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<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
An ICEM affiliate in Sri Lanka, the Free Trade Zone & General Services Employees’ Union, is celebrating a successful outcome in its campaign for higher wages in the country’s private sector. Until now, wages in the private sector have been governed by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI), but with no dialogue or input from workers’ representatives. The pay gap between private sector and public sector workers has grown considerably in recent years. 
 
An unskilled public-sector employee can expect a monthly salary of Rs.11,630 (€78), whereas an unskilled private sector employee’s minimum wage is Rs. 6,700 (€43). The trade union pressure placed on national government by the campaign moved the Ministry of Labour to raise private-sector minimum wages up by Rs. 2,500. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1002.sri.lanka.1.JPG" width="278" height="209" alt=""/>
Workers turn out in white to protest low wages
The announcement by Labour Secretary Mahinda Madihahewa signals the government’s intent to raise minimum wage across all of the country’s trading zones, thus angering business leaders which have grown accustomed to nominal raises each year, or outright restrictions on increases in certain regions. 
 
There was no adjustment to salaries in 2009 as employers rejected BOI recommendations, citing the financial crisis. The BOI withdrew its recommendation in 2009 in the face of an adamant employer response against any increase. In 2009, there was no involvement from workers’ representatives in the process. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1002.sri.lanka.2.JPG" width="250" height="188" alt=""/>
The handing over of a 20,000-strong petition
The BOI’s recommendation for salary adjustments in 2010 was for a raise of Rs. 500, limited to factories in a small geographical region. The campaign put forth by the Free Trade Zone & General Services Employees’ Union distributed this information widely and mobilised workers against the low and limited salary. Twenty-thousand signatures were collected protesting the salary revision. These signatures were presented to the office of the Minister of Labour. 
 
The Free Trade Zone & General Services Employees’ Union campaign focused on educating workers throughout Sri Lanka on the issue, and it included a “white dress” protest in which workers came to work dressed in white. Media attention to the protest highlighted the workers’ message and increased pressure on government. The campaign has succeeded with the significant salary hikes, across all private sectors and all regions, and the ICEM congratulates the Sri Lankan union on the campaign.

Campaign for Higher Private Sector Salaries in Sri Lanka Succeeds

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
With a 1 March deadline looming, bargaining has temporarily stalled between the ICEM-affiliated general union, Central Organization of Industrial Employees in Denmark (CO-industri) and the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI). Negotiations are aimed at renewing collective agreements across the country’s industrial sector. CO-industri represents 276,000 employees in the trade and service industries, while DI is the leading business lobbying organisation. 
 
The collective bargaining round directly affects 240,000 workers in the manufacturing industry and indirectly affects an additional 350,000 workers in the private sector. Historically, the manufacturing agreement is used as a blueprint for other negotiations. 
 
Business leaders set the tone for negotiations even before it began. DI CEO Hans Skov Christensen outlined his priority for the talks as an opportunity to “restore the competitiveness of Danish companies,” adding that wages are not the only element in competitiveness, but still a “highly central part.” These remarks were made by Christensen at the 6 January press conference, immediately prior to the start of discussions with CO-industri. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/DenmarkFLAG.gif" width="150" height="114"/>
The chief negotiator and President of CO-industri, Thorkild Jensen’s, said the union’s clear primary demand in talks is the continued positive development of real wages. The secondary demands include improvements in social clauses, including improved pay during sick leave, improved maternity allowances, and improved conditions for shift workers and apprentices. 
 
Equal pay across the gender divide is also high on the agenda for this negotiation, as is the review of a special rule in prior agreements affecting clerical workers. Currently, clerical workers are only covered by the collective agreement if over 50% of workers in a specific company are members of HK, the union for commercial and clerical employees. 
 
Co-industri is following the guidance of the recently established European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) policy resolution that calls “for more secure employment, against precarious work.” This will be included in union demands in terms of increased investment in training and education of workers, and protections for temporary agency workers. 
 
The parties will continue to work towards an agreement without the conciliation of the Ministry of Labour. According to CO-industri’s rulebook, every agreement must be put to a ballot, with a simple majority needed for ratification.

Danish Contract Negotiations Deadlocked on National Level

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Four French unions last week, 18 February, approved average wage increases for 60,000 EDF (Electricité de France) workers of 4.4% for 2010. CFDT, CGT, CFTC, and CFE-CGC won workers a progressive and far-sighted wage accord that has a base salary increase, plus increases based on seniority, training, incentives, and promotions. 
 
The 80% state-owned EDF will see half of its workforce retire over the next ten years, with 45% of the company’s nuclear workers alone set to retire by 2015. An industry-wide increase of 1.2% that was negotiated last November and took effect on 1 January is also factored into the 4.4% average boost in salaries. The agreement also includes individual incentives of up to 1.8%. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/FranceFlag.gif" width="150" height="100"/>
Over two-thirds of the 60,000 workers, those employed in distribution and high-voltage electric utility positions, will realize average wage packages increases of 4.2%. The agreement also prioritises training and career advancement opportunities, and likely will prevent the labour unrest within EDF that was characterized by several industrial actions in 2009. 
 
The CFDT termed the agreement satisfactory, while the CGT, which for the first time in many years joined the other unions in approving the results of this bargain, said the new agreement makes up some of the lost purchasing power of the recent past. 
 
The company characterized the wage agreement as “not exorbitant” and said it reflects the will of management to heighten social dialogue with the unions, particularly on job formation and skill upgrades. The positive global financial results posted by EDF in 2009 also contributed to the amiable wage negotiations, with the company stating that the various wage packages granted French workers should contribute to optimal operational performance in 2010. 
 
EDF is the world’s largest operator of nuclear power plants, with some 17 plants and 58 reactors in France alone.

French Unions, EDF Agree to Positive 2010 Wage Terms

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The largest union at South African state-owned electric provider Eskom, ICEM-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), has threatened national strike action if demands on housing allowances and promoting temporary workers to full-time positions are not met. 
 
The NUM engaged in marches and manifestations at Eskom facilities in three provinces last week, and a 16 February central march was undertaken by the union to present a petition of the demands to Eskom management at its at its Klerksdorp headquarters in Matlosana, North West province. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SouthAfricaFlag.gif" width="150" height="90" alt=""/>
Those demands include delays in the finalization of housing allowances, deferred from last summer’s collective negotiations; the banning of labour brokers and absorbing temporary workers onto full-time employment rolls; and opposition to the higher, proposed electricity tariffs of 35% in each of the next three years. 
 
“We cannot have a situation in which some labour brokers are still around to exploit our members,” said NUM Regional Coordinator Eldris Mphahlete, who also expressed his displeasure that the housing allowance issue is still unresolved. “Strike action is on the horizon,” he added. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SouthAfricaCOSATU2.jpg" width="102" height="111" alt=""/>
The Congress of South African Unions (COSATU), and its regional branches are supporting the NUM in its demands. The NUM represents some 16,000 of Eskom’s 28,000 employees in South Africa. 
 
Also last week, the NUM began an indefinite strike at Idwala Lime, a sodium carbonates and industrial materials business owned by Black Economic Empowerment company Tiso Group and private equity entities Ethos and Old Mutual. Operations are located near Danielskuil, Northern Cape province. A vast majority of the 300 workers have selected the NUM as bargaining representative, but management has refused formal recognition despite prolonged dialogue. NUM Regional Organizer Botshelo Lebelo said Idwala Lime is “opting for a confrontational approach” to labour-management relations.

Housing Allowances, Labour Brokers Bring NUM to Edge of Strike at Eskom

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
An inquiry into the fatal helicopter crash that killed 17 workers and crew headed to Canadian offshore oil platforms on 12 March 2009 continued earlier this month. In the days following the early February continuation, former Labrador-Newfoundland Supreme Court Justice Robert Wells, who heads the inquiry undertaken by the nation’s Transportation Safety Board, issued immediate procedural changes a full seven months before his commission’s report. 
 
Those changes are based on testimony from local union officers and staff of Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union, which represents 700 workers at two of three offshore platforms some 300 kilometres off Newfoundland. 
 
One mandate calls on the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, the agency regulating the offshore oil industry, to ensure that a fully equipped search-and-rescue helicopter is on standby at St. John’s, Newfoundland, and ready to respond within 15 to 20 minutes of any mayday call. It took the charter service contractor, Cougar Helicopters Ltd., between 45 minutes to an hour to equip and launch a rescue helicopter last year on 12 March. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CanadaFLAG.gif" width="150" height="75" alt=""/>
The other instruction by Wells restricts night flights to only emergencies until a dedicated helicopter is available that is equipped with an auto-hover and forward-looking infrared device in the event a rescue mission is necessary at night. Both recommended changes were accepted by the Offshore Petroleum Board and the agency was informing lead oil companies at the platforms of the directives last week, including ExxonMobil, Suncor, Husky, Chevron Canada, and ConocoPhillips. 
 
The immediate precautionary changes stem from testimony that CEP leaders gave on 9 February, and also last October and November when the inquiry began. Officers of CEP Local 2121, representing workers at the Hibernia and Terra Nova platforms, expressed concerns that response time, non-fitting survival suits, and lack of underwater breathing devices typify a corporate culture that is lax on transport safety. They testified that in the North Sea oilfields, a separate agency singly monitors air transport to the platforms and a 15-minute response time in the event of an emergency is mandated. 
 
The union also pointed out that Cougar’s operations in the Gulf of Mexico provides search-and-rescue emergency service in 20 minutes time. 
 
The CEP also brought to question why no 24-hour military search-and-rescue helicopters are stationed at St. John’s, the closest point and major port serving the offshore rigs. Such military craft, called Cormorants, are located in Gander, in central Newfoundland, a travelling time of up to two hours air time to the flight paths used by Cougar. Canadian military officials have neglected to address this issue, or to join the inquiry. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMoil3.JPG.JPG" width="120" height="119" alt=""/>
Also of concern to oil workers, according to Local 2121 President Sheldon Peddle and Vice President Brian Murphy and the lone survivor of the March 2009 ditching, Robert Decker, is the fact that Cougar’s Sikorsky S-92A helicopters are equipped with a large fuel tank inside the cabin that complicates emergency exiting. Decker testified at the Wells inquiry on 6 November 2009. 
 
Peddle said that simulators used for worker safety exercises do not have such cabin impediments. 
 
On 12 March 2009, a Cougar Sikorsky S-92A helicopter carrying two crew members and 16 oil workers ditched into North Atlantic waters, eight minutes after oil pressure readings dropped from instruments that monitor the helicopter’s engine gearbox. Two of the 18 on board managed to get out of the cabin after the crash, with only Decker managing to survive in the frigid waters. 
 
The issue of helicopter safety is of utmost importance to the ICEM-International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) Joint Onshore-Offshore Task Force, particularly in view of recent tragedies. On 1 April 2009, 16 workers died tragically in the North Sea when a Eurocopter Super Puma AS 332L2, operated by Bond Offshore Helicopters, ditched on its way to BP’s Miller platform in the ETAP oilfields. 
 
On 26 February 2008, the same make craft crashed in southern Atlantic waters, killing five of 17 workers and crew heading to a Petrobras rig. That caused members of ICEM-affiliated FUB, the Oil Workers’ Federation of Brazil, to boycott the Super Pumas for the next six months. Two other Super Pumas also crashed in the South China Sea in January 2007 and November 2006. And two other ditchings occurred in North Sea waters in the first half of 2009 where, miraculously, nobody was killed.

CEP Testimony in Canadian Offshore Helicopter Crash Leads to Changes

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Efforts to end the stalemate in the Canadian nickel strike between the United Steelworkers (USW) and Vale through independent mediation failed yesterday, with the USW giving a practical solution to the 239-day strike: a return to work offer and unresolved issues between the two parties submitted to binding arbitration. 
 
The Brazilian mining company rejected the union’s attempt to resolve the dispute, which is marked this Saturday, 13 March, by 3,400 union families being on picket lines for eight months. 
 
Now, global trade unions will ramp up strategic plans on behalf of the USW, first by riding into Sudbury, Canada, in two weeks time to reinforce support to striking nickel miners of the USW. A two-day “Bridging the Gap” manifestation, 22-23 March, will bring trade union leaders from the Brazilian mining company’s world-wide operations to northern Ontario province. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/USAUSW.jpg" width="231" height="127"/>
The unionists, to include ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, will join the strikers of USW Local 6500 and their families in a march down Sudbury’s main street on 22 March, with a global strategy forum scheduled the next day. That forum will include plans for “Global Days of Action” against Vale, due to occur 5-11 April. 
 
Delegates from Vale and other worksites affiliated with the world’s second largest mining house could come from as far away as Brazil, Mozambique, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, and South Africa to attend the event. The early April days of action are meant to give a visible display of disgust inside Vale operations, as well as in front of Vale offices, over the company’s insistence that the USW give it unprecedented contract concession in negotiations with Local 6500 of Sudbury, Ontario, and Local 6200 of Port Colborne, Ontario, two unions that share a common labour agreement. 
 
Vale’s bargaining intransigence again stood out, after a flicker of hope late last month when the company agreed to sit down with an independent mediator for exploratory talks to end the strike. Those talks began at month’s end, but failed on 7 March when mediator Kevin Burkett declared, “I am disappointed to report that agreement is not possible at this time. I have therefore broken off discussions.” 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0909sudbury.jpg" width="260" height="195"/>
The mediation did produce an unprecedented offer by the USW to return to work in Sudbury and Port Colborne, with a three-member binding arbitration panel to hear the unresolved issues. The USW proposed that Burkett chair the arbitration panel, with the union and Vale each selecting the other two panel members. Vale adamantly rejected the proposal. 
 
In Labrador/Newfoundland Province, meanwhile, a provincial conciliator will again attempt to reconcile differences between USW Local 9508 and Vale in a return to bargaining on 15-16 March. The union and its 250 members in Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay, Labrador, began a strike against Vale’s copper and nickel operations in Canada’s maritime province on 1 August 2009. Local 9508 and Vale did attempt to resolve differences through provincial mediation in late January, but those efforts broke off on 24 January in St. Johns, Newfoundland. 
 
The breakdown of talks between USW Locals 6500 and 6200 and Vale in Toronto yesterday come just a few weeks before a scheduled 30 March hearing before the Ontario Labour Relations Board on a charge brought by the USW that the company is guilty of bad-faith bargaining. Vale had insisted it would not resume bargaining until USW Locals 6500 and 6200 made a willingness to accede to the concessionary demands of the company. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/People/0703WayneFraser.jpg" width="150" height="151"/>
Wayne Fraser, USW District 6 Director
Those concessions – common before Local 9508 as well – include retirement decreases, creation of a two-tiered pension scheme, with a defined contribution plan for new hires, steep downgrades to a production bonus, and unilateral company discretion concerning outsourcing. USW has insisted throughout that it wants a return to bargaining under no pre-conditions. 
 
The charge before the Ontario Labour Relations Board claims Vale has prolonged the strike by its refusal to bargain, and USW is asking the agency to order the company to pay lost wages and benefits to workers, as well as reimburse the union for strike benefits. 
 
This strike of 239 days likely now will surpass the longest mining strike in Canadian history. That occurred from September 1978 to June 1979 – 267 days – between the USW and Vale’s predecessor in Sudbury, Inco Mining. The one distinction between this strike and several skirmishes between the USW and Inco, however, is that Canadian-based Inco never attempted to operate the mines, smelting, and other operations with replacement workers, as Vale is doing now.

Global Support Again Comes to Canada’s Vale Strike; USW Gives Solution to End It

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Swiss specialty chemical company Clariant has announced a further 400 job cuts at the Muttenz site, near Basel, as the company seeks to move production and increase profits. Clariant CEO, Hariolf Kottmann, oversaw the cutting of 137 jobs last year. Clariant turnover is around $8 billion and the company is a world leader in the supply of chemicals and colors for the textile, leather, paper, packaging, plastics, and printing. The proposed further job cuts will be made between now and 2012, as the company seeks to relocate production to Asia, where production costs are lower. 
 
The mass job cuts would be in breach of the collective agreement and of Swiss labour law. Workers are legally entitled to a period of consultation where alternative employment opportunities can be examined, before any jobs can be cut. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1003.clariant.demo.png" width="201" height="151"/>
ICEM Swiss affiliate UNIA, together with the Clariant Workers Council, is pressing the company to first preserve these jobs, or at least provide acceptable redundancy packages. Demands include replacement jobs for every worker affected by the cuts, practical training and education programs, and no further cuts at the Schweizerhalle pharmaceuticals site. 
 
UNIA and the Clariant workers are organising a demonstration at Clariant headquarters on Thursday 11 March, starting at 5.15am. From there the demonstration will move to Liestal, meeting at the train station at 9am, before marching to the local government building ‘Landratsgebäude’ to call on district councilors to step in to preserve local jobs. 
 
The protesting Clariant workers have a Facebook page with more information.

Swiss Chemical Workers Protest Job Cuts

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we introduce the revised ICEM HIV/AIDS website and report on the G8 “Days of Action,” and how the Zimbabwe energy sector deals with HIV/AIDS.
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are 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. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
ICEM HIV/AIDS Website Revamped 
 
The ICEM HIV/AIDS website has seen a major overhaul in the past few weeks. A key article on how the ICEM responds to HIV and AIDS reports on the achievements of ICEM’s HIV/AIDS work. It also gives a brief description of all projects in cooperation with Solidarity Support Organisations and ICEM affiliates. 
 
As in the past, a link is provided to important HIV/AIDS websites, such as ILO/AIDS, UNAIDS, the Global Fund and others with updated information on these organisations. 
 
A new and especially practical feature on the link to useful materials are examples of an HIV/AIDS Policy for unions and an HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy. These were initially developed in the LO/FTF-sponsored HIV/AIDS project for the mining sector in Ethiopia. Generic versions enable affiliates to draft their own policy and negotiate a comprehensive workplace policy with companies. 
 
Also useful for training activities are four new PowerPoint presentations on Basic Facts about HIV/AIDS, on HIV/AIDS and the Workplace, on Elements of an HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy, and on Negotiating on HIV/AIDS. 
 
A key feature of the website is the inclusion of this e-bulletin. Directly available are also the two major ICEM publications: The HIV/AIDS Training Manual for Collective Bargaining and the Guide on HIV/AIDS Resources and Funding. 
 
Discover the revised ICEM HIV/AIDS website by going to <a href="http://www.icem.org" type="internal">www.icem.org</a> and click on HIV/AIDS! Please give us your feedback. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
African, Canadian Unions Plan ‘Days of Action’ on AIDS for G8 
 
Trade unions throughout Africa and in Canada will join forces in a week of action, 21 – 27 March, to lobby the G8 and G20 for the provision of universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, and care. The action is timed to precede a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G8 and G20 countries in Ottawa, 29 – 30 March. 
 
National trade union centres in Africa will deliver messages to the Canadian embassies in their country calling on the Canadian Prime Minister to play a leading role in convincing his fellow leaders to take quick and decisive action on HIV and AIDS. As the host country, Canada will preside over the G8 Summit and will co-host with South Korea the G20 Summit in June. 
 
It may be recalled that 2010 is the target year for the G8 commitment to achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care made in 2005, and for achieving the second target of Millennium Development Goal 6, universal access to treatment. 
 
(Source: Press Release of the Canadian Labour Congress, 23 February) 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
The 2010 Universal Access Promise 
 
Trade union HIV/AIDS activists need not be reminded that 2010 marks the year when the goal of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care is to be achieved. But just how much progress has been made, and more importantly, how much remains to be done may not be as well known. 
 
To learn more about the extent of the unfinished business visit the UNAIDS website at <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a> where you can find an interactive map which shows the extent of the work that remains to be done. 
 
A key statistic is central to the union response: 7,400 people become infected with HIV every day and the majority of these people are of working age. Unfortunately, workplace-based prevention strategies often have a low priority in national strategies where prevention itself is often a low priority compared to treatment. When for every three people put on antiretroviral treatment, there are five new infections, the case for prevention is clear. This calls for strong union advocacy efforts this year calling on world leaders to deliver on their commitment for universal access so that workers and their families do not continue to bear the brunt of HIV infections. 
 
(Source: Contribution from Robert E. Lovelace, GUAP HIV/AIDS Consultant, Washington) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
South Africa: Younger Teachers more open about HIV 
 
Younger teachers in South Africa are taking the lead in talking to students about HIV but are not practicing what they preach, according to a study by the University of KwaZulu-Natal. 
 
Younger educators, who feel that they are more informed about HIV and less inclined to stigmatise infected people, are also more likely than their older colleagues to talk to students about HIV-related issues because they are closer in age and because they are more likely to know someone living with HIV. 
 
The study, which surveyed 34 schools in the Free State province, also found that younger teachers were not immune from taking chances with their own health and that of their partners. Almost 50% of the teachers did not know their HIV status and most said they did not use condoms. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, global HIV/AIDS news and analysis, 9 February at <a href="http://www.plusnews.org">www.plusnews.org</a>) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Zimbabwe: HIV/AIDS Policy for the Energy and Textile Sectors 
 
Employers’ and workers' representatives in the energy and textile sectors have come up with new policies in an attempt to foster debate around HIV/AIDS at the workplace. The unions want to make the debate part of the "boardroom agenda" at executive meetings. The project is supported by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). 
 
To reduce employment-related stigma and discrimination against persons living with HIV and AIDS, employers and unions are embarking on a campaign to raise awareness and getting commitment at the highest corporate level, in a programme dubbed, "Making HIV and AIDS a Boardroom Agenda." Successful and comprehensive HIV and AIDS intervention strategies will only happen provided there is board buy in and support. 
 
Zimbabwe Energy Workers' Union (ZEWU) President, Angeline Chitambo, said there was need for the government and employers to take issues of HIV/AIDS more seriously. "HIV is now a topical workplace issue which cannot be ignored. We want the government and employers implement what the policy says," said Chitambo, who is also an ICEM Vice President. 
 
(Source: Zimbabwe Standard, Harare, 27 February) 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Labour Advocacy Toolkit now Available 
 
The Labour Advocacy Toolkit is now available on the website of the World AIDS Campaign (WAC) <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a> under Constituencies / Labour. 
 
The ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin reported on the development of the Toolkit in its issue No. 50 of November 2009. The toolkit, with the subtitle, “Organising to Achieve Universal Access to HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support,” can help trade union AIDS activists assess whether key indicators for the national AIDS response meet the needs of the working people, determine where unionists are positioned in national discussions about AIDS, and suggest how they can build campaigns to make sure that universal access is achieved. 
 
Trade unions are among the best positioned mass organisations at country level to create change. This is no less true when it comes to union mobilising the response to HIV and AIDS. This Toolkit is for those who have not run campaigns on HIV and AIDS as well as for more experienced campaigners looking for new campaign tools. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
News from Global Unions 
 
In its most recent issues of the fortnightly HIV/AIDS updates of January and February, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) at <a href="http://www.itf.org.uk">www.itf.org.uk</a>) reports on awareness campaigns for the maritime sector in India. In Ukraine, a campaign to promote safe sex was organised at the Odessa National Maritime Academy, which has about 4,000 students. Ukraine is experiencing one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world with a prevalence rate of 1.6%. 
 
An extensive article deals with the anti-gay legislation in Uganda. The proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill would, if enacted, broaden the criminalisation of homosexuality by introducing the death penalty for people who have previous convictions, are HIV positive, or engage in same-sex acts with people under 18 years of age. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter – How to Subscribe 
 
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.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 54, March 2010

The Zambian Labour and Social Security Minister, Austin Liato, has publically criticised some employers for using temporary workers to fill traditionally permanent positions simply to evade paying statutory employment benefits to workers. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia’s (MUZ) 12th quadrennial conference on 27 April, Mr. Liato said this trend is found not only in the mining industry but other sectors as well. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Austin%20C%20Liato%20MP.%20Zambia.png" width="83" height="107"/>
MP Austin Liato
Mr. Liato said that despite the Government’s commitment to halt the casualisation of employment, the situation has not improved. "The Government has always led a campaign against casualisation. This state of affairs can't be allowed to continue and I urge labour leaders to be vigilant. We should not turn permanent jobs to temporary jobs," he said.

Zambia’s Labour Minister Decries Labour Casualisation at MUZ Conference 

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The Associated Mine Workers’ of Zimbabwe (AMWZ) suspended its five-day strike today after receiving a show-cause order from the country’s Labour Ministry late on Friday, 14 May. “It is necessary for us to inform miners to return to their jobs or they could face dismissal,” said AMWZ President Tinago Ruzive. 
 
The Labour Ministry will hold a hearing on 20 May to determine the validity of the strike, a walkout the ICEM declared justified last week because several mining houses affiliated with Zimbabwe’s Chamber of Mines failed to deliver on wage adjustments that came in an arbitration award last year. 
 
That arbitration award should have meant a total salary increase of US$140.00 for the final three months of 2009, but most employers failed to enact the increase. For the vast majority of Zimbabwe’s mineworkers, they have seen no increase in wages in over a year. 

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Upwards of 20,000 miners struck some 45 different mining companies on 12 May, shutting down a good portion of Zimbabwe’s platinum, diamond, gold, and production. This came after the AMWZ filed the necessary 14-day intent-to-strike notice in April. The Chamber of Mines did petition the Labour Ministry for a show-cause order then, but after two meetings, the Chamber’s offer of a US$9.50-per-month increase was insufficient. 
 
Some mining houses, including Imperial Platinum’s Zimplats Holdings and Aquarius’ Mimosa Investments, did pay salary increases and were not part of last week’s strikes. But others, including certain operations of Rio Tinto, Metallion Gold, Duration Gold, Redaurum’s River Ranch mine, and Pan African Mining’s Maligreen gold mine, saw production curtailed by the strike. 
 
The AMWZ has proposed a current wage adjustment of US$496 on top of miners’ total salaries. The union also insists that mining companies which have neglected to remit contributions to the Mining Industry Pension Fund, monies owed to the National Employment Council for the Mining Industry, and to the AMWZ for subscriptions be forced to meet these obligations. 
 
Depending on the outcome of the 20 May hearing, the AMWZ could issue another 14-day strike notice and resume strike activity in June, said Ruzive.

Zimbabwe Mine Strike Suspended by Decree of Labour Ministry

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