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In the mining industry in Canada, 1,300 members of two locals of the United Steelworkers (USW) began a strike 19 July in Trail, British Columbia, against Vancouver-based Teck Cominco Ltd. Workers are seeking to re-gain wage and pension ground given to the company when it was in financial trouble in the 1990s. Teck Cominco operates a refinery for zinc, lead and other metals in Trail. The mine and processing plant provides 3% of the world&rsquo;s zinc production. The company declared force majeure on all metal and chemical products sales due to the strike. Meanwhile, in the southwestern US, 1,550 USW members continue strikes in two states that began 2 July and 6 July that has crippled cooper production of Asarco, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grupo Mexico.

Steelworkers Strike Teck Cominco Refinery in Canada

Bargaining in Germany&rsquo;s paper industry for 45,000 workers has broken down over employers&rsquo; resistance to compromise. ICEM affiliate IGBCE said it was the first time in a decade that the union and paper companies have not reached a compromise, and the union will not evade a confrontation if conciliation now fails. IGBCE Governing Board Member Werner Bischoff expressed great disappointment at the employers&rsquo; unwillingness to seek a compromise. Paper companies stubbornly held to a single payment of &euro;150 per worker for the first eight months of a new collective agreement, and then a 2% increase with a length-of-term proposal for 20 months. IGBCE finds that proposal unacceptable. The two sides will now go to conciliation in which equal numbers of worker representatives and employers will negotiate.

German Paper Bargaining Goes to Conciliation

ICEM white-collar affiliate PENGASSAN in Nigeria is calling for complete transparency and full accountability in the acquisition by state Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) of African Petroleum (AP). PENGASSAN is standing with workers of AP who now face uncertain futures at the hands of NNPC following the official 6 July take-over of debt-ridden AP. The companies have not agreed to terms and even a panel of inquiry set up by the government to ascertain debt level cannot reach a decision on the matter. PENGASSAN believes it is wrong for NNPC to acquire AP before due process and an investigation into AP&rsquo;s indebtedness happens. PENGASSAN President Uche Okoro stated that NNPC should take &ldquo;a more civilized approach to recover the debt and not wake up one morning and take over AP or stop if from doing business. That will have a lot of impact on our workers of AP and we are not comfortable with that.&rdquo;

PENGASSAN Demands Transparency in NNPC&#039;s Buy-up

In Baghdad, the Iraq Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) has formed workers&rsquo; committee inside affiliate Electricity and Energy Workers Union to better the conditions of employees at the city&rsquo;s Main Water Agency. The campaign aims to secure interest-free payments to workers, deal with administrative and financial corruption inside the agency, get unpaid holiday pay for workers, and make it easier for them to collect pay checks. Currently, Water Agency workers must pass through arduous security and administrative delays at banks in order to receive their pay. The Electricity and Energy Workers Union has won reinstatement for scores of cleaning workers who had been sacked at the Main Water Agency.

Baghdad&#039;s Electrical Workers Organise

In Iraq, oil workers in Basra at the Southern Oil Co. brought the company to a 24-hour standstill on 17 July with a strike. Some 15,000 workers took part in the strike that was intended to force the company and Iraq&rsquo;s Oil Ministry to take a portion of Southern Oil&rsquo;s vast profits and use it to build Basra&rsquo;s local economy. Backed by the General Union of Oil Employees (GUOE) and the Federation of Workers&rsquo; Councils and Unions in Iraq, last week&rsquo;s work stoppage could be a precursor to a general strike in Iraq&rsquo;s south if allocations from the country&rsquo;s largest crude oil producer are not used for basic infrastructure needs such as sewage systems, electrical grids and medical services. GUOE is also seeking a wage increase for workers, land allowances, and risk payments, something that Southern Oil&rsquo;s managers already receive.

Oil Workers in Southern Iraq Strike

A mass rally and march will occur next month in Botswana over the government&rsquo;s failure to intervene in the dismissal of 461 workers last year at diamond-mining enterprise Debswana. The Botswana Federation of Trade Unions is conducting the strike, and it is also a protest by the country&rsquo;s unions against Debswana&rsquo;s refusal to recognise new leadership of ICEM affiliate Botswana Mining Workers&rsquo; Union. Trade unions are seeking a re-work of employer-favoured labour legislation passed in May 2004, legislation which Debswana&mdash;a joint venture between DeBeers and the government&mdash;used to sack the 461 for striking illegally.

Mass Rally in Botswana over Debswana&#039;s Intransigence

The three-month-long dispute between 750 New Zealand miners, members of ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), and state-run Solid Energy ended 19 July with a negotiated settlement. The union won a 5% wage increase for year 2005, plus 2% cash payment in 2006. In addition, EPMU won pay parity for miners in underground and open pit mines on both New Zealand&rsquo;s North and South Islands. Workers at some mines will get an additional 3% next year, others will receive 2%, and miners at two of those coal mines will receive an extra 1.5% wage boost at the end of the two-year agreement in 2007. &ldquo;This agreement sees another significant group of workers win a 5% pay rise, as well as re-establishing a national industrial agreement,&rdquo; stated EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little. He added that it was &ldquo;a milestone for the mining industry.&rdquo; Since EPMU launched its &ldquo;Five in &lsquo;05&rdquo; campaign in February, the union has negotiated 5% first-year wage settlements in 219 of 245 labour agreements negotiated across several different sectors.

EPMU Wins 5% for NZ&#039;s Solid Energy Miners

According to UNAIDS, more than 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. In 2008 alone, 2 million people died worldwide of AIDS, 2.7 million more were newly infected with HIV. The high death rates have turned the clock back reversing decades of development gains. The UN Millennium Goals look ever more unachievable. 
 
Medical science has advanced dramatically since HIV/AIDS was first discovered 30 years ago. The appropriate use of the right antiretroviral drugs (ARV) can give an infected person a high quality of life for many years. But too few people have access to life-saving drugs. Although the percentage of those needing ARV treatment who actually receive it rose from 7 percent in 2003 to 42 percent in 2008 or 4 million, about 5 million people are still not receiving it. 
 
The vast majority of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are engaged in productive activity. HIV/AIDS is a union issue. Unions have workplace access and roots in the community; they fight discrimination, victimisation and stigma. Unions can build on the trust of workers; their capacity to negotiate agreements with companies is important in securing non-discrimination, non-victimisation, voluntary counselling and testing and anti-retroviral treatment. 
 
Women are particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Inequalities and dependency expose them to partner infidelity and sexual violence. Yet they are more aware of HIV/AIDS issues and have a vital role as carers of families, children and PLWHA. 
 
The ICEM covers sectors which are hardest hit by the pandemic such as mining because of the working and living conditions of miners. It also organises workers in the pharmaceutical industry. The ICEM and its affiliates are strategically positioned to play an important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
Global Framework Agreements (GFA) are an invaluable tool for national affiliates to hold Multinational Companies (MNCs) responsible for what has been agreed at global level. Therefore an HIV/AIDS clause based on the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work should be included in GFAs. The ICEM and its affiliates also seek agreement with key MNCs on the provision of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and treatment with effective and affordable drugs. It advocates the expansion of medical services to dependents and to the wider community. 
 
The ICEM supports the call to the international community for a long-term commitment to massively increase funding to provide protection and treatment. 
ICEM HIV/AIDS Project
The project started with a workshop for sub-Saharan African countries in November 2004. From 2005 to 2009 it was sponsored by the LO/TCO Secretariat of Sweden and FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands with support from the Swedish and Dutch ICEM affiliates. The present project cycle from 2010 to 2012 is sponsored by SASK Finland and FNV Mondiaal. 
 
Achievements 
 
At the global level, an information policy is in place. The ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin has been published monthly since October 2005 and the ICEM web pages on HIV/AIDS are being updated. Affiliates are given guidance on World AIDS Day campaigns. Two manuals on collective bargaining and resources were published. Working relations are established with ILO/AIDS, UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank/International Finance Corporation and other organisations such as the World AIDS Campaign and the Global Business Coalition. 
 
The ICEM has lobbied hard for ILO HIV/AIDS Guidelines for the mining sector, which have yet to be adopted. An HIV/AIDS clause based on the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work has been included in some ICEM Global Framework Agreements. The ICEM cooperates with the Global Union AIDS Programme. The wider impact of ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS work is demonstrated by the increasing recognition it receives. In terms of fundraising for sustainability, the ICEM has had some success (see projects below). 
 
An HIV/AIDS Consultant, based in Geneva, looks after the global aspects of the project. He is also in charge of additional projects which are listed below. 
 
At the regional level, national coordinators have been trained in five regional workshops which covered a wide range of topics. In 2008, missions to all project countries and three sub-regional workshops for Southern and East Africa, Anglophone West Africa and Francophone West Africa assessed the progress in the HIV/AIDS project and laid the basis for future activities. 
 
At national level, coordinating committees were established. In cooperation with national coordinators, they have elaborated annual projects which concentrated on peer education and advocacy for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). Training of VCT counsellors was implemented in 2007 in four African countries with a grant from a major US pharmaceutical company. Pilot co-investment projects were discussed with major mining companies in Ghana and Namibia. Still lagging behind are negotiations on HIV/AIDS workplace policies and protective clauses in collective bargaining agreements. In 2009, most participating countries produced their own HIV/AIDS leaflets and other materials. 
 
The project in Africa is run by a Project Manager based in Johannesburg with the assistance of a coordinator for Francophone Africa, based in Abidjan. 
 
Additional Projects 
 
The ICEM managed to widen the scope of its HIV/AIDS work with additional funding from ICEM affiliates, solidarity support organisations and corporate partnership. 
 
The Danish LO/FTF supports a project on HIV/AIDS and the mining sector in Ethiopia, which runs until 2011. Major outcomes of this project in 2009 include an HIV/AIDS policy for the ICEM-affiliated National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical and Mine Trade Unions, the draft of an HIV/AIDS workplace policy as well as the production of materials for a toolkit for peer educators. 
 
The Humanity Fund of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers&rsquo; Union of Canada (CEP) co-sponsored a project in Nigeria together with the ICEM HIV/AIDS Project and the Nigerian affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN. The training of unionists as peer educators/lay counsellors led to a massive uptake of VCT among workers, their dependents and members of the community. An application for an extension of this project is pending. 
 
The CEP also made funds available for an HIV/AIDS project in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 and 2010 in cooperation with the Oilfield Workers&rsquo; Trade Union. 
 
Collection of funds by the Women&rsquo;s Department of the German affiliate IG BCE enabled affiliates in Tanzania in 2009 to focus on gender issues and a large VCT campaign, which will be continued in 2010. 
 
Affiliates in Japan and Taiwan contributed to a programme in Mongolia in 2009. 
 
Discussions are underway with the Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi for a project in Jordan. 
 
The German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim sponsored a large HIV/AIDS project in India in 2008 and 2009. With the technical assistance from the ILO Office in Delhi, master trainers were trained who in turn prepared peer educators for their awareness and prevention work at workplaces and in villages. The project also adapted ILO material, such as manuals, leaflets and posters for training purposes and mass distribution. 
For further information please contact the 
ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant Hans J Schwass 
<a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a> or <a href="mailto:schwass@bluewin.ch">schwass@bluewin.ch</a> 
+41 22 7574920, +41 79 3330394

ICEM Responding to HIV/AIDS

A nationwide power strike was postponed at the last minute in South Korea today. However, the dispute is unlikely to be resolved. 
<img height="263" src="" width="350" alt="" />
 
The Korea National Electricity Workers' Union (KNEWU) today agreed to hold four more days of talks with the government over plans to split up and privatise the national power utility KEPCO. 
 
The union - and a large proportion of the Korean public - oppose the privatisation scheme. 
 
The strike had been due to start at 5 a.m. today local time. It was temporarily postponed after the government threatened to impose emergency arbitration. This would have made any strike action illegal. 
 
But there are few signs that the government will back down over the power sell-off, union sources say. So strikes are still likely at the beginning of December. 
 
If the industrial action goes ahead, it may merge into a broader general strike. Today, for the first time ever, the presidents of the two national trade union confederations FKTU and KCTU agreed to hold a joint press conference about plans for a general strike next month. This will be in protest against the privatisation of state-owned companies, the structural adjustment programme in the bank industry and the sell-off of the Daewoo motor company. 
 
Meanwhile, a sit-in at the headquarters of the power utility KEPCO will continue, the KNEWU said. 
 
At the global level, the KNEWU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has pledged full support for the union's campaign. Asia-Pacific energy unions meeting in Bangkok this week also declared their solidarity. Energy unions in a number of Asian countries have been contending with World Bank-influenced plans to privatise their industries.

Korean Power Strike Postponed For Talks

South Korea faces a nationwide power strike from 24 November over plans to privatise the electricity sector. 
 
Notice of industrial action has already been served by the Korea National Electricity Workers' Union (KNEWU), which will ballot members tomorrow. The union says it will launch the action if the Korean parliament presses ahead with legislation to split up and privatise the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). 
 
The parliament's Standing Committee on Industry and Energy is due to consider the draft law by 23 November. The KNEWU has publicly opposed the plans from the outset. A recent opinion poll showed 90.8 percent of KEPCO employees ready to take part in protests, and the scheme has also run into growing opposition from the public at large. In fact, the restructuring is already behind schedule because parliament pulled back from adopting the legislation last year. 
 
KEPCO is one of South Korea's biggest public enterprises. By law, the government currently holds 52.6 percent of its equity. The corporation accounts for about 94.2 percent of the country's power generation, and has 44 GWh of installed capacity. It transmits, distributes and sells all of South Korea's electricity. In June this year, it employed 34,146 people. 
 
The government has tabled a four-phase privatisation plan, starting with a split-up of KEPCO's generation side from this year onward and full privatisation of generation by 2002. Full competition would be introduced into the wholesale electricity market in the period 2003-2008, and the retail side of the business would be sold off. Competitive retailing of electricity would be brought in from 2009 onwards. 
 
KEPCO's thermal and hydro generation units are already being hived off into five separate subsidiaries, as a prelude to privatisation. Its nuclear capacity will be kept as a wholly-owned KEPCO subsidiary for the foreseeable future. As in power sell-offs elsewhere, there may be few or no takers for the nuclear stations. 
 
One issue is the debts run up by KEPCO, but the union points out that these are the result of the government's own policy of providing cheap electricity to industry and to low-income households. KEPCO has a public service ethic which includes support for rural communities, small and medium-scale enterprises and the domestic coal industry. 
 
The union's fight against privatisation is &quot;not just a matter of job security,&quot; said KNEWU representative Kim Chae-Ro. &quot;Resolving KEPCO's debts through asset sales will destroy the company. The changes will lead to an industry where suppliers wield the sword.&quot; 
 
Globally, the KNEWU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has declared full support for the Korean union's action. 
 
&quot;Your powerful campaign has so far prevented the sell-off of your national utility,&quot; ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs emphasised in a message to KNEWU President Oh Kyung-Ho today. &quot;In Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa, we are helping our unions to fight against destructive privatisation which has led to huge job losses, higher prices and declining health and safety conditions everywhere it has been carried out. In countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Hungary, Uruguay, Paraguay and Thailand, unions have campaigned successfully in favour of alternative models which safeguard the interests of workers, their families and the citizens. The ICEM strongly believes that energy is a social product. It should be produced and distributed for the good of all citizens, not just for the benefit of the few.&quot; 
 
At special ceremonies across South Korea today, KNEWU officers had their hair trimmed down to a monkish minimum. It was a token of their readiness - and a cutting comment on a sell-off that could leave Korea shorn.

Korean Power Strike Over Privatisation

Archive

Steelworkers Strike Teck Cominco Refinery in Canada

German Paper Bargaining Goes to Conciliation

PENGASSAN Demands Transparency in NNPC's Buy-up

Baghdad's Electrical Workers Organise

Oil Workers in Southern Iraq Strike

Mass Rally in Botswana over Debswana's Intransigence

EPMU Wins 5% for NZ's Solid Energy Miners

ICEM Responding to HIV/AIDS

Korean Power Strike Postponed For Talks

Korean Power Strike Over Privatisation

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