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Short strikes by copper miners in Chile have ended and new collective agreements are in place with both the state-owned copper company, Codelco, and with Anglo-Swiss multinational Xstrata. Striking mineworkers at Codelco&rsquo;s Chuquicamata complex have settled, however an agreement still needs to be reached for 280 miners at the state-owned firm&rsquo;s Codelco Norte and for 500 miners at El Teniente. 
 
Meanwhile, mineworkers at Xstrata&rsquo;s Altonorte copper smelter agreed to contract terms, following one week of industrial action that ended on 4 January. 
 
Some 5,600 miners at Chuquicamata, located in Chile&rsquo;s northern region, ended two days of strike action on 5 January after accepting a pay rise of 4% and a bonus totaling US$24,280. Codelco&rsquo;s Chuquicamata workers also won a US$6,000 interest-free loan. Miners voted by 2,610 to 1,203 to accept the deal. 

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The Chuquicamata produces around four percent of the world&rsquo;s total copper supply. The vast complex includes the Chuquicamata and Mina Sur mines, and the short strike boosted global prices to a 16-month high. Union leaders had been seeking a 7.5% salary increase and a US$28,000 bonus, claiming the cost of living in the remote region is higher than anywhere in Chile. 
 
It was the first strike at these Codelco mines since 1996. The new collective agreement will last 38 months and took effect on 1 January. 
 
The settlement at Xstrata&rsquo;s Altonorte smelter, also in Chile&rsquo;s northern Region II, includes a two percent increase to base wages, a bonus of US$5,000, and an annual production bonus of US$1,500. The new collective agreement will be in effect for a three-year period, backdated to 18 December 2009. Miners of Labour Union No. 1 at Altonorte began their strike action on 28 December. 

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Altonorte employs 660 workers and treats raw copper and other mining by-products to obtain copper anodes. The site has the capacity to produce 290,000 tonnes per year of copper in anode form. Xstrata is the fourth largest copper producer in the world. 
 
End-of-year negotiations at both Codelco and Xstrata coincided with a big jump in global copper prices, bringing pricing levels to 130 percent of what they were in early 2009. Codelco resumes bargaining with miners at El Teniente in March. 
 
Chile, the world&rsquo;s largest copper producer, reached an output of 5.3 million tonnes in 2008, and it is estimated that the 2009 figure will be similar. This equals roughly one-third of total global production.

Strikes Bring Chilean Miners Significant Advances with Codelco, Xstrata

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In Hobart, Tasmania, the Construction, Forestry, Mining, And Energy Union (CFMEU) and Belgian-based lead and zinc producer Nyrstar NV agreed to a 14-day cooling down period last week following escalated industrial tensions that included the threat of a lock-out under Australian&rsquo;s Fair Act by the company. 
 
Nyrstar operates a 300-worker zinc smelter in Hobart and exports some 250,000 tonnes of zinc cathode annually from Tasmania. The two parties resume negotiations under the supervision of Fair Work Australia, the government&rsquo;s new labour dispute agency. 

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The dispute flared in mid-December when some workers opted to take lawful industrial actions, including work bans and other stoppages. Strikes occurred on December 19 and December 24. Nyrstar immediately responded by issuing letters to strikers stating they would face a 16-day lockout, while another letter to those not striking stated that implementation of partial work bans will be construed as refusal to do any work, thus staff will not be paid at all. 
 
The central issue in the Nyrstar Australian dispute is the company insistence to continue a performance-based pay system, while the CFMEU and another workplace representative is seeking renewal of an enterprise agreement that contains automatic and set pay increases. The current operating enterprise contract expired three years ago, with no accord reached in that time period. 
 
Nyrstar was formerly a joint venture between Belgian metals and chemicals company Umicore and Australian mining and development company Zinifex Ltd. It was spun off into a separate company in late 2007 and wholly owns GM-Metal of France and 25% of Thailand&rsquo;s Padaeng Industry Public Company Ltd. Zinifex remains Nyrstar&rsquo;s primary source for raw zinc, while Umicore is a main buyer of Nyrstar&rsquo;s processed zinc. Globally, Nyrstar also processes some copper, gold, indium, and refined silver.

CFMEU, Zinc Smelter Nyrstar Take ‘Cool Down’ Time in Australia

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Editor&rsquo;s Note: ICEM Health, Safety, and Sustainability Officer Brian Kohler provided daily COP 15 commentary from Copenhagen at the failed UN Climate Change Conference. 
 
12 December: A mass &quot;civil society&quot; demonstration demanding action on greenhouse gases took place today. Tens of thousands of demonstrators took part in mostly peaceful fashion, although there are reports of several hundred arrests, and some police brutality. The Copenhagen negotiations are troubled. The US negotiators in particular are so far reluctant to agree to anything substantive on targets and financing. China is unwilling to accept external verification of its progress, which is a US demand. Developing countries are anxious to defend the principles in the Kyoto Protocol and secure funding for mitigation and adaptation. Targets, and even a baseline year, remain far from agreement. 

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13 December: No formal meetings of the parties were scheduled for today. A limited number of meetings of observers and informal groups occurred. The trade union delegation met in caucus. Union lobbying is making a difference, and many governments seem favourably disposed to accepting some version of &quot;labour's paragraph&quot; in the final text. This may be due, in part, to the economic crisis and the wish of political leaders to be able to say something positive about jobs when spinning the Copenhagen outcome. However, attempts to modify the text or move it from the body of the &quot;Shared Vision&quot; document to the preamble of the final document, may create problems for us. 
As far as the broader progress of the talks is concerned, it is at present difficult to predict the outcome. The outcome may be a bad agreement (neither fair, nor ambitious, nor legally binding) with or without the wording on Jobs and Just Transition that labour wants. 
 
14 December: Today, at what was to be a meeting with the COP15 President, it was instead announced to those present that security issues would trump public participation in the remaining days of the Copenhagen talks. Of some 40,000 registered delegates, only 9,000 &quot;observers&quot; (all NGOs, all labour unions) would be admitted tomorrow and Wednesday; 1,000 &ldquo;observers&rdquo; on Thursday; and 90 &ldquo;observers&rdquo; on Friday. Security issues and problems at the registration desk have created a nightmare for people trying to get into the Bella Center. Fortunately, the next three days feature a number of events at labour's off-site World of Work pavilion, where access will be unaffected by developments at the Bella Center. Events today include: 1.) Trade Unions and Climate Change: the need for Just Transition, presented by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); 2.) Low Carbon Diet: The trade union vision of sustainable food production and the right to food, presented by the International Union for Food and Agricultural Workers (IUF); 3.) Australian Labour/Environment Alliance: Green Jobs and the future, presented by the Australian Congress of Trade Unions (ACTU); 4.) Carbon Capture and Storage: Challenges Ahead for Energy and Industry, UK Trades Union Congress, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), and Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU), Australia; 
 
5.) Climate Change Challenge: Social Standards and Sustainable Construction as Trade Union Agenda, presented by the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI); 6.) Environment and Social Dialogue in France, presented by the Conf&eacute;deration G&eacute;n&eacute;rale du Travail (CGT) and Conf&eacute;d&eacute;ration Fran&ccedil;aise D&eacute;mocratique du Travail (CFDT), France 7.) Public Services: Key to getting us out of climate crisis, presented by the Public Services International (PSI); and 8.) Building consensus for strong US climate policies through Blue-Green partnerships, presented by the Blue Green Alliance. 

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15 December: Reports continue of delegates trying to register standing in the cold for hours, only to be turned away. Keep in mind that the capacity of the Bella Center is only 15,000 according to fire safety regulations, but the secretariat accepted some 40,000 registrations. Today's World of Work events include: 
1). Low carbon industrial policies, presented by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) with European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF), European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF), and other European federations; 2.) Visit to Danish Green Workplaces, organized by LO-Denmark; 3.) Climate and Social Justice: creating an economy for people and environment, presented by the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA); 4.) Climate Change and Employment: An alternative model for transport, presented by the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF); 
 
5.) Sustainable mobility: Comisiones Obreras&rsquo; practical approach, presented by the Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), Spain; 6.) Green Workplaces in the Netherlands, presented by the Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV). 7.) Climate Change and Social Dialogue, presented by the Social democratic parties and trade union councils in the Nordic countries (SAMAK) and Council of Nordic Trade Unions (NFS); 8.) A Green Economy Without Unions? - Analysis of the &lsquo;Green Growth&rsquo; policy of Korean government and strategy for unions and civil society, presented by the Korean Congress of Trade Unions (KCTU), Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), and Korean Energy and Climate Policy Institute 
(ECPI); 
 
9.) Green Jobs in India: the SEWA experience, presented by the Self-Employed Women Association (SEWA); 10.) Economic Recovery and Green Jobs: win-win for development, climate and labour, presented by the ILO; and 11.) Resource Efficiency at the Workplace in Germany, presented by the German Dachorganisation der Gewerkschaften (DGB) and DGB Bildungswerk. 
 
16 December: This morning, an informal meeting of trade unionists affiliated with the ICEM, as well as the IMF, the EMF and EMCEF took place at the headquarters of the Danish union 3F. Thanks must go to Jesper Lund Larsen of 3F for helping ICEM obtain the venue in an over-crowded and chaotic city. 
In the afternoon, the four organisations&rsquo; joint World of Work event, &quot;Cutting Emissions: Transforming Industrial Jobs&quot; took place. It was a huge success, with a standing-room-only crowd, high-profile speakers, and plenty of interest in our message. 
 
Other World of Work events that took place today include: 1.) Japanese Experience on Energy Conversion, presented by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (RENGO). 2.) Sustainable Energy Supply, presented by the German Dachorganisation der Gewerkschaften (DGB) &ndash; BMU; 3.) Visit to Danish Green Workplaces, organized by LO-Denmark; 4.) Women Workers and Green Jobs: employment, equity and equality, presented by Sustainlabour, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); 5.) Climate Change Challenge: Social Standards and Sustainable Forestry as Trade Union Agenda, presented by the Building and Woodworkers&rsquo; International (BWI); 6.) Providing real access to energy for all, presented by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), and F&eacute;d&eacute;ration G&eacute;n&eacute;rale du Travail de Belgique (FGTB) and Conf&eacute;deration des Syndicats Chr&eacute;tiens (CSC), both of Belgium; 
 
7.) Climate Solidarity: Trade Union Responses from Greener Workplaces to International Policy, presented by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), UK, LO-Denmark, AFL-CIO of US, and OHSE Bangladesh; 8.) The Sustainable Company &ndash; importance and role for workers interest representation, presented by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI); 9.) Financing Climate Change, presented by Sustainlabour, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Nepal&rsquo;s General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) and the Trade Union Congress (NTUC), Nepal, the ITUC Africa Region, and Trade Union Confederation for the Americas (TUCA). 

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17 December: Admission to the Bella Center is all but impossible. &quot;Observer&quot; delegates admitted to the Bella Center today were supposed to be restricted to 1,000, but before this number was reached all new admissions were completely closed except to official government negotiators. A morning meeting of labour delegates took place at the LO-Denmark building, but a snowfall this morning was the final straw that broke the back of Copenhagen's already overstressed public transport system. I was not able to get there in time. Truly, this conference has become a catastrophe for the city of Copenhagen. Reports from those few still inside the Bella Center provided first indications that the entire negotiating work to date was being trashed in favour of a political agreement negotiated between only a few of the major participants. In this scenario, &quot;labour's paragraph&quot; will disappear, at least temporarily. 
 
18 December: Only 90 &quot;observer&quot; delegates, including only 9 trade unionists, were to be admitted to the Bella Center. It is now hopeless for any others to try to interact directly with any of the negotiators. 
The political leaders of the world, unable to reach a consensus on prepared texts, have crafted a face-saving document. In fact, the document was negotiated primarily between the US, China, and some 20 other countries, short-circuiting the UNFCCC process. Now called the Copenhagen Accord, the document itself meets none of the criteria of labour and civil society groups necessary to the final accord, and it contains no references to sustainable jobs, decent work, or Just Transition. However, it does make reference to political will to keep global warming below 2 centigrade degrees global average, with a scientific review following the release of the IPCC's fifth review. It also has some non-specific references to financing and targets. After two weeks of meetings, and months and years of preparatory work, many would describe this weak result as a disgrace. In the interests of fair reporting, some optimists say that at least it creates a political basis for a potential agreement at a later meeting. The work of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Longterm Cooperative Action, where &quot;labour's paragraph&quot; resides, is mandated to continue and may be incorporated in a subsequent, more detailed agreement. Let us hope that the pessimists are wrong and the optimists are right. In either case, we still have much work to do.

ICEM: COP 15 Second Week Diary and Commentary, 12-18 December

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The ICEM condemns the police violence taken against Trinidad and Tobago trade union leader David Abdullah and others on 18 December. Abdullah was one of the organisers of a peaceful protest outside Parliament. He was detained by riot police and charged with &ldquo;obstruction of free passageway.&rdquo; The protest was part of the campaign against a proposed Property Bill in the Caribbean islands nation. 
 
A number of other demonstrators, including members of ICEM affiliate Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU), suffered injuries during the mid-December demonstration, as police attacked with batons. 
 
The movement opposing the property tax bill, called People&rsquo;s Democracy, is an umbrella group of trade unions, NGOs, and others in civil society. It organised the 18 December protest outside Parliament to coincide with deliberations on the bill inside the Lower House. OWTU President-General Ancel Roget also participated in the organization of the protest. 

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David Abdullah centre (Photo T&amp;T Newsday)
Several international groups have also condemned the unprovoked police attacks and arrest of Abdullah. UK Trades Union Congress General Secretary Brendan Barber, in a letter to the country&rsquo;s authorities, urged that &ldquo;the charges against Mr. Abdullah are dropped and that all citizens are allowed the free exercise of their democratic rights without interference from the State.&rdquo; 
 
Roget told police, who demanded the manifestation stop any noise making, that they were doing nothing illegal. It was then that police became violent, using batons against protestors holding only placards. Abdullah complained about the violence and was thrown into a police vehicle, while government police beat OWTU members who tried to follow. 
 
Following Abdullah&rsquo;s arrest on 18 December, four members of the opposition in Parliament came out and joined the march around the Parliament. 
 
Upon release, Abdullah said, &ldquo;This will further strengthen the resolve of those who are interested in (our country&rsquo;s) future because we saw physical evidence today of the dictatorship in Trinidad and Tobago. The right to peaceful picketing is a right we will never, ever give up. We have not and will not engage in anything illegal. And even the police could not tell us that we were violating any law by communicating our message by singing, chanting, and clapping our hands.&rdquo; 

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Ancel Roget
Roget accused the government of beating citizens into submission. 
 
Court action against David Abdullah will continue on 13 January and People&rsquo;s Democracy members intend to turn out at the court proceedings in support of their leader. The movement picketed the offices of Prime Minister Patrick Manning on Thursday, 7 January. 
 
The campaign against the Property Tax, seen as an ill-advised national policy to offset government shortfalls and wasteful spending, will continue. The campaign can be viewed <a href="http://www.peoplesdemocracytt.org/ ">here</a>.

Trinidad/Tobago Police Use Brutality to Stifle Free Speech, Assembly Rights

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Negotiations between United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9508 and Brazilian mining company Vale broke off late last night, 24 January, in St. John, Newfoundland, in failed efforts to end the 25-week strike by 250 union members at Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay, Labrador. Three days of steady talks over the weekend, guided by a provincial mediator from Newfoundland/Labrador, failed to bring the two sides any closer to terms. 
 
Meanwhile, 3,100 striking Steelworkers marked six months on picket lines opposite Vale in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, a fortnight ago. The company, on 19 January, upheld its promise to re-start the Copper Cliff nickel smelter using managers and replacement workers to fire one of two furnaces. 
 
In eastern Canada, an announcement a week ago that the first full round of negotiations since February 2009 would begin on 22 January brought hope that copper, nickel, and cobalt mining in Goose Bay, as well as operations at a slurry facility in Voiseys Bay would resume. Vale had submitted the framework of an agreement ten days ago, but this past weekend&rsquo;s bargaining proved Vale is seeking the same set of concessions. 

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Hong Kong flagged ship operators receive Voiseys Bay Petition, 9 October 2009
&ldquo;The company here still insists on removing the nickel bonus and they didn&rsquo;t deal at all with our issues,&rdquo; lead negotiator and USW District 6 Representative Boyd Bussey told the ICEM Sunday evening. &ldquo;If Vale thought they were picking off a weak link in this strike, they were wrong. We&rsquo;ll be on picket lines until we get a good deal.&rdquo; 
 
The key item that separated the two sides in talks remains Vale&rsquo;s insistence on removing the nickel bonus, a wage supplement that is tied to the rise and fall of the market price of nickel. Contract language, monetary issues, and a company demand to give it more latitude on use of temporary workers also separates the two sides. Local 9508 is an amalgamated USW branch union with five units, three &ndash; miners, catering staff, and security &ndash; that have been on strike against Vale since 1 August 2009. Another unit, a Vale sub-contracted group of port workers employed by an Aboriginal-owned company called TSI, has a separate labour agreement expiring early in 2010. 

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The focus will now be on whether or not Vale will restart copper and nickel mining in Goose Bay using replacement workers. The speculation is that Vale needs nickel concentrates to feed its smelting operations in Thompson, Manitoba, as well as nickel for the re-start of Copper Cliff, where USW Local 6500 is on strike. The company might also be expected to capitalize on high copper prices, with the high-grade red metal mined and processed in the maritime province moved to market. In 2008, the company produced 77,500 tonnes of contained nickel and 55,400 tonnes of high-grade copper concentrates from its Vale-Inco Newfoundland and Labrador operations. 
 
The start-up of the Copper Cliff smelter was long advertised by the company. Operation of one of two furnaces at Copper Cliff, however, is not expected to give Vale anywhere near 50% of smelting capacity from the Sudbury-area facility. Vale is getting minimal production from two of six mines in northern Ontario, as well as token output from its Claribelle refining operation. 
 
On 13 January, the six-month mark of the strike in Sudbury and Port Colborne, the USW filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board in Toronto on Vale-Inco&rsquo;s entrenched negotiations stand. Included in that complaint is an internal June 2009 Vale document that the company intends to pare mining jobs in northern Ontario, as well as strategically mine only high-grade ore from the region, thus reducing life expectancy of nickel reserves. The USW believes this indicates Vale is not managing the province&rsquo;s reserves in the long-term best interests of workers and rural communities. 
 
On the six-month anniversary of the Ontario mining strike, over 1,000 miners and their families marched and manifested in Sudbury. The event included an environmentally-friendly balloon release, with each balloon set aloft representing C$4 million of Vale&rsquo;s profits that has fled from Canada. 
 
The ICEM, together with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), will continue ratcheting up pressure on the Brazilian company so that Vale returns to bargaining tables both in Labrador/Newfoundland and Ontario with fair contract offers. The USW Local 6500 strike website can be found here <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">www.fairdealnow.ca</a>.

Talks Prove Futile in Ending Vale’s Eastern Canada Mine Strike

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The ICEM is demanding that the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina intervene on behalf of 1,250 workers in the northern city of Lukavac. The workers have had their pay slashed and are owed wage arrears by India-based Global Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of the Ispat Group, owned by the Mittal steel-making family. 
 
The company is the minority owner but manages a coke-chemicals enterprise called Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), which sells to steel mills throughout Central Europe, Turkey, and in India. The local government of the Canton of Tuzla is majority stakeholder. 
 
In a 21 January letter (see <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/3%20ICEM-IMF.Bosnia.pdf ">here</a>) to Bosnia-Herzegovina Prime Minister Mustafa Mujezinovic and to Canton of Tuzla Prime Minister Enes Mujić, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda &ndash; together with International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina &ndash; called on both the federal government and regional government to ensure that restoration of previous pay levels dating to 2003 are restored, that wage arrears are paid, and that the governments be more vigilant on potentially serious health risks existing inside GIKIL. 

<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="92" />
The ICEM is pursuing justice for Lukavac workers on behalf of one of those affiliates, the Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers of Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM has probed Global Infrastructure Holdings, its parent, the steel-maker Ispat Group, and Pramod Mittal himself.&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;What we find is a history of depraved conduct placed on people in many countries and total disregard for global social standards, as well as statutes enshrined in European law.&rdquo; 
 
In Lukavac, workers have carried out lawful strikes twice in six months, laying claims to salaries owed them. Despite all workers taking membership in the union, GIKIL&rsquo;s Indian managing director, Guttupalli Jagannadham, has bypassed the union in slashing pay to 55% of previous earnings. That level is below the minimum wage standard contained in the national collective agreement for chemistry and non-metals, and amounts to just above &euro;200 per month (400 marka), putting it well under the minimum wage threshold for the sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
Workers staged a strike from 6 January to 14 January after salaries had not been paid in October, November, and December 2009. During the strike, the October and November pay was made, but December salaries are still in remiss. A mediated agreement that ended a three-day strike in July 2009 called on GIKIL management to honour the collective agreement, and pay all wages due by 31 December 2009. 
 
The ICEM and IMF also stated concern for workers&rsquo; health at GIKIL in the letter to the Bosnia-Herzegovina government. The Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers believes a number of workers have acute cases of cancer due to lack of safeguards around coke ovens. 
<img alt="" src="" width="102" height="140" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="99" height="140" />
ICEM and IMF General Secretaries, Manfred Warda, Jyrki Raina
In the joint letter, the combined 45-million-member ICEM and IMF cautioned the government not to lose oversight over labour-management relations at GIKIL. &ldquo;We think this a mistake, considering the recent history of wage arrears, asset stripping, and general social depravation brought by Global Infrastructure Holdings.&rdquo; 
 
In Nigeria in 2008, Kogi state steelworkers, over 500 Indian nationals, and many Ukrainian expatriate workers protested due to ten months of non-payment of wages. The Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN) counted 60 deaths among workers because of the lengthy pay arrears, including 21 suicides. In April 2008, the Nigerian government revoked a privatisation contract it had with Global Infrastructure Holdings to operate the Ajaokuto Steel mills and Nigerian Iron Ore Mining Co., as well as Delta Steel, when it discovered the Indian company was cannibalizing equipment and then exporting it. 
 
Also in 2008 in Libya, where Global Infrastructure Holdings had a contract to manage Libya Iron and Steel Co. Ltd., workers &ndash; including 120 Indian nationals in high-skilled jobs &ndash; went as long as seven months without pay. In Bulgaria, Pramod Mittal and Ispat&rsquo;s Global Steel Holdings bought 71% of the country&rsquo;s largest steel mill, Kremikovtsi Steel, in 2005, renamed it Finmetals Holdings, and the enterprise was declared insolvent in August 2008. Lack of promised investment was the cause. 
 
Mittal, the younger brother of ArcelorMittal Chairman Lakshmi N. Mittal, left a debt trail that included bondholders and huge sums owed Bulgarian state utility NEC, gas company Bulgargaz, and railway operator BDZ. 
 
Some 5,000 Bulgarian steelworkers also were not paid their wages on time throughout the latter half of 2008. 
 
&ldquo;We take the breach of contract, failure to engage the union in social talks, and wage issues very seriously,&rdquo; said Warda of the current Lukavac dispute. &ldquo;Either the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina corrects the wrongs imposed on workers, or we carry this dispute to different levels.&rdquo;

ICEM, IMF Decry Mittal’s Pay Delinquencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina

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The ICEM supports the ITUC-led trade union appeal for victims of the earthquake disaster in Haiti. The trade union relief work is being carried out primarily by ITUC&rsquo;s affiliates in the Dominican Republic, in cooperation with Haitian colleagues across the border. 
 
We urge ICEM affiliates to support this Appeal. 
 
Funds for the appeal can be transferred to the following ITUC bank account: 
No. 375-1008200-61 
Banque ING, Brussels Branch Institutionals, 1 rue du Trone, B-1000 Brussels 
Code IBAN: BE 62375100820061 
Code BIC/Swift: BBRUBEBB 

<img src="" width="100" height="95" alt="" />
The ITUC requests that the words &ldquo;SOS Solidarity &ndash; Haiti&rdquo; are included with each transfer to this account. 
 
ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder has called for the cancellation of Haiti&rsquo;s debt, in the aftermath of the disaster, to increase the country&rsquo;s chances of reconstruction. 
 
As has been widely reported in the mainstream media, the huge earthquake hit Haiti on 12 January, and was followed by a number of aftershocks. Along with the reported death toll of over 100,000, Haiti&rsquo;s infrastructure has been severely damaged, with many buildings and roads completely destroyed. The humanitarian situation is desperate and aid is needed. 
 
Once the immediate humanitarian effort passes, the solidarity campaign will continue to use funds raised to help Haitians in their recovery from this natural disaster.

ICEM Urges Haitian Relief Funds through ITUC

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the results of the questionnaires on strength and weaknesses of the ICEM HIV/AIDS project; on treatment in earthquake devastated Haiti; and the call for union participation in the International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria, in July 2010. 
 
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="" width="40" height="40" />
Annual Questionnaires Reveal Strength of ICEM HIV/AIDS Project 
 
Last year, the ICEM HIV/AIDS Project introduced year-end questionnaires in addition to the reporting of activities. The objective was to better assess the results compared to the objectives and to find out more about success stories and difficulties encountered in project implementation. 
 
The questionnaires show an increased focus not only on training of peer educators and counsellors but also their deployment in follow-up activities which reach more and more workers, their families, and the community. They also reveal more cooperation with employers, NGOs, and service providers. VCT campaigns in some countries were an overwhelming success, revealing how much can be done by unions when government agencies fail to respond. 
 
The introduction of a small budget allocation for material production was well accepted with the result that ICEM affiliates in the majority of project countries now have their own leaflets for use in awareness and prevention work. 
 
Difficulties encountered included the lack of time off granted by employers for peer educators to perform their duties and for meetings during working time; the lack of incentives for peer educators; the lack of resources to produce more campaign material and inadequate resources to cover more workplaces, especially in countries with a poor infrastructure and failing transport systems. 
 
What is still lacking, with a few exceptions, is the negotiation of HIV/AIDS workplace policies or collective bargaining agreements with HIV/AIDS clauses. In almost all countries, there is at least one employer with good practices on dealing with HIV/AIDS. Unions must become more active to build on good practices in their own country or in countries of a region to convince employers, who are lagging behind, to do more in the field of HIV/AIDS. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Global Union AIDS Programme Calls for Union Participation at the International AIDS Conference 
 
The Global Union AIDS Programme (GUAP) has called on Global Union Federations (GUFs) to sponsor unionists to participate in the International AIDS Conference (IAC), Vienna, Austria, 19 &ndash;23 July 2010. 
 
The last IAC took place in Mexico City in August 2008, and several GUF representatives attended the Conference, as well as the two-day Labour Forum. As a result of their participation and the efforts of ILO/AIDS, GUAP made significant progress in securing recognition of HIV/AIDS as a workplace issue and ensuring that the world of work was on the agenda. 
 
In Vienna, GUAP needs to do even better. The year 2010 is a significant year for the global HIV/AIDS response and for the world of work in particular. This year is the target year for the G8 commitment to achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care made in 2005, and for achieving the second target of Millennium Development Goal 6, universal access to treatment. What is more, the new ILO instrument on HIV/AIDS in the world of work will be discussed and hopefully adopted at the International Labour Conference in June. The IAC will be an important forum to disseminate the instrument, explain its significance, and promote its use 
 
GUAP calls on GUFs to earmark funds to enable representatives to participate in the IAC so that labour&rsquo;s voice will be heard. 
 
(Source: GUAP Circular, 2 February) 
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Combating AIDS through Workplace Action in Uganda 
 
TUC Aid &ndash; the development arm of the British trade union movement &ndash; is working in partnership with the National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) in Uganda in a two-year workplace initiative to combat AIDS. The activities planned for the second half of 2009, under the Workers' AIDS Project (WAP) launched in July 2009, with a view to reducing stigma and discrimination associated with workers living with HIV/AIDS and negotiating for treatment, care, and support for such workers through collective bargaining arrangements with employers were successfully completed. 
 
The Project, funded by the Bill Morris Testimonial Fund for HIV/AIDS in Africa through TUC Aid, has contributed to greater awareness of risks of infection and of the potential for effective action through workplace. 
 
(Source: TUC website <a href="http://www.tuc.org.uk">www.tuc.org.uk</a>, with contribution from Robert E. Lovelace, GUAP HIV/AIDS Consultant, Washington, D.C.) 
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Global Fund Ensures AIDS Treatment in Haiti 
 
As Haiti begins the process to rebuild the country after the devastating earthquake that hit on 12 January, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is focusing its effort to ensure that the thousands of people living with AIDS will be able to access the drugs they need to stay alive. 
 
Haiti has the highest HIV infection rate outside southern Africa, and 36,000 people are currently receiving antiretroviral treatment to stay healthy, 13,000 of these depend on programmes financed by the Global Fund. With many health centres destroyed and health workers killed, people moving away from their home areas and with transport difficult, there is an acute danger that many people will run out of the drugs they need. This would not only lead to many deaths, but the disruption of treatment would also lead to a high chance of drug resistance among those who stop and start their treatment. 
 
The Global Fund is making an emergency provision of US$800,000 for a supply of six months of stocks of antiretroviral medicines. The Global Fund is working closely with the U.S. President&rsquo;s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and UNAIDS to ensure an uninterrupted flow of life-saving AIDS medicines to these patients. 
 
(Source: Global Fund website) 

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ILO Announces Strategy to Fight the Pandemic in Ghana 
 
Over a period of two years, the ILO/AIDS Workplace Programme will train about 195 senior officers from 20 trades associations on the removal of stigmatization and discrimination at the workplace, reaching out to more than 55,400 vulnerable people in the informal economy. In addition, 390 Peer Educators will be trained to assist some 100 companies with formulating and implementing HIV/AIDS workplace policies. The programme will also distribute two million condoms. 
 
Mrs. Akua Ofori-Asumadu, ILO/AIDS Workplace HIV National Programme Co-ordinator, announced this at the ILO/HIV and AIDS Programme Advisory Board meeting in Accra, which was attended by the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, Ghana AIDS Commission, Ghana Employers Association, Ghana Business Coalition against AIDS, and Ghana Trades Union Congress. 
 
She also said that the programme would develop kits and user guides necessary for workplace representatives to build comprehensive HIV/AIDS workplace programmes. 
 
(Source: Ghana News Agency, posted on <a href="http://www.peacefmonline.com">www.peacefmonline.com</a> on 13 January) 

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Lack of Resources Could Undermine HIV Response in Pakistan 
 
Pakistan&rsquo;s capacity to effectively respond to the HIV epidemic could be hindered due to the lack of resources to implement its National Strategic Framework. A priority is to address the increasing levels of HIV infections among injecting drug users (IDUs). 
 
Despite having an HIV prevalence rate of less than 0.1% among its general population, Pakistan&rsquo;s HIV epidemic has transitioned from low to a concentrated one, as the prevalence among IDUs has steadily increased from 10.8% in 2005 to nearly 21% in 2008. 
 
Following the model seen in other countries in Asia, also known as the Asian Epidemic Model, the epidemic in Pakistan is characterised by high prevalence among IDUs and potential spill-over into other risk populations such as commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men. 
 
Lack of financial resources and constraints in the health infrastructure could jeopardise an effective and timely response. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>, Feature Stories, posted 5 February) 

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Spotlight on the Middle East and North Africa 
 
The HIV epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, while seldom highlighted, is steadily growing. In 2008, there were an estimated 310,000 people living with HIV, up from 200,000 in 2001. Approximately 35,000 people became newly infected. 
 
Stigma and discrimination remain key barriers to an effective regional response. In many countries, the criminalisation of higher risk behaviours pushes affected communities, such as men who have sex with men, underground thereby limiting access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care and support services. 
 
UNAIDS works closely with government and civil society partners in the region to advocate the removal of punitive laws and policies that block an effective response. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>, Feature Stories, posted 27 January) 

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Zimbabwe: HIV-positive People Want Constitutional Rights 
 
AIDS activists in Zimbabwe have launched a major drive to ensure that the rights of people living with HIV are enshrined in the new constitution. 
 
The Global Political Agreement, signed in September 2008 between Zimbabwe's political rivals, which gave rise to the coalition government in February 2009, includes writing the new constitution expected to be introduced in 2010. 
 
The Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (ZNPP+) and the Southern Africa AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAFAIDS), a regional non-profit AIDS organisation, call for a meaningful involvement of HIV-positive people in the constitution-making process. They note that the current constitution did not have any explicit reference to the right to healthcare and was &quot;silent on HIV.&rdquo; 
 
SAFAIDS and ZNNP+ are calling for a bill of rights that would promote better access to health services. The estimated two million people who are living with HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe, one of the countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, have never before been actively involved in such legislation. 
 
(Source: PlusNews, 4 February) 

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A Beginner&rsquo;s Guide to the Global Fund 
 
AIDSPAN recently published a beginner&rsquo;s guide to the Global Fund. The purpose of this guide is to provide a broad introduction to the Global Fund for people who have little or no prior experience of the Fund &ndash; ranging from new CCM members, to NGOs, to trade unions, to government officials, to new sub-recipients, to journalists who have to write about the Fund. This guide comes in three versions: the full guide (about 60 pages), an eight-page summary, and a two-page summary. 
 
All three versions of this guide are available at <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides">www.aidspan.org/guides</a> in English, French, Spanish, and Russian. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 114 of 19 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="http://receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">http://receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 

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News from Global Unions 
 
The latest Newsletter of Public Sector Unions Fighting AIDS in Southern Africa (PSUFASA) gives a full summary of the many HIV/AIDS activities organised by the project. The project office is based in Johannesburg and the project is now coordinated by Tsitsi Mariwo. The project is sponsored by the Department for International Development (DfID, UK) and the British affiliate of Public Services International, UNISON. The website of PSUFASA is <a href="void(0);/*1265880702106*/">www.psufasa.org</a>. 
 
(Source: PSUFASA Newsletter January 2010) 
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This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="void(0);/*1265880720731*/">press@icem.org</a>. Please put &ldquo;subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin&rdquo; in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 53, February 2010

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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda met with the Trade Union of Workers of the Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS-TU) and affiliate Nezavisnost in Belgrade, as well as toured the successful national pharmaceutical, Galenika, on a recent visit to the country. 
 
At EPS-TU, Warda met with Milan Dordevic, National President of EPS-TU, Miodrag Rancovic, the President of the union at Kolivara inside EPS-TU, and Milan Kovasevic, the former President of the regional energy network Retunsee. 
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Both parties pledged renewed high levels of coordination in the ICEM South East European Energy Network. The ICEM is also becoming more relevant to the EPS company in regard to foreseeable strategic partnering between the union and global energy companies setting up in Serbia. The ICEM will be invited to oversee a dialogue between EPS and other Serbian unions, where relations have recently been poor. 
 
Warda then met with another ICEM Serbia affiliate, Nezavisnost, and President Milorad Panovic and Dragan Vesic at the union&rsquo;s head office in Belgrade. A dividing issue within Serbia&rsquo;s trade union movement has been privatisation. The ICEM is intent to see Nezavisnost and EPS-TU sit down to commence dialogue on this important issue. There is agreement between Nezavisnost and another ICEM affiliate, the Autonomous Union of Employees in Science and Research of Serbia (SSS), based on a study that both unions underwent some time ago. Nezavisnost would like to see the study serve as a base for all unions to develop a joint strategy. 

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Warda went on to visit the national pharmaceutical company Galenika, which employs some 2,500 workers. Workers at the company are represented by Nezavisnost and SSS. Both trade union representatives and management at the company described labour relations as a best case example in Serbia, with a good contract and social programme in place. The company is currently seeking strategic partnerships with foreign companies.

ICEM Visits Serbian Trade Unions, Model Pharmaceutical Plant in Balkans Mission

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Workers, on strike at three Buenaventura gold and silver mines in Peru since 13 February, were forced to return to work on Saturday 20 February. Peruvian law requires mining companies to share 8% of profits with workers, and miners say Buenaventura has underreported its profits. Union leaders are demanding information regarding the company&rsquo;s finances for the period 2006-2009. 
 
Buenaventura is Peru&rsquo;s largest precious-metal mining house, and the struck mines included the ones at Orcopampa, Uchucchacua, and Antapite. 

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FNTMMSP Gen. Sec. Luis Castillo Carlos
The ICEM affiliate, National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP), the country&rsquo;s largest mining union federation, was forced to end the strike at the weekend to avoid workers&rsquo; losing their jobs, as the Ministry of Labour ruled the strike was illegal. FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo Carlos, however, said that the 4,380 mineworkers of Buenaventura will likely strike again starting 3 March. 
 
Castillo announced that the union will hold workers&rsquo; assemblies over the coming days to vote on renewed strike action. He said renewed strike approval is expected to be granted. Peru&rsquo;s tax agency Sunat is reviewing Buenaventura&rsquo;s tax law compliance. 
 
Orcopampa and Antapite are gold producing mines, while Uchucchacua is a silver mine. The strike halted production at Orcopampa and Uchicchacua, while production continued at Antapite but at a reduced rate. 
 
In the third quarter of 2009, Buenaventura sold a total of 106,000 ounces of gold, and 3.76 million ounces of silver. Antapite, the smallest of the three mines, produced some 965,227 fine grams of gold in 2009. Orcopampa produced 8,549,730 fine grams of gold in 2009, while Uchucchacua produced 286,039 fine kilograms of silver. 
 
Globally, Peru is the largest producer of silver and the sixth largest producer of gold.

Peruvian Gold, Silver Miners End Strike, Still Seek Fair Profit Earnings

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