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Some 1,100 rubber workers, members of ICEM affiliates Transport & General Workers Union (TGWU) and Amicus, voted to take industrial action at two Pirelli tyre plants in the Midlands. Workers were balloted after the Italian tyre-maker offered only a 2.2% wage increase.
The balloting, which took place between 10 July and 3 August, showed that a full 75% of workers at Pirelli’s plants in Burton-on-Trent and Carlisle accept industrial action as means to a fair contract. TGWU represents about 900 of the workers at the two plants, while Amicus represents 200. 
 
“The overwhelming vote in favour of industrial action shows the strength of feeling against the company’s 2.2% final pay offer,” said TGWU National Manufacturing Organiser Peter Booth. “Pirelli Tyres is one of the most profitable parts of the group and our members clearly feel that a below-inflation offer does not reflect their expectations, particularly with rising energy costs.” 
 
The unions have submitted the vote to the company, and asked Pirelli to reconsider its pay offer. The exact industrial action agenda will be released today. Pirelli had previously announced its intention to issue an initial public offering for its tyre division, but early in July cancelled any spin-off of this business

UK Unions TGWU, Amicus Vote for Industrial Action Against Pirelli

28 April – International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers 
Workers throughout the world participated in activities to commemorate the millions of workers who died, were injured or became ill due to unsafe, unhealthy or unsustainable workplaces. Focus of the activities this year was the call of the international trade union movement for a total ban of asbestos and the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
In a massive campaign international and national union bodies called on G8 governments to establish a permanent high-level G8 Working Group on HIV/AIDS at their forthcoming summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. Such a working group will help G8 countries achieve commitments made at the 2005 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, for universal access to treatment by 2010 and to the development of a vaccine to prevent HIV infection. (<a href="/?id=72&doc=1729&la=EN" type="internal">See also e-bulletin No. 7, April 2006</a>). 
 
Global Unions have updated their workbook, which reports on ICD activities. It can be accessed at <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/"></a><a href="http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_4c.EN.pdf">http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_4c.EN.pdf</a>. 
 
The ILO, as the current chair of the Committee of Co-sponsoring Organisations of UNAIDS, put the spotlight on HIV/AIDS as a workplace issue and produced a report, “Decent Work – Safe Work – HIV/AIDS.” 
 
Global Unions Advisory Committee 
 
The Advisory Committee of the Global Unions Programme on HIV/AIDS met in Geneva from 4 to 6 April. The committee, which brings together representatives of all Global Unions, funding organisations and the ILO and UNAIDS, developed a strategic work plan for 2006 and 2007 and a joint action plan for interventions at major events. The overall objectives of the GU Programme are: 
<ul>
 <li>Make HIV and AIDS a priority issue for trade unions </li>
 <li>Strengthen capacity of trade unions  </li>
 <li>Develop partnerships to position trade unions within the AIDS response  </li>
 <li>Mobilise resources, especially at country level. </li>
</ul>
Go to <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/hiv-aids">www.global-unions.org/hiv-aids</a> for more information on the programme. 
 
 
High Level Meeting on AIDS 
 
The United Nations General Assembly will undertake a comprehensive review of the progress made in achieving the targets agreed by member states at the 2001 General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS), which adopted the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. The review will take place during a high-level meeting at the UN Head Office in New York City from 31 May to 2 June. 
 
The UN produced two reports, which can be accessed on the UNAIDS website www.unaids.org: a report on progress made until the end of 2005, entitled “Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: Five Years Later” and “Towards Universal Access: Assessment by UNAIDS on Scaling Up HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support.” 
In his foreword to the progress report, the UN Secretary General warned, “Failure to urgently strengthen the AIDS response will mean that the world will achieve neither the 2010 targets of the Declaration of Commitment nor Millennium Goal 6.” 
(Note: the wording “universal access to treatment by 2010” has mutated in some official documents to “coming as close as possible to universal access to treatment by 2010.”) 
 
Civil society organisations and trade unions will be represented at this important event. The South African government objected to the participation of the Treatment Action Campaign and two other NGOs and refused their accreditation. 
 
 
Bangladesh 
 
The ICEM-affiliated Bangladesh Chemical, Energy and Allied Workers’ Federation is getting involved in the fight against the pandemic. In a wide-ranging report to the ICEM, the Federation pinpoints the dangers which high-risk behaviours pose. 
Although the overall prevalence rate in Bangladesh is still very low, a large commercial sex industry, low levels of condom use and needle sharing among drug users contribute to a slow but steady increase in the infection rate. The Union is getting involved in awareness raising campaigns and the promotion of prevention. 
 
 
World Bank Suspends US$60 million AIDS project in Ukraine 
 
The World Bank has suspended a US$60 million project on combating HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis because of the government’s failure to implement the project. Only 2% of the funds earmarked in January 2004 have been spent. This is a major tragedy for the people who need treatment in this country, which has one of the fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in Europe. 
(Comment: While a series of political crises’ may have contributed to this development, the World Bank may also have failed to include capacity building into such a large project). 
 
(Source: Kyiv Post, 12 April 2006) 
 
 
Life Expectancy in Zimbabwe – World Health Report 2006 
 
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published the 2006 World Health Report in advance of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, 22-26 May. 
 
Outstanding from the mass of data are the statistics for the life expectancy in Zimbabwe, which at an average of 36 years is lower than anywhere else in the world. The high mortality rate of people at a young age is largely due to death caused by AIDS. 
Ten years ago, life expectancy was still 56 years. Zimbabwe is the only country in the world where women have a lower life expectancy (34 years) than men (37 years). Behaviour change may have contributed to a falling HIV infection rate in the country in recent years but more tragically a lower rate at this stage of the pandemic is probably due to the high death rate. People who have died of AIDS are no longer included in the statistics of people living with HIV/AIDS. 
 
By the end of 2005, only 20,000 people in Zimbabwe were receiving antiretroviral treatment. The target was 145,000 people, around half of the total of 295,000 believed to require the drugs. 
 
 
Global Fund Phase 2 Renewals 
 
Only 23% of the 124 Global Fund grants that have reached the end of their second year have met or exceeded the performance targets that were set by the applicants when they submitted their original proposals. This constitutes an A rating. 
(Note: Global Fund grants are approved for five years but are reviewed and rated after two years. The Fund can then decide whether a grant receives funding for Phase 2, i.e. years 3 to 5).
The rest of the grants received a B1 or B2 rating with a conditional or revised go-ahead. Only two grants received a C rating, which means that no funding is approved for Phase 2 (Senegal and South Africa). 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 56 of 17 April 2006) 
 
Theoretically, the Fund has the right to terminate grants at any stage, not only after a Phase 1 review. The Global Fund Board meeting on 27-28 April applied this exceptional procedure to two HIV grants worth some US$81 million to Nigeria on the grounds of inadequate performance. One of the grants was supposed to have 14,000 people on ARV treatment by the end of the first year, but the actual number was zero. 
 
On continuation of services, the Board agreed that in cases where people have started treatment on ARVs or for TB, financial support for such treatment would not automatically stop when a grant is terminated. 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 57 of 1 May 2006) 
 
Note: The Global Fund Observer is an independent source of news, analysis and commentary about the GFATM. To receive it, you can send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>. The subject line and text can be left blank. 
 
 
News from ILOAIDS 
 
The ILOAIDS website <a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids">www.ilo.org/aids</a> now features country profiles with information on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. They are also linked to new pages providing details of project activities. The 15 countries, which are so far included, can be found on the roll-down menu on the left side of the screen. 
 
ILOAIDS has made available, on its website, a tool kit for the workplace on Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) jointly published with Family Health International. The tool kit provides a step-by-step approach, emphasising prevention through education, gender awareness and practical support for behaviour change. 
 
 
Resource Pack on Gender and HIV/AIDS 
 
The UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team on Gender and HIV/AIDS developed a resource pack. It aims to strengthen the impact of national HIV/AIDS programmes by tackling a key underlying factor that fuels the epidemic: gender inequality. 
The resources pack contains an Operational Guide on a rights-based approach, a Review Paper on Integrating Gender into HIV/AIDS Programmes and 17 Fact Sheets with concise information on gender-related aspects of HIV/AIDS. The resource pack can be accessed at <a href="http://www.unfpa.org">www.unfpa.org</a>. 
 
 
This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter – How to Subscribe or Translate? 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="mailto:press@icem.org">press@icem.org</a>. Please put “subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin” in the subject line. 
 
Unfortunately, the e-bulletin can only be published in English. For a free automated (non-ICEM) translation of this HIV-AIDS bulletin into other languages, you may want to try <a href="http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr">http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr</a> or <a href="http://www.google.com/language_tools">http://www.google.com/language_tools</a> and insert the following URL into the window “Translate a Web page“: 
<a href="/index.php?id=72&la=EN&doc=1790" type="internal">/index.php?id=72&la=EN&doc=1790</a>.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 8

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Goodyear Thailand Ltd. has refused to reinstate 18 contract workers it sacked last year, despite an Industrial Court Commission (IRC) ruling that it must do so. Sixteen of the 18 reported for work at Goodyear’s Bangkok tyre factory on 3 May, but management refused entry. 
 
Later, the workers received letters stating that the company disagrees with the IRC directive and intends to file papers in Thailand’s central labour court to reverse the decision. “The IRC’s order is not final,” the letters read, “not until we exhaust the labour court mechanisms and the company cannot reinstate you at this time.” 
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The contract workers, employed in the warehouse and rubber stock department, were fired in October 2005 for attempting to exert their legitimate collective bargaining rights. Several had been working for Goodyear for up to 10 years under one-year contracts. Goodyear had been deducting union dues from their pay checks for as long as four years. The IRC delivered its reinstatement order in mid-April. The ICEM will continue to press for permanent employment at Goodyear for the Thai rubber workers.

Goodyear Refuses to Reinstate Thai Contract Workers

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A rare first-contract lockout in the US ended successfully for workers on 2 May when members of ICEM affiliate United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) came to terms with Stepan Chemical in Fieldsboro, New Jersey. Workers ratified an initial contract with the specialty chemicals company with a 33-2 acceptance vote that backed Stepan away from continuing a wage freeze, and making health care cuts. 
 
The lockout began on 26 January 2006 after workers chose UE for representation last year. Typically in the US, a company that loses a union certification vote will merely stall the bargaining process, sometimes for years. But Stepan responded to a spontaneous plant-site protest by the 40 workers by locking out the workforce, and attempting to run the plant with managers and scabs. 
 
Direct action by UE at Stepan’s shareholders’ meeting on 27 April triggered a 180-degree shift by management, and a first contract. UE produced documents that proved the company had spent US$1.8 million on expenses relayed to the lockout, including sums to clean up chemical spills. CEO F. Quinn Stepan, Jr., was shocked at the documentation, believing the figure to be only US$500,000. 
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Within two days, Stepan called offering a return to bargaining. The company and the UE workers’ representatives, led by Field Organiser Jim Ermi, then hammered together the initial labour agreement. 
 
“You shouldn’t have to endure a 14-week lockout to get a union,” stated UE Director of Organisation Bob Kingsley. “A courageous group of workers triumphed at Stepan based on protest and perseverance, but their struggle points out the deepening workers’ rights crisis facing all of us.” 
 
Stepan manufactures intermediates for use in consumer products, and has operations in the US, UK, France, Germany, Indonesia and Brazil.

UE Wins First Contract with Chemical Firm Despite Lockout

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The United Steelworkers (USW) kicked off a tour of South African trade union leaders of Sappi’s US paper mills by conducting a loud and demonstrative protest outside the company’s US offices in Boston, Massachusetts. Leaders from the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood & Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) of South Africa joined workers from Sappi mills in the states of Maine, Michigan and Minnesota at the 8 May demonstration. 
 
USW and Sappi are without current labour contracts at three of the company’s four US mills, and a contract at the fourth mill — Cloquet, Minnesota — expires today. Late last week, CEPPWAWU trade union leaders employed at Sappi mills in South Africa met with their US counterparts at mills in Skowhegan and Westbrook, Maine; Muskegon, Michigan; and in Cloquet.

Sappi’s South African Unionists Visit US Worksites

The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation (GUF) representing workers in the chemical, energy, mining and other industrial sectors, gives full support to the general strike in South Africa tomorrow, 18 May, called by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and some 21 trade unions there. 
 
The one-day strike, part of COSATU’s “Jobs and Poverty” Campaign, is in protest at employers’ continuous retrenchment of workers and failure to create jobs, as well as a demand for government intervention in scaling back a national jobless rate that is now at 40%. 
 
“Trade unions in South Africa are justifiably angry over high unemployment, stagnant wages, and increasing use by employers of casual and agency labour,” said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. “We fully support the decision by workers to use this day to make a strong statement.” 
<img height="124" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SouthafricaNUM.gif" width="120" alt=""/> <img height="122" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SouthafricaNumsa.jpg" width="120" alt=""/> <img height="120" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SouthAfricaCEPPWAWU.gif" width="120" alt=""/>
At the forefront of the general strike will be trade union members of the ICEM-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), and the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood & Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU). 
 
Striking workers will protest in several towns and cities in South Africa tomorrow, with marches scheduled to converge on selective industrial sites, offices of chambers of business organisations, and on governmental buildings.

Strike Warranted: South Africa’s 40% Jobless Rate Unacceptable

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In New Zealand, offshore energy and drilling workers belonging to ICEM affiliate Engineering Printing & Manufacturing Union (EPMU) are expected to ratify a new multi-employer collective agreement that will merge separate onshore and offshore agreements into one agreement. 
 
EPMU issued a strike notice to the five drilling companies and several oil firms involved. The strike was to have started on 24 May. Employers responded by filing a court injunction preventing a work stoppage. 
 
But two weeks ago, employers presented a revised two-year pay offer that EPMU’s oil and gas negotiating committee was recommending for ratification to the 200 workers. Voting is expected to conclude on the contract proposal in the near future.

New Zealand’s Offshore Oil and Gas Workers Get Tentative Agreement

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Mission to Ghana – Breakthrough in ICEM Pilot Project 
 
Key elements of the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Project are the pilot projects. In identifying areas where we can make a real contribution, the ICEM has developed the concept of such projects in cooperation with major mining companies. 
These projects target health clinics operated by the companies, which provide functioning medical services to their workers and immediate dependents. The clinics can be used to expand their services to the broader community in the area and provide voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) as well as antiretroviral treatment (ART). 
 
The ICEM concept has now received recognition at the AngloGold Ashanti mine in Obuasi, Ghana. Building on discussions between the ICEM and management in Johannesburg, AngloGold Ashanti is now involved in a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Health. The project is intended to provide HIV clinic services, including voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and antiretroviral treatment (ART) to employees, their dependents and the community of Obuasi. 
In a good example of a co-investment project, the company makes the infrastructure of the hospital and the medical staff available. It provides VCT and ART to its employees and their dependents at its own cost and gets reimbursed for such services provided to the community. 
 
During a joint mission with representatives of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator visited the Obuasi mine. Members of the delegation were briefed at the company’s Edwin Cade Memorial Hospital on the HIV/AIDS programme. Weekly health briefings at the Obuasi office of the Ghana Mine Workers’ Union will involve the union in the programme. 
The delegation also visited the Malaria Control Centre which was opened by the President of Ghana on 28 April. The malaria control programme covers the spraying of all houses in Obuasi. 
 
The joint ICEM/GFATM mission was a first for the global union movement. Representatives of the Ministry of Health/Ghana Health Service, as principal recipient of the grants, and members of the Country Coordinating Mechanism were briefed on the advantages of public/private sector co-investment projects for the implementation of Global Fund grants. 
In all meetings the point was made that the private sector includes business and unions. The ICEM can take credit that this concept has been recognised by the Global Fund when exploring further co-investment projects in other countries. 
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United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS 
 
Heads of state and government, ministers and more than a thousand representatives of civil society and the private sector gathered in New York for the follow-up to the 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) and a comprehensive review of the progress made in achieving the targets agreed by member states five years ago when the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS was adopted. 
 
Trade unions attending the event have urged government representatives and HIV/AIDS activists to focus on workplace strategies to address stigma and discrimination attached to HIV/AIDS. 90% of the 40 million people who are HIV infected are found in the working age population. Many of them live in daily fear of losing their jobs. 
The workplace is particularly well-positioned to combat discrimination in society and it holds tremendous potential for awareness-raising, prevention, treatment and counselling. More attention must be directed to the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, which speaks directly to the need for partnership and social dialogue in the workplace. 
 
Trade union representatives have also approached government delegations to seek support for the creation of a high-level G8 Working Group on HIV/AIDS. This ongoing campaign had already targeted health ministers attending the World Health Assembly of the WHO in Geneva in May. It will continue at the International Labour Conference of the ILO in June. 
 
As reported in the May issue of this e-bulletin, the UN produced two reports prior to the meeting, which can be accessed on the UNAIDS website <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>. On the eve of the High Level Meeting, UNAIDS launched the 2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic. This special edition, marking the 10th anniversary of UNAIDS, contains the most in-depth date from countries to date, based on progress reports from 126 countries. 
(The outcome of the Conference and the UNAIDS 2006 Report will be given more detailed attention in the July issue of this e-bulletin). 
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Global Fund Calls for Round 6 Proposals 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has issued its Sixth Call for Proposals. The application form and support documentation are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/apply/call6">www.theglobalfund.org/en/apply/call6</a>. Proposals have to reach the Global Fund by 3 August. 
 
The Global Fund does not have offices in any country. The application process is devolved to the national level. All proposals have to go through the Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCM). The composition of the CCMs is supposed to be representative of all stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including civil society, the private sector and organisations of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). 
Very few CCMs include trade unionists. This should not prevent trade unions to work through members of the CCM who are sympathetic to their cause and to find cooperating partners who can develop workplace-related project ideas into proposals for the CCM. 
 
The role of the workplace in the fight against HIV/AIDS is recognised. No workplace activities can be efficiently implemented without unions. The role of national unions and their international bodies, the Global Unions Federations, is acknowledged by international organisations such as the ILO, the WHO and UNAIDS. 
 
The Global Fund is keen to build public/private partnerships and to implement co-investment projects. Without the involvement of the private sector, universal access to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and to anti-retroviral treatment (ART) is not possible or will be further delayed. The private sector is business and trade unions as the workers’ representatives. 
The ICEM has worked with the Global Fund to establish this principle in public/private co-investment projects. 
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FNV Report Acknowledges Contribution of ICEM Projects 
 
In a report entitled “Trade union support in the struggle against HIV/AIDS”, FNV Mondiaal, the international trade union development organisation of the Dutch national centre FNV, stresses the importance of HIV/AIDS as a trade union issue. 
FNV Mondiaal is currently supporting 12 HIV/AIDS-related projects in cooperation with Global Union Federations and national unions. Fighting the pandemic is one of the priorities of its business plan 2005-2008. 
 
The report cites the ICEM project, which also enjoys the support of the Swedish LO/TCO, as a good example of integrating HIV/AIDS issues in collective bargaining and global framework agreements. 
The report gives credit to the ICEM’s efforts to build partnerships, especially in Ghana, to decrease the incidence of HIV/AIDS in mining companies and to upscale VCT and ART. It further acknowledges ICEM’s role in working with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and national Country Coordinating Mechanisms to involve unions and generate additional funds. 
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Australia and AIDS 
 
Two initiatives have been launched in Australia to try to stop the spread of HIV infections in Asia, from where 40% of the disease’s growth is forecast to come over the next few years. 
The first is a partnership between the Australian government and the Bill Clinton Foundation. Australia will provide USD 18 million to work with the Foundation in China, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea to provide test kits and antiretroviral drugs. The government-Clinton coalition will work with a second cooperative effort involving Australian companies that have operations in Asia. 
(Source: The Economist, 1 April 2006) 
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South Africa: May Day Focus on HIV/AIDS 
 
Along with a number of trade unions throughout Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions focussed its 1 May activities on HIV/AIDS under the theme “AIDS – The New Struggle”. It emphasised breaking the silence and building solidarity with the slogan “Each one teach one! Test, Treat and Fight for Life”. 
Sectoral summits with employers and other stakeholders are planned during 2006 and mining companies will be asked to create a fund to assist with the scaling up of access to care and treatment in Lesotho and Mozambique, where the pandemic has been fuelled by migrant labour to the mines. 
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Fighting HIV/AIDS – Lessons from Brazil 
 
In the history of the response to the HIV pandemic, Brazil is best known for its pioneering decision in 1996 to offer free combination antiretroviral treatment to all citizens. 
The government-funded treatment programme has improved the health and extended the survival of countless Brazilians, has saved the country billions in hospital cost and has inspired similar efforts elsewhere – including the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the WHO’s 3x5 Initiative. 
Between 1996 and 2005, the government spent a total of USD 3.5 billion in response to HIV and AIDS, including USD 2 billion for antiretroviral drugs. All the money for drug treatment has come from internal funds; about 11% of total expenditure has come from World Bank loans, spent chiefly for prevention programmes and to establish a national laboratory network for the clinical monitoring of patients. 
 
Brazil’s persistent and aggressive efforts to prevent new HIV infections have probably played an equal if not greater role than treatment in slowing down the spread of the virus and containing the country’s epidemic. At the beginning of the 1990s, the epidemics in Brazil and South Africa were at a similar stage, with a prevalence rate of about 1.5% among adults of reproductive age. 
 
However, by 1995, the year before Brazil’s treatment programme was established, the epidemic in South Africa began to explode with a prevalence already greater than 10%, whereas the infection rate in Brazil had declined by half. The early success of prevention efforts allowed its national treatment programme to be feasible logistically and financially by limiting the number of people infected. 
In turn, access to free treatment has made Brazilians more willing to be tested and has made it easier to address the types of behaviour associated with transmission. 
 
In Brazil, during the week before Carnival, citizens who ventured to catch a bus, buy a beer or mail a letter were likely to be reminded by their government to use condoms. Postal costumers received condom brochures along with their stamps. Public health officials, contracted with Coca-Cola distributors, delivered condom posters to bars along with the soft drinks. Prevention efforts targeting high-risk parts of the population have achieved impressive success, particularly among injection-drug users and commercial sex workers. 
 
An important factor in making the programme affordable was the expertise of the domestic pharmaceutical industry, which allowed the country to produce generic versions of antiretroviral drugs with patents that had been registered before 1996, predating Brazil’s signing of the TRIPS agreement. 
For newly developed drugs, Brazil may still decide to issue compulsory licenses in the future on the basis of the WTO Doha declaration that the TRIPS agreement should be interpreted and implemented by member countries “in a manner supportive of WTO members’ rights to protect public health, and in particular, to promote access to medicines for all”. 
 
(Source: The New England Journal of Medicine, No. 19, 11 May 2006) 
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News from ILOAIDS 
 
A new brochure “The workplace: gateway to universal access”, published in April, gives a succinct overview of the role of the ILO in reducing discrimination and increasing access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. 
 
Published in May, “Saving lives, protecting jobs” is an interim report of the International HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Programme, also known as Strategic HIV/AIDS Responses by Enterprises (SHARE) and financed by the US Department of Labor. Under the programme, almost 2,800 government officials and key members of workers’ and employers’ organisations have received in-depth training on developing policies and implementing programmes on HIV/AIDS. Over 2,000 workers have been trained as peer educators. 
 
Both publications can be accessed at <a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids">www.ilo.org/aids</a>. 
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REMINDER TO ICEM AFFILIATES 
 
This is your newsletter – contribute to it! 
 
ICEM affiliates are already engaged in a wide range of activities; some have formal agreements with companies; others run education and awareness programmes at the workplace. 
 
To spread the information on new agreements and campaigns and to build on best practices, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to hiv.aids@icem.org. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 9

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The refusal by oil service companies doing business in Norway’s oil patch to harmonise a national agreement with other collective agreements in the oil industry has caused selective strikes. The strikes began on 21 June by ICEM affiliate NOPEF, and threaten to disrupt North Sea oil production, as well as impacting development and well maintenance work. 
 
NOPEF called 87 workers out on strike after arbitration between the union and the Oil Industry Association (OLF) failed on 20 June to achieve a new two-year pay deal. The oil service companies struck include Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, Weatherford and Oceaneering. The companies affected primarily maintain wells, aid new drilling exploration, and assist drilling production operations in the North Sea. 
<img height="140" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0604Lars.jpg" width="150"/> 
NOPEF's Lars Myhre
NOPEF is seeking to harmonise the oil service agreement with other national agreements covering testing, drilling, tug-piloting, catering and other operational areas, agreements that already have common working conditions. “Oil service companies do not want staff on regular weekly schedules and regular rotations,” said NOPEF’s Lars Myhre, ICEM’s Energy Section chairman, adding, “They are only interested in their own flexibility demands.”

NOPEF Seeks Harmonisation of Norwegian Oil Contracts by Striking Service Companies

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In Peru, 800 iron ore miners, members of Sindicato de Obreros Mineros, an affiliate of Federación Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalurgicos y Siderurgicos del Peru (FNTMMSP) began a strike 19 June against Chinese state-run Shouda Iron and Steel Group (Shougang). 
 
The strike at Peru’s only iron ore mine at Marcona, 350 kilometres south of Lima, was caused when managers of Shougang Hierro Peru failed to meet wage demands of miners, who are among the lowest paid in the country’s mining industry.
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The mine union, connected with ICEM affiliate FNTMMSP, is seeking wage increases equivalent of US$1.69-a-day, while Shougang offered only the equivalent of US$0.42-a-day. Shougang’s miners earn a salary of only US$13-a-day, far below the average Peruvian mining salary of US$33-a-day, according to Peru’s National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy. 
 
Union members at the mine last week blocked the entrance, preventing the company from using contract work to continue the work. Meanwhile, Peru’s government has declared the strike a legal one, meaning the company must continue negotiating with the union and the Labour Ministry can impose an increase to workers’ salaries if work is to be re-started. 
 
Shougang declared force majeure on all iron ore exported from Peru, the majority of which is destined for Japan and China. The Chinese state company bought the mine in 1992 from a state-run Peruvian company for US$118 million, and has increased production since 2002 by an average of 20% per annum. 
The increased production has caused numerous safety concerns, which have not been addressed, and Peru’s Energy and Mines Ministry says the company has not met investment commitments tied to the sale.

Miners Strike Chinese Iron Ore Operations in Peru

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