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<img height="40" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
In the UK, trade unions are calling attention to 28 April’s International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers. The GMB is asking all its 600,000 members to convince MPs to officially recognise the day in the UK, as well as making it a national holiday. 
 
GMB wants more MPs to sign on to an “Early Day Motion” in the House of Commons calling for official recognition of the day. Labour MP Michael Clapham has submitted the motion, and GMB Health and Safety Officer John McClean said, “We need (MPs) to do more than just lift their pens” on the initiative. Clapham’s motion has 78 MPs signed on, and is also supported heavily by ICEM affiliate Amicus and the Communication Workers’ Union. 
<img height="90" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/UKGMB.gif" width="90" align="absMiddle" alt=""/>      <img height="82" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/UKAmicus.jpg" width="160" align="absMiddle" alt=""/>
Amicus, meanwhile, has distributed a petition to its members, also asking the UK’s government to officially recognise the day. 
 
Amicus Research Officer Chris O’Leary states: “Most workers don’t die of mystery ailments, or in tragic accidents. They did because an employer decided that their safety just wasn’t that important a priority. Sixteen-hundred people die each year in the UK while doing their job, and 20,000 die from work-related diseases. This country should remember them President Rudolf on this day, as they do in other countries and by doing so, reduce this slaughter.” 

The ICEM is extremely grateful to the ITUC, and particularly to Lucien Royer at the ITUC for tracking and distributing Workers’ Memorial Day 2007 activities. Much of the material in this special issue of InBrief originates from Lucien Royer.

United Kingdom: ICEM Affiliates Plan Workplace Actions, Events for 28 April

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The ICEM has expressed shock and anger at the mid-April killing of General Federation of Iraq Workers (GFIW) Vice-President Moaaid Hamid and his wife. The two were killed in the province of Nineveh during a clash between forces of the Iraqi army and terrorist elements inside the province. 
 
Hamid was a contributor to the founding of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions in 2003, before that trade union centre evolved into the GFIW. He had been a victim of Saddam’s regime against free and independent trade unions, and after the invasion, had been abducted and tortured by terrorists before he was freed by Iraqi security forces. 
 <img height="36" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/IraqGFIW.png" width="300"/>
In a letter to the GFIW, the ICEM wrote, “This appalling violence, coming as it does so soon after the abduction, torture, and subsequent murder of Najim Abd-Jasem, the General Secretary of the Mechanic Workers’ Union of your Federation, strengthens our view that there is a systematic campaign to eliminate the leadership of the newly formed independent and democratic unions that strongly oppose sectarianism.” 
 
The letter was sent by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda on 29 April 2007.

ICEM Mourns Killing in Iraq of GFIW Vice-President

<img height="40" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
The modus operandi by US multinational Ross International on human rights reads like the script of ‘how to behave badly in a globalised world.’ The company, which manufactures moulds for the glass container industry, appears to follow a handbook on how to subcontract and outsource work, while eliminating trade unions at the same time. 
<img height="66" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Colombiaflag.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
In a letter to the company last week, ICEM took on the company’s anti-union techniques in Colombia. ICEM Colombian affiliate Sintravidricol is running a campaign in that country to get the company to deal responsibly with its workforce. 
 
Ross International owns one facility in Colombia where a collective bargaining agreement exists, called Moldes Medellin Ltda. Reportedly, this modern facility operates at only 50% capacity and is constantly reducing its number of workers, with a prohibition in place on hiring new ones. The company also owns four other factories in Colombia, which all are enlarging their capacity. 
 
New jobs at these facilities come with far less job security and at lower salaries, with most workers being hired through temporary work agencies. On top of that, Ross International ignores union requests in the one plant with an agreement. It also refuses to comply with earlier agreements in that plant. 
<img height="71" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/USAUSW.jpg" width="130" alt=""/>
In the US, where the company is headquartered in the state of Pennsylvania, ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) faces very similar problems. There as well, union members are the victims of Ross efforts to downsize mould shops, and outsource work that has, for years, been performed by USW members. The serious reductions in staff at Ross International’s US operations affect three of the four company plants in the US: Penn Mould, Ross Mould, and Brockway Mould. 
 
Another sign that the company is not taking its obligations towards its workers seriously is that representatives of the USW have had seriously difficulties to even get a meeting with the management of the company to discuss the issues of downsizing, layoffs and possible solutions. 
 
As a mould manufacturer, Ross International serves both Owens-Illinois and Saint Gobain Container, Inc.

Ross International: Labour Problems in Colombia and US

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A severe industrial explosion at DuPont’s Guarulhos facility, in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, reportedly injured three local workers on 5 October. One worker was seriously wounded and brought to hospital, allegedly with burns on 50% of his body. 
<img height="74" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/BrazilSindiquimicos.gif" width="73"/>          <img height="66" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/USAUSW.jpg" width="120" align="absMiddle"/>
Information on the accident is limited. According to the ICEM affiliated Brazilian chemical union, Sindiquímicos, the local DuPont company declined to provide information on the accident. The union was not allowed to enter the plant, further stating that “not even the number of victims” was communicated by the company. 
Jim Rowe, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 943’s president from New Jersey, visited both the Guarulhos and Camaçari DuPont facilities in Brazil in August 2006, together with USW Director Joe Drexler. The company denied them the opportunity to tour the plants. In a USW news release on the current accident, Jim Rowe wonders how “DuPont continues to maintain its reputation as a safe company and sell its safety program to other companies in the wake of serious accidents?” 
<img height="304" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0610BrazilDupont.jpg" width="350" alt=""/>
Workers at DuPont’s Guarulhos facility, waiting for information
The tour of the facilities in Brazil was part of a larger effort by the USW to draw attention to safety and environmental problems stemming from DuPont plants worldwide. 
 
The USW states in its news release that, last year, a worker was killed by an explosion at the Camaçari facility. According to a report from the State of Bahia in Brazil at the time, DuPont was blamed for failing to implement control devices to prevent the explosion. Three serious accidents also happened over the last two years at a US DuPont plant in Niagara Falls, state of New York. 
 
The USW is the lead union in ICEM’s Global DuPont Workers’ Network.

Explosion at DuPont Plant in Brazil

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
A little-noticed, but monumental vote in the Canada’s House of Commons on 25 October was won by the Canadian labour movement. Hundreds of trade unionists, including members from ICEM affiliates Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada and the United Steelworkers (USW), flooded the Parliament in Ottawa to assure passage on this historic vote. 
 
The vote came on the second reading of a “private member’s bill” to ban, under the Canadian labour code, replacement workers or scabs during strikes and lockouts. Labour law in Canada is generally regulated by the provinces. But when an industry such as telecommunications, mining, or transportation crosses provincial lines, the Canadian national code takes effect. 
 
The second-reading vote passed by an overwhelming margin, 167-101, with all New Democratic Party and Bloc Québécois parliamentarians voting in favour. The fact that most members of the Liberal Party, and even a few Conservatives voted for the measure, Bill C-257, is a tribute to the trade unionists who moved this legislation forward. 
<img height="83" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/canadacep.gif" width="100" align="middle" alt=""/>       <img height="66" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/USAUSW.jpg" width="120" align="middle" alt=""/>
A scab ban across Canada’s federally-supervised work areas had been attempted over 10 times before, the latest in April 2005 when it was defeated by 12 votes. What’s more, Bill C-257 is a “private member’s bill,” introduced by a Bloc Québécois delegate, and such bills traditionally are extremely hard to pass in Canada’s legislative system. 
 
If passed, a federal scab ban law would impose a C$1,000-a-day fine on employers who utilise replacement workers during labour disputes. Efforts to pass the bill have been boosted by two provincial statutes that ban replacement workers, one on the books in Quebec since 1977, the other enacted in British Colombia in 1993. Research shows that not only the length of strikes and lockouts in these two provinces has been shortened compared to the average, but that neither capital investment nor job creation has been hindered by the laws. 
 
“There is an understanding among the majority of Members in Parliament that this proposed ban on replacement workers – scabs – is a modern and enlightened method of reducing the length and impact of labour disputes, whether they be strikes or lockouts,” said USW Canadian National Director Ken Neumann, an ICEM Vice President. 
<img height="169" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0605KenNeumann.jpg" width="150" alt=""/>
ICEM Vice President Ken Neumann
“Our union represents 15,000 Canadians working in the federal jurisdiction,” he added. “This legislation is important for those workers and employers directly, and will become a fair and balanced model for provincial jurisdictions that do not have it in their labour codes.” 
 
At the CEP’s Convention a week before the 25 October second-reading passage, delegates were lined up to take on lobbying assignments in the final push for passage. Those efforts, and the efforts of all Canadian trade unionists, paid off in the 167-101 vote. 
 
“Canadians who work under the federal labour code are now a little closer to the fairness and balance that exists in labour relations in Quebec and in British Columbia,” said Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President Ken Georgetti. The CLC, which headed the lobbying effort, maintains that scab labour is an outdated practice that does more harm than good.

Historic Scab Ban Legislation Making Way Through Canada’s Parliament

<img height="40" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
The Austrian national labour centre ÖGB has been asking, as part of an ongoing reform process, the opinion of its members on how they see their union and what they expect from it. Questions range from, “Are you satisfied with your union?” to “What benefits are you getting/needing from the union?” and “What do you think should be our priorities?” 
 
Both ICEM affiliates in Austria, the Gewerkschaft der Chemiearbeiter (GdC) and the Gewerkschaft Metall-Textil-Nahrung (GMTN), took an active part in the ÖGB poll, seeking to highlight a number of issues that they feel are particularly important. 
<img height="44" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AustriaGdc.jpg" width="43" align="middle" alt=""/>          <img height="62" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AUSTRIAgmt.gif" width="145" align="middle" alt=""/>
To that effect, a joint statement was released, co-signed by another Austrian union, Gewerkschaft Bau-Holz (GBH), with whom the two unions have been operating jointly as “pro.ge.” (Pro.ge stands for short for “Produktionsgewerkschaften in den Bereichen Produktion, Technik und nahe Dienstleistungen.”) 
 
According to the three organisations, there is a need to organise differently the work done by trade unions in Austria, as the playing field has changed. The world-wide activities of multinational corporations, as well as the ever changing employer-employee relationships are cited as part of that. 
 
In their joint statement, emphasis was placed on the need to support workers in all forms of atypical work, on the urgency in getting more women involved in trade union work, and on the necessity to cooperate more strongly on the international level, with other trade unions and members of civil society.

 Austrian Affiliates Take ÖGB Debate to Global Level

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The ICEM has put its weight behind an effort by its Ivory Coast affiliate, SYNASEG, to get local company CIE, the country’s electricity operator and subsidiary of the Bouygues Group, to stop its union-busting campaign, and to enter into a meaningful dialogue with the union. 
 
The problems between the union and CIE started in August 2005, after SYNASEG decided to support a national electric sector reform that was proposed by the government then. The government failed to carry out its own plan, and, instead, renewed CIE – and Bouygues’ – contract for a further 15 years. 
<img height="66" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/IvorycoastFlag.gif" width="100"/>
Shortly after that, CIE started its systematic and vindictive campaign to silence SYNASEG. As part of that, the company refused to engage in social dialogue, devised several delaying tactics, obstructed trade union freedoms, and abused the system of dues check-off by withholding fees and used the funds to favour third parties. The company also set up a Mutual Investment Fund, to which employees contribute but do not receive the benefits. 
 
ICEM sent a message to all its affiliated trade unions last week, seeking messages of support be sent to SYNASEG on the occasion of their strike, which was originally targeted for 23-25 October. The strike was first postponed by one week because of state-requested mediation efforts. Talks on Friday, 27 October, in the presence of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo produced an agreement to resume negotiations until the issues are favourably resolved.

ICEM affiliate in Ivory Coast Gets Presidential Commitment to Resolve Work Issues

<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
1 December is World AIDS Day 
 
Since 1988, World AIDS Day has been commemorated around the world to raise awareness of the global AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. 
 
The global theme this year is accountability with the slogan: 
 
Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise
Workers and their organisations play an important role in making World AIDS Day a success, yet they are often not recognised for their efforts. Global leaders have promised to deliver Universal Access to HIV/AIDS services for prevention, care and support and treatment by 2010. For unions and workers, this promise needs to become a reality in every workplace. 
 
ICEM affiliates are encouraged to join the campaign against stigma, discrimination and victimisation, and for prevention, care and support and treatment. Go to our website at <a href="/72-HIV-AIDS" type="internal">/72-HIV-AIDS</a> to find materials on HIV/AIDS. 
 
The World AIDS Campaign has been working with the international trade union movement to develop a poster with the slogan Universal Access to HIV and AIDS services in the workplace. See <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a> for more information. 
 
Please, report back to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a> on any actions you have taken. 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
Trade Unionists Focus on Fight against HIV/AIDS 
 
A special meeting of the Global Union Programme on HIV/AIDS was held in Nairobi on 19 and 20 October. The meeting reviewed the lobbying activities of the international trade union movement at major conferences in 2006, such as UNGASS, the G8 Campaign and the International AIDS Conference – all aimed at emphasising the crucial role of trade unions in the fight against the pandemic. 
 
The useful exchange of information and experience will enable unionists to develop effective strategies to prevent the spread of the disease, care for those living with it and combat stigma and discrimination associated with it. The meeting also considered new partnerships. The argument was made for a union involvement in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and for union representation on Country Coordinating Mechanisms. 
 
The ICEM was represented by John Brimpong, Ghana Mineworkers’ Union, and Agnes Manowe, Botswana Mining Workers’ Union. 
 
(Source: TUC e-bulletin International Development Matters, Issue 52 – October 2006) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
Global Fund Fails to Choose New Executive Director – Approves Some Round 6 Grants 
 
At its Board Meeting in Guatemala City, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria had to abandon its efforts to choose a new Executive Director from among the short-list of five candidates. 
 
All important Board decisions require a double two-thirds majority, with votes in favour needed from at least seven of the ten board members from the donor group, and the same number from the recipient group. None of the candidates achieved that support. The Board decided to launch a new search and will try to make an appointment at a specially-convened Board Meeting by mid-February 2007. 
In the meantime Richard Feachem, who announced that he will be leaving already eight months ago, will continue to serve as Executive Director. 
 
The Board approved 85 Round 6 grants that will cost USD 846 million over the first two years and USD 2,519 million over the full five-year grant period. As a result of recent new pledges, the Global Fund now has sufficient money to pay for all grants that were recommended by the Technical Review Panel. In total 196 proposals were submitted, giving an approval rate of 43%. In all six rounds 1,184 proposals were submitted, of which 444, or 37.5%, were approved. 
 
The Board also decided that a Call for Proposals for Round 7 will be made by 1 March 2007, with proposals to be submitted by early July 2007. Round 8 will follow the same pattern one year later. The early announcement is intended to encourage applicants to start the planning and development of proposals much earlier. 
The board further approved the establishment of a “rolling continuation channel” that will, under certain circumstances, permit a Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) to apply for up to six years of further funding when a grant is coming to its end. However, only between a quarter and one-third of grants are expected to meet the eligibility criteria. The Fund’s “continuity of service” policy only provides for two years’ worth of funding for treatment-based services for people who have already been placed on treatment. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 66, 2 November, Issue 67, 4 November and Issue 68, 6 November – GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
UNITAID Becomes Operational 
 
The UNITAID International Drug Purchase Facility was officially established during the UN General Assembly in September. Its Board of Governors met for the first time on 9 October in Geneva. WHO will host the secretariat and administer the UNITAID fiduciary fund. 
 
UNITAID generates money through an airline ticket levy first introduced by France on 1 July 2006. Founding members of the initiative are Brazil, Chile, France, Great Britain and Norway, with the Clinton Foundation facilitating bulk purchase of drugs at lowest prices. UNITAID contributed USD 69.5 million to the Global Fund, the bulk of which will go towards the cost of those Round 6 grants that will increase the number of patients on antiretroviral treatment. 
 
(Source: Website of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs – <a href="http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr">www.diplomatie.gouv.fr</a>) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
NUMSA Gives Credit to Carmaker on HIV/AIDS Programme 
 
Automotive giants in the Eastern Cape have received the thumbs-up from the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) for their effective HIV/AIDS wellness programmes. A workshop hosted by the South African Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS gave companies an opportunity to exchange ideas on how to improve their health and wellness programmes. 
 
Daimler Chrysler SA stated that 96% of its employees had at least one HIV test in the last five years. Close to 10% of tested employees are living with the virus. The company’s health services manager said that retrenched workers are entitled to stay on the HIV/AIDS treatment programme. 
 
The workshop also revealed, however, that especially small and medium size companies did not have any HIV/AIDS programmes because they did not understand the long-term negative impact of ignoring the disease. 
 
(Source: The Herald, 23 October) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
South Africa: New Directions for the Fight against HIV/AIDS? 
 
In a statement, COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi welcomed the establishment of an inter-ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the government’s comprehensive plan against HIV/AIDS and the revitalisation the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC). SANAC will be chaired by the Deputy President, with the Deputy Chair coming from civil society. 
 
In a remarkable turn-around from earlier statements by the Minister of Health, the Deputy Minister of Health also clarified the government’s position on the role of nutrition and stated: “We need to do everything we can to remove all confusion. We cannot afford a single death more and it is very important that we get that message across to people who have been misinformed that eating specific kinds of food is a replacement for antiretroviral drugs.” 
 
(Source: Star and Business Day, 1 November 2006) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
Case Studies of Union Action 
 
“Global Reach: How Trade Unions are Responding to AIDS” has now been published in the UNAIDS best practice collection jointly with the ILO and the Global Union Programme on HIV/AIDS. 
 
The report shows how the power of working people and their organisations can be harnessed in responding to HIV/AIDS. Eleven case studies from different settings show how trade unions are mounting new responses to HIV in the workplace: challenging stigma and discrimination, addressing the factors that increase vulnerability and risk, educating their members on prevention, providing care and treatment and building worldwide coalitions that campaign for more to be done to tackle the disease. 
 
The publication can be accessed at <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 14

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
The Mineworkers’ Union of Namibia (MUN) ended a 13-day strike last Friday, 10 November, by 360 miners at the Kumba Resources’ Rosh Pinah zinc and lead mine in the south of the country. 
 
Miners won salary increases of 10% for workers in lower pay grades and 9% for those in higher grades. MUN General Secretary Joseph Hengari said miners also won a benefit of one month’s salary when they resign or are retrenched. The collective agreement is for one year.
“At first, the company refused to move from its salary position,” said Hengari. “So the final settlement is an improvement over what the company originally offered.” South African-based Kumba had offered miners wage increases of 8% and 9%, while workers were seeking an across-the-board increase of 13%. 
<img height="66" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NamibiaFlag.gif" width="100"/>
Besides a pay increase reflecting the high prices and demand for Rosh Pinah’s major export, zinc concentrates, strikers were seeking better housing subsidies and relocation allowances. They were also seeking to bridge the parity gap that exists between Kumba’s workers in South Africa and Namibia. 
 
Kumba is a Black Empowerment Enterprise of South Africa that was spun off from the global mining house, Anglo American. The company is currently undergoing a further split, separating some of its iron ore operations from base metal and coal operations. The latter, which will be called Exxaro Resources, will be the company that the Rosh Pinah operations will be part of. Anglo American will still control 19% of Exxaro. 
 
Rosh Pinah produces 70,000 tonnes of zinc concentrates annually, the majority of which is exported to South Africa for processing. It also produces 28,000 tonnes of lead. Kumba announced during the strike last week that a special “unbundling dividend” of the company will occur shortly, based on surplus cash after costs. 
 
The MUN also negotiated salary adjustments recently for some 100 uranium miners who had engaged in a two-day work stoppage at Roessing Uranium in late October. Roessing Uranium accounts for 7% of the world’s uranium supply.

Kumba’s Namibian Mining Strike Ends in One-Year Agreement

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ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) of South Africa is outraged by the further retrenchment of 400 miners in the diamond-mining region of Kimberley, Northern Cape. DeBeers said that it would sack the workers, employed near the Koffiefontein diamond mine’s New Treatment Plant, by the end of the year. 
 
The company has not, as of yet, conducted the proper consultation process with the NUM. The union also is angered at DeBeers for not providing advance notice of the closure so that “avenues or alternatives to retrenchments” could be explored.
<img height="95" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMminingsector4.jpg" width="100"/>
“In our view, this constitutes bad faith on the side of the employer, who know the magnitude of problems that come (for people) with this kind of mass retrenchment,” said the NUM. 
 
The New Treatment Plant was only opened in the year 2000, and was expected then to extend the life of diamond-mining operations in Koffiefontein by 15 to 25 years. But DeBeers closed the Koffiefontein mine last year, costing 600 miners their jobs. In all, over 2,500 miners have been left jobless in the Kimberley area.

South Africa’s NUM Disputes DeBeers’ Further Retrenchments at Koffiefontein

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