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What has been the impact of Contract and Agency Labour Work in Brazil and Latin America? 
 
The impact of outsourcing is felt in all sectors in Latin America. Of those sectors covered by the ICEM, it is probably the energy sector which has been hit hardest because of the mass privatisations in the 1990s. We are currently doing a study on the situation of contract workers in the energy sector to get more and better data on the present situation. 
 
Subcontracting is everywhere. It is not limited to catering, or security, or transportation. It now goes right to the core of business in most companies. Oil companies subcontract maintenance, development, even production in the refineries. And, of course, at many companies, contract workers are involved in drilling and on offshore platforms.
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ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Vice President S&eacute;rgio Novais&nbsp; 
 


Has outsourcing caused a general trend of reduction in the salaries and benefits of permanent workers? 
 
Outsourcing has led to a drastic reduction of salaries and in secondary benefits, since many workers go uncovered by collective agreements. Another aspect is health and security, in spite of the fact that, on paper, when we are engaged in dialogue with the bigger companies, everything appears fine. But in reality, we find many situations where there is a lack of proper training and adequate equipment. The proof comes in the fact that the highest number of fatalities, particularly in the energy sector, occurs among contract workers. 
 
Are contract or agency workers more difficult to reach in terms of organizing? 
 
The increase of contract and agency workers on any particular job makes the work of unions very difficult. When jobs are outsourced, you inevitably lose a number of full-time, permanent workers. This, in turn, makes negotiations that much more difficult. And then there also is the difficulty to contact and gain access to contract workers. And when you do, they are not always interested in joining an organisation that enters into a dialogue and negotiate with their company. 
 
So, it places pressure on representation and that, in turn, places a diminished capacity to mobilize contract or agency workers toward the union. And in some cases, at least in Brazil, it makes trouble for the central unions, because workers might be represented by other unions who negotiate at different times with different agendas. 
 
What is it like dealing with a primary company over subcontracting? What kind of legal challenges does it present? 
 
Brazil is one of the countries where a primary company can be held legally responsible for the violation of labor laws by a subcontracting company. And indeed, sometimes primary employers are taken to court over infractions by a subcontractor. But this always occurs after an accident, or after an instance of polluting has taken place, or after a labour infraction has occurred. Further, it is only case by case, so it doesn&rsquo;t solve the bigger problem of regulating and making an employer accountable on the front end.
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What would you say on networking between unions, or sharing information on contracting practices? How important is that for success? 
 
The consequences of the increase in use of contract and agency labour, and outsourcing in general, can be managed better if unions start cooperating. Creating national and international networks is important. We are making good progress with our regional BASF company network of labour unions, an ICEM network. The company has agreed that contract work is an important subject for permanent social dialogue. Imagine, the company recently admitted that even they didn&rsquo;t know the number of contract workers present at any particular chemical worksite. We are now in a position where we are able to monitor the situation, learn from the monitoring, and hopefully pass this on to other BASF unions worldwide. It has also vastly improved our discussions with this particular company. 
 
There has been a steep reduction in contract workers at Petrobras due to union action. Can you explain what was done? 
 
This is another good example. Being a state-owned company, Petrobras, as a primary employer, was relatively easy to engage, particularly with a change of government in Brazil. It has led to better relations between the company management and the FUP, the national oilworkers&rsquo; federation. In a period of six years, this has resulted in a reduction of the ratio of contract workers to Petrobras workers from 4-to-1 to 2.2-to1. However, we&rsquo;re not there yet. There are still many, many contract workers on oil rigs.
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&nbsp; 
 
What are the next steps in Brazil regarding contract and agency labour? 
 
Here in Brazil, we must find a way to get legislation adopted which enables contract workers to be represented by the majority union on any give jobsite. However, it is not likely this will happen with the current Parliament. Many Latin American governments have recently adopted legislation in one form or another on contract labour. The best legislation might be in Argentina. There, the Federaci&oacute;n Argentina Sindical del Petr&oacute;leo y Gas Privados managed to use it to negotiate that all contract workers are covered by the collective agreement. 
 
What can you tell us about the upcoming Day in Latin America for Contractors? 
 
On 28 July, we will campaign throughout Latin America to call for attention to the health and safety risks involved with subcontracting. The date has been chosen as a memorial to the 200 contract workers who lost their lives in Colombia while constructing a hydroelectric dam 25 years ago on this day. We will use this day as a regional call to all trade unions and trade union networks to include contract work in their agendas for dialogue and negotiation with the different companies.

Interview with Sérgio Novais, National Chemical Confederation of Brazil and ICEM Vice President, Lat

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At the ICEM&rsquo;s World Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2007, a resolution was adopted in support of the World Day for Decent Work. This global day of action and mobilisation &ndash; 7 October 2008 &ndash; is organised by the Decent Work, Decent Life campaign, led by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Council of Global Unions, Solidar, the Global Progressive Forum, Social Alert International, and the European Trade Union Confederation. 
 
ICEM has a special interest in Decent Work, particularly in view of the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s strong work over the past several years on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL). For this reason, the ICEM is focusing its 7 October action day events, and the period to follow, on CAL. ICEM is also working together with the other Global Union Federations, through the Council of Global Unions, on the CAL issue.
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As part of ICEM&rsquo;s overall campaign, we will intensify our activities on this date to ensure equal rights and equal treatment for temporary and agency workers. The ICEM will use the Global Day of Action as the start of a global push to organise contract and agency workers. This campaign will run until December 2008. 
 
Affiliates will be asked to give special attention to contract and agency workers during this period, as well as to give priority to the issue as a whole. 
 
Campaign materials will be published to help affiliates address the issue at local, national, and international levels. With this special InBrief newsletter, we would also like to call your attention to the issue of Contract and Agency Labour globally, as well as also within particular work sectors. The aim of distribution the information is to share and to learn from experiences.
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In the upcoming months, further useful materials will be published and distributed, and we will also send you information on how you and your union can become active on this issue as the 7 October World Day of Action arrives. 
 
Activities that affiliates can consider doing, include: 
 
&bull; Issuing press communications, highlighting 7 October as a the start of a campaign on organising contract and agency labour workers; 
&bull; Active distribution of the ICEM campaign material; 
&bull; Organising workshops with members discussing the CAL issue, and coming up with union responses; 
&bull; Organising public debates on CAL; 
&bull; Go out and start organising campaigns that specifically target contract and agency workers. 
 
The ICEM also continues to call on all its affiliates, and their members, in both developing and developed countries, to sign the call to action at <a href="http://www.decentwork.org">http://www.decentwork.org</a>.
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In addition, in the last several weeks, the ICEM has invited all affiliates to fill in an online survey. Through this survey, we aim to gather information on CAL in your industrial sectors and countries. Is CAL a growing phenomenon? How does your union respond? What means and methods are you using to organise temporary workers? The answers will give us valuable information &ndash; information to inform other affiliates on best practices and successful strategies used by fellow unions. 
 
Many of you have already filled in this survey, and we would like to ask others who have not, to do so in the near future. If you have not received an invitation to participate in the survey, please send an e-mail to <a href="mailto:contract.labour@icem.org">contract.labour@icem.org</a>.

ICEM’s Focus on 7 October World Day for Decent Work: Contract and Agency Labour

ICEM Contract and Agency Labour Newsletter

1. ICEM Women&rsquo;s Committee Holds Meeting in Geneva 
 
ICEM Women&rsquo;s Committee met on 19 June 2008, in Geneva, and appealed to the federation&rsquo;s leadership to return to the usual practice of holding the committee meetings prior to Presidium and Executive Committee meetings. Since it was the first meeting of the Congress period, the women introduced themselves at length. Some of the highlights from the introductions were the following: given that there are not many women leaders in Japanese trade unions, there is a desire to train women leaders there. In Thailand, unions have been mobilizing in recent months against the high food prices. Four men were present at the meeting. 
 
Sister Hashmeya Muhssin, President of the Iraqi General Union of Electricity Workers&rsquo; and Technicians, reported on the situation in Iraq. Iraq not only suffers from the occupation of foreign forces, but also from intervention from neighboring countries. Things are getting worse. Many armaments are entering the country. Most services are blocked &ndash; there is no electricity, no drains, and no petrol, mainly due to the lack of security. Women have been killed. 
 
The police claim that they are killed because they are not dressed properly. Women have crimes committee against them. Women sit home, unemployed, because of the dangerous security situation. The situation for women has regressed. They must shake themselves and rise up. Women in unions are trying to develop a women&rsquo;s role, often together with NGOs. Despite the difficulties, some women are active. Nevertheless, the lack of security and isolation means that not all women can be reached. The women in the dockworkers&rsquo; union and the oil workers&rsquo; unions need support. 
 
Women once played a key role in the economy. When men went off to war, the women managed the economy. At one point, 75% of the workforce was women. Women make up 65% of the population in Iraq. Bur unemployment among women is about 60%. There are many women workers, but few women are in trade unions. Unions are prohibited from existing in the public sector. 
 
Trade unions are starting out new, so people have no experience. Young people are working as volunteers. People make mistakes but they are willing to learn. Three women organized a conference, which was covered by the press, to fight against Decree 150, the Saddam-era decree prohibiting unions in the public sector. The Iraqi government implements laws that are imposed by other countries. 
 
Angeline Chitambo, President of Zimbabwe Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union and a Vice President of the ICEM, reported on the crisis in Zimbabwe. Women make up 52% of the population. Women are especially faced with food shortages. Most of the people in rural areas are women, because that is where food sources are supposed to be. But violence has been unleashed in the rural areas, and women have been tortured. Food supplies are now scarce. Farms do not produce enough. 
 
There is a shortage of transport; transport to hospitals, due to the fuel shortage, is non-existent. HIV/AIDS drugs are unavailable. Women resort to prostitution to make ends meet. There is no sanitary protection available to women in general, and only those with money have access to it. 
 
The government uses thugs, and everything functions on the basis of bribes. Women used to support the government, but now they want change. Women&rsquo;s organizations and coalitions are organizing to mobilise women to vote. Recommendations were made to ICEM for practical support. ICEM published an Action Alert on the Zimbabwe situation on 20 June, and the points contained were sent out in an ICEM Circular. 
 
A brief report was given on the situation of women in Colombia on the basis of the visit to Colombia by ICEM leadership in March 2008. A peace march was attended on 6 March. On 8 March, ICEM Colombia held a seminar to commemorate International Women&rsquo;s Day. Colombian women examined their history and reflected on how their lives were different from their mothers&rsquo; and grandmothers&rsquo; lives. An NGO of women was visited and the issue of armed conflict was discussed. Special consideration must be given to women in indigenous communities and how they are affected by the oil industry. El Cerrej&oacute;n mine provides treatment for HIV/AIDS to indigenous communities near the mine in a model project. 
 
Special thought has to be given to the issue of women, and the effect that armed conflict has on women, both as victims and perpetrators, women as guerrillas or ex-guerrillas. Terrorism means a new challenge. 
 
In connection with the discussion on the seven points from the 19 June ICEM Women&rsquo;s Conference, Baru Khumo, General Secretary of the Botswana Diamond Sorters and Valuators&rsquo; Union, reported on the ICEM Sub-Saharan Africa Region&rsquo;s Women&rsquo;s Committee meeting, held in Accra, Ghana, in early June 2008. The meeting covered the seven points adopted by the ICEM Women&rsquo;s Conference of 2007. The three axes of the meeting were Decent Work, gender justice, and HIV/AIDS. 
 
In France, the CFDT has been talking about equality for decades, but inequality persists. A new law determines that equal pay has to exist by 1 January 2010. Negotiations are required. The chemical industry had a recent agreement. There is a legal requirement to have delegations made up of women and men in negotiations to reflect women&rsquo;s real representation in the sector. This would mean 35 to 40% women in delegations. One proposal is to include clauses in Global Framework Agreements to respect equality between women and men. 
 
In Denmark, there is a slight move away from pure equal pay and toward evaluating and appreciating job categories. 
 
A brief report was provided on EMCEF, where the main challenge is to find out why women do not attend meetings. 
 
As far as the point on peace is concerned, in the Asia-Pacific Region, an environment must be created for women to work in peaceful conditions, particularly in Myanmar and Nepal. 
 
In Costa Rica, a women&rsquo;s trade union agenda was drafted with the support of FES. The six axes coincide to a great extent with ICEM&rsquo;s points. Serious problems exist at a refinery due to a crisis situation, which means that gender work has stalled. Nevertheless women are now participating in spaces that before were open only to men. 
 
In Spain, work is proceeding on implementing the equality law. Agreements exist with Michelin and Bridgestone as well as St Gobain and BASF. The law is valid for companies with more than 250 employees. A project to combat violence is soon to be launched together with the Nordic and Baltic countries. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s seven points should form part of the Worldwide Day on Decent Work on 7 October. 
 
One further point for debate was gender and sustainable development. The paper provided by ICEM should be amended to form part of a larger study. Gender equality is part and parcel of sustainable development. 
 
Items such as women as consumers and users of energy in the home, the food crisis, biofuels, escalating oil prices, and living wage must be added. Women need to be empowered in order to achieve sustainable development. 
 
Work will continue on Decent Work, sustainable development and the seven points. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda suggested that the seven points and their implementation should be on the agenda of the ICEM Executive Committee in 2009.
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2. ICEM Sub-Sahara Africa Regional&nbsp;Women Meet 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara Africa Region Women&rsquo;s Committee met from 5 to 7 June in Accra, Ghana, to draft a women&rsquo;s charter for Africa. Women from Ghana, Botswana, Nigeria, Zambia, Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire, South Africa, Tanzania, DRC, Zimbabwe, and Guinea attended the meeting. After a brainstorming session, in which women identified all of their objectives, three focuses were identified: Decent Work, gender justice, and HIV/AIDS. These were seen to cover all of the needs that had been expressed. The objectives were matched with target groups and time frames. 
 
Decent Work covers equal pay for equal work, discrimination in recruitment, and maternity protection, as well as women in the informal economy among other things. Gender justice refers to women&rsquo;s structures, work-life balance, gender-sensitive policies, sexual harassment, and violence. Particular points that were discussed related to HIV/AIDS were the cultural values such as polygamy and female genital mutilation which present particular challenges for the spread of HIV. 
 
The solution to all of the above-mentioned issues is women&rsquo;s empowerment. If gender equality is more of a focus in the labour movement, then women&rsquo;s interests will be promoted. One other solution is integrating gender into the mainstream. Gender and cultural dynamics must be scrutinized. 
 
The women&rsquo;s structure will monitor and evaluate the achievements and weaknesses.
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3. ICEM Nepal Works on Women&rsquo;s Health and Maternity Care 
 
A session on women&rsquo;s health and maternity care was organized by ICEM Nepal on 20 to 22 May, in Kathmandu. Dr Sarita Pandey started the program with the question, &ldquo;What is women&rsquo;s health?&rdquo; The distinction was made between health and reproductive health. Adolescent health was one focus with the effects detailed of psychological and physical changes. Apshara Pandey explained the different methods of family planning with the benefits and drawbacks of each. Information was given on pregnancy and abortion as well as laws regarding abortion. The use of different types of contraceptives was explained. 
 
Pemba Lama presented maternity health and maternity care. Prenatal and postnatal care was the focus. The pros and cons of the different types of contraceptives were explained such as norplant, condoms, and copper T. Beli Maya Ghale presented the symptoms and consequences of uterus prolapse as well as the methods to control it. In addition, Janak Chaudhary presented the laws the government has passed for women. All sessions were very interactive.
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4. UN Calls for Greater Efforts to End Sexual Violence in Conflict 
 
On 19 June 2008, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon led a session calling for an end to the scourge of violence against women in conflict areas. A task force will be set up in an effort called the UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict. It will involve various issues, including peacekeeping, HIV/AIDS, and human rights to help stop rape and other sexual crimes in conflict-ridden countries. He also called for more involvement of women in conflict prevention, peace negotiations and recovery efforts. 
 
In addition, women&rsquo;s representatives from different organizations in Africa also met from 16 to 18 June in Nairobi at the FAO Africa conference, where they made a statement on the food crisis. It was felt that improved women&rsquo;s access, control and ownership of land and natural and productive resources would help eradicate hunger and poverty.
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5. United Kingdom: &nbsp;Government Hosts Conference for Trade Union Equality Representatives 
 
The UK Government organized a conference on trade union equality representatives on 24 June. Equality reps are supposed to inform people of their rights at work and, hence, achieve fairness on the job. 
 
Up to now, the government has been funding projects to promote equality reps. Equality reps can assist people facing discrimination and support them in many issues, such as flexible work for parents and those caring for the elderly, disability, age, equal pay, and harassment. They can also negotiate with the employer to assure a fair deal at work and support disabled people to keep them on the job. 
 
Equality reps can raise awareness about rights and keep people at work who otherwise would tend to stop work to care for older or disabled relatives. Child poverty can be combated by negotiating deals for single parents to keep them at work as well. 
 
Equality reps can do the following: promote equality and diversity issues, help employers engage with employees, help carry out equal pay audits, be involved in devising a full range of equality policies, help create a more equitable work-life balance to help workers combine their domestic and work responsibilities, ensure that part-time and other atypical workers receive fair treatment, help employers develop positive action schemes, and help perform access assessments for disabled persons.
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6. United States/Mexico: Women of Steel Express their Solidarity with Mexican Workers 
 
A delegation of 14 women from the United Steelworkers went to the Cananea mine in Sonora, Mexico, to express their solidarity with miners and their families. They have been on strike since 31 July 2007. Most of the women in the delegation were of Hispanic origin. They came from the Southwest of the United States and from California. Their aim was to get the employer and the government to stop the repression against the mineworkers&rsquo; union. They got to know the history of the strike, and saw first hand the conditions that miners&rsquo; families live in.
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7. Western Sahara: National Union of Sahrawi Women Appeals for Support 
 
The Sahrawi women&rsquo;s union was created in 1974 to support the fight for independence and self-determination. The women suffer from the hard desert life, a lack of the minimum needs for subsistence, isolation, the absence of men so that they have to assume family burdens, a low level of education, lack of knowledge of how to care for those suffering from war. 
 
The women try to create awareness at national level about women&rsquo;s position and their role in national independence. They try to make women realize the importance of participating. The women would like to contribute to education on the basis of equality for girls and boys at school. Preventive health care is one more area in which women develop consciousness. 
 
The organisation has close relations with women&rsquo;s organisations in Africa and the Arab world, as well as organizations that work for peace. The women appeal for moral and political support for the Sahrawi people in its fight for self-determination and independence.

ICEM Women&#039;s Bulletin: June 2008

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The continuing collective bargaining dispute between ICEM&rsquo;s North American affiliate, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, and French multinational LaFarge in Sugar Creek, Missouri, received keen focus in Paris recently. The ICEM, together with the Building and Woodworkers&rsquo; International (BWI) &ndash; co-signatories to a Global Framework Agreement with the company &ndash; brought the dispute before the company and French and other unions on 3 October. 
 
At a cement manufacturing plant in Sugar Creek, Lafarge seeks to dramatically change retiree medical coverage in collective negotiations with Boilermakers Local D-27. It seeks to exclude new workers from retiree health coverage altogether, while proposing to move existing workers to another, inferior medical plan upon retirement. 
 
That plan, if accepted, could see retirees&rsquo; pay double for their health care costs. The existing plan now finds pensioners paying US$254-per-month for family health coverage.
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In a statement issued following the meeting, the ICEM, BWI, Boilermakers, and the other unions said: &ldquo;We believe that the leading companies of our industry have a social responsibility that extends beyond the borders of the home country. When companies fail to meet their responsibilities around the world, it is a threat to workers everywhere. We therefore pledge to strengthen and mobilise our international network in support of the world&rsquo;s cement industry workers. 
 
&ldquo;At this moment, Lafarge is not meeting its social responsibility to the workers in the community of Sugar Creek, Missouri in the United States. We call on Lafarge to meet and negotiate in good faith with Boilermakers Local Lodge D-27 for a new contract that does not discriminate against workers on the basis of age and offers all workers the opportunity for a retirement with dignity.&rdquo; 
 
Boilermakers Vice President Warren Fairly said global intervention in Missouri is necessary because if Lafarge halts its social responsibility on providing basic benefits in the US, the pressure to concede basic rights and social benefits in the company&rsquo;s European operations can be &ldquo;foreseen in the near future.&rdquo; 
 
North American and European unions, together with the ICEM and BWI, met in Paris on 3-4 October over matters with Lafarge and Swiss cement company Holcim. Trade unions taking part included the Boilermakers, United Steelworkers, Laborers&rsquo; International, and Teamsters of the US, Unia of Switzerland, as well as French trade unions CFDT, FO, CFTC, and CGT. 
 
The dispute for 55 members of the Boilermakers Union in the state of Missouri has been ongoing since expiration of a prior four-year labour agreement on 30 April 2008.

ICEM, BWI, US Boilermakers Bring LaFarge USA Dispute to Company in Paris

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Norway&rsquo;s general workers&rsquo; union Fellesforbundet, conducted a World Day for Decent Work seminar on 30 September in the union&rsquo;s offices in Oslo. The event brought together representatives from many of the union&rsquo;s sectors, international officers of the national centre, LO, and Labour Party officials of the federal government, including Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion Dag Terje Andersen. 
 
The union intentionally convened the forum to occur just days before the government will take up the draft State Budget for 2009. That will start tomorrow, 7 October.
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One of the main proposals put forward by the ICEM affiliate on the budget is over social dumping regulations concerning the use of workers on temporary contracts. Currently, a person on a temporary contract must bear the burden of proof that an employer is circumventing existing legal procedures on the use of temporary contracts. 
 
&ldquo;Our demand is that fixed termed contracts must be the norm and that if an employer uses temporary contracts, it is their obligation to prove that it is within the limits of the law,&rdquo; said Fellesforbundet President Arve Bakke. As well, he added, a demand within this round of social talks is that &ldquo;the main contractor must be held responsible for wages and conditions for all employees of the subcontracting firms.&rdquo; 
 
Fellesforbundet also prominently took up the issue of restaurant workers at last week&rsquo;s Decent Work seminar. The union is demanding that the government impose regulations that the country&rsquo;s culinary industry must have regional safety representatives, much like those in other Norwegian industries. 
 
Such representatives could better monitor the social abuses so common in this sector. Fellesforbundet says workers oftentimes are enlisted in restaurants on a day-to-day basis.

Norwegian Fellesforbundet Discusses Contract Labour, Restaurant Work in Decent Work Forum

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Some 50,000 National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) members amassed in Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, 4 October. The mobilisation was in protest to the mining industry&rsquo;s failed implementation of equality measures in the senior ranks of companies, and racial prejudices that still haunt employment practices. 
 
NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka told the ICEM that the union is seeking transformation &ndash; meaning accelerated &ldquo;employment opportunities for women and for the historically disadvantaged who have been denied senior level positions&rdquo; by the country&rsquo;s mining houses. 
 
Seshoka also said transformation means a faster end to same-sex hostels in and around mining enterprises. 
 
Seven of NUM&rsquo;s 11 regional branches took to the streets on 4 October. They marched some eight kilometres from Beyers Naude Square to Joburg&rsquo;s city centre and the Chamber of Mines offices. 

<img height="156" alt="" src="" width="110" />
NUM Gen. Sec. Frans Baleni
There, NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni and President Senzeni Zokwana presented a memorandum to mining industry leaders, as well as to Business Unity South Africa, the Mining Qualifications Authority, and the Department of Minerals and Energy. 
 
The NUM is upset that 14 years after adoption of the Mining Charter, the industry is no closer to implementing equality provisions than when the landmark agreement was signed. 
 
Seshoka points to two recent incidents detailing unfairness. At AngloPlatinum Ltd., the world&rsquo;s largest producer of platinum majority owned by AngloAmerican, the company&rsquo;s only black general manager was sacked at the Lebowa Atok mine. The person was fired for alleged production shortfalls but, in fact, the mine is rumoured to be up for sale. 
The other incident saw a shop steward at DRDGold&rsquo;s Blyvoor mine suspended for taking up the case of a worker who claimed racial insults were levelled at him. 

<img height="105" src="" width="90" alt="" />
NUM President Senzeni Zokwana 
 
Saturday&rsquo;s march and manifestation may not be last the Chamber and its affiliates hears from the NUM. If progress isn&rsquo;t seen, South Africa&rsquo;s largest ICEM affiliate will consider work stoppages at selected companies. 
 
Meanwhile, 2008&rsquo;s death toll in South Africa&rsquo;s mines rose to at least 130 after four deaths over the past nine days. Two of those deaths occurred at AngloGold&rsquo;s TauTona mine. A miner was killed underground on 2 October there when ground caved in. On 27 September at TauTona, another miner was killed in a similar incident caused by an earth tremour. 
 
Also on 2 October, a waterjet operator inside Harmony Gold&rsquo;s Elandstrand mine died 2,900 metres beneath the surface due to a cave-in. The fourth death was an AngloPlatinum miner at Rustenburg who died in a hospital on 1 October from injuries he suffered in a deadly tragedy on 26 August. 
 
On 2 October, 3,000 miners at AngloGold&rsquo;s Savuka mine stopped work for 24 hours in accord with NUM policy to take a Day of Mourning following a mine death. A comrade died at Savuka, the world&rsquo;s deepest gold mine (3,777 metres) on 25 September.

NUM Manifestation over Mine Chamber’s Slow Pace toward Racial, Gender Equality

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Following the launching of a major report, &ldquo;Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low Carbon World,&rdquo; there was a meeting of the Global Policy Innovations Program, held at the Carnegie Council, New York, on 30 September. A series of speakers, including Jill Kubit, Sean Sweeney, Heather Grady, and Peter Poschen reacted to the report&rsquo;s findings. 
 
The report was commissioned and funded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as part of the Green Jobs Initiative jointly mounted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the ILO, and the International Organisation of Employers. It was produced by the Worldwatch Institute, with technical assistance from the Cornell University Global Labour Institute. 

<img height="114" alt="" src="" width="120" />
The report focused on the creation of millions of new environmentally-friendly jobs around the world, while at the same time underscoring the need for fair transition for workers affected by climate change and new initiatives to cut carbon emissions. For instance, in Germany, environmental technology is expected to grow the number of jobs four-fold to 16% of industrial output by the year 2030. 
 
The report does say too few green jobs are being created for the most vulnerable of workers: the 2.5 billion working poor &ndash; 43% of the total global workforce &ndash; and the 500 million young people about to enter the global workforce over the next ten years. 

<img height="133" alt="" src="" width="200" />
ITUC Gen. Sec. Guy Ryder

&ldquo;This report shows the massive potential for new jobs in green products and services and underlines just how important it is for governments, many of which have paid little or no attention to the social and employment aspects of climate change,&rdquo; said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder. &ldquo;We know that there is little if any chance of the global goals to cut carbon emissions being met until governments put their full weight behind the green jobs agenda,&rdquo; Ryder added.

Green Jobs:  Decent Work in a Low-Carbon World – A New Report

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Members of two ICEM affiliates in the UK are on the verge of escalating industrial action at worksites around the Sellafield nuclear facility in Cumbria. Unite the Union and GMB represent about half of Sellafield&rsquo;s 10,000 workers, and they began limited industrial action on 19 September. 
 
Unite and GMB members have rejected a 2% pay deal, a proposed increase that is below inflation. Management has also offered a bonus scheme, but the two unions say too many strings are attached for workers to attain the efficiency bonuses. A ballot was counted in early September which revealed that members of the two unions voted by nearly 90% for strike action. 

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The union Prospect, representing engineering and managerial staff, accepted a 2.5% pay increase plus a 2.5% bonus in mid-September from Sellafield Ltd., operator of the facility on behalf of Britain&rsquo;s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. 
 
Unite and GMB leaders at Sellafield will decide on Wednesday, 8 October, whether to escalate industrial action. For the past two weeks, workers have strictly performed only work in their own job classifications, refused to attend meetings on efficiencies, and refused cross-departmental work. 
 
If management does not re-open talks and improve the offer, strike action could begin on 16 October. 
 
The dispute has been simmering since late March, when 2008 pay talks should have been concluded. The massive Sellafield site, with a technical facility in Risley and a former uranium enrichment site in Capenhurst, will undergo a massive multi-year reprocessing and clean-up project, estimated to cost &pound;1.3 billion a year.

Industrial Action at UK’s Sellafield Nuclear Facility May Get Ramped Up

ICEM Agreement on HIV/AIDS Cooperation in India with German Pharmaceutical Company Boehringer Ingelheim 
The ICEM entered an agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim for the company to financially sponsor an HIV/AIDS project in India. Based on the initiation work by ICEM and its affiliates in India, and following an analysis of the prevailing problems and needs during a workshop in November 2006, negotiations for this partnership were facilitated by the German ICEM affiliate, IGBCE. The project runs from July 2008 to December 2009. 
 
The project&rsquo;s main objectives include closing the gap of qualified peer educators/lay counsellors in the industrial sectors covered by ICEM affiliates in India, and the up-scaling of awareness campaigns, education, and advocacy for VCT and ART. 
 
With the training of peer educators/lay counsellors and the orientation of medical and para-medical staff in company health facilities, as well as teachers and staff at company schools, it is expected that greater awareness will lead to behaviour change and that Know-your-Status-Campaigns will increase the uptake of VCT.
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Master Trainers Programme Implemented in Kolkata
As the initial step for the implementation of the project in India, a training programme for master trainers was held in Kolkata, from 25-27 August 2008. Twenty-eight participants attended the course. 
 
Technical assistance was provided by the ILO New Delhi Office and its HIV/AIDS programme coordinator, SM Afsar, and programme officer, Divya Verma. General Secretary BK Das of ICEM affiliate Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation coordinated the programme. Participants also benefited from the technical support of the West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society and Coal India Ltd. 
 
During the course, the master trainers acquired key training skills on the basics of HIV/AIDS, the role of trade unions and HIV/AIDS in the world of work, behaviour change communication, and integrated counselling and testing. 
 
Master trainers will train some 700 peer educators in the coal mining, cement, chemical, and diamond sectors. 
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International AIDS Conference in Mexico City 
Labour&rsquo;s voice was heard loud and clear in the Global Village as well as in many of the sessions of the main Conference programme, according to the Chair of the Global Union AIDS Programme (GUAP), Alan Leather. 
 
A delegation of over 40 trade unionists from 25 countries organised a two-day Labour Forum prior to the International AIDS Conference and participated in events of the conference, which was held in Mexico City from 3 to 8 August. 
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Thousands of AIDS organisations and representatives attending the conference received succinct trade union messages. Written and visual materials were distributed, along with thousands of free condoms at a highly successful trade union display booth, which became the centre for the GUAP coordination of activists. This centre served as an invaluable tool in explaining why workers and trade unions have a unique role in tackling HIV/AIDS in the workplace. 
 
The conference provided many opportunities for presentations and dialogue on the major challenges facing the global response to AIDS. Formal sessions, satellite meetings, exhibitions, events at the Global Village, and a well-developed Cultural Programme served to focus on efforts to expand the delivery of HIV prevention and treatment to communities world-wide through knowledge transfer and sharing of best practice. 
 
At the conference, the ILO organized its own well-attended satellite meeting to discuss the development of a new international labour standard on HIV/AIDS. It was moderated by Mexico&rsquo;s Minister of Labour and representatives from trade unions, employers, governments, the ILO, and other agencies actively participated. 
 
(Source: GUAP Press Release, 10 August) 
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Assessment Missions to Zambia and Uganda 
In the last year of the project cycle, the ICEM conducts an internal assessment of the programme at national level. In July, the programme in Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone was critically reviewed (see e-bulletin: August/September 2008). 
 
In August, Project Management Assistant Paule Ndessomin went to Zambia and Uganda to meet with leadership of ICEM affiliates, peer educators trained by the programme, and national HIV/AIDS organisations, as well as health authorities. Visits of factory sites completed the mission. 
 
Overall, the programme has had a very positive impact in both countries. Awareness has increased considerably. Peer educators were trained, but some companies are still reluctant to give them time off to discuss HIV/AIDS issues at the workplace. In Zambia, Konkola Copper Mines, with more than 11,000 permanent workers and 4,000 contractors, has a comprehensive programme, including VCT campaigns and the provision of ARVs. Other companies in Zambia and Uganda have made efforts but too many still lag behind in their interventions. 
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ICEM Affiliates in Colombia Organise HIV/AIDS Seminar 
On 12 August, the ICEM Colombia coordinator, Carlos Bustos, organised a seminar on HIV/AIDS in the workplace. Thirty-five participants attended the seminar, which reviewed the progress made since the first HIV/AIDS activities in 2006. 
 
Regrettably, only at Carbones de Cerrej&oacute;n, the large coal-mining operation owned by three MNCs in the north of the country, does an adequate HIV/AIDS policy and intervention programme exist. Participants resolved to form an HIV/AIDS team and to negotiate clauses in collective agreements and HIV/AIDS policies with companies in the framework of the ICEM&rsquo;s Social Dialogue Project. Basis for the dialogue with companies will be the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. 
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Global Fund: Dramatic Increase in Round 8 Proposals 
Proposals that were submitted to the Global Fund in Round 8 are more than twice as large, in average dollar value, as in any previous round. Highlights regarding the Round 8 proposals include: 102 countries submitted 185 proposals in Round 8, which is 35 proposals more than were submitted in Round 7, but about the same as the average over Rounds 1-7. 
 
The average two-year cost of the proposals submitted in Round was US$35 million, dramatically up from $16 million in Round 7 and US$12 million on average over Rounds 1-7. The total cost of the proposals submitted in Round 8 was US$6.4 billion, up from US$2.4 billion in Round 7 and US$2.3 billion on average over Rounds 1-7. 
 
The number of HIV proposals submitted in Round 8 was up by 30% from Round 7. The cost split between the HIV/malaria/TB proposals submitted in Round 8 was 50% for HIV, 33% for malaria, and17% for TB proposals. 
 
Only 40% (75 of 185) of the Round 8 proposals opted to follow the Fund&rsquo;s recommendation (but not requirement) that the proposal be &ldquo;dual-track&rdquo;, i.e. have one Principal Recipient from the government sector and one from another sector. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 93, 18 August 2008. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>,&nbsp;a Kenya-based NGO that serves as an independent watchdog of the Global Fund. 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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Technical Review Panel Recommends Approval of US$3 Billion 
After conducting its detailed review of Round 8 proposals, the Global Fund&rsquo;s Technical Review Panel (TRP) has recommended that the Global Fund Board approve grants that will cost in excess of US$3 billion. This is roughly half of the proposal amount (see article above), and makes Round 8 nearly three times the size, in dollar terms, of any previous round of Global Fund grants. 
 
Malaria proposals were particularly successful and represent more than half of the recommended amount. The recommendations of the TRP for individual grants are not known until the Global Fund Board gives its final approval in November. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 95, 26 September 2008) 
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Australia Mining Boom Linked to HIV Spike 
Australia&rsquo;s mining boom may be fuelling an alarming rise in HIV infections among cash-rich outback miners and businessmen who holiday in Asia. 
 
Rates of HIV infections in Australia have increased by almost 50% in the past eight years, according to a new national HIV/AIDS report by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research. Homosexual men still account for most new infections, but a large number of new infections are among heterosexual men in the country&rsquo;s mining states of Western Australia and Queensland. 
 
Many miners work fly-in, fly-out shifts consisting of several weeks straight of employment, followed by a few weeks off. Researchers say some are visiting Southeast Asian countries during their holidays and having unprotected sex. 
 
(Source: Reuters, 17 September) 
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ICMM Publishes Guide on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria 
The International Council on Mining and Metal (ICMM) published its new guide, &ldquo;Good Practice Guidance on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria,&rdquo; at the end of August. 
 
The guide provides a systematic framework and practical advice on disease management 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 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS Updates, the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) (<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) reports, among other noteworthy items, on the increased risk for HIV of Mexican migrant workers when they arrive in the US. The newsletter also covers changes in sexual behaviour; the high likelihood of married of Indian women, who experience physical and sexual abuse by husbands, are to contract HIV; and the introduction of a text messaging programme in Uganda to increase awareness of and knowledge about HIV/AIDS, including advocacy for HIV testing.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

Archive

Interview with Sérgio Novais, National Chemical Confederation of Brazil and ICEM Vice President, Lat

ICEM’s Focus on 7 October World Day for Decent Work: Contract and Agency Labour

ICEM Contract and Agency Labour Newsletter

ICEM Women's Bulletin: June 2008

ICEM, BWI, US Boilermakers Bring LaFarge USA Dispute to Company in Paris

Norwegian Fellesforbundet Discusses Contract Labour, Restaurant Work in Decent Work Forum

NUM Manifestation over Mine Chamber’s Slow Pace toward Racial, Gender Equality

Green Jobs: Decent Work in a Low-Carbon World – A New Report

Industrial Action at UK’s Sellafield Nuclear Facility May Get Ramped Up

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

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