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PENGASSAN, ICEM’s white-collar oil workers’ affiliate in Nigeria, insisted that the government agency charged with product pricing and regulation reverse current petroleum prices in line with the recent decreases to international oil prices. 
Meeting at its National Executive Council last week in Benin City in conjunction with a workshop on “Labour and Challenges of Reforms in Oil and Gas Sectors,” the President of the union, Uche Okoro, said it was time longstanding disputes over excessive use of expatriate and contract workers be met with firm action. 
PENGASSAN’s President also expressed outrage at a campaign by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria to alter the country’s constitution to allow President Olusegun Obasanjo to stand for a third four-term term in 2007. “PENGASSAN suffered untold hardships and persecution in the struggle to bring about this democracy,” said Okoro. “We will not watch people abort it because of selfish interest. The first step to protecting democracy is to respect the constitution. There is no such provision as a third term in the constitution.”

PENGASSAN Says No Third Term for Nigeria’s President

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China’s second worst mine disaster of 2005 occurred yesterday when a gas explosion struck the Dongfeng Coal Mine in Qitaihe, Heilongjiang province. Some 250 miners were inside shafts of Heilongjiang Longme Group, a consortium of four state-owned coal businesses, when the explosion hit. The bodies of 51 miners were recovered, another 160 are still trapped, and 40 managed to escape. 
Year 2005’s worst mine disaster in China occurred on 14 February when 214 coal miners perished when a gas explosion rocked a mine in Liaoning province. Last Thursday, 24 November, 17 miners drowned inside shafts after flooding at the Gaocun Coal Mine, Tuancheng Township, Hebei province.

Gas Blast in China on 27 November Kills Hundreds

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Some 6,000 trade union members of UK affiliate GMB have voted by a four-to-one margin for industrial action against British Gas, wholly-owned by British-based Centrica Plc. 
The workers are resisting company attempts to close the final salary pension scheme to new workers. GMB has offered to review the pension scheme at the next actuarial valuation, but Centrica is insistent on achieving £200 million in costs savings immediately and final salary pension benefits for new hires is on the company’s hit list. 
The 6,000 are technicians and engineers who install, service and repair domestic furnaces. GMB shop stewards will decide this week on dates of action.

British Gas Engineers Vote for Industrial Action

ICEM Zambian affiliate National Energy Sector and Allied Workers Union (NESAWU) is facing retaliation and union repression for bringing to light mismanagement at the state power authority Zambia Electric Supply Corp. (ZESCO).
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The company has fired union President Peter Chupa, along with several branch leaders, and has cancelled the legitimate union responsibilities of General Secretary Yotam Mtayachalo. Since early last year, ZESCO has consistently been months late paying wages to utility workers. Lately, it has resorted to costly bank overdrafts to pay salaries. The utility has also failed to remit workers’ pension contributions. 
On 20 April 2005, ZESCO withdrew NESAWU’s recognition agreement because of a week-long strike in early March 2005 for unpaid wages and a demand by the union for resignation of ZESCO’s managing director. Retaliatory measures have only intensified since.
The union supported casual workers who struck early this year over low salaries and late payments at a new addition to the Kafue Gorge power plant, and ZESCO responded by locking 30 of the strike’s leaders from their jobs. 
On 10 January, Chupa was blocked by three dozen police officers from entering a ZESCO board meeting that was convened to choose a new chairman for the utility. But the existing chairman ran the meeting and had no intention of resigning. 
ZESCO has been plagued by power outages and transformer malfunctions due to management’s ineffectiveness in making capital improvements in equipment and infrastructure, particularly in areas affecting households. NESAWU has been outspoken on the many misdeeds that have caused such failures.

Mismanaged Zambian Electric Firm Targets Power Sector Union

Contents
1. Brazil leads in gender equality in collective bargaining 
2. Chile: Michelle Bachelet elected President 
3. Denmark: Anti-trafficking campaign 
4. Germany: Women in the labour market 
5. Korea: Businesses will recruit more women 
6. Spain: Trade Unions have to change their approach 
7. United Kingdom: One in five firms break law over Women’s pay 
8. United States: Women are getting even 
9. Venezuela: World Social Forum condemns the US for patriarchal violence 
10. Resources 
<img height="112" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMwomenBul.JPG" width="300"/> 
 
1. Brazil leads in gender equality in collective bargaining 
 
According to the ILO, the International Labour Organisation, Brazil ranks first in Latin America in terms of parental provisions obtained through negotiations between employers and trade unions. 
According to the ILO, the International Labour Organisation, Brazil ranks first in Latin America in terms of parental provisions obtained through negotiations between employers and trade unions. 
A new ILO document provides comparative data on collective agreements in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Venezuela. Of these, Brazil is the country which attaches most importance to parental issues, followed by Argentina. 
 
 
2. Chile: Michelle Bachelet elected President 
 
The election of Michelle Bachelet as President of Chile promises to widen the path to a more equal society as well as bring a sea change in gender relations. Already, Ms Bachelet has appointed women to occupy half of the Cabinet. 
A new women’s organization has been created, Women Constructing the Country, made up of women representing Ms Bachelet’s party as well as trade union leaders. The point is to have a more democratic, transparent and participative government. The organisation’s aim is to support Ms Bachelet’s government. 
 
 
3. Denmark: Anti-trafficking campaign 
 
In 2006, the trade union movement will focus on the increasing trade of humans. On 8 March – Women’s International Day – launch of a campaign against trafficking of humans will start. 
Women all over the world are traded to prostitution and in Denmark, an increased trade of Women from Eastern Europe has been noted. The Danish trade union movement can and will not ignore this crime which is the modern world’s slave traffic. 
Among other things, Women in Danish trade unions insist that priority and resources be given police to investigate the illegal prostitution environment. 
The view of human nature that lies behind the trade with women and children, with prostitution, is very far from the view of human nature that the trade union movement stands for. Therefore, more and more organisations elaborate ethical codes for employees about not going to prostitutes. For more information on what is occurring in Denmark on this most important issue, contact <a href="mailto:marianne.bruun@3f.dk">marianne.bruun@3f.dk</a>. 
 
 
4. Germany: Women in the labour market 
 
The number of Women working in Germany has gone up rapidly since 1991, but not the amount of work they do – that is only divided up among more people. With just under 49%, almost half of those employed in Germany are women – in 1991 it was only about 44%. However, the number of hours that they work has not gone up to the same degree. 
In 2004, Women’s work only made of up 41% of the overall volume of work. That is mostly due to the fact that many Women work part-time. In 2004, 75% of all part-time jobs were done by Women, whereas only about 37% of full-time jobs were occupied by Women. 
<hr/>
From our readers: 
 
Patricia Ferreira from Brazil writes that on 25 November they distributed a bulletin to the rubber plants to commemorate “International Day to Combat Violence against Women.” They also passed out white bands for women workers to put on their wrists in memory of the Women victims of violence. 
 
 
Oluchi Okorie from Nigeria writes that they had the NUPENG Congress in November. Prior to the election, the Women wanted to include in the constitution a review that a woman should be Deputy President. 
 
The National Executive Council of the union decided to make the national chairperson of the NUPENG Women’s Committee one of the NEC members. “So now we have a woman in the NEC of our union in the person of Mrs Funke Adediran. NUPENG’s Constitution now says that every NUPENG national chairperson of the Women’s Committee is automatically an NEC member. Our struggles continue until we get the best for Women.” 
<hr/>
5. Korea: Businesses will recruit more women 
 
Large private and public companies will likely be required to disclose how many female workers they employ as part of governmental efforts to promote the hiring of Women. Domestic firms will also be obliged to come up with action plans to increase the number of female workers if they are found to have employed fewer females than other companies in the same business sector. 
The Ministry of Labor has submitted a revision bill on equal employment opportunities, and if approved, it will become law and go into effect in March. Companies with over 500 workers will be required to make an annual report about the ratio of female workers to their total employees and the types of positions Women hold. 
The aim is to promote more corporate hiring of female workers, as the country is expected to face a labor shortage in the near future due to the falling birthrate and the ageing population. The government plans to provide incentives to companies that show a significant rise in female employment. 
 
 
6. Spain: Trade Unions have to change their approach 
 
The trade union confederation CCOO calls itself a union for Women and Men, but that is hard if the trade unions do not change their approach inside companies. In industry, it is hard to find more than 30% Women in production, and most companies do not even reach that many. 
True, companies make their own hiring decisions, but trade unions can intervene in how these decisions are taken. Hiring is discriminatory almost all over industry. Many companies are multinationals, and in other countries they do hire Women in production. 
CCOO has sections comprised of companies which have European Works Councils. European Works Councils should be asking questions about how Spanish women can have the same opportunities that Women have in other countries. 
 
7. United Kingdom: One in five firms break law over Women’s pay 
 
Almost one in five of the country’s biggest employers are breaking the law by paying Women significantly lower wages than their male colleagues, according to research by the Equal Opportunities Commission. 
A study by the commission of 870 employers, all of whom have reviewed their pay structures to check if they are paying equally, found that 16% are unlawfully discriminating against female workers by paying them less than Men to do the same job. 
The EOC said the true proportion was likely to be higher as these organizations were among the more enlightened employers, having voluntarily undertaken pay reviews. The 16% of companies which were breaking the law were found to have a gap between Men and Women’s salaries which could only be explained by the workers’ gender. 
The survey also revealed that Women were routinely missing out on senior jobs, starting on lower salaries and taking longer to get promoted, largely because they were more likely to take career breaks to have children. 
 
 
8. United States: Women are getting even 
 
The WAGE Project is an organization established for one purpose: to end discrimination against Women in the US workplace in the near future. WAGE means Women Are Getting Even. You can calculate your wage gap by visiting the site <a href="http://www.wageproject.org">www.wageproject.org</a>. 
 
Caught in the Storm: The Impact of Natural Disasters on Women by the Global Fund for Women indicates how Women and children suffer most from natural disasters, of which there were too many in 2005 – tsunamis in Asia and Africa, Hurricane Katrina in the US, Hurricane Stan in Guatemala, the massive earthquake in Kashmir. 
During and after natural disasters, women face effects in a variety of ways. Women are far more likely to die than men; Women are at increased risk of violence; Women do not receive necessary health care in many cases; Women may be denied adequate relief aid or compensation for their losses; Women experience ongoing economic vulnerability; Women are excluded from a say in rebuilding and reconstruction efforts. For the report, see: <a href="http://www.globalfundforwomen.org">www.globalfundforwomen.org</a>. 
 
The US organization CODEPINK launched a campaign in January to bring US women together with women worldwide to put a stop to the war in Iraq. Working Women are encouraged to sign the Global Women’s Call for Peace in Iraq. The global call will be delivered to the White House on 8 March. To sign the call, see <a href="http://www.womensaynotowar.org">www.womensaynotowar.org</a>. 
 
9. Venezuela: World Social Forum condemns the US for patriarchal violence 
 
The United States was one of the main targets of condemnation by the International Court of Women Against the Patriarchal Violence of Neoliberalism, held on 27 January in Caracas, Venezuela. The court was organized by diverse feminist movements as part of the Sixth World Social Forum. 
The interference by the US in other countries’ policies, the constant attempts to destabilize Venezuela, the extraditions of Colombian political prisoners, the manipulation of the press, the perverse economic embargo of Cuba, the violation of human rights inside and outside the country, the invasion of Iraq and the genocide of the Iraqi population, all bring great suffering to millions of Women, who are the first victims of the numerous forms of violence caused by these acts. 
 
10. Resources 
 
EI/PSI Action Tool on Pay Equity for Union Activists at <a href="http://www.world-psi.org">www.world-psi.org</a>. 
 
Five reasons why equal pay can add value to your workplace, by the European Commission is available at <a href="http://www.equalpay.nu/it_fakta.html">www.equalpay.nu/it_fakta.html</a> together with the link between gender equality and profitability by the Swedish Business Development Agency. 
 
Pay equity is good for the economy, by the Business and Professional Women’s Clubs of Ontario <a href="http://www.web.net/~equalpay/economy.html">www.web.net/~equalpay/economy.html</a>. 
 
The International Herald Tribune article, “In Scandinavia’s equality central, an antifeminist backlash?” contains an interview by ex-ICEM women’s committee member Lilian Knudsen, <a href="http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/12/06/style/feminists.php">www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/12/06/style/feminists.php</a>. 
 
Austrian Metalworkers and Textile Union women’s site: <a href="http://www.metallerfrauen.at">www.metallerfrauen.at</a> - in German. 
 
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) Manual on Women in the Global Economy: <a href="http://www.icftu.org">www.icftu.org</a>. 
Human and labor rights for women workers in the maquilas of Mexico: <a href="http://www.cfomaquiladoras.org">www.cfomaquiladoras.org</a>. 
 
European Women’s Lobby, <a href="http://www.womenlobby.org">www.womenlobby.org</a>. 
 
“Women, Work and Health Congress on Safety and Health at Work,” 27-30 November 2005 in India: <a href="http://www.swl-delhi.org/wwh/wwh_2005_conference.html">www.swl-delhi.org/wwh/wwh_2005_conference.html</a>. 
 
International Campaign on Women Human Rights Defenders, 
<a href="http://www.defendingwomen-defendingrights.org">www.defendingwomen-defendingrights.org</a>. 
 
Human Rights Watch World Report 2006: <a href="http://www.hrw.org">www.hrw.org</a>. 
 
The World’s Women 2005, Progress in Statistics, critical for making crucial development decisions: <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/Demographic/products/indwm/wwpub.htm">http://unstats.un.org/unsd/Demographic/products/ 
indwm/wwpub.htm</a>. 
 
World Health Organization’s (WHO) “Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women” at <a href="http://www.who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study/en/index.html">www.who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study 
/en/index.html</a>. 
 
State of the World’s Children 2006: <a href="http://www.unicef.org/sowc06">www.unicef.org/sowc06</a>. 
<hr/>
 
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ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN NO. 8: January/February 2006

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A US District Court issued an injunction against maverick mining company International Coal Group (ICG), 26 January, to prevent the firm from blocking United Mine Workers’ (UMWA) union investigators from the Sago Mine in the state of West Virginia. Twelve miners were killed inside the mine on 2 January. 
UMWA does not represent Sago’s 150 miners, but many workers there requested that UMWA take part in the follow-up probe, an action both lawful and binding under the US Mine Safety & Health Act (MSHA). ICG prevented UMWA investigators from entering the jobsite, using security guards to deny access. ICG quickly appealed the injunction obtained by the agency that oversees MSHA, but an appellate court in Richmond, Virginia, denied reviewing it. 
The US company now must allow UMWA to investigate IGC and Sago’s horrid and deadly safety practices. With energy demand and high coal prices driving the reopening of closed coal shafts in the US East, other coal mine fatalities have occurred in West Virginia in the wake of Sago. 
On 19 January, a conveyer belt fire at Aracoma Coal’s Alma Mine in Melville caught fire, trapping and killing two. On 31 January, two separate deaths occurred; one when a wall collapsed, killing a miner at Long Branch Energy’s Wharton mine, the other when an operator on a bulldozer at Massey Energy’s Black Castle surface mine struck a gas pipeline. The total of 16 mine deaths in West Virginia since 2 January exceeds the entire 2005 death count, which was three. 
In contrast, and also on 31 January, some 1,000 miles west, 90 miners and UMWA members at Freemen United Coal Co., near Gilead, Illinois, were evacuated after high levels of carbon monoxide were detected by UMWA-operated equipment inside the mine. UMWA teams safely brought the trapped miners to the surface, and the mine will remain closed pending an investigation.

UMWA Mine Safety Teams Succeed in US

G8 Working Group on HIV/AIDS – Global Unions Increase Pressure 
 
On 28 February, Global Unions launched an HIV/AIDS Campaign to convince Heads of State at the G8 Summit in Russia in July to create a permanent high-level G8 working group on HIV/AIDS. 
 
Alan Leather, Chair of the HIV/AIDS Global Unions Steering Committee, called on national union bodies in G8 countries to deliver letters to their Head of State and on unions the world over to deliver such letter calling for the establishment of a Working Group to the G8 government embassies in their country. This action forms part of the overall work of the Trade Union Advisory Group of the OECD (TUAC) and the Global Unions to influence the G8 outcome next July, which will focus on energy security, education and health issues. 
 
For more details see the Global Unions statement at <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_8.EN.pdf">http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_8.EN.pdf</a>. The draft letter for unions in G8 countries to their Heads of State is provided at <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_7.EN.rtf">http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_7.EN.rtf</a> as well as 7a, b and c for the respective country groups to deliver letters to the embassies. 
 
The Kenya Plantations and Agricultural Workers’ Union became the first union to join the campaign by delivering a letter to the British High Commissioner in Nairobi. The union told the High Commissioner that a permanent working group was needed to guarantee progress on the commitments made by governments at the Gleneagles G8 Summit last year to achieve universal access to treatment by 2010 and to further the development of a vaccine to prevent HIV infection. 
 
Focus on Women 
 
On International Women’s Day, 8 March, ILOAIDS emphasised that there is more and more evidence about the susceptibility of women and girls to HIV transmission due to both gender inequalities and biological differences between men and women: 60 percent of new HIV infections occur to women, with even higher proportions for women under 25 years. 
 
The ILO drew attention to the Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. Principle 3 of the Code states, “The gender dimension of HIV/AIDS should be recognised. Women are more likely infected and more often adversely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic than men due to biological, socio-cultural and economic reasons. The greater the gender discrimination in societies and the lower the position of women, the more negatively they are affected. Therefore, more equal gender relations and the empowerment of women are vital to successfully prevent the spread of HIV infection and enable women to cope with HIV/AIDS”. (Source: ILOAIDS Website) 
 
The joint WHO/UNAIDS report (see below) states, “While the report found no systematic bias against women in (antiretroviral treatment) ART access, rates of coverage for women varied. In some countries, more women receive treatment; in others, more men."
"One notable area of concern is access to therapy to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, which remains unacceptably low. Between 2003 and 2005, fewer than 10% of HIV-positive pregnant women received antiretroviral prophylaxis before or during childbirth. As a result, 1800 infants were born with HIV every day. Each year, over 570 000 children under the age of 15 die of AIDS, most having acquired HIV from their mothers. In 2005, 660 000 children under the age of 15 were in need of immediate ART, representing more than 10% of unmet global need. Nine out of ten children needing treatment live in sub-Saharan Africa.” (Source: WHO/UNAIDS News Release, 28 March 2006) 
 
HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects women and girls in Africa, necessitating a new U.N. agency to focus specifically on women and HIV/AIDS, U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis said at a news conference on 17 March. 
Lewis, who had just returned from a trip to Lesotho and Swaziland, said a recent government study shows that 56% of pregnant women in Swaziland between ages 25 and 29 are living with HIV/AIDS and that about 30% of 15- to 17-year-old girls in Lesotho are living with the disease. An estimated 43% of HIV-positive people ages 15 to 49 in Lesotho are men, and about 57% are women. 
The rate of HIV-positive women in Swaziland is "the highest prevalence I have ever encountered in the last five years," Lewis said. He added, "What has happened to women is such a gross and palpable violation of human rights that the funding must be found," saying that a well-funded and influential agency targeting women would reduce the HIV prevalence within the group. (Source: Reuters Canada, 17 March 2006) 
 
 
WHO-UNAIDS: 3 by 5 Initiatives Short of Target 
 
A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) shows that the number of people on HIV antiretroviral treatment (ART) in low- and middle-income countries more than tripled to 1.3 million in December 2005 from 400 000 in December 2003. 
Charting the final progress of the "3 by 5" strategy to expand access to HIV therapy in the developing world, the report also says that the lessons learned in the last two years provide a foundation for global efforts now underway to provide universal access to HIV treatment by 2010. 
Progress in treatment scale-up, while substantial, was less than initially hoped. (Reminder: “3 by 5” stands for treatment for 3 million infected persons by the end of 2005). The report notes, however, that treatment access expanded in every region of the world during the “3 by 5” initiative, with approximately 50 000 additional people beginning ART every month in the past year. 
Sub-Saharan Africa, the region most severely impacted, led the scale-up effort, with the number of people receiving HIV treatment there increasing more than eight-fold to 810 000 from 100 000 in the two-year period. By the end of 2005, more than half of all people receiving HIV treatment in low- and middle-income countries resided in sub-Saharan Africa, up from one-quarter two years earlier. 
In July 2005, the G8 nations endorsed a goal of working with WHO and UNAIDS to develop an essential package of HIV prevention, treatment and care with the aim of moving as close as possible to universal access to treatment by 2010, a target subsequently endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2005. 
The new WHO/UNAIDS report outlines a number of steps that must be taken to continue and expand treatment scale up toward achieving this goal. 
 
(Source: Joint News Release WHO/UNAIDS, 28 March 2006. The full report can be accessed on the WHO and UNAIDS websites <a href="http://www.who.int">www.who.int</a> and <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a> ). 
 
 
East Asia and Pacific Conference Focuses on Children 
 
An estimated 1.5 million children in the Asia-Pacific region have lost one or both parents; 121,000 children are HIV positive and about 35,000 children in the region are in need of antiretroviral treatment. These were the stark figures, which confronted delegates at a three-day conference in Hanoi in March. 
 
The first high-level conference, concentrating solely on children, discussed how to intensify prevention efforts, upscale treatment and eliminate mother-to child transmission. Support groups for kids infected by the virus, or who have lost parents to AIDS, must also be created. 
(Source: Posted on <a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com">www.medicalnewstoday.com</a> on 24 March and Borneo Bulletin, Brunei, 23 March 2006) 
 
 
Reductions in Drug Prices 
 
Hardly a week goes by without news that that the price of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) is coming down and more multinational pharmaceutical companies agree to license their drugs for the production of generics. While the efforts of individual companies are appreciated, a more coordinated and comprehensive approach is called for. UNAIDS noted that further price cuts were needed to achieve universal access to ARVs by 2010. 
 
In Nigeria, efforts are being made with the help of Evans Medical, a UK-based pharmaceutical company, to bring treatment to 250,000 infected persons. These ARVs are locally manufactured and would thus help to ensure availability and affordability. An estimated 3.6 million Nigerians are currently infected; many of them need treatment but very few receive it. 
There are only 50 ARV treatment sites in Africa’s most populous country and only approximately 17,000 patients receive consistent aid. In early March, Merck announced a 20-percent reduction of its ARV Stocrin to patients in developing countries. 
 
Critics of price cuts claim that even with the reduction, the majority of patients in third-world countries lack the financial ability to afford such medication. In lieu of further reductions, the alternative is to make cheaply priced generics more widespread. 
In the March e-bulletin, we reported on a deal between Bristol-Myers Squibb and two generic drug makers (Aspen Pharmacare in South Africa and Emcure Pharmaceuticals in India) to make its second-line ARV available at lower cost. Roche, a Swiss pharmaceutical company signed a similar agreement licensing its second-line ARV for generic production and marketing in sub-Saharan Africa. 
These are important developments as patients often become resistant to first-line drugs within a year and must change to second-line therapies, which, so far, have been up to ten times more expensive. 
 
 
HIV/AIDS Menace in Indian Call Centres 
 
A study on sexual attitudes and practice of employees in call centres and business-process-outsourcing firms found that there is an alarming rise in the percentage of respondents who have multiple sexual partners and unprotected sex – as opposed to an earlier study of the general population. 
 
The boom in IT-related outsourced industries has challenged traditional society and has created social conditions and new life-style practices among upward-mobile workers that can promote HIV transmission. The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBC) has launched its HIV/AIDS Call Centre Initiative, which includes a comprehensive prevention programme and access to testing and support services. 
 
Although the prevalence rate in India is still relatively low, in a population of over one billion that translates into more than five million Indians being HIV positive. 
(Source: Press Release of the GBC, 20 March on <a href="http://www.businessfightsaids.org">www.businessfightsaids.org</a> and various Indian newspapers) 
 
 
News from the Global Fund 
 
Dr. Robert Feachem, the Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), has announced that he will leave his position when his current contract expires on 15 July, or as soon thereafter as a successor can be put in place. Feachem will be remembered as the man who took the Global Fund from dream to reality. 
When he started, the Global Fund had only a dozen staff, and it had not signed a single grant agreement or disbursed a single dollar. Nearly four years later, it has 200 staff, it has signed 390 grant agreements worth USD 3.6 billion and it has disbursed over USD 2 billion. 
 
As of 5 March, funds contributed and pledged to the Fund by donors totalled USD 8.5 billion of which nearly USD 5 billion had actually been received. For Round 1 to 5, grants nearly USD 5 billion have been approved and more than USD 2 billion has been disbursed to principal recipients. The rest of the funds pledged has been committed already. 
It is therefore not clear when a call for proposals for Round 6 will be made, as at present there is no money to pay for new grants. Thus there is a real threat that Round 6 grants will not be approved well into 2007. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 55 of 5 March 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. 
 
 
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=1729" type="internal">/index.php?id=72&la=EN&doc=1729</a>.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 7

The ICEM, as part of Global Unions, supports the “Global Call to Action Against Poverty” (GCAP), which was launched at this year’s World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. Backed by a wide range of organisations, the GCAP aims to pressure the world’s governments to dedicate the necessary resources and time to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG). These MDGs set world targets to decrease overall poverty. Examples include reducing child mortality by two thirds by 2015, ensure primary education and reduce by half the number of people without access to safe drinking water. Trade unions can play an important role in this anti-poverty campaign, as their support often makes the difference in areas such as fair trade, debt reduction or AIDS. Detailed campaigning material on GCAP, including trade union-related info on MDGs, can be downloaded from the ICFTU site: http://www.icftu.org (in English, French and Spanish). Unions can also get in contact with their national centers for more information on this campaign.

ICEM Supporting Poverty Action Call

The 700 striking workers that occupy the Turkish Cellulose and Paper Factories (SEKA) in Izmit, Turkey, also faced a police invasion. At the plant, where ICEM affiliate Selülöz-Is, with the overwhelming support of the local community, is engaged in a struggle against impending privatisation, police tried to force their way into the factory late last week. A number of people, including family members of the workers, were wounded during the operation which led to a stand off between the union members, together with 5,000 union supporters, on the one hand, and the police on the other.

Turkish Paperworkers Hold Firm on Government’s Plant Shutdown

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