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Mega sports events, like the Olympics and the World Cup, can have a tremendous positive influence on workers. Too often, however, we hear stories of accidents on construction sites and horrendous sweatshop-like conditions in factories. Workers who build the stadia and manufacture the merchandise suffer behind the glamorous facade of the games. 
The Play Fair alliance, which joins unions and NGOs from around the world, began in 2003 and since then has been campaigning to put workers’ rights on the agenda of the International Olympic Committee and FIFA. Many of Play Fair’s demands have not been met, but the campaign has had some positive achievements. For the London 2012 Olympics all official merchandise must be sourced from factories which pay workers a living wage and provide “regular employment.” Workers in these factories must have access to a complaints mechanism, and grievances must be investigated in a timely fashion. For the first time, the 2016 Olympic bid questionnaire asked prospective hosts to demonstrate how labour standards would be taken into account in making sourcing decisions for licensed goods. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1105.joint newsletter Eunice Cabral at Play Fair Brazil Launch.JPG" width="132" height="197"/>
In addition to sporting bodies, the Play Fair campaign has been targeting the brands and retailers who supply the team kits worn at sports events. Companies like adidas, which last year paid its board members almost €11.5 million, and Puma, which have a sponsorship deal with Usain Bolt reportedly worth £21 million, yet who refuse to commit to paying workers in their supply chain a living wage. Progress in improving brand practices has been slow, but a significant step forward will be made next month when Indonesian suppliers, their buyers, unions and NGOs come together to sign a protocol guaranteeing unions the right to freedom of association, including releasing an agreed number of union officials from work duties and providing adequate office and communication spaces, and time off for workers for union activities. 
In 2014 and 2016 Brazil will become the first country ever to host the World Cup and the Olympics within two years of each other. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity, Brazilian unions from the construction and textile sectors have joined forces to demand decent work for all those who contribute to the games. 250 people attended the public launch of the campaign on 1 April in front of the main gate of the Maracana Stadium, and the ITUC, BWI, ITGLWF and their affiliates exchanged messages of solidarity. 
The prevalent theme of the messages was a demand that the Brazilian World Cup and Olympics leave a positive legacy based on respect for workers’ rights.

A Sporting Chance for Workers: Launch of Play Fair Brazil

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The ICEM Thai Committee and the Thai Electronics Automobile Metalworkers (TEAM), the structure for IMF affiliates in the Southeast Asian country, joined hands and chanted for labour rights on May Day in Bangkok. They were a major part of a 1 May manifestation at Parliament and march along Ratchademnoen road to Democracy Monument. It drew 5,000 workers. 
It was one of two May Day protests in Bangkok and both demanded attention from the government on some of the same issues. The Thai Labour Solidarity Committee and the State Enterprises Relations Confederation (SERC) joined the ICEM-TEAM work forces. 
Both demonstrations demanded that the government ratify ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the core labour standards, and rescind Thailand’s 1999 privatisation laws. The two manifestations also called for Social Secrurity reform in terms of better protections made in administrative reform and tax exemptions on workers’ final payment schemes.
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The ICEM-TEAM protest made other, worthy demands including protection for informal sector workers and migrant workers, creation of a specific government agency on job-related health and safety, revocation of the Public Assembly Bill, and allowing workers to vote in areas where they work rather than in their hometowns. 
Many that marched along Ratchademnoen road to Democracy Monument chanted political slogans and criticisms of the current government as the time draws for national elections in Thailand.

TEAM, ICEM Thai Committee March Together on May Day

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What are the main challenges facing women members of the CFMEU? 
In the mining, energy, and petrochemicals sectors there are a very low percentage of women in the workforce especially in New South Wales. In a male-dominated work environment, it is a challenge to encourage women to take jobs in these sectors and then into union positions. 
We have gone through over 11 years of a very right-wing, conservative government that stripped a lot of conditions out of our agreements. For the last two years, we have had a Labour government and we are trying to claw back the things that were lost over that period. 
Aside from ongoing gender issues, one major challenge now facing women is allowances for those coming off maternity leave at Shell. The employer is discriminating against mothers by inflexibility on shift scheduling. Operators work 12-hour shifts, rotating nights and days. Shell’s inflexibility means women do not have the right to become mothers and also stay on their job. 
Can you tell us about the Women’s structure inside the CFMEU? 
Our newly-formed Women’s Committee elected me as Secretary. It consists of three executives, and three rank-and-file members from the mining, forestry, and construction industries. An early priority is to run education and training programmes for women, to encourage women to work in our industries. I was also recently appointed to the Central Council of the central leadership body of CFMEU through a new policy on affirmative action and women’s involvement. 
 
What about unity among women of other trade union organisations?
This has been greatly facilitated by the strong support of CFMEU’s central leadership. I actively serve on the Asia-Pacific Regional Committee of the ICEM Women’s Committee, uniting women workers from India, Pakistan, Australia, and many other nations. 
My long-term involvement in Australia’s Women In Male-Dominated Organisations and Industries has seen a building of cross-sector coordination of industrial women. We are seeking grants for training and education, through the Skills Councils, and looking to run programmes in schools for girls looking at careers in industry. 
 
What is the action way forward for the Women’s Section of an integrated global industrial federation? 
I would like to see a lot more programmes established, firstly on a regional level and especially on issues such as domestic violence. All the problems that we face across the spectrum would be much easier to combat if women were in a position of strength and able to support themselves. The most important priority is training and education for women. Training and education that lead to better jobs, better organisations, increased diversity and seniority inside unions, and increased possibilities for women to escape bad situations at work and at home. Our long-term goal is simply be to have more women being more active.

Interview: New South Wales Energy District Secretary Lorraine Usher, CFMEU

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The ICEM’s affiliate in Pakistan, the Pakistan Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers (PCEM), is fighting against severe breaches of workers’ rights to organise and bargain collectively at the Swiss-based agri-chemicals multinational, Syngenta. 
 
On 23 December, members of the Syngenta Employees Union Pakistan, belonging to PCEM, arrived at work to find announcement in the company newspaper that their union’s General Secretary had his employment terminated as of 22 December, with no justified reason given. Brother Imran Ali, who is also the President of the national union PCEM, had no warning prior to learning the news in the “Daily Jang” newspaper. 
 
In a letter to the Chairman and CEO of the global pesticide producer Syngenta, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda condemned the flagrant breach of conduct of local management as a clear attempt to dismantle the union. Warda highlighted the commitments of Sygenta in the company’s Code of Conduct, and also in their signatory status to the Global Compact. See the full letter <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/158%20Letter%20to%20Syngenta%20management.pdf" type="internal">here</a>. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Manfred Warda PREFERRED.jpg" width="190" height="188"/>
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
Prior to Mr. Imran’s sacking, he was summoned to the human resources department, where he was told by Mushir Ahmed Jaffery, personnel manager, Syed Saad Khalil, manager for Information Services, Col. Jalal, head of Security, and Rizwana Mujeeb, head of human resources, to sign a blank paper. When İmran refused, he was threatened with bad consequences if he refused to withdraw from his trade union activities. 
 
Imran, as labor union president, was about to submit a draft collective agreement which would have been effective as of 1 January 2011. 
 
Later in the same day that he was sacked, 23 December, the head of Syngenta’s security in Pakistan, Jalal, a retired military officer in Pakistan, met with 50 union members who had worked at the company on temporary contracts and filed cases at the Labour Court for permanent employee status. Jalal threatened and intimidated the workers to withdraw their legal petitions and resign from Syngenta. One of those workers, Muhammad Nadeem, a diabetic and heart patient, suddenly died of a heart attack on 24 December, as a direct result of this pressure from management. 
 
Those workers had received the support of the Labour Court on 18 December, which declared in favour of their grievance petitions, entitling them to permanent employment immediately. Syngenta Pakistan management refused to acknowledge the judgement of the Labour Court. 
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The company management’s refusal to consider the collective bargaining agreement, continued on 28 December as Jalal called in paramilitary forces to the Syngenta plant and threatened workers not to support the agreement or the union. Instead, he told them to join a yellow union, otherwise management would outsource the production unit and sack all current employees. The workers refused. 
 
The company responded to ICEM allegations saying that they had acted within the law and without regret. Brother Imran Ali is still awaiting reinstatement in his job, but with no indication from management that this will happen. 
 
The ICEM demands the full reinstatement of Imran, with full back pay and benefits, as well as the lawful recognition of the 50 workers who won their case in the Labour Court for rights to permanent employment at Syngenta.

ICEM Fights for Reinstatement of Union Leader in Pakistan 

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Cements workers and others of Jindal Cement and its parent, Indian steel conglomerate Jindal Group or JSW, had a demonstration busted up by riot police firing gunshots over their heads in Gadivemula, India. The 4,000 demonstrators were protesting on 23 January over the misery sum Jindal offered to pay the family of a construction worker who fell and died at the cement plant. 
 
Managers called area Kurnool police used near-deadly force to disperse the workers, who then hurled rocks and other objects at police, damaging a police vehicle. Some workers were injured when they jostled with police while trying to gain entry to the cement plant. 
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Workers claim it was Jindal’s negligence that led to the death of the 43-year-old worker, Bikakalagudur, who fell from a high beam while employed on construction of the company’s Gadivemula cement works. 
 
Jindal Cement at first offered to pay only one-half the standard ex-gratia to the dead worker’s family. 
 
Mumbai-based JSW Group, a US$8 billion concern, is busy constructing cement plants adjacent to many of the company’s steel mills in order to take advantage of slag and flyash for use in cement manufacture.

Cement Workers in India Vehemently Protest Over Dead Colleague

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the ICEM’s HIV/AIDS Project in 2010, on why the Global Fund is in the headlines for the wrong reasons, and on the five countries to watch in 2011 on the development of the pandemic. 
 
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
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The ICEM HIV/AIDS Project in 2010: Another Successful Year 
 
The ICEM’s HIV/AIDS Project implemented a full programme in 2010, the first year of a new cycle with sponsorship from solidarity support organisations SASK of Finland and FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands. 
 
At sub-regional level, the feminisation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been addressed in a women’s workshop that was an overwhelming success. In some countries, activities only for women were organised taking the experience of women who had attended the workshop to the national level. 
 
Two sub-regional workshops for English and French speaking West Africa and for Southern Africa focussed on HIV/AIDS workplace policies and programmes. They also made participants familiar with the new ILO Recommendation No. 200, concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work. The concept of a worker’s passport, which gives basic information on HIV and AIDS, as well as information on sites and clinics where support and care are available, was discussed and endorsed by participants. 
 
At national level, programmes were implemented in 11 sub-Saharan African countries. The space in this newsletter is not sufficient to give a full account of activities in all 11 countries, which include Côte d’Ivoire, the DR Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritius, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 
 
In Zimbabwe, training courses were again organised after an interruption of many years. Good examples in some countries, especially Nigeria and Tanzania, prompted the national coordinator in Ghana to organise the first VCT campaign under the auspices of the HIV/AIDS project in the country. In Mauritius, the national coordinator overcame the difficulty to access workers at their workplace by producing a DVD on HIV/AIDS and distributing it to shop stewards. Excellent results can also be reported from Côte d’Ivoire where companies have been cooperating with trade unions on HIV/AIDS. Guinea is a relatively new target country. New foreign investment in the mining sector gives additional significance to the HIV/AIDS project in Guinea. 
 
Gratefully, additional funding from the Humanity Fund of the ICEM affiliate, the Communication, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada enabled us to run additional HIV/AIDS activities in Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago. 
 
In the first six months of 2010, programmes also continued in India with the support from the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, which has agreed to continue its support in 2011. 
 
With a financial contribution from the ICEM affiliated Industri Energi (IE) of Norway, the ICEM broke ground with a first HIV/AIDS workshop in a Middle Eastern country, Jordan. 
 
The second phase of the VCT campaign, sponsored by the Women’s Department of the German ICEM affiliate IG BCE, was successfully implemented in Mwasa, Tanzania. 
 
The Danish solidarity support organisation LO/FTF continued support for the HIV/AIDS project in Ethiopia in cooperation with ICEM affiliate, the National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical, and Mine Trade Unions (NIFECM). 
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HIV/AIDS – Five Countries to Watch in 2011 
 
Things are generally more positive on the global HIV front: the number of new infections is down, treatment figures are up, and headway is being made in the fight to end discrimination against people living with HIV. However, there is still work to be done and progress in the fight against the pandemic has been uneven. IRIN/PlusNews lists five countries that could determine the future of the pandemic this year: 
 
South Africa - The sheer size of the epidemic in South Africa means it cannot be ignored: more than one million people are on treatment – the biggest antiretroviral programme in the world - and more than five million people are living with HIV. 
 
The country also offers the best-case scenario in terms of HIV/AIDS funding since the government is largely responsible for financing the country's AIDS efforts. South Africa does not rely heavily on external resources as other countries do. After years of dragging its feet, the government has introduced policies and initiatives aimed at strengthening the HIV/AIDS response, including a national HIV counselling and testing campaign, and the decentralization of ARV treatment, from doctors prescribing at hospitals, to nurses providing the drugs at health facilities. This year will provide an idea of how these measures pan out. 
 
Russia - With 37% of the country's estimated 1.8 million intravenous drug users (IDUs) believed to be living with HIV, Russia is dealing with one of Eastern Europe's largest HIV epidemics. The country has been heavily criticized for its refusal to adopt evidence-based, harm-reduction techniques for treatment of drug users. Russia prefers instead to put IDUs in prison, where clean needles are harder to find, thereby raising the HIV threat. Experts say unless the drug policy changes, HIV prevalence is likely to continue increasing. 
 
Uganda - Once hailed as a beacon in the fight against HIV, Uganda’s prevalence rate fell from 18% in 1992 to about 6.1% in 2004. The government's aggressive prevention campaigns focused on abstinence, sexual fidelity, and condom use, becoming the foundation of national HIV prevention programmes across sub-Saharan Africa. Today, however, UNAIDS reports that the country's HIV prevalence is between 6.5 to seven percent. 
 
There is also evidence of apparent reversals in preventive sexual behaviour in the general population, reports the Uganda AIDS Commission. The proportion of adults who say they had sex with a person who was not a permanent partner has grown since 1995, from 12% to 16% for women and from 29% to 36% for men. 
 
Haiti - The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the country a year ago damaged its health infrastructure extensively. While most patients who were on life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs before the quake were traced and put back on treatment, the country's HIV programmes remain unstable. 
 
Reports of sexual abuse and transactional sex in Port-au-Prince's tent cities raise the possibility of increased infections, while the threat of tuberculosis in the overcrowded camps is also high. As the country continues to rebuild basic services this year, it will be important for the government, faced with multiple competing interests, to ensure that HIV/AIDS receives the attention it needs. 
 
India - More than 80% of all donor-funded antiretroviral drugs used in developing countries are Indian-manufactured generics. However, an imminent Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union could potentially see the country lose its ability to produce the cheap generic medicines so vital to healthcare in poor nations. 
 
The EU is pushing for data exclusivity, which means Indian generic manufacturers would no longer be able to use existing drug trials to make identical generic drugs. Instead, they would be required to conduct their own clinical trials, delaying access to poor countries for these drugs for several years. EU officials say data exclusivity clauses in the FTA will take into consideration the role India plays in producing generic medicines for the developing world. 
 
With increasing pressure on India and other developing nations to adhere to tighter intellectual property laws, 2011 could be critical to the future of HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions. 
 
(Source: PlusNews, Nairobi, 28 January) 
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Global Fund in the Headlines 
 
On 23 January, the Associated Press (AP) ran a long story about the Global Fund entitled, "Fraud Plagues Global Health Fund." The story was picked up by nearly 200 media outlets in the U.S. and 50 in other parts of the world. 
 
The story stated that in Mali, the Fund's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that US$4 million in funding was misappropriated. Half of Mali's TB and malaria grant money went to supposed "training events," for which signatures were forged on receipts for per diem payments and travel expense claims. Mali has arrested 15 people suspected of committing fraud, and its health minister resigned without explanation two days before the audit was made public. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Global%20Fund%20logo.gif" width="250" height="53"/>
The AP story added that in Mauritania, the OIG found "pervasive fraud," with US$4.1 million – 67% of an HIV grant – lost to faked documents and other fraud. And in Djibouti, the OIG found that about 30% of grant funding they examined was lost, unaccounted for, or misused. Much of this money went to buy motor vehicles. Almost US$750,000 was transferred out of one account with no explanation. 
 
In a commentary, GFO Editor Bernard Rivers wrote, “When any entity gives multi-million dollar grants, there will always be corruption. The key issue is what is being done to unearth the corruption and minimise losses. The Global Fund is far better at investigating allegations of corruption and at recovering stolen monies than most or all other major aid donors.” 
 
Another thing that distinguishes the Global Fund from other donors is its willingness to publish the details of the corruption that it has unearthed. In that sense, the Global Fund has become the victim of its own toughness and transparency. The Global Fund says that it has a “zero tolerance” policy with respect to corruption. That's the right approach! Every stolen Global Fund dollar is a dollar that can't be spent on saving lives. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 139 of 27 January. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>; to receive GFO send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>)
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Ethiopia: Transport Sector Launches HIV Policy 
 
The Ethiopian government has unveiled an HIV policy for its transport sector, which has grown significantly in recent years alongside the rapidly expanding road network. Various national studies have shown that those working across the transport sector - especially drivers and their assistants - are vulnerable to HIV infection as they spend considerable time away from their families. 
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The country's Federal Transport Authority (FTA) and commercial transporters jointly issued the policy in December (Comment from the editor: no mention of the union having been consulted or involved). It sets up a national taskforce to raise funds from state and non-state actors to finance projects, including condom distribution, and helping transport staff and family members living with the virus. 
 
Transport workers often have sex with local sex workers when on the road for days at a time. According to the latest UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS country progress report on Ethiopia, a 2009 study found that truckers and intercity bus drivers formed 22% of the client base of sex workers. 
 
A 2009 government survey from mobile counselling and testing clinics in 40 towns located on the major transportation corridors that link Addis Ababa to Ethiopia's borders, found that 25.3% of the sex workers were HIV-positive. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Addis Ababa, 17 January 2011) 
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South Africa: Fighting Back 
 
With only 0.7% of the world’s population, South Africa has 17% of its HIV/AIDS sufferers – some six million in a population of almost 50 million. After a decade of denial by the government, authorities are fighting back. 
 
South Africa has the world’s biggest antiretroviral treatment programme, providing ARVs to around one million patients. This means that two-thirds of those in need of ARVs are now getting them. But the target of 80% by the end of 2011 is unlikely to be hit, mainly because of the lack of medical staff. 
 
South Africa has also launched the world’s biggest testing campaign aimed at checking 15 million people within 15 months. But although new infections fell by a third between 2002 and 2008, they are still running at more than 400,000 a year. According to research in South Africa, barely four out of ten sexually active men use condoms. Another reason for the continued spread is the exceptionally high rape rate. 
 
(Source: The Economist, 4 December 2010) 
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News from Global Unions 
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The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF – <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) in its latest HIV/AIDS update No. 98 of 15 December and 1 January, reports on a seminar organised by the Communication and Transport Workers Union of Tanzania (COTWU-T) on HIV/AIDS workplace policies and collective bargaining. COTWU-T believes that serious and continued HIV/AIDS workplace interventions can minimize or control the transmission of HIV to workers. It is therefore the union’s strategy to ensure that there are guidelines for implementation so as to combat the epidemic from the grassroots. As long as the Collective Bargaining Agreement is a tool for improving working conditions, a clause specifically mentioning the fight against HIV/AIDS and its impacts should be openly elaborated. This is why COTWU-T looks for every opportunity to establish and conclude a CBA with a clause on HIV/AIDS. 
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Five Years Ago: From the February 2006 Issue 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In current issues, we refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In the February 2006 issue of the e-bulletin, we reported on the preparations for the 16th International AIDS Conference (IAC), which was to be organised in Toronto in August. In cooperation with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), a Global Labour Forum was planned to be organised during the IAC to underline the impact and effectiveness of HIV/AIDS policies and actions at the workplace to fight the pandemic. Labour has since made sure that its voice be heard at subsequent International AIDS Conferences. 
 
We also gave figures which had been jointly released by China’s Ministry of Health, the WHO, and UNAIDS on 25 January 2006 and which estimated the number of people living with HIV at 630,000 in 2005, down from an estimate of 840,000 in 2003. This was not necessarily a success story in prevention but rather due to errors in estimates. 
 
The survey therefore cautioned against complacency, saying the figure was still rising and the virus was spreading from high-risk groups to the general population. Experts have warned that China’s increasingly mobile population faces a broader risk as more infections occur through drug injection and sexual contact. 
 
It is interesting to note that now on the UNAIDS website, AIDSinfo, on which country fact sheets can be accessed, information is given in graphs with rather wide brackets. One has to look very closely to determine that about 750,000 people were living with HIV in China in 2009. The band width is an extraordinary 550,000 to one million. Only one fact can be determined with certainty: the number of infected people has gone up constantly. 
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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. 65, February 2011

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Union members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9508 in the Canadian province of Labrador / Newfoundland last week voted by 80% to accept the recommendations of a government Industrial Inquiry Commission to end an 18-month strike and return to work. But the conciliatory move won’t get the 124 copper and nickel miners any closer to their jobs. 
 
Their employer, Brazilian-based Vale rejects the report’s recommendations out of hand, findings that were drawn up by a neutral commission the company actually embraced three months ago. 
 
The independent commission presented the two sides with its first report – recommendations to settle the dispute – at the end of 2010. The report’s findings caused Vale to initiate a call to Local 9508 for resumption of bargaining, which occurred in remote Goose Bay, Labrador, on 5-6 January. But the company walked away from talks on the second day after disagreeing with the term length of a renewal agreement. 
 
In talks last October, just days before former provincial Premier Danny Willams established the commission, Vale sought a three-year term, while the USW wanted five years from the August 2009 expiry of the last agreement. In its report, the Industrial Inquiry Commission recommended four years. But in this month’s Goose Bay talks, Vale changed its position, seeking a five-year term from the date of ratification, proposing a 31 January 2016 expiry. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.VoiseyBay.jpg" width="200" height="200"/>
The commission’s report on collective bargaining issues does stand as a workable compromise. While it is critical of both sides for prolonging the strike, it cites the Steelworkers with already making “significant” compromises to end the dispute. The report recommends wage adjustments, a bonus plan based on Vale’s Labrador operations, a back-to-work protocol, and sub-contracting rules. The commission does not have the power to impose a settlement, but it has urged both sides to accept the compromise or submit unresolved issues to binding arbitration. 
 
Most tellingly, however, the report states that Vale’s use of scab workers during the strike is reason for the company’s intransigence. “It is apparent to the Commission that the Employer has an approach that does not contemplate compromise on any basis that might be acceptable to the Union.” 
 
Vale “maintains that it has a desire to conclude a collective agreement, buts its actions and reactions send the opposite message.” The report also cites the company with circumventing “a union’s right to bargain on behalf of its membership.” 
 
Vale is operating its eastern Canadian operations now at full production with the use of replacement workers. But nearly all of those scabs are working in excess of 60 hours per week, creating the obvious safety risks. The Industrial Inquiry Commission’s second report will be issued in late February and it will address the integrity of Vale’s Labrador operations, the strike’s impact on rural communities, the reasons behind the strike, and Vale’s international strategies to re-shape Canadian work-life. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1009.usw.voiseys.bay.darren.cove.2.jpg" width="134" height="130"/>
USW Local 9508 President Darren Cove
The strike by USW Local 9508 began on 1 August 2009, and now has eclipsed by six months a parallel strike by 3,500 steelworkers in Ontario. That strike against Vale, in Sudbury and Port Colborne, went on for 50 weeks and ended on 7 July 2010. 
 
In total, Vale has forced 420 Local 9508 members into strike action in Voiseys Bay and other remote worksites of Labrador. Workers at three of Vale’s contractors, including First Nation electrical and pipefitting firm Ushitou Maintenance and security and catering companies, are on strike due to the mining giant’s recalcitrant positions. In addition, workers of a logistical transport company, Torngat, also represented by Local 9508, will see a collective agreement expire early in 2011. 
 
Local 9508 this week will call on new Labrador/Newfoundland Premier Kathy Dunderdale and Human Resources, Labour, and Employment Minister Darin King to intervene more assertively to resolve the strike. On Saturday, 15 January, the USW purchased a full-page advertisement in a province-wide newspaper the urgent need for further government action. 
 
“It is now clear that Vale is the impediment to a fair settlement,” said USW District Six Representative Boyd Bussey. “It is also clear that, unless our government takes action to bring about a settlement, Vale will continue to use its scab workforce and prolong the hardship for our working families and communities.”

Vale’s Arrogance to Eastern Canadian Miners, Communities, Government Continues

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The attack by U.S. Steel against 900 members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1005 and even more retirees – 9,000 in total – will receive a boost 29 January when thousands of Canadian trade unionists converge on Hamilton, Ontario, for a Day of Action. A lockout was derisively imposed by the American steelmaker there on 7 November after Local 1005 refused to vote on steep cuts proposed in a renewal contract. (See prior ICEM report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4101-Flawed-Investment-Canada-Act-Again-Seen-in-Steel-Lockout " type="internal">here</a>) 
 
The manifestation, organising by the Ontario Federation of Labour (CLC), will begin with speakers at 13h00 on Saturday, 29 January, at Hamilton City Hall, 71 Main Street West, and then a march will wind through the streets of the city centre. 
 
The lockout ten weeks ago became the latest affront by a multinational to the Investment Canada Act. When U.S. Steel received Canadian government approval to buy Ontario-based steelmaker Stelco three years ago, it pledged to maintain job and production levels. But within a year, it had levied layoffs on USW members at both of Stelco’s mills, in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ontario, and began supplying Canadian customers with products made in its US mills. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.US Steel March.jpg" width="365" height="123"/>
The Canadian Attorney General in 2009 brought a lawsuit against the company for failing to comply with the Investment Canada Act. U.S. Steel’s obstruction and delay in addressing the suit was set back late last month when a federal appellate court judge upheld the right of the union and other parties to intervene in the breach of the Act. 
 
In bargaining last autumn, U.S. Steel pressured Local 1005’s bargaining committee to accept a two-tier pension scheme in which new hires would be closed off from a longstanding defined benefit plan. The company also proposed de-indexing the pension benefits for retirees, a losing proposition for 9,000 retirees against inflation. U.S. Steel sought as well cuts to active workers’ cost-of-living adjustments, and proposed cutting two weeks of vacation time. 
 
When the steel producer demanded the bargaining committee put the concessions to a vote of active members and union leadership refused, the lockout began. U.S. Steel immediately cut off all health and disability benefits. Under Ontario provincial labour law, a company has the right to mandate a one-time only vote on a final contract offer. But U.S. Steel has not exercised that option, knowing full well that Local 1005’s 2010 contract mobilisation campaign would produce a decisive “no” vote. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/USAUSW.jpg" width="140" height="77"/>
In fact, at a union meeting on 8 December, when a motion was put forward to put the company’s proposals to a vote, a full 90% of Local 1005’s members defeated it. 
 
The union already has received overwhelming support from Canadian unions, including the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Union. At a Hamilton picket line on 5 January, CUPE National President Paul Moist presented the locked-out local with C$10,000, and said, “Defending Steelworker pensions is a fight CUPE and the entire labour movement must be part of. If private sector pensions are eroded, the public sector will be next. 
 
CAW also has contributed to USW Local 1005 and President Rolf Gerstenberger addressed the CAW National Council of Delegates in early December. Gerstenberger called for a nation-wide campaign to resist the growing strength of international corporations in Canada and a political overhaul in order to revamp the loopholes in the Investment Canada Act. 
 
(See the mobilisation call for the 29 January Hamilton Day of Action <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/20110129USSteel.pdf">here</a>.)

Rally Slated 29 January in Canada to Support Locked-out Steelworkers

6 January 2011 
 
To All ICEM Affiliated Unions: 
 
 
 
Job Posting for ICEM Mining/DGOJP Officer 
 
Firstly, I extend the Best Wishes from ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and myself to all of you in the New Year. 
 
I write to inform you that the ICEM is seeking applicants for the position of Mining/Diamond, Gems, Ornaments, and Jewelry Production Officer. Joe Drexler, who has served in that capacity, has decided to leave the ICEM and resume his duties with the United Steelworkers. 
 
I attach a job description in English for the post, which will be based in Geneva, Switzerland. I would be grateful if you could distribute details of this vacancy throughout your trade union organisation, and should a candidate wish to apply for the position, please have them send full details of their background in cover letter in English, along with their CV, to myself, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, manfred.warda@icem.org, and Finance and Administration Officer Marie-France Sarfati, mariefrance.sarfati@icem.org, or it can be faxed to Manfred Warda and Marie-France Sarfati at +41 22 304 1841. 
 
Fluent written and spoken English is essential, and IT skills also are essential. There also is a requirement for some travel from Geneva. The deadline for application is February 15, 2011. 
 
Thank you for your kind attention in distributing this announcement throughout your organisation. 
 
Fraternally, 
 
 
 
 
Manfred Warda 
General Secretary 
 
Enclosure: Job Description (EN)

Job Posting for ICEM Mining/DGOJP Officer 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Sintracarbón, the ICEM trade union affiliate organising workers at Carbones del Cerrejón, the world’s largest open-pit set of coal mines, is on the verge of a walkout following a 99.9% strike vote last week. The 4,000-member union and Cerrejón, which is owned by multinationals BHP Billiton, Xstrata, and AngloAmerican, have come up against difficult bargaining since December as they seek to renew the two-year collective bargaining agreement. 
 
Following frustrating talks Cerrejón management, the union conducted a vote of its members between strike and arbitration tribunal, in line with Colombian legislation. Members decisively backed strike action in ballots collected last Friday, 28 January. On Saturday, 29 January, an assembly of Sintracarbón delegates, was held in the city of Riohacha, and ratified the decision to strike with unanimity. 
 
Significantly, management has indicated that it will present a new offer to workers today, 31 January. If the offer is satisfactory to Sintracarbón, a new collective agreement might not be far off. If not, a strike likely will occur before 6 February. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Colombia.png" width="180" height="83"/>
Talks began between the union and management on 9 December, and expired with no agreement following the end of the 40 days of bargaining and an extension on 17 January. 
 
In a letter to the President of Carbones del Cerrejón, León Teicher, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda criticised the company’s tactic during negotiations, of contacting individual union members personally by phone. 
 
The main issues in talks are wage gains, status of subcontracted workers, pensions, and local community needs that have been displaced by the mine. 
 
The huge open-pit mining complex in the northern state of Guajira produces highly desirable low-sulphur thermal coal. The mine produces 32 million tonnes annually, with a majority of that shipped to Europe. But exports recently began also to China, a country sustaining industries that have a huge demand for coal. 
 
View the full ICEM letter to the company <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEM%20Carta%20Cerrejon%2019%20enero%202011.pdf" type="internal">here</a>.  
<img style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 8px; PADDING-RIGHT: 8px; PADDING-TOP: 8px" id="il_fi" alt="" src="http://vthumb.ak.fbcdn.net/hvthumb-ak-snc4/hs1274.snc4/158598_180633368638345_180632468638435_32364_1896_t.jpg" width="160" height="90"/>
President of Sintrachaneme, Jairo Fernando Solano Cervantes
Also of concern to the ICEM at Cerrejón, trade union organising of mechanics at the Chaneme company is still being scrutinized, with workers harassed and intimidated by management. Sintracarbón changed its Statutes so that it could include outsourced workers at the mine complex, and played an important support role in the formation of the union Sintrachaneme a year ago. See previous ICEM report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3573-Union-Contract-Workers-Continue-Fight-for-Work-Rights-at-Cerrejón-in-Colombia" type="internal">here</a>. President of Sintrachaneme, Jairo Fernando Solano Cervantes, is being targeted by sustained intimidation and harassment, stepped up since 14 December. 
 
This harassment has included a suspicious vehicle being parked outside his house that is conducting surveillance on Solano and his family. On one occasion, Solano was chased by unrecognized cars. In Colombia, the world’s most dangerous country for a trade unionist, Solano must be protected by his employers. The ICEM is angered by this illegal intimidation, which is an attempt to crush the organizing of contract employees at Cerrejón.

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

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