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The ICEM took part in the 21st International Mining Conference of Turkey, sponsored by the Turkish Chamber of Mining Engineers. The ICEM’s campaign for ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, was continued there. The ICEM, the ILO, and Turkish mining affiliates met in Ankara during the first week of May, resulting in commitments from the unions to work towards ratification. 
 
The ICEM’s mining programme established mechanisms for mining unions in Turkey to exchange successful strategies to combat the global financial crisis. Significant examples come from ICEM mining affiliates in Africa, where different forms of nationalisation and state mining enterprise are emerging to block mass job losses. The ICEM also showcased actions by African mining unions to head off efforts by employers in taking advantage of the financial crisis. 

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In other news, trade unionists in Istanbul carried out an historic May Day by ending a march in the city’s Taksin Square. Workers’ had been banned from holding May Day rallies there by the military in 1980, and that ban was only lifted in the days before 2009’s May Day celebration. Taksin Square is the site of the so-called “Bloody May 1” of 1977, in which 36 trade unionists were killed. It is significant to Turkish unions, standing as the symbol for the right to assemble and for free speech. 
 
In Turkey, 1 May this year was a public holiday for the first time, following a successful campaign of pressure by trade unions.

ICEM Campaign for ILO 176 Continues in Turkey

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Six miners are likely dead following a roof collapse at the Novodzerzhynska coal mine in Dzerzhynsk, Donetsk region, on 4 May. In a release issued by the Ukrainian Trade Union Federation, ICEM-affiliated Coal Mining Industry Workers’ Union (PRUPU) President Viktor Turmanov said the disaster was likely “caused by gross safety violations” due to the shift of rock underground. 
 
Three mines died instantly, while three others were rescued after nearly three days underground. The remaining three miners are unaccounted for and their exact underground location was still unknown as of last week. Fourteen miners were working inside the mine at the time of the collapse, with five able to immediately escape. 

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Turmanov said the search would continue this week, with restoration of the roof needed to carry on with a possible rescue attempt. But after two weeks, it is unlikely the three miners will be found alive. It the area where the roof collapsed, some 250 square metres of rubble accumulated. The tragedy happened 58 metres underground. 
 
Turmanov and PRUPU were instrumental in the days following the deaths in getting Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers to set aside a large sum of money for better safety conditions at the Novodzerzhynska mine, which included compensation to the mining victims’ families. 
 
The mine in eastern Ukraine mine was reorganised last year and became a state enterprise connected to the Coal Industry Ministry of Ukraine.

Mine Deaths in Donetsk Region, Ukraine, Raises PRUPU Safety Call

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Hundreds of ICEM affiliates from every continent responded to an ICEM Circular to lend support to American trade unions in their legislative battle to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). In recent weeks, support letters arrived in droves to ICEM’s nine US trade union affiliates, which together with the rest of the American trade union movement are waging a bitter fight against a rabid business lobby in order to enact the first meaningful labour law reform measure in the US in 50 years. 
 
The EFCA would simplify and make the process fairer for workers who choose to organise and win US government certification for collective bargaining. The proposed law would give workers the choice of union representation if a simple majority in any given workplace signed a card or petition seeking unionisation. 
 
Currently, it is the employer that chooses which of two methods – “card-check” recognition or a one-sided election procedure – to certify a bargaining representative. In nearly all instances, a company chooses the election method because the government-conducted vote is held at the worksite and trade unions have no on-the-job access to workers in the 30-45 days leading up to the vote. 

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Instead, over the past three decades, employers have fine-tuned the process, using stop-work meetings to vilify the union, sacking workers who support the union, and utilising threats and intimidation by stating that if the union is voted in, layoffs or plant closures will occur. Although such union-avoidance tactics currently do violate US labour law, no penalties are attached so bosses have crafted the election process to their distinct advantage. 
 
If the EFCA is passed, financial penalties will be levied on employers who deploy such tactics. Perhaps most significantly, the proposed legislation contains a first-contract arbitration provision in which contract proposals are submitted to a government mediator if an initial collective agreement cannot be reached. Oftentimes at present, management’s strategy following a union win in a government-supervised election is to “surface bargain” without ever intending to come to an agreement. After one year, the union can then be decertified. 
 
ICEM’s call to its global affiliates came immediately after Global Unions, comprising the 11 Global Union Federations, plus the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) of the OECD, issued a statement, demanding passage of the EFCA: “There is no defense for employers who interfere in workers’ decisions to form trade unions … It is time for the United States to join the other democracies around the world that respect the fundamental rights of workers to form trade unions and bargain collectively with their employers. Members of the US Congress should muster the courage to resist a massive, multi-million dollar employer campaign of propaganda, scare tactics, and distortion. 

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“We, the Global Unions, representing around 200 million workers on all continents and in all industries, call on the United States Government to adopt the EFCA.” 
 
Many of the ICEM affiliates that wrote to the US unions alluded to the current global economic crisis, and the best means to rise out of that crisis. “We know that a strong economy depends on workers given the opportunity to join a trade union and to bargain collectively so that fair wages and social benefits are lifted for all in a society.” 
 
The letters concluded by stating: “Please pass to your union membership, as well as to your elected officials, that our union fully supports EFCA, and that we consider it an essential element in a free society that workers be allowed to join a trade union in an unobstructed way.” 
 
American trade unions are currently pushing members of the US Senate to adopt the bill. US unions played the major role in electing members of the Democratic Party to substantial majorities in both the Senate and US House in last year’s elections. But a number of supposed pro-worker Democrats in the Senate have come under the influence of the business lobby’s misinformation campaign putting passage of EFCA in jeopardy. 

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As committees of Congress prepare to debate EFCA, Democrats in the Senate are suggesting compromises, such as workers submitting “card-check” authorization directly by mail to the US labour board, or proposing alterations to the first-contract arbitration procedure. 
 
This is the fourth time in recent years that EFCA has been proposed in the US Congress, but the first time it has a realistic chance of enactment. This is due to President Barack Obama’s pledge to sign it, as well as the US labour movement’s yeoman work in elections six months ago that gave a political mandate to do away with George Bush’s draconian policies. 
 
In March 2007, the last time the measure was before Congress, it passed the US House by a 241-185 vote. But it died in the US Senate when proponents failed to gain the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture, or the vote to shut down filibustering on a piece of legislation. In the coming weeks, Democrats are expected to have exactly 60 seats in the 100-seat Senate. Labor’s strategy this time is to first gain passage of EFCA in the US Senate before taking it to the House.

Trade Unions Worldwide Respond to ICEM’s Call for Fair Organising in the US

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The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) continues to work closely with the EU to implement the Registration, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. ETUC pro-actively submitted a list of 306 chemicals of high concern to workers for inclusion on a candidate list of substances for authorisation under REACH rules. 
 
The list was derived from a list of dangerous chemicals identified by the European Risk Ranking Method (EURAM). A total of 191 of those 306 chemicals are proven to have caused industrial diseases. ETUC’s methodology is aimed at encouraging industry to develop safer substances in a competitive manner, with maximum protection of workers, consumers, and the environment. 

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In releasing the list in recent months, ETUC is hopeful the 306 substances will be clearly identified for professional users, particularly those who work with these chemicals, and that more information will be generated on them so that safer alternatives can be developed.

ETUC Prioritises 306 Chemicals for REACH

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The Spanish union, FIA-UGT, representing chemical, energy, mining, and textile workers of that labour federation held its Fifth Ordinary Congress from 14-16 May in Tarragona, Spain, with some 400 delegates attending. 
 
The theme was Todas y Todos, or Women and Men All Together. The Congress adopted two new departments, Equalities and Union Elections. 
 
FIA-UGT’s traditional international mission was an important focus at the Congress, with three videos highlighting major efforts undertaken by the union in Latin America. One of the most important decisions taken by the Congress was to start talks with the agricultural and food workers’ union, FTA-UGT, toward a merged union. 
 
The President of ICEM-affiliated Colombian trade union, SINTRAELECOL, Danuil Gomez, addressed the Congress and thanked FIA-UGT for its continuing solidarity efforts with Colombian workers, as well as in building an effective ENDESA workers’ network. 

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FIA-UGT General Secretary Antonio Deusa Perazo
FIA-UGT General Secretary Antonio Deusa Perazo was re-elected to lead the union, and an Executive Committee also was elected. 
 
They Executive Committee includes: Paula Guillén Lerma, Secretary of Organisation and Communication; Ramón Ruiz Díaz, Secretary of Trade Union Action; Begoña Abdelkader, Secretary of Administration; Montserrat López García de la Torre, International Secretary; Francisco Ligero Pozo, Secretary Health and Safety; Eugenia Martín Abdrada, Union Elections Secretary; Paula Alvés Da Silva, Equalities Secretary; Francisco Durbán Martín, Secretary of Training; Victor Fernández Vázquez, Mining Secretary; José Carlos Ruíz Palacios, Chemicals Secretary; Manuel García Sanchez, Energy Secretary; and José Emilio Mesa Ortega, Textile Secretary. 
 
The ICEM looks forward to continued cooperation with FIA-UGT’s Antonio Deusa and members of the union’s Executive Committee.

FIA-UGT Hold Congress in Spain, Re-Elect Antonio Deusa General Secretary

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Thousands of workers took to the streets of Islamabad, Pakistan, last week, on 26 May, calling for improvements to the National Pay Scale in the next federal budget, as well as demanding that the Pakistani government shelve plans to privatize national utilities. The march last Tuesday arrived at the National Parliament where the assembled workers presented a detailed memorandum, containing their demands, addressed to the Speaker of the Parliament. 
 
Public owned industries that are at risk of being privatized include electricity, rail, postal, oil and gas, and the national steel mills. 
 
The proud ICEM affiliate, the Pakistan WAPDA Labour Union (PWLU), took a leading role in organizing the rally. Also central to the demands of the assembled workers is the issue of Contract and Agency Labour. A strong call has been issued that enterprises must treat these workers on an equal basis with regular employees. Outdated labour laws, including the Industrial Relations Act, are clearly in need of reform, according to unions. 
 
An encouraging sign of government response was the successful meeting of the Federal Minister for Water and Power, Pervez Asraf, with WAPDA on 23 May. The Minister discussed strategies to combat the national energy shortage and pledged to bring a halt to this shortage by the end of 2009. The Minister also discussed new projects scheduled, including a new power plant in Lahore, an energy deal with Turkey, and continued work on hydro projects in Neelum-Jahlum and Bhasha Dam. 
 
The meeting between the ICEM affiliate and the Energy Minister also achieved a regularization of daily wage employees of WAPDA Water and Power, and a grant of 45 percent of housing rent for WAPDA employees, as well as the building of a 50 bed hospital for Wapda employees in Larkana.

Pakistan’s Trade Union WAPDA Demonstrates for Improved Wages and Conditions

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Twenty-Five trade union representatives from Japan, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam organising rubber workers’ met in Jakarta, Indonesia, 27 October, and formed the ICEM Asia-Pacific Rubber Unions’ Network. Sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Siftung, a German labour-supportive foundation, and hosted by the ICEM affiliate, Chemical, Mining, and Energy Workers’ Union (FSP KEP), the meeting was also attended by Japanese ICEM-JAF, and by staff of the ICEM Secretariat. 
 
“Under conditions of the current economic crisis throughout the world and specific difficulties in the Asia-Pacific Region,” said FSP KEP President D. Pataobong Sjaiful, in opening the conference, “the ICEM initiative of networking unions in the rubber industry is very vital. We need this togetherness to better defend rights of our members who work in severe conditions.” 
 
The meeting saw a presentation by ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal Özkan on major developments and challenges in the global rubber industry. Questionnaires were distributed prior to the meeting, so country reports given had a firm base for discussion over the situations unions face in the various countries. 
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The meeting also focused on ICEM’s global and regional company networks, as well as Global Framework Agreements. Using global agreements as tools in organising was thoroughly discussed, while company networks were considered to be crucial instruments to organise solidarity and the exchange of information. 
 
The topic of networks was also emphasized in regards to experience on other topics, such as collective bargaining, health and safety, employment, and general work conditions. 
 
Elected to chair the newly-founded Asia-Pacific Rubber Workers’ Network was Toshiaki Hojo, President of the Japanese Rubber Workers’ Union Confederation (GOMU-RENGO). The meeting also adopted an action plan of follow-up activities, which includes the regular circulation of information and targeting rising multinational companies such as Korean-based Hankook and Kumho, and Apollo from India. 
 
Contract and Agency Labour was also a key topic discussed since its use has spiraled upward in the rubber industry of Asia. Delegates decided to further their work on this challenging issue that faces global labour.

Asia-Pacific Rubber Workers’ Unions Form Regional Network

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The ICEM’s Global Framework Agreement with the Freudenberg Group, a German-based rubber, auto accessories, nonwovens, and engineering company, was improved recently to include neutrality on union organising. Together with Michael Mersmann, International Director of the German union, IGBCE, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal Özkan met with Lorent Freudenberg, Human Resources Director, and Dr. Dirk Mahler, counsel of Freudenberg, to review and update the agreement with Freudenberg. 
 

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Meeting in Pittsburgh. UE's Bob Kingsley and John Hovis, USW's Leo Gerard and Gerald Fernandez 

Regarding proposals put forth to the privately-held company by the ICEM, it was agreed to continue discussions on most of those issues. But the company did accept a clause in the agreement on neutrality with immediate effect. 
It reads: 
 
“The Freudenberg Group respects the right of its employees to freely decide whether or not to establish or to associate with any legitimate trade union of their choice. The Freudenberg Group shall remain strictly neutral concerning its employees’ choice in the matter.” 
 
The agreement also contains a provision, stating, “ICEM and IGBCE agree to use their best efforts to promote constructive approaches in local organising drives in the spirit of social dialogue and to achieve positive labour relations as expressed in this Agreement.” 

<img height="160" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0811freudenberg2.JPG" width="240"/>
From left, CEP's Alan Tate, UE's Robin Alexander, ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda, and Lorent Freudenberg and Dirk Mahler of Freudenberg Group.
To establish the mutual trust and constructive approach in labour relations, the ICEM helped to arrange a US meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 1 October that brought managers of Freudenberg together with some of ICEM’s North American affiliates, including the United Steelworkers (USW), United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), and the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada. 
 
The meeting was headed by USW President Leo Gerard and UE President John Hovis and following discussions that both labour and management termed honest and constructive, it was agreed that a model case would be implemented and executed regarding social dialogue procedures based on neutrality. 
 
The agreement between ICEM and Freudenberg was signed in June 2000, and was the ICEM’s second such Global Framework Agreement at that time.

ICEM’s Freudenberg Global Accord Improved to Include Organising Neutrality

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In this issue, we call on ICEM affiliates to get involved in activities on World AIDS Day which occurs on 1 December. We report on the engagement of women of ICEM German affiliate of the German IGBCE in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the situation of women in Asia, and the fight of women in Nepal for better HIV/AIDS services. 

 
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are already 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. 
 
Editor: Hans J Schwass, ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator 
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World AIDS Day 2008, 1 December – Get Ready! 
 
The ICEM calls on its affiliates to take the lead in campaigning on World AIDS Day, 1 December 
 
The first of December marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. There is no time to celebrate. Since 1988, efforts made to respond to the epidemic have produced positive results, however the latest UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic (see e-bulletin 35/36, August/September <a href="/en/72-HIV-AIDS/2745-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin" type="internal">here</a>) indicates that the epidemic is not yet over in any part of the world. 
 
Together with its partners, the World AIDS Campaign set this year’s theme for World AIDS Day as “Lead – Empower – Deliver,” building on last year’s theme of “Take the Lead.” Designating leadership as the overall theme for 2007 – 2008 provides an opportunity to highlight the political leadership needed to fulfil commitments – particularly the promise of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support by 2010. 
 
Unions can demonstrate leadership at every level – in the workplace, in their own governing bodies, in women’s committees, in health and safety committees, in negotiations with companies, in the community and at the national policy level. 
 
Any union member, shop steward, union official, committee member, gender representative who takes action on HIV/AIDS is a leader in the fight against the deadly disease. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS press release, 27 October) 
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IGBCE Women’s Conference 
 
The Women’s Conference of the ICEM affiliate IGBCE (mining, chemicals, and energy) in Germany made a strong commitment to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
Meeting in Hanover in early October, funds were collected at the conference for an HIV/AIDS project in Tanzania in partnership with ICEM affiliates TUICO and TAMICO, and the ICEM HIV/AIDS project. In numerous discussions with delegates, ICEM Women’s Officer Carol Bruce and HIV/AIDS Coordinator Hans J Schwass explained the project in Tanzania which focuses on women and their stronger involvement in HIV/AIDS work, training as counsellors and advocacy for voluntary counselling and testing. 
 
Delegates will continue the appeal in their regional and local structures to raise the funds necessary to sustain the project in 2009 and 2010. 
 

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Global Fund Launches Round 9 
 
(For more details, see the ICEM HIV/AIDS special e-bulletin in October <a href="/en/72-HIV-AIDS/2811-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-Bulletin:-Global-Fund-Calls-for-Round-9-Proposals" type="internal">here</a>) 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria launched Round 9 on 1 October, just seven months after the launch of Round 8. The proposal form and guidelines for Round 9 are substantially unchanged from Round 8. They are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. 
 
Applicants must submit their Round 9 proposals by 21 January 2009. All proposals submitted by the deadline will be reviewed by the Global Fund Secretariat to ensure that they meet the Fund’s eligibility criteria. Those that do meet the criteria will then be sent to the Technical Review Panel. The Global Fund Board will decide which proposals to approve at its meeting on 7-8 May 2009. 
 
In light of the fact that the Round 9 application form and procedures have hardly changed since Round 8, Aidspan has not updated its guides for applications which are accessible at <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides ">http://www.aidspan.org/guides </a>in English, French and Spanish. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, GFO, Issue 96, 24 October 2008. The GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>, a Kenya-based NGO that serves as an independent watchdog of the Global Fund. To receive the GFO send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>)
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Caribbean Needs to Increase Efforts against HIV/AIDS 
 
Increased efforts are needed to bolster HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment and education in the Caribbean, Karen Sealy, head of the UNAIDS Caribbean office, said recently. “High-risk groups include commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men. An increase in HIV/AIDS cases is also being recorded among drug users,” said Sealy, adding, "We know that the spread of HIV in the Caribbean is in fact being fuelled by serious gaps in gender equality." 
 
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning said that "one of the true successes" of the country's efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS is the decrease in mother-to-child transmissions because of the no-cost antiretroviral drugs provided to all pregnant women who receive treatment at government clinics. Manning said that many of the people living with HIV/AIDS in Trinidad and Tobago are able to live "a high quality of life" because of the country's health care program but added that more work needs to be done to address the spread of HIV. 
 
The Caribbean has the second highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate worldwide, after sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS figures show that an estimated 230,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the region and that 14,000 AIDS-related deaths were recorded last year. 
 
(Source: Medical News Today, 27 October, reprinted with kind permission from <a href="http://www.kaisernetwork.org">www.kaisernetwork.org</a>) 
 

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Assessment Missions to Botswana and Namibia 
 
In the last year of the project cycle, the ICEM conducts an internal assessment of the impact of the HIV/AIDS project at national level. In September, Project Management Assistant Paule Ndessomin went to Botswana and Namibia and met with national coordinators, peer educators trained by the programme and national NGOs. Visits of mining sites completed the mission. 
 
Overall the project had a very positive impact in both countries. Awareness has increased considerably. In Botswana, most large companies organised by ICEM affiliates such as Botswana Power Corporation, Botswana Copper and Nickel (BCL), and diamond miner Debswana have HIV/AIDS workplace policies. Affiliates have cooperated with BONELA, an NGO that deals with issues of ethics, legislation, and advocacy in the field of HIV/AIDS. 
 
Employment legislation stipulates that every employee who enters into a contract of employment shall be examined by a medical officer. As this section in the Employment Act stands, it may include pre-employment HIV testing. The Public Service Code, however, prohibits such testing. Another inhibiting factor is the fact that living on the proceeds of commercial sex is illegal thus making it difficult for sex workers to have access to medical care. 
 
In Namibia, ICEM’s only affiliate, the Mineworkers’ Union of Namibia (MUN), has been engaged in HIV/AIDS activities for some time. Large mines such as Rössing Uranium, which is two-thirds owned by mining giant Rio Tinto, have workplace policies in place and provide treatment and care. More recently, MUN has also been involved with the country’s employer group, the Chamber of Mines. The Chamber’s Occupational Health Education and Awareness Programme (OHEAP) is currently being evaluated in cooperation with the Labour Resource and Research Institute. 
 

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Women need empowerment in fight against AIDS 
 
Women must be more involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS and men must also be encouraged to respect women more. Nafis Sadik, U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region, told a poverty alleviation conference in Beijing that lack of respect for women was helping drive the spread of the virus. 
 
"Gender-based violence and discrimination on grounds of gender drive the HIV and AIDS epidemic among women. Empowerment of women - equipping them with self-esteem, the knowledge, and the ability to protect themselves … will be of critical importance in winning the battle," Sadik said. 
 
"Women suffer doubly. First, from HIV and AIDS itself, and secondly from the stigma associated with the disease. Women are routinely blamed for infecting their husbands, though it is almost always the men who infect their wives," she said. 
 
In Asia, at least 75 million men regularly buy sex from about ten million female sex workers, she added. "The results of male behaviour can be seen in changing patterns of infection. Today, about one-third of all people living with HIV in China are women, compared with one in ten in 1995," Sadik said. 
 
(Source: Reuters, 17 October) 
 

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HIV-positive Women in Nepal Call for Greater Assistance 
 
Nepal's HIV/AIDS policies and programs have failed to address the problems of women living with HIV/AIDS in the country, stated HIV-positive women of Shakti Milan Samaj, a social organisation working on behalf of women living with HIV/AIDS. 
 
The women also called on the government to guarantee access to no-cost treatment, care, resettlement, social security and jobs, as well as a special programme to help them maintain a living. They added that the government "should make arrangements for free education to our children and announce legal action against all violence against us regarding it as a crime against the state." 
 
The women said that although the country has received significant funding for efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, the government still does not address the issues they face. Women in the country are vulnerable to HIV because of cultural and economic factors, as well as domestic violence. 
 
(Source: News Medical Net, 5 October with permission from <a href="http://kaisernetwork.org">kaisernetwork.org</a>) 
 

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How Obama and McCain Differed on HIV/AIDS 
 
With Barack Obama winning the US presidential election, it might be useful to look back to see how he and opponent John McCain compared on HIV/AIDS policy. For starters, they both fully support President Bush’s PEPFAR programme, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was re-authorised with increased funding. 
 
While this is focused on the epidemic overseas, activists have criticised neglect of the US domestic epidemic. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 5% of the people living in Washington, DC, have the infection. That is a rate two-and-a-half times higher than in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the world. 
 
Barack Obama calls for a more effective AIDS policy and says that studies have shown that the incidence of HIV and AIDS may have been undercounted. Obama’s plan begins with his promise to sign universal health care legislation by the end of his first term as president. He wants to prevent HIV through sex education and by promoting HIV testing. The cornerstone of Obama’s plan calls for a national HIV/AIDS strategy involving all federal agencies. 
 
While John McCain also called for a domestic plan, his main prescription to prevent HIV is abstinence programmes. For those with pre-existing conditions such as AIDS, he campaigned on a plan to establish “guaranteed access plans” for affordable insurance. His prescription for rising drug costs was to create greater competition among drug companies. The centrepiece of a McCain campaign blueprint is a US$2,500 tax credit for individuals to purchase health coverage of their choice. 
 
(Source: CBS News, from 14 October) 
 

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New Vigour in Fighting the Epidemic in South Africa 
 
AIDS organisations and activists welcomed the nomination of Barbara Hogan as new health minister of South Africa. Unlike her predecessor, Hogan has made it clear that the HI-Virus causes AIDS and that the only way to treat it is with anti-retroviral drugs. Hogan announced better access to such drugs and an expansion of the programme to fight mother to child transmission. 
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ICMM Launches Guide on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria 
 
The International Council on Mining and Metal (ICMM) launched its new guide, “Good Practice Guidance on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria,” in London on 15 October. Among the panellists was ICEM HIV/AIDS Coordinator Hans J Schwass who welcomed the initiative of the ICMM to publish this guide but criticised that very little reference is made to organised labour or workers’ organisations or unions as potential partners in the fight against the diseases. Schwass said, “There is no reason not to collaborate on life and death issues with organisations with which companies are at times in dispute over pay and working conditions, especially when these organisations can add value to HIV/AIDS interventions. Of course, to cooperate with trade unions, means recognising them in the first place.” 
 
The guide provides a systematic framework and practical advice on the management of the three diseases that will enable mining and metal operations worldwide to address key challenges, both among workers and neighbouring communities. 
 
The guide can be accessed at the ICMM website <a href="http://www.icmm.com">www.icmm.com</a>. 
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News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions 
 
The Global Union AIDS Programme is planning a series of coordinating and capacity building workshops in sub-Saharan Africa, and is coordinating the union input in the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (ICASA), as well as the Global Fund Partnership Forum, both in Dakar, Senegal, in December. 
 
In its latest Newsletter on Education for All and HIV & AIDS Prevention at Schools (EFAIDS) of 2 October, Education International reports on the launch of its programme in Nepal. It also addresses World AIDS Day. The EI EFAIDS programme has prepared an activity kit which teachers around the world can use to share knowledge and encourage discussion on HIV/AIDS issues in the campaign for World AIDS Day “One Hour on AIDS” – <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/efaids">www.ei-ie.org/efaids</a>.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 37 November 2008

Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, today, the Presidium of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) gave its full support to a week-old boycott of Petro-Canada products in the North American country. The action by the governing board of the 20-million-member Global Union Federation is in support of 260 oil-refinery workers, members of Local 175 of Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union, who have been locked-out at a Petro-Canada refinery in Montréal, Québec, since 17 November 2007. 
 
In Montréal on 28 October, the CEP, the Canadian Labour Congress, and the Fédération des travailleurs du Québec, the major labour union federation in that province, announced a national boycott of all petroleum products produced by Petro-Canada. 

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“We want people throughout the world to know that this once patriotic and state-owned oil company has turned on workers in its own country,” stated ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, also the President of the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa. “ICEM leaders will now return to their respective countries and tell workforces about this unjust lockout. We will also inform those travelling to Canada on the boycott, and urge them to refrain from purchasing anything with the name Petro-Canada.” 
 
The energy company, which was fully privatised in 2004 by the government of Canada, locked out union members at the 130,000 barrels-per-day Montréal refinery when they refused to accept work terms and conditions significantly inferior to those contained in the CEP’s National Energy and Chemical Bargaining Pattern Agreement. Ironically, that collective bargaining pattern was set by Petro-Canada and CEP at an oil refinery in Edmonton, Alberta, earlier in 2007. 
 
The ICEM resolution endorsing the boycott states that the company has jeopardized the safety and community well-being of residents of Point-aux-Trembles, an east-end Montréal residential area, by attempting to operate the refinery at reduced output using managers and outside replacement workers. Petro-Canada has been cited by a provincial labour court for violated Québec’s laws by using such workers. 

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ICEM Presidium members were vocal in their condemnation of Petro-Canada, as well as their support for the workers. 
 
“Our union members have been aware of this lockout since November 2007,” said Phil McNulty, National Officer for the Energy Sector of Unite the Union. “Now we learn of the national boycott in Canada. Unite the Union will assure that all our members in the United Kingdom and Ireland are aware of this boycott, and we will encourage them to spread the message to honour it.” 
 
Said ICEM Latin American/Caribbean Vice President Sergio Novais, a trade union leader in Brazil’s National Federation of Chemical Workers (CNQ-CUT), added, “The message we will deliver at home is that CEP members in Montréal are standing strong and united after one year’s time. We will communicate to our chemical workers across the country – and to Petrobras workers – that all of Canada is behind a boycott of Petro-Canada. We support that and encourage all Canadians to respect this call.” 
 
The Geneva-based ICEM consists of 467 trade unions in 132 countries, and is the voice of oil, gas, and energy workers in both the upstream and downstream sectors.

ICEM Endorses North American Boycott of Petro-Canada Products

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