at least 200,000 AIDS patients were enrolled for anti-retroviral treatment (the figure at the end of 2005 was 70,000). By the end of 2009, nearly one million were on ART; yet, according to UNAIDS, that is still only 37% of those needing drugs. 
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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. 64, January 2011

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Industri Energi (IE), one of ICEM’s Norwegian affiliates, announced opening of the nomination process for the Second Annual Arthur Svensson International Award for Trade Union Rights. The prestigious award comes with a cash prize of NOK 500,000 (€65,000) and is awarded to a person or organisation for contributing greatly to promoting trade union rights and the strengthening of trade unionism on both international and national levels. 
 
Nominations are due by 1 March 2011, and can be made by Norwegian trade unions, by trade union affiliates associated with global unions, or the global unions themselves. A nomination must contain a solid justification for the candidate, make clear who is nominating the candidate, and spell out the nominator’s relationship with the candidate. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1003.Arthur.Svensson.jpg" width="130" height="145"/>
Arthur Svensson
In 2010, Wellington Chibebe, the General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), was awarded the prize at IE’s Congress in Oslo in October. (See the ICEM news article <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4056-Zimbabwe’s-Wellington-Chibebe-Receives-First-Norwegian-Labour-Prize" type="internal">here</a>.) The 2011 award winner will be announced on 16 June. 
 
The award is named after Arthur Svensson, a long-time leader of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund, the Norwegian Chemical Workers’ Association, which merged in 2006 with NOPEF to create IE. Svensson died in 2008, but left a legacy in Norway and beyond as a man who promoted global peace, disarmament, and a nuclear weapons-free world. 
 
He was also a driving force from his union leadership position in developing Norway’s environment law, and a strong proponent of clean energy to drive clean industries. But first and foremost, he was a dedicated trade unionist, maintaining membership in LO-Norway for 61 years, the final 48 of those years with the Chemical Workers. 
 
Nominations can be e-mailed or faxed to Svensson Award Committee Chairperson <a href="http://liv.undheim@industrienergi.no">Liv Undheim</a>, fax no. +47 23 06 13 60. Further information on the award, in English, can be found <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.arthur%20svensson%20flyer%20EN.pdf " type="internal">here</a>.

Industri Energi’s Second Arthur Svensson Union Rights Award Opened

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The spate of horrid flooding in the Australian state of Queensland has brought out the best in Australian trade unionism. Nearly all unions have either dedicated money to one relief agency or another, with some setting up their own benevolent funds to assist those in need. 
 
The Mining and Energy Division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union’s (CFMEU) Central Council on 12 January authorised A$250,000 to help families caught up in the devastating Queensland floods. 
 
“The donation is our first step in providing hands on relief,” stated Energy and Mining General Secretary Andrew Vickers, who also serves as Chairman of ICEM’s Mining Sector. “Queensland and all of Australia will be affected by these floods as coal production grinds to a halt. The union will be there every step of the way supporting workers and communities.” 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AUSTRALIAAMWU.jpg" width="90" height="90" alt=""/>
The Queensland branch of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) has established a fund and kick-started it with A$20,000 in seed money. The funds will go to the <a href="http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html ">Queensland Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal</a>. 
 
“This is an important way for our large union membership to show solidarity and make a positive difference to the devastated communities,” said State Secretary Andrew Dettmer. “The floods have had an impact on tens of thousands of AMWU members, their homes and workplaces in Rockhampton, Brisbane, Toowoombia, and throughout the south-east and Central Queensland. 
 
Donations to the AMWU fund can be made to: AMWU Disaster Appeal Account; Bank: NAB; BSB: 082 057; Account Number: 188 989 948. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Australia AWU.jpg" width="140" height="73" alt=""/>
As of last week, members of the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) have collectively donated A$100,000 to the Queensland Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal. In addition, the AWU federal office has contributed A$50,000 and the Victorian branch of the union also has donated. The AWU’s Queensland branch office was closed for a week due to the floods, and only reopened today. 
 
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has established the Australia Flood Appeal Fund, with both the national office and the Queensland branch each seeding A$5,000 into the fund. The MUA has many port workers and seamen affected since the Port of Brisbane was shut last week, with vessels directed out to sea. 
 
The MUA’s Appeal Fund for international money transfers: MUA-General Fund; Bank: Maritime Mining and Power Credit Union, George Street, Haymarket, NSW 2000, Australia; BSB Number: 062-006; Account number: 10001 0464; CBA Swiftcode: CTBAAU2S.

Australian Unions Give Generously to Flood Relief in Country

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Unit chapel leaders at some 50 corrugated paper operations in the UK, representing some 2,500 Unite the Union members, recently recommended acceptance of a 2010 pay package. Paperworkers represented by both Unite and GMB will now vote in the coming weeks on a pay accord that was agreed to with Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) in mid-December. 
 
The CPI, representing major corrugated boxboard and packaging employers at plants mostly owned by DS Smith, SmurfitKappa, and SAICA, agreed to raise their wage offer from 2.1% to 2.5% last month in response to the unions moving forward on a ballot for industrial action. 
 
The offer, when accepted by members of the two unions, will be retroactive to 1 September 2010, the date a prior one-year accord expired. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011.peter.ellis.unite.gif" width="140" height="109" alt=""/>
Unite National Officer Peter Ellis
Unite and GMB were set to file for an industrial ballot on 10 January. Unite represents the majority of workers in the UK’s corrugated paper sector, while GMB represents some 800 workers in the sector. 
 
The 14-member joint union/CPI bargaining body began 2010 negotiations in July, but talks became bogged down in October when CPI offered a pay hike of less than half of the retail price index. Unite National Officer Peter Ellis says now that the tentative settlement falls into the upper level of median pay awards in all industries in the UK this year. 
 
Meanwhile, Unite and Kimberly Clark reached an early accord for 2011 that was agreed to by workers in December. The agreement covers 500 workers at two towel and tissue mills, the Northfleet mill in Kent and the Barrow-in-Furness mill in Cumbria. The 2011 pay award, effective 1 February, will be 1.5%, with Unite also winning a lump sum bonus of £1,450. That lump sum will also be calculated into the pension contribution, thus raising the benefit level.

Corrugated Paper Agreement to be Voted on By Unite, GMB Members

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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

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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. 
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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) 
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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) 
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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

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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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