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<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Last week, ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) pulled out of talks with the American Petroleum Institute on developing two new safety standards, worker fatigue and a set of process-safety performance indicators. 
 
The discussions originated with a 2007 US Chemical Safety Board report investigating BP’s deadly Texas City, Texas, oil refinery explosion, which killed 15 contract workers in March 2005. The Safety Board recommended that labour unions and the industry lead a working group to develop the two standards in the aftermath of the disaster. 
 
The USW formally withdraw from the process on 4 August, citing skewed industry representation on the committee and lack of earnestness toward transparency issues, overtime work, and contract labour questions inside US refineries regarding safety. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0811GaryBeeversUSW.jpg" width="110" height="159"/>
Gary Beevers 
“This industry will simply not get serious about developing standards that have real meat in them,” said USW Vice President and ICEM Executive Committee Member Gary Beevers. He added that USW realised its work on the committee was being met by industry wanting “as few regulations and mandates as possible.” 
 
USW sought to introduce transparency measures by proposing to make public all safety failures in facilities. The union also wanted manning levels monitored and increased due to an industry practice of constant overtime and continuous work that has led directly to worker fatigue. USW was met with resistance on this, saying industry has called it strictly a “management rights issue, and their solution is to force overtime.” 
 
In a news release announcing the withdrawal, the USW was sharply critical of an American Petroleum Institute statement claiming injury rates inside refineries average less than in other manufacturing sectors. In fact, the union said, the industry drew data only on refinery workers that are directly employed by a primary energy operator, and failed to account for injuries, accidents, and deaths of contract employees. 
 
The work group is charged with developing two new standards for the American National Standards Institute. It had been composed of representatives from 22 oil companies and only three trade union representatives, with government and other stakeholders serving as well. 
 
The American Petroleum Institute responded defensively to USW’s withdrawal. In a statement, also issued on 4 August, it charged the union with undermining the process and “trying to silence the voices of other stakeholders on the committee.” Beevers, in an interview with the Houston (Texas) Chronicle newspaper, called industry’s assertion “absolutely ridiculous.” 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0710USWLeoGerard120.jpg" width="120" height="140"/>
Leo Gerard
Amerca’s largest industrial union forewarned of management’s recalcitrance to improve safety and health inside the downstream oil and gas sector in collective agreement talks that concluded early in 2009. After making health and safety the primary topic in the negotiations, USW was stonewalled on the issue, with USW President Leo Gerard saying “the industry refused to allow us to be equal partners with them in resolving health and safety problems.” 
 
The USW will now conduct a survey related to the two proposed standards and then use it in a direct and targeted campaign in order to get the US Chemical Safety Board to recommend proper fatigue and process-safety standards.

Steelworkers Say US Oil Industry Tainting Safety-Practice Standards

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ICEM Latin America/Caribbean affiliate Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago was proud to have ICEM President and National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa) President Senzeni Zokwana keynote its 24-25 July Delegates Conference. Over 300 militant OWTU members attended the conference inside the proud union’s headquarters in San Fernando, with OWTU terming opening day and Zokwana’s keynote a “momentous occasion.” 
 
His theme was “The Only Way Out of the Global Economic Crisis: an Independent Workers’ Agenda and Solidarity Actions.” Comrade Zokwana highlighted the need for independent trade unions to engage political activism and collective mass action in solidarity with workers everywhere. He also addressed the necessity for unions to fight hard to always retain the right to strike and other protests. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0908.senzeni.trinidad.jpg" width="259" height="189"/>
Ancel Roget and Senzeni Zokwana
“Your conference is taking place at a critical time when the global political economy is facing major challenges,” said Zokwana. He added that the crisis has sent sharp signals to trade unions and citizens in the developing world “that capitalism as a system cannot deliver.” 
 
The Delegates’ Conference also reviewed the OWTU’s Report of the General Council, which confirmed that the country’s most powerful union, led by General President Ancel Roget, is continuing OWTU traditions of placing workers’ interests first on the agenda of Trinidad and Tobago. 
 
The conference ended on a high note on 25 July with delegates’ expressing full commitment to OWTU’s “Rescue Mission,” a programme whereby the OWTU lends solidarity to all workers in struggles, with a series of community meetings held in areas affected by employer neglect and labour strike.

ICEM President Zokwana Addresses OWTU Delegates’ Conference in Trinidad/Tobago

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The Federation Chimie Energie CFDT (FCE-CFDT) has pledged full support for the national framework agreement, reached between the Union des Industries Chimiques (UIC) and the Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Employment. The agreement outlines the responsibilities of companies facing difficulties during the current economic and financial crisis. Companies are encouraged to expand training programs for employees, to avoid redundancies, and to develop skills. 
 
The French state has made a commitment of €8.5 million for the implementation of the programmes outlined in the agreement, until December 2011. 
 
The FCE-CFDT will ensure, in particular, that this training development plan will benefit those workers that are most vulnerable, and those companies that are truly facing serious financial difficulties.

French Chemical Workers Respond to Financial Crisis

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In Bandung, Indonesia in mid-July, the ICEM contributed to a two-day ILO Sectoral Conference on Chemicals. The ICEM presentation was on “Benefits of Social Dialogue and the Roles of Unions,” and the overall conference served as an effective regional follow-up to an ILO meeting entitled “Instruments, Knowledge, Advocacy, Technical Cooperation, and International Collaboration on Hazardous Substances.” 
 
Other subjects presented included the ILO’s chemicals convention, the convention on Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents, the ILO’s health and safety framework, and various green jobs initiatives. Safety and health issues common inside Indonesia also were discussed. 
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The workshops endorsed improved social dialogue techniques, better information gathering and sharing, and heightened promotional activities on safety and health, and sustainability. The forum provided a valuable set of learning tools to ICEM’s Indonesian affiliates. 
 
The ICEM presentation in Bandung was made by Brian Kohler, Health, Safety, Sustainability Officer.

ICEM Participates in ILO Indonesian Forum

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Last week, 33,000 electric power workers in South Africa came to terms with state-owned electric provider Eskom, thus averting a string of strikes and industrial actions. ICEM affiliates National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) are expected to sign a new labour accord today. 
 
On 19 August, Eskom, which supplies 90% of South Africa’s power needs, presented the two unions and a third one with a 10.5% first-year wage increase. That is 2.5% higher than the utility was prepared to pay earlier in August when the dispute went before the country’s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCCM). 
 
The NUM represents 16,000 workers at Eskom, while NUMSA represents 5,000. Eskom employs about 29,000 workers in South Africa. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SouthafricaNumsa100.jpg" width="100" height="102" alt=""/>   <img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SouthafricaNUM.gif" width="100" height="103" alt=""/>
A key item in talks up to and through last week’s wage offer was over housing allowances. NUM and NUMSA are seeking a 5,000 rand (US$621) per worker housing subsidy. Resolve of this issue will continue in tripartite talks with the CCCM until 1 December 2009, when a process to finalise and implement the housing allowance will be put in place, said NUM chief negotiator Paris Mashego. 
 
Mashego said the NUM polled its members on the wage offer and housing deferral late last week, and 80% consented to take the offer. 
 
Meanwhile, a NUM strike against Impala Platinum that was set to start today was averted when the world’s second largest platinum miner returned to the bargaining table Saturday and raised its offer. The company offered a 10% increase. The NUM, which represents 18,000 ImPlats workers, cancelled the strike and is currently weighing the offer.

South Africa’s Mineworkers, Metalworkers Agree to Wage Terms with Eskom

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The ICEM was informed last week of Albanian President Sali Berisha’s announcement to the national media, that the government will pass a bill in parliament to sequester all properties of Albanian trade unions. 
 
The announcement was made on 19 August, with the promise to push the Bill through within three months. 

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Trade unions in Albania have suffered continued discrimination from the national government in recent years. On 1 August 2007, both of the country’s Trade Union Confederations, the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania (BSPSH) and the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania (KSSH), were expelled from their headquarters and prohibited from exercising their normal activity. All property and documents inside the offices were destroyed by police. 
 
The threat of expropriation and police occupation of trade union premises has been continuous for many years. Since July 2006, the Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) has called on the prime minister to start a dialogue with the Albanian trade union movement, in order to find a solution safeguarding the continuity of the social dialogue in Albania. 
 
The ICEM condemns this attack on the democratic trade unions of Albania. There will be a joint ILO-International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) delegation to Albania starting today, 24 August.

Expropriation of Albanian Trade Unions’ Property Condemned

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At ICEM’s Executive Committee in late June, the body acted on a 2007 Congress resolution to develop a mandate for an ICEM policy on sustainable development. That policy was adopted, following a presentation by Sustainability Work Group Chairman Lars Myhre and ICEM’s Health, Safety, and Sustainability Officer Brian Kohler. 
 
The working document can be found <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/EN%20ICEMsustainability090518.pdf" type="internal">here</a>.  It establishes parameters for ICEM positions and “a good, balanced, sensible, and intelligent industrial policy” to go forward with, in the words of Tony Maher of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia. 
 
The challenge now, according to Executive members, is to bring this balanced industrial plan to senior-level policymakers at UN climate change forums. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0907.ExecHonours.JPG" width="305" height="163"/>
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana gave special tribute to long-time Executive members Michel Decayeux of France and Errol McLeod of Trinidad/Tobago
The ICEM policy calls for a new focus and new dialogue between governments, employers, and unions. The policy calls for an energy future that includes cleaner use of fossil fuels (including carbon capture and storage/sequestration), nuclear, and renewable energy sources. The future of energy must consider questions about access to energy and price fairness and stability. 
 
Pulp and paper, chemicals, rubber, and materials sectors all have their particular sustainability challenges, which the ICEM acknowledges. Most importantly, the notion of sustainable jobs must be decent jobs and inherent in those jobs is the recognition and practice of principles of human rights, labour rights, and particularly respect for the rights of women and other disadvantaged groups. 
 
Also during the June Executive meetings, the body endorsed a resolution submitted by the Asia-Pacific Region of the ICEM. That resolution calls on all affiliates of the ICEM to lend support to Thai labour unions. They are battling hostile work environments imposed by multinational companies, including rubber manufacturers Goodyear and Michelin and industrial gases company Linde, to name just a few.

ICEM’s Executive Formally Adopts Sustainability Policy

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A unified strike by members of three unions at Saint-Gobain glass plants in Belgium ended Friday, 10 July. But not before Auvelais workers at the French multinational made a defining stand in this industrial action: no company will be allowed to use the financial crisis as a pretext to implement common restructuring! 
 
Workers returned to their jobs 11 July, after voting 58 to 48% to end the nine-day strike, a strike that saw two plants totally blockaded for most of that time. A mediated agreement was put forward on 8 July. The dispute started in February 2009, when Saint-Gobain proposed 241 job cuts. Over the ensuing months, Saint-Gobain resisted all practical alternatives put forward by social partners. 
 
Some 880 are employed at the twin plants of Saint-Gobain Sekurit and Saint-Gobain Knell near Charleroi, in southern Belgium. 
When the strike started – 2 July, after months of fruitless bargaining – the company still wanted 215 job cuts. The unions, including ICEM affiliates Centrale Générale-FGTB/ABVV and the CSC/ACV, proposed constructive options to the job cuts. But these proposals were ignored. Saint-Gobain as well sought cuts to worker entitlements, such as pre-pension benefits, transfer compensation, and severance on voluntary departures. 

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“The absence of meaningful dialogue is an insult to what is now demanded,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. “We know that Saint-Gobain is guilty of social dumping and we also know that this conduct is not related to the financial crisis.” 
 
Trade union strikers blocked access to all company assets at Saint-Gobain Knell throughout the strike, and at Sekurit, a blockade was lifted partially in the sixth day of the strike. Other restructurings have occurred in these Wallonian plants. In May 2008, 100 jobs were cut. The Sekurit plant makes flat glass, while the Knell operation makes glass in building and construction products. 
 
The ICEM extended support to the strikers during the labour action. “The ICEM questions Saint-Gobain and its motives in using the world’s economic crisis to gain financial strength in the restructuring of the Belgian factories,” the Global Union Federation wrote Belgian union members. “The ICEM and its family of trade unions worldwide stand with you in Auvelais as you take justified industrial actions.” 
 
Saint-Gobain has faced fierce resistance to job cuts in other parts of Europe, as well. Strikes in Italy and France occurred in April and May, and European trade union federations manifested at Saint-Gobain offices in Paris on 20 May. 
 
Currently, CGT in France has called for urgent talks with the company at Mers-les-Bains over 100 proposed job cuts, and social partners at Saint-Gobain Desjonquères in Real Sitio, Spain, began deep discussions over a proposed six-week shutdown in August and September, affecting 180 workers. 
 
In Germany, IGBCE, EWC, and Saint-Gobain completed social talks related to transfer and re-skilling at Saint-Gobain Vetrotex operations.

Financial Stress Brings Industrial Unrest to Belgian Glass Sector

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEM100.jpg" width="100" height="86"/>  <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/IMF100.jpg" width="100" height="97"/>  <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/US.USW.jpg" width="145" height="69"/>
Leaders of mining and metal workers’ unions from around the world on 13 July condemned the Mexican government’s failure to bring justice to the families of the 65 mineworkers who died in an explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine on 19 February 2006. 
 
“The Mexican labour authorities are guilty of a triple failure,” said Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), in Nueva Rosita, Coahuila. “They failed to prevent the disaster at Pasta de Conchos, they have failed to accomplish justice for the families of the victims, and they have failed to take the necessary measures to prevent future disasters.” 
 
A special committee of the ILO, in a report issued in April, concluded: “the Government of Mexico did not do all that was reasonably expected of it to avoid or minimize the effects of the Accident which had such devastating effects with the loss of life of as many as 65 miners.” 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0907.mex.conchos.JPG" width="278" height="240"/>
The union leaders from Argentina, Canada, Peru, South Africa, and the US met with family members of the victims and with the rescue team that is working to recover the 63 bodies that remain entombed in the mine. At the entrance to the mine, they placed wreaths in memory of the workers who died. 
 
“Mineworkers around the world are one family,” said Tim Baker, an occupational health and safety specialist for ICEM-affiliated United Mineworkers of America (UMWA). “We mourn the deaths of our brothers at Pasta de Conchos and we are outraged that Grupo Mexico and the labour authorities who are responsible for their deaths have gone unpunished, while the government continues to attack the Mineworkers’ Union.” 
 
United Steelworkers (USW) District 3 Director Steve Hunt pledged his union’s support for the families’ effort to recover the bodies of the victims, and challenged other unions to commit their resources to the cause. 
 
The delegation was organized by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), the IMF, and the United Steelworkers.  This was the last of the six-day series of events, which included a rally over the weekend.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0907.mex.JPG" width="270" height="192"/>
Joe Drexler, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, who also met with family members, commented, "we believe that the refusal of the government and Grupo Mexico to recover the bodies is an effort to cover up the real causes of the mining disaster and the inadequacy of rescue efforts."
In addition to the USW and UMWA, the other ICEM affiliates to meet with the widows were the National Union of Mineworkers, South Africa (NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union, South Africa (CEPPWAWU), and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), alongside ICEM affiliate Los Mineros.

Global Union Leaders Demand Justice for Mexican Families at Pasta de Conchos Mine

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report, among other items, on the VCT campaign in Tanzania sponsored by the IG BCE’s Women Department, the efforts to include people living with HIV/AIDS in the health insurance scheme in India, and how the 2010 Soccer World Cup can score goals of another kind.
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are already engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
 
Editor: Hans J Schwass, ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant 

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IG BCE Women Support Project in Tanzania 
 
Since their Congress in October 2008, the Women’s Department of the German ICEM affiliate IG BCE (mining, chemical and energy workers) has collected funds for an HIV/AIDS project in Tanzania, in cooperation with ICEM affiliates TUICO (industry) and TAMICO (mining). 
 
After extensive preparatory work, which included a workshop for the TAMICO and TUICO Women’s Committees, and a refresher course for male and female peer educators and lay counsellors, activities culminated in a ‘Know-your-Status’ Campaign in Dar es Salam on 13 June. 

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Workers and their families were mobilised through union structures and at the workplaces and by pre-campaign radio announcements. With the technical support from the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), facilities for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) were set up. 
 
From early morning on 13 June, the Mnazi Mmoja grounds were crowded with people wearing white T-shirts, emblazoned with the four logos of the IG BCE, ICEM, TAMICO, and TUICO, and the slogan of the campaign “Know Your HIV Status – Get Tested”, in Swahili. People living with HIV/AIDS gave their testimonies and urged participants to get tested. Condoms and femidoms, as well as leaflets and educational brochures were distributed. 
 
More than 600 people turned up at the grounds and well over half of them queued up in front of the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), tents to be tested. 
 
In this outstanding example of international solidarity, EUR 14,000 has been collected so far by the women of IG BCE. This was the first VCT campaign organised by the trade union movement and as donations are still coming in from IG BCE regional and local structures, it is expected to continue the work in 2010. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
India: Health Insurance for People with HIV/AIDS? 
 
The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) is set to make a case for a social security safety net for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). It is exploring the options of getting the Union Labour Ministry's health insurance scheme (RSBY) extended to PLHAs. This health insurance related policy proposal, along with an anti-discrimination Bill protecting PLHAs, and another Bill seeking to protect consumers from being exploited when they procure blood for transfusion, are among the priorities of NACO. 
 
The RSBY scheme was introduced by the Labour Ministry for families below the poverty line in April last year. The Centre or State pays the premium, while the individual pays INR 30 (about USD 0.60) as a registration fee and receives INR 30,000 coverage for hospitalisation for a five-member family. NACO supports PLHAs for HIV-related illnesses, but they are also susceptible to other illnesses such as malaria, appendicitis and heart-attacks, illustrating the need for a social security net. 
 
The anti-discrimination HIV/AIDS Bill, seeking among other things to protect PLHAs at their workplace, has been with the Union Law Ministry for some time. 
 
(Source: Business Line, The Hindu, 3 June) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Soccer World Cup Campaign 
 
Authorities in South Africa have begun construction of one of the 20 planned Football for Hope centres in Africa -- part of a 2010 World Cup campaign called "20 Centres for 2010" aimed at reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, poverty and crime in local communities. The centre, under construction in South Africa's Khayelitsha Township, will include a soccer field, community centre and after-school programs that will focus on sex education and HIV/AIDS education. 
 
The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) is providing the campaign with $10 million in funding. Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Rwanda and other African countries will be home to the remaining 19 centres. According to FIFA President Joseph Blatter, the centres will "provide a platform for communities to address social issues such as children's rights, education, health, HIV/AIDS prevention and will leave a legacy for Africa that will last long after the final whistle of the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been blown." 
 
(Source: Medical News Today, 28 May) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
South Africa: President Addresses Increased Access to ARVs 
 
In his first state-of-the-nation address, South African President Jacob Zuma said he wants to have 80 percent of HIV-positive South Africans who need antiretrovirals (ARVs) on them by 2011. The government would strive to step up measures to improve health care in Africa's strongest economy. "We have set ourselves the goals of reducing inequalities in health care ... and step up the fight against the scourge of HIV and AIDS, TB and other diseases," Zuma said. 
 
Over 630,000 people are on the government's ARV programme currently and provisions are in place to increase that number to 1.4 million by 2011. During his address Zuma also discussed the need for the government to collaborate with stakeholders on a comprehensive plan which aims to reduce the rate of new HIV infections by 50 per cent by the year 2011. 
 
According to the third national ‘HIV prevalence, incidence and communication survey’, conducted in 2008 by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), the percentage of people living with HIV in South Africa has barely changed in the last six years, but the survey revealed that between 2002 and 2008 there were many changes in HIV knowledge, risk behaviour and testing habits. 
 
The findings, based on interviews with about 21,000 individuals, 15,000 of whom agreed to anonymous HIV tests, give a fairly detailed picture of South Africa's mixed success in fighting the largest HIV epidemic in the world. Prevalence appears to have stabilized at about 11 per cent, and infection rates among children and teenagers have decreased, not least because of a significant increase in the use of condoms. 
 
HIV infection in the country's nine provinces still varies widely. KwaZulu-Natal, which has consistently carried the highest burden, now has a prevalence of 26 percent in the 15 to 49 age group, up from 22 percent in 2005; in Western Cape, levels increased slightly from 3 percent in 2005 to 5 percent in 2008, but are still the lowest in the country. 
 
(Source: Medical News Today, 9 June and IRIN PlusNews, 9 June) 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Namibia: Court Case Highlights Workers’ Rights 
 
In a landmark case in Namibia, 22 hotel workers are taking their employer and a doctor to court for allegedly testing them for HIV without their informed consent. According to the allegations, the owner of the Oshakati Country Lodge hired a doctor to conduct HIV tests on all the lodge’s employees. 
 
The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) in the capital Windhoek, which is handling the case, said that the test results were displayed on notice boards in the lodge. The LAC is seeking monetary compensation on the basis that the lodge owner and the doctor violated the workers’ rights to privacy and dignity, as guaranteed by the country’s constitution. The case will be heard by the High Court in Windhoek at the end of July. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, 3 July) 

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Joint Action for Results – UNAIDS Outcome Framework 2009-2011 
 
UNAIDS recently launched its outcome framework for 2009-2011 called Joint Action for Results. This Outcome Framework, which builds upon the UNAIDS Strategic Framework (2007–2011), will guide future investment and hold the Secretariat and the Cosponsors accountable for making the resources of the UN work for results in countries. 
 
Under the Outcome Framework for the period 2009–2011, UNAIDS will focus its efforts on achieving results in eight priority areas. These priority areas have been selected, based on a series of consultations with the cosponsors, communities, civil society, and a broad range of other stakeholders, their realization will accelerate the achievement of universal access. 
 
The eight priority areas include: the prevention of mothers from dying and babies from becoming infected with HIV; treatment of people living with HIV; the prevention of people living with HIV from dying of tuberculosis; the protection of drug users from becoming infected with HIV; the removal of punitive laws, policies, practices, stigma and discrimination that block effective responses to AIDS; stopping violence against women and girls; empower young people to protect themselves from HIV; and enhancing social protection for people affected by HIV. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>) 
The full document can be downloaded <a href="http://data.unaids.org/pub/BaseDocument/2009/JC1713_Joint_Action_en.pdf ">here</a>. 

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News from the Global Union Federations 
 
The fortnightly HIV/AIDS updates of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) report on, among other things, the UNAIDS Outcome Framework 2009-2011, the inclusion of the Guyana Clerical and Commercial Workers’ Union in the country’s Global Fund Coordinating mechanism, and on increased efforts in Ghana to create HIV/AIDS workplace policies (<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>). 
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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://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=3322" type="internal">/index.php?id=72&la=EN&doc=3322</a> 
 
Or click directly on the links below: 
 
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ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 46 July 2009

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