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The global mining industry did produce one piece of good news over the past fortnight. Canadian mining house Ivanhoe announced it would withdraw from Burma, expressing to sources discomfort with having to deal with the military junta, which jointly owns a copper mine with Ivanhoe. The company will sell its 50% in the Monywa mine to a consortium of South Korean investors, including Daewoo International, which already has investment deals with the Burmese generals. 
 
The Ivanhoe Mines exit will happen in a July 2006 sale. Last week, Burma&rsquo;s military junta extended the house arrest on Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Her strong voice for democracy and human rights in Burma has now been silenced for the past three years by the corrupt Burmese military rulers. In total, she has spent a total of ten of the past 17 years in detention.

Canadian Ivanhoe Mines Pulls Out of Burma

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Affiliates in Colombia Organise First Seminar on HIV/AIDS
ICEM affiliates in Colombia organised their first seminar on HIV/AIDS and the workplace in cooperation with UNAIDS and the Ministry of Social Protection. 
 
The seminar concluded that there was a lack of consistent campaigning on the part of companies and also unions. To overcome ignorance, discrimination and stigmatisation participants recommended including clauses in collective agreements and drawing up workplace policies based on the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.
The seminar formulated an action plan which includes the formation of workplace committees, workshops, information material, revision of collective agreements and gender-oriented programmes. Each union is to nominate a focal point to coordinate implementation of the action plan. 
 
Company representatives were invited to the seminar but only Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, which&nbsp;represents the interests of BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American, participated. 
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Mongolia Union Concerned about Increase in Reported HIV Infections 
In a report to the ICEM's Asia-Pacific Regional Committee, the Mongolia Mining and Energy Union expressed concern about the recent increase in HIV prevalence in the country. Despite the still very low prevalence rate, the potential for a further increase due to unsafe sex, high infection rates among migrant workers and mobile traders and lack of education among young people is high. 
 
Workplace prevention programmes are at the initial stage in the country. Only recently, trade unions organised a national seminar in collaboration with the employers&rsquo; federation and the ILO on the introduction of workplace prevention programmes. 
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A Quarter of a Century of AIDS
The world has changed in 25 years since physicians saw the earliest cases of AIDS in hospitals in the United States and in Africa. The world was slow to recognise the gravity of the new health crisis and in the years in which AIDS remained off the political agenda, the infection took a foothold that it has not yet relinquished.
Over the last quarter century nearly 65 million people were infected with HIV and an estimated 25 million have already died of AIDS.
Today it is estimated that close to 40 million live with HIV &ndash; yet the vast majority are unaware of their status. More than 4 million became newly infected with HIV and almost 3 million died in 2005. 
 
With the establishment of the WHO Global Programme on AIDS in 1987 and UNAIDS (the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) in 1996, the United Nations moved to address the epidemic not as an isolated health problem, but as a human development issue. 
 
At the 2001 Special Session of the UN General Assembly on AIDS (UNGASS), 189 nations agreed that HIV/AIDS was a national and international development issue of the highest priority, signing the historic Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS that promised innovative responses, coordinated efforts and accountability for progress against the epidemic.
The Declaration set a comprehensive list of time-bound targets to support the Millennium Development Goal 6 of halting, and beginning to reverse the epidemic by 2015. 
 
In 2003, UNAIDS and the WHO promoted the 3 by 5 Initiative (3 million people living with HIV/AIDS on treatment by the end of 2005). Although the initiative did not meet its target, it focused attention on treatment and increased the number from 400,000 in December 2003 to 1.3 million in December 2005.
When new targets such as universal access by 2010 are set it is hoped that these are not empty promises but there is a real commitment behind them which includes the massive financial resources required. 
 
A real breakthrough in funding came with the launch of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) in December 2002. More than 20% of all international financing to fight HIV/AIDS is currently channelled through the Global Fund, which has approved close to 400 grants to government and civil society partners in 131 countries.
Funds contributed and pledged to the Global Fund by donors totalled US$8.5 billion. But even such a large amount pales when resource requirements for 2007 are estimated to be US$18 billion, while resources expected to be available from all sources are estimated at US$10 billion. Despite substantial increases in donor funding, huge gaps remain.
(Source: UNAIDS 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic &ndash; see below. Read also: Newsweek, 5 June &quot;AIDS at 25&quot;) 
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UNAIDS Publishes Report on the Epidemic
As reported in the June issue of ICEM's e-bulletin, UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, launched the 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic on the eve of a United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS. This special edition, marking the 10th anniversary of UNAIDS, contains the most in-depth data from countries to date, based on progress reports from 126 countries as well as independent data from more than 30 civil society organisations. 
 
The Report cites positive trends, and states that the epidemic appears to be slowing down globally but new infections are continuing to increase in certain regions and countries. The Report also shows that important progress has been made in country responses, including increases in funding and access to treatment and decreases in HIV prevalence among young people in some countries over the past five years.
It states, however, that HIV/AIDS remains an exceptional threat. The response is very diverse with some countries doing well on treatment but poorly on HIV prevention efforts and vice-versa. 
 
An estimated 38.6 million people are living with HIV worldwide. This is lower than the 40.3 million given in the UNAIDS December 2005 Epidemic Update. The lower estimate is partly due to genuine declines in HIV prevalence in several countries. However, most of the differences are due to increased availability of reliable data.
Rising mortality have also caused HIV prevalence to level off although the numbers of people living with HIV have continued to rise, due to population growth and antiretroviral treatment. 
 
The report can be accessed at <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>. It includes profiles of the 126 countries surveyed. 
(Source: UNAIDS Press Release, 30 May 2006) 
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United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS
Unlike the 2001 UN General Assembly Session on HIV/AIDS, relatively few world leaders attended the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS which took place in New York from 29 May to 2 June.
Civil society organisations have criticised the final declaration of this meeting. Difference over prevention strategies, such as abstinence and condom use, intellectual property rights, and the naming of vulnerable groups have resulted in a weaker declaration and in serious omissions.
In deference to Muslim and conservative Latin and Vatican opposition, the Declaration refers only to &ldquo;vulnerable groups&rdquo; at risk for infection without naming sex workers, homosexuals, or intravenous drug users as in need of particular attention. Civil society also noted an insufficient commitment to women&rsquo;s rights. 
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Global Fund Progress Report Shows Substantial Impact 
 
Performance results from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria show that as of the end of&nbsp;April, 544,000 people have begun antiretroviral treatment through Global Fund-supported programmes &ndash; up from 384,000 six months ago. 
 
Global Fund support for efforts to combat AIDS, TB and malaria account for 56% of the total US$5.4 million committed to date for programmes in 131 countries to fight the three diseases. Some&nbsp;400 grants have been approved so far. Of the US$3 billion allocated to AIDS, half is dedicated to prevention activities while the other half is allocated to treatment. 
 
In 2005, the Global Fund was responsible for an estimated 20% of all international funding in support of efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, and approximately two-thirds of global funding for programmes against TB and malaria. 
 
What is encouraging is that civil society organisations are strong implementers as compared to government agencies, with 30% of their grants over-performing and the remaining 70% showing satisfactory performance. 
There are strong indications that countries can drastically increase their national absorptive capacity by channelling more of its health spending through non-governmental and faith-based organisations and the private sector. 

(Source: Global Fund Press Release, 29 June 2006)
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Focus on the Caribbean
According to the UNAIDS Report (see above), AIDS-related illnesses are the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 44 in the Caribbean, accounting for more than 27,000 deaths in 2005. 
 
While the Bahamas, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti have contained the progress of HIV, Guyana has a serious epidemic underway.
The Caribbean remains the region most affected by HIV/AIDS after Africa. According to UNAIDS estimates 330,000 HIV-positive people were living in the Caribbean at the end of 2005, 51% of whom were women.
This status as second-most affected region masks substantial country differences in the extent and intensity of the epidemic. Prevalence rates range from 0.1% in Cuba to more than 2% in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, and exceeding 3% in the Bahamas and Haiti. New infections among women are far surpassing those among men, ranging from twice the likelihood for teenage girls to be infected in Jamaica to six times in Trinidad and Tobago. 
 
In the region fewer than one in four people needing antiretroviral drugs are actually receiving them. 

(Source: UNAIDS 2006 Report as compiled by Medical News Today, 5 June 2006) 

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Global Unions Demand G8 Permanent Working Group on HIV/AIDS 
In the run-up to the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, 15-16 July, a Global Union delegation met Russian President Putin.
Among other items, they put forward the demand for a permanent Working Group on HIV/AIDS. At last year&rsquo;s Summit in Gleneagles, there was a time-bound commitment to fighting the epidemic but since then there has not been a clear follow-up and monitoring mechanism to reach the objective of universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care by 2010.
The call for a permanent Working Group was also made at the ILO&rsquo;s International Labour Conference in Geneva in June when Global Unions delivered letters to government, workers&rsquo; and employers&rsquo; delegations and to the Health Ministers gathered at the WHO annual World Health Assembly in May.
(Source: OECD-TUAC Press Release, 5 July and Global Union Statements) 
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International AIDS Conference 
 
The ICEM abstract written for the International AIDS Conference, Toronto, Canada,&nbsp;13 to 18 August, was accepted for a poster exhibition.
The ICEM was also invited to speak on &ldquo;The importance of social dialogue and workers&rsquo; participation in public/private partnerships&rdquo; at a Satellite Meeting Session with the theme: &ldquo;From the workplace to the community &ndash; Co-investment to access prevention, treatment and care in public/private partnerships&rdquo;. 

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ICEM Resources on HIV/AIDS 
 
This is a reminder that HIV/AIDS materials are available on our website <a href="http://www.icem.org">www.icem.org</a>. You can download the ICEM Leaflet on HIV/AIDS as well as power point presentations and find links to other interesting websites and materials.
Latest addition is the HIV/AIDS Training Manual for Collective Bargaining. Written by the ICEM Africa Regional HIV/AIDS Coordinator Shirley Miller with input from the national coordinators from sub-Saharan Africa the manual is a rights-based practical guide for unionists to deal with HIV/AIDS at the workplace and bargain for clauses safeguarding against discrimination and victimisation. The manual can also be found in three different languages at:
English: <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualEN.pdf">/files/PDF/Key_issues_pdfs/ 
AIDS/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualEN.pdf</a>
French: <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualFR.pdf">/files/PDF/Key_issues_pdfs/ 
AIDS/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualFR.pdf</a>
Spanish: <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualSP.pdf">/files/PDF/Key_issues_pdfs/ 
AIDS/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualSP.pdf</a>

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No.10

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Oil and gas trade unions, including the ICEM, were represented for the first time at the annual Caspian Oil &amp; Gas Exhibition last month in Baku, Azerbaijan. The eighth running of the show included oil and gas workers&rsquo; unions from Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, and Norway. 
 
Trade unions representing the ICEM&rsquo;s Caspian Energy Project, together with staff from the Brussels Secretariat, manned colourful booths and distributed brochures, pins, banners and histories of their respective unions. Materials on HIV/AIDS, health and safety, contract and agency labour, and general labour relations were also presented to oil and gas company trade representatives.

ICEM’s Caspian Energy Network Debuts at Oil &amp; Gas Trade Show

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Sappi paperworkers at a Belgian mill staged a 24-hour strike on 5-6 July in protest of the South African company&rsquo;s restructuring plan. The paper mill&rsquo;s 700 workers seek to persuade the company not to cut 123 jobs from the pulp and coated papers mill. 
 
Management at the Lanaken mill claims the restructuring is merely a costs-savings measure, while the unions see it as mass redundancies and forced dismissals. The unions will use social dialogue to argue that cost-cutting should not go beyond not replacing those who retire combined with a tightening on the number of fixed-term contract workers that Sappi utilises. 
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Preliminary talks between the unions and management will occur on 18 July, with social dialogue on the restructuring plan to take place in September.

Sappi Paperworkers in Belgium Strike over Proposed Job Cuts

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The United Steelworkers (USW) in America on 30 June selected Michelin&rsquo;s BF Goodrich tyre operations as the bargaining template in order to achieve a master rubber contract for 27,000 workers in North America. Talks with three major tyre producers, Michelin, Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber, and Bridgestone/Firestone (BSF), have already started. 
 
The current master labour agreement for the US tyre-making sector expires with all companies on 22 July, but the USW and the major tyre producers generally go beyond that deadline in negotiations. Smaller manufacturers in the US, such as Yokahoma, also follow the bargaining pattern. 
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USW represents some 4,000 Michelin workers at three BF Goodrich plants, while it covers 17,000 Goodyear workers at 12 plants and 6,000 BFS workers at eight tyre facilities. 
 
&ldquo;Significant in the selection of BF Goodrich is the fact that we believe that we can set an industry pattern that looks after our retirees, enhances job security and protects standard of living for our active and retired members,&rdquo; stated USW Lead Negotiator and Executive Vice President Ron Hoover.

Michelin Chosen for Tyre Bargaining Pattern in US Talks

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US affiliate United Auto Workers (UAW) has successfully organised two PPG Industries auto-glass plants in recent weeks, and has a US government-conducted election scheduled at a third on 27 July. 
 
On 28 June, workers at a flat-glass plant in Evansville, state of Indiana, voted for UAW bargaining representation, and a week earlier, glass staff at a PPG factory in Crestline, state of Ohio, joined the UAW. The Evansville&nbsp;plant employs nearly&nbsp;400 workers, while the Crestline factory&nbsp;has 260 bargaining unit jobs. 
The UAW election on 27 July is at a PPG Industries plant in O&rsquo;Fallon, state of Missouri. The operation, a former Chemfil company worksite, produces metal and other fastenings for glass destined for the auto industry. The UAW currently represents workers at four American PPG plants and is active in the 16-union Joint Union Council of PPG Industries in North America.

UAW in US Succeeding in Organising Auto-Glass Factories

The campaign to totally ban all forms of asbestos took a leap ahead last month when the Workers&rsquo; Group of the ILO Conference passed a decisive statement that all asbestos types, including white chrysotile, are cancer-causing. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s Mining/DGOJP Sector is currently initiating dialogue with mining affiliates on the correct path toward implementation of ILO Convention 162, the safety in the use of asbestos convention. This is in accord with the four-year work plan established at the ICEM&rsquo;s Mining and DGOJP World Conferences in 2004. 
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Last month&rsquo;s resolution at the annual ILO Conference states &ldquo;that the elimination of the future use of asbestos and the identification and proper management of asbestos currently in place means to protect workers from asbestos exposure and to prevent future asbestos-related diseases and deaths.&rdquo; It also supports elimination on any future use of the product, and calls for renewed efforts toward ratification by countries of ILO Conventions 162 and 139, the latter related to occupational cancer. 
 
The resolution was boosted some two weeks before its 14 June ILO passage when France became the 40th country to ban future asbestos use. South Africa, a leading mining nation, also is close to passing a complete ban on white asbestos mining, something Zimbabwe&rsquo;s government is fiercely resisting due to sizeable exports of the product to South Africa. 
 
Major producing countries of white chrysotile asbestos include Canada, Russia, Brazil, China and Zimbabwe. The amphibole asbestos types, blue amosite asbestos and brown crocidolite asbestos, are proven to cause asbestos-related respiratory diseases and are banned under World Health Organisation guidelines.

ILO Workers’ Group Takes Strong Stand on Asbestos Ban

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The sad reminder that the safety of trade union leaders is still not secure in South Africa was brought home when National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Branch Chairperson Elias Malaudzi was assassinated after leaving work on 3 July. 
 
Malaudzi, 46, was the NUM chairperson of Goldfields&rsquo; Driefontein gold mine in Carletonville, a worksite which has seen two previous union leaders killed by violent acts. Comrade Malaudzi has been credited by the NUM with playing a pivotal role in making his branch &ldquo;one of the most united structures, and the biggest branch in the Carletonville region.&rdquo; The husband and father was stopped by an armed man, who shot him in the head, and then once in the chest as he fell. 
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A 26-year-old man from KwaZulu-Natal, who does not work at the mine, was apprehended soon after the murder. Comrade Malaudzi was a community leader in Carletonville area, serving as a town councillor. 
 
&ldquo;It is important that all of our members, and workers in general, at the mine remain calm in this face of tragedy,&rdquo; said NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni. &ldquo;Serious concerns were raised about the fact that another union leader from the same mine was once more killed by an unknown Zulu-speaking person. 
 
&ldquo;The union is concerned that these sentiments could invoke tribal and factional emotions that may be deep-seated in the area,&rdquo; added Baleni. &ldquo;We hope that the Goldfields management will play their part in this regard, too.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM backed Baleni&rsquo;s call for calmness in a letter sent to the NUM, further expressing condolences to the union and to the family of Comrade Malaudzi.

NUM Leader Gunned Down in Senseless South African Act

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The ICEM teamed with NOPEF, Norway&rsquo;s dominant oil workers&rsquo; union, to bring a set of highly successful workshops to women of Palestine&rsquo;s General Union of Petroleum, Mining and Chemicals Workers' Union. The Palestinian workshops occurred last month, 10-12 June,&nbsp;in&nbsp;neighboring Jordan.
Contents
&nbsp;<a href="#pal">1. Palestine &ndash; ICEM and NOPEF Hold Women&rsquo;s Training Session</a> 
<a href="#2">2. Botswana &ndash; ICEM African Women&rsquo;s Committee Meeting</a> 
<a href="#coun">3. Council of Europe &ndash; Inequality Has a Price</a>&nbsp; 
<a href="#3">4. Jordan &ndash; Women Workers are Discriminated Against</a>&nbsp; 
<a href="#4">5. Kuwait &ndash; Women Vote for the First Time</a> 
<a href="#5">6. Nepal &ndash; Third National Women&rsquo;s Conference Demands More Women&rsquo;s Representation</a> 
<a href="#6">7. Pakistan &ndash; Working Women Organization Protests Against 18th Century Laws in the 21st Century</a> 
<a href="#res">From our Readers</a> 
<a href="#8">8. Switzerland &ndash; Women Demand Equal Pay for Equal Work</a> 
<a href="#9">9. United Kingdom &ndash; Black Women are in Low Paid and Low-status Jobs</a> 
<a href="#10">10. United States &ndash; Goodyear Discriminates Against Women</a> 
<a href="#11">11. ILO: New Forms of Violence at Work Are on the Rise Worldwide</a> 
<a href="#12">12. Resources</a>
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1. Palestine &ndash; ICEM and NOPEF Hold Women&rsquo;s Training Session&nbsp; 
 
From 10-12 June 2006, the ICEM organised training for women women workers who are members of the General Union of Petroleum, Mining and Chemicals Workers' Union of Palestine in Amman, Jordan.
The course provided training on women&rsquo;s health as well as collective bargaining. The aim is to develop women&rsquo;s leadership in the union. The point was mostly to understand how gender affects men and women differently in all areas of life, from privatization to health issues. 
 
Turid &Oslash;ygard from NOPEF made a presentation on women in Norway and their roles in unions and working life. She also led group work on democracy in trade unions. 
 
The women concluded that they needed more self-confidence and self-esteem. The intifada has influenced women. But women are able to fight and should be accepted as fighters. As a next step, the women seek to create more awareness among men on the role they are capable of fulfilling. 
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<a href="#back">Back Up</a> 
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2. Botswana &ndash; ICEM African Women&rsquo;s Committee Meeting 
The highlights of the meeting included the election of Baru Gaithoboge as vice-chair of the ICEM&rsquo;s African Regional Women&rsquo;s Committee. Baru&rsquo;s election will boost the representation of African women at ICEM events. Congratulations to Baru. 
The women reported that the general secretaries in Namibia and Zimbabwe were still resistant to forming joint ICEM women&rsquo;s structures. 
In Nigeria, the affiliated unions held a women&rsquo;s meeting in 2005 and are planning to hold another one in 2006. Ghana has embarked upon community development by training mineworkers&rsquo; wives. 
Fabian Nkomo, project coordinator for the shop steward development programme in Africa, reported on the project in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania. He said the project was supposed to increase the level of activity targeted toward women. Thus women would be enlisted to strengthen unions, not least of all in connection with dues payments. 
Thanks to Oluchi Okorie from NUPENG in Nigeria for providing this report! 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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3. Council of Europe &ndash; Inequality Has a Price <a name="coun"></a>
The Sixth European Ministerial Conference on Equality between Women and Men was held in Stockholm on 8-9 June 2006. The conference focused on the economic advantages that equality entails. 
According to the Swedish equality minister, economies in the most equal societies have higher growth rates. The highest cost to society is generated by domestic violence. 
Spanish figures show that violence toward women costs Spain &euro;2.4 billion a year, which entails hospital costs, psychological assistance, legal costs and work absenteeism. 
In Finland, inequality is estimated to cost &euro;17.4 per person. In the UK, inequality is estimated to cost each person up to &euro;555 per year in terms of health costs and social costs. UK authorities have calculated that if women participated in the labour market there to the same extent as men, the government would take in between &euro;22 billion and &euro;34.5 billion euros more per year. 
In Sweden, the argument is that women continue working after the birth of their children, which in turn yields more tax income to the government. This allows further investment in childcare, thus allowing more Swedish women to enter the workforce. In Sweden, 40% of women, however, work part-time, and that brings a dramatic effect to their pensions. With women on average living longer than men, they have less money available to them in retirement. 
For more information, see <a href="http://www.coe.int/equality-conference">www.coe.int/equality-conference</a>. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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4. Jordan &ndash; Women Workers are Discriminated Against
In Jordan, women workers are discriminated against and are often paid below the legal minimum wage, even with the recent increase in the minimum wage. 
The government increased the monthly minimum wage to US$142 in May to help defray higher costs of living due to higher fuel prices. Some women were earning only US$60 before the wage increase for working 10 to 12 hour days, and may continue to not be paid the full legal wage. 
This is due to the fact that women are &ldquo;reluctant to file lawsuits against employers for fear of retaliation,&rdquo; and also because of inadequate implementation of labour laws, according to the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions. 
Over 200,000 Jordanians in the workforce are women, the majority of whom come from impoverished families. Unemployment is almost 15%, and one-fifth of the 5.5 million people living in Jordan live below the poverty line.
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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5. Kuwait &ndash; Women Vote for the First Time 
Kuwait&rsquo;s first parliamentary elections in which women could vote were a victory for political reformists but a disappointment for female candidates, none of whom won a seat to the governing body. In total, 27 women ran in the recent elections. Women had won the right to vote and run for office last year. 
Female votes accounted for 57% of the electorate. Women turned out in large numbers to vote for the first time. Before women won the right to vote, members of Parliament had resisted granting them suffrage with the argument that it contradicted Islam. This year&rsquo;s elections were seen to be crucial, as they affected reforms and economic development programmes. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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6. Nepal &ndash; Third National Women&rsquo;s Conference Demands More Women&rsquo;s Representation 
Nepal&rsquo;s Parliament adopted a declaration setting the minimum for women&rsquo;s participation at 33% at all levels. Now the question is to implement this standard. 
At the Third National Women&rsquo;s Conference, the representative of the All Nepal Women&rsquo;s Association presented a road map for women&rsquo;s participation. The other thematic issues had to do with the changes in laws to prevent discrimination. 
GEFONT Deputy General Secretary and ICEM Vice President Binda Pandey presented a comparative analysis on programmes, achievements and challenges between the Second and Third National Women Workers&rsquo; Conferences. Altogether, 616 women from the rank and file attended this most recent conference. The conference outcomes will be used to develop policy. 
 
Women in Nepal earn NPR 80, while men earn NPR 100-150 (NPR 100 = US$ 1.36). The rates have been frozen for ten years. Men are said to be stronger, work harder and produce more, which is why it is possible to pay women less. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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7. Pakistan &ndash; Working Women Organization Protests Against 18th Century Laws in the 21st Century 
On 23 June, thousands of workers took to the streets all over Pakistan to protest against the amendments in labour laws that set minimum working time of 12 hour per day, and exclude piece rate workers from overtime payment. 
The Working Women Organization staged agitation and expressed their anger about workers&rsquo; poor conditions, shameful amendments to the laws and the violation of ILO standards. The changes in labour law will enable employers to exploit workers even more, and especially women workers who already have irregular work, long working hours, dangerous working conditions, very low wages and no right of organization. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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From our Readers: 
 
Jumana Jodi Dreraghmi from the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions writes that she is now using the methods she learned in the course. She divides people up into groups and everyone gives their views. She is preparing a meeting on 7 July to share what she learned from the Amman workshops with other Palestinian women. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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8. Switzerland &ndash; Women Demand Equal Pay for Equal Work 
 
Women in Switzerland called for the wage gap to be closed between women and men ten years after the equal opportunities law first came into force. The nationwide campaign is distributing cards shaped like 50-franc notes, which are depicted as being worth only CHF39, thus representing the reality of the workplace. 
Unia, an ICEM affiliate and the country&rsquo;s largest trade union, marked the campaign by calling on those in the retail sector to pay their female employees more. According to a study, women receive 12.7% less than their male colleagues, amounting annually to CHF1 billion. 
Unia reports that discrimination is also rampant in businesses that employ more than 2,500 employees. In 2004, women earned on average CHF4,781 gross per month, whereas the figure for men was CHF5,953, amounting to a difference of 19.7%. In 2002, that difference was 20.7%. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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9. United Kingdom &ndash; Black Women are in Low Paid and Low-status Jobs 
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) of the UK released a report entitled Black Women and Employment, which was originally presented at the Black Workers&rsquo; Conference in 2006. The report looks at the barriers black women face to gaining employment and then progressing in their jobs. 
The government, according to the report, must take initiatives to combat race and sex discrimination in employment. Facts reveal that black and minority ethnic women are more likely to be unemployed or economically inactive than any other group in the labour market. 
Black and minority ethnic women suffer from cultural stereotyping by employers that result in them having to take jobs at lower skills levels than match their qualifications. Also, black and minority ethnic women are disproportionately likely to be working in temporary jobs. 
The TUC believes that there is a need for concerted and coordinated action by government and trade unions through collective bargaining to eliminate race and sex discrimination in the labour market and in society, through legislative and community-based initiatives. 
The organisation and recruitment of black women is vital if future progress is to be made in addressing the problems that black women face in the workplace, and in encouraging increased participation in the trade union movement. 
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10. United States &ndash; Goodyear Discriminates Against Women 
The US Labor Department has sued Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co., alleging hiring discrimination against hundreds of women who sought jobs in the late 1990s. The lawsuit seeks to force Goodyear to hire, pay back wages, and provide retroactive seniority and other benefits to the women who were denied employment. 
In 1998 and 1999, Goodyear followed a &ldquo;hiring process and selection procedures that discriminated against hundreds of female applicants for entry-level positions on the basis of gender,&rdquo; said the Labor Department in a statement. A spokesperson for Goodyear denied the charges and claims that Goodyear is working to resolve the matter. 
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11. ILO: New Forms of Violence at Work Are on the Rise Worldwide 
Violence at work, ranging from bullying and mobbing, to threats to psychologically unstable co-workers, sexual harassment and homicide, is increasing worldwide and has reached epidemic levels in some countries. This is according to the ILO study, Violence at Work, Third Edition. 
The global cost of workplace violence is enormous and costs untold millions of dollars in losses due to absenteeism and sick leave, among other causes. It also notes that professions that used to be sheltered from workplace violence such as teaching, social services, library services and health care are being exposed to increasing acts of violence in both developed and developing countries. 
Bullying, harassment, mobbing and similar behaviour can be just as damaging as outright physical violence, according to the report. 
Today, the instability of many types of jobs places huge pressures on workplaces, leading to more such violence. In developing countries, the most vulnerable workers include women, migrants and children, according to the report. 
In Malaysia, 11,851 rape and molestation cases at workplaces were reported between 1997 and mid-2001. Widespread sexual harassment and abuse were major concerns in South Africa, Ukraine, Kuwait and Hong Kong, states the report. 
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12. Resources: 
See <a href="http://www.payscale.com/">www.payscale.com</a> to compare your salary. 
 
ILO study on &ldquo;Decent Working Time: New Trends, New Issues,&rdquo; available at 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2006/28.htm">www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/ 
2006/28.htm</a> 
 
ILO study on &ldquo;Changing Patterns in the World of Work,&rdquo; available&nbsp;at 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc95/reports.htm">www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ 
ilc95/reports.htm</a>
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ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 13

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In New Zealand, the National Party&rsquo;s assault on workers&rsquo; rights in the form of the proposed 90-Day Probation Act has been met by a new website, <a href="http://www.workrights.org.nz">www.workrights.org.nz</a>. A campaign led by ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union (EPMU) is in full swing aimed at stopping the legislation. 
 
The website will allow the public to e-mail members of a select committee of members of Parliament who are overseeing the bill, as well as MPs who currently support the anti-worker legislation. &ldquo;This bill is not about probationary periods, it&rsquo;s all about taking rights from all Kiwi workers,&rdquo; said EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little.
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The EPMU is leading weekly pickets and information handbilling against the proposed legislation, which would allow employers to fire workers with impunity during their first 90 days of work. The ICEM encourages trade unionists to visit the website to express to New Zealanders their opinion on the proposed bill.

New Website in New Zealand Opposes Proposed 90-Day Probation Bill

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ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 13

New Website in New Zealand Opposes Proposed 90-Day Probation Bill

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