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<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The ICEM was saddened to hear of the death on 10 September of Mahjoub Ben Seddik, the Secretary-General of the Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT), who died in Paris at the age of 88. He was buried in the “cimitiere des chouhadas,” the martyrs cemetery in Casablanca, Morocco. 
 
In attendance at the funeral were the entire political class of Morocco, encompassing leaders of political parties, past and present government ministers, trade union centres, as well as numerous Moroccan intellectuals and wider civil society. All had gathered to pay homage to a great trade union leader who had been of massive importance in the trade union world, and the Moroccan struggle for independence. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1010.Mahjoub Ben Seddik.JPG" width="130" height="160"/>
Mahjoub Ben Seddik, the late Secretary-General of the Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT) 
In a message of condolences, Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, echoed the words of UMT national official, Milourdi Moukharik, in stating: “Moroccan workers, their trade union movement, as well as the Arab trade union world, and indeed the international trade union movement, have lost a great leader and fighter for trade union independence and struggle. 
 
“He founded and continued to lead a vibrant and independent trade union structure firmly grounded in the workplace. The ICEM and the whole international trade union movement have lost a good friend and colleague. His passing really seems to be the end of an era.” 
 
Mahjoub Ben Seddik spent his entire life defending the interests of the Moroccan workers. He never deviated from his conviction that the trade union movement should be independent of political parties, but at the same time was immensely political. He played a major role in the struggle for Moroccan independence and was imprisoned for two years in 1952 and again in 1954 before independence was achieved in 1956. 
 
He remained an active leader of UMT until his death and was a key supporter of wider international trade union, and the work of the ICEM in particular. UMT has been an active ICEM member for many years and has played an important role in the Global Union Federation’s recent increased activities throughout the Middle East/North Africa Region (MENA), with Abdesalam Mansour being the MENA member of the ICEM Executive Committee.

ICEM Mourns Moroccan Trade Union Leader Mahjoub Ben Seddik

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
A third meeting recently was held among trade unions and community groups of the Fako District of Cameroon in Buea to promote trade union cohesion. Cameroon Regional Delegate of Labour and Social Security Marie Catherine Kalati Lobe has been chairing the sessions, first started in June, and the forums are aggressively tackling issues regarding transportation, agriculture, and education, as well as a current labour issue at the state-run Société Nationale de Raffinage (SONARA) oil refinery at Cape Lembeh Limbe. 
 
Sector unions numbering about 12, some affiliated with the Confederation of Cameroon Trade Unions (CCTU), the General Federation of Free Workers of Cameroon (CGTTLC), and the Confederation of Cameroon Autonomous Trade Unions (CCATU), attended the most recent workshop in early October. They moved forward an agenda on the development of a common sense of purpose to enhance workers’ welfare and to improve the social climate. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Cameroon.png" width="150" height="69"/>
Issues raised included consistent judicial delays on labour cases, the requisite standards for inclusion in a re-written labour code, and employer resistance in allowing union representation inside workplaces. Specifically at this month’s meetings, grievances were heard over the low wages and long hours of agricultural workers in banana plantations, lack of paid leave for support staff of the University of Buea, in contrast to the teaching staff, and the influx of clandestine transportation modes in Fako District, most notably by police and law enforcement. 
 
Discussion also centered on the lack of movement in negotiations between management and the union – the Fako Petroleum Workers’ Union – at the country’s only refinery, the 37,000 barrel-per-day Limbe refinery that processes light crude imported from neighbouring Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea. The state refinery, started with the assistance of Elf and later Total, is currently undergoing a large capitalisation project.

Cameroon Trade Unions in Fako Meet to Improve Social Climate

<ul>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Emphasis to remain on Sustainability and Just Transition work in cooperation with IMF and ITGLWF to ensure that the voice and views of Energy Industry workers continues to be heard in both intergovernmental discussions as well as in the formulation of general trade union policies on these issues. In cooperation with IMF and ITGLWF, ICEM will continue to emphasize the need for social, environmental, and economic sustainability in all energy industries including a "fair, ambitious and binding" agreement on global GHG emissions, accompanied by industrial policies that render existing industrial jobs more sustainable; create new, decent, sustainable industrial jobs; and ensure a Just Transition. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Promotion of democratic energy policies</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Focus on the changing energy mix (coal, oil, gas, nuclear, hydro, biofuels, solar, wind, etc.) at national and international levels. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Solidarity and dialog between unions of exporting and importing countries of energy must be increased. Equally we need to strengthen cooperation at industrial and company level between energy producers and consumers as part of the process of building new international trade union structures for manufacturing industries. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Expanding contacts and joint work between coal and uranium miners with the Energy Industries section </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Continued work on Global Framework Agreements aimed at both increasing the number of agreements and ensuring that the agreements we have are monitored and implemented more effectively. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Continued support to the ICEM-INWUN Network of nuclear workers including its focus on the full nuclear “chain” from uranium mining to power generation and other uses such as medical isotopes. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">An increased focus on industrial networks at a regional and sub-regional level including Energy Industry-wide forums as well as individual oil, gas electric power and nuclear networks as deemed necessary and useful. Such work must be expanded in both Africa and Latin America. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Support for Contract & Agency Labor expanded campaign </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Continued support to the ICEM-ITF Oil and Gas Workers Alliance aimed at both continuing and expanding work with the relevant Iraqi trade unions and extending the work to other countries and regions. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">ICEM to collect and analyze information on refinery expansions and cutbacks as well as refinery construction and closures globally with a view to a future campaign to ensure that any relocation that may be taking place is not to take advantage of reduced environmental and health and safety controls and legislation. In particular a study of refinery accidents causing serious injury or deaths needs to be carried out that also considers the impact of refinery age and use of contract or agency labour. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Concentrate on women workers in the Energy Industries </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Focus on making work in the Energy Industries more attractive as a career choice for young people </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Mounting effective campaigns in support of affiliated trade unions faced with attacks by governments and employers. Iraq, Colombia and Mexico identified as immediate high priority countries for this work. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Coordinating Global support and solidarity in organising drives in the energy sector and supporting other struggles by our affiliated trade unions against governments and employers. </div>
 </li>
</ul>

Action Plan - ICEM World Conference for the Energy Industries

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
A six-week strike by contract workers of Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) in Tamil Nadu state, India, ended on 27 October, after intervention by state Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. Some 13,000 contract workers, represented by six unaffiliated unions, began strike actions at the state-owned coal and electric generating company on 19 and 20 September after putting forward a ten-point charter of demands. 
 
Included in that charter was a demand to make workers with ten years or more of service permanent workers of the company. Other demands included wage revisions, equal pay for equal work, regularization of services, and certain work terms. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CAL_en.jpg" width="146" height="66" alt=""/>
The settlement came after the six unions requested mediation by both state officials and the Coal Ministry in New Delhi. Also crucial in settling the walkout was a threat by the 750 permanent workers of NLC that they would strike if an accord was not reached. On 22 October, permanent staff also did a day of fasting in support of the striking contract workers. 
 
The agreement, reached late in the evening of 27 October, gave contract workers an additional monthly pay of 1,560 rupees (€26), plus 1,000 rupees (€16) on top of a minimum bonus. There was also an assurance that the contract workers would not be victimized by taking part in the strike. 
 
The strike was marked by road blockades to power plants, and mass arrests. Two weeks into the strike, contract workers affiliated to two other unions – an affiliate of the Labour Progressive Front, connected to the Tamil Nadu ruling party Davida Munnetra Kazhagam, and the Union of Dalit Panthers – broke with the other unions and signed a five-year contract with NLC.

State Indian Coal Company Settles Strike with Contract Workers

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
The ICEM continues to support the campaign for the rights of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. The State Enterprise Workers’ Relations Confederation of Thailand (SERC) has teamed with LabourStart to call on the Royal Thai Government to end the illegal and unjust practice of blocking Burmese migrants from access to the Workers’ Compensation Fund (WCF). 
 
The social security fund provides compensation for workers who incur injuries or disease from their work. Burmese migrants are denied rehabilitation assistance and are denied the right to register as disabled if they suffer permanent disabilities from occupational accidents. 
 
Following three years of protest by the ITUC-affiliated SERC, the ILO’s Committee of Experts in February 2010 ruled that this denial of access for Burmese migrants was a breach of ILO Convention 19, on equality of accident compensation, which Thailand has ratified. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Thailand.png" width="150" height="69" alt=""/>
The Thai government’s response has been to outsource the compensation of migrant workers to private insurance firms. This cannot create equality of accident compensation with Thai nationals who remain covered by the WCF, and is in breach of international law and human rights standards. 
 
Over two million Burmese migrants currently work in Thailand, most in low-skilled, dangerous jobs. While the majority of these workers entered Thailand illegally, over one million have registered to work. 
 
Labour activists submitted a petition to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 26 October, calling for action on this issue and on the general abuse of migrant workers in Thailand. The LabourStart campaign condemns the Thai government’s inaction on the human trafficking of migrants. 
 
Visit the LabourStart Act NOW Campaign <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=783">here</a>, to send a message to the Thai Government.

Burmese Migrant Workers in Thailand Warrants Support

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The ICEM was saddened to learn of the passing of Madhav Neupane, a co-founder of affiliate General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT). Comrade Neupane, 51, unexpectedly died on 29 October from tuberculosis, leaving his wife and two children behind. 
 
GEFONT released a statement on that day, saying, the “entire trade union movement of Nepal is now under deep grief. We have lost an always active leader of the movement.” 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1010.gefont.madhav.jpg" width="280" height="163"/>
Comrade Neupane was one of many democratic activists who were arrested during the autocratic Panchayati period of King Mahendra in the 1970s and beyond. It was then, as leader of the Nepal Independent Hotel Workers’ Union, that the NIHWU and three other unions formed GEFONT. He was currently a member of GEFONT’s Veterans’ Network. 
 
Following his funeral on 29 October, GEFONT’s National Executive Committee met and adopted a resolution of mourning that calls for lowering of the union federation’s flag to half-mast for three days throughout the country, as well as to organise a mass meeting to pay tribute to Madhav Neupane on the 13th day following his passing.

ICEM Mourns Co-Founder of Nepal’s GEFONT Federation

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
On the evening of 7 November, U.S. Steel Corp. locked out 900 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1005 at the American company’s Hamilton, Ontario, steel mill. The reason given: the union’s refusal to submit a concession-laden contract to members for a vote. 
 
In 2007, U.S. Steel bought Canadian steel producer Stelco Inc. and its two steel mills, the Hilton Works in Hamilton and Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario, for US$1.1 billion. The 1985 Investment Canada Act contains a provision stating that foreign investment in Canadian enterprises must provide a “net benefit” to Canada. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011.usw.lockout.jpg" width="238" height="158"/>
Photo: Cathie Coward/Hamilton Spectator
The lockout eight days ago frames that flawed premise. In fact, beginning in August 2009 and continuing for eight months, 1,000 steelworkers at the Lake Erie Works were locked out while U.S. Steel extracted pension cuts and other concessions. 
 
Now, in Hamilton, the situation is much the same. The American steelmaker is demanding closure of the defined benefit plan to new hires, an end to pension indexing for 9,000 Stelco retirees, cuts totalling 80% of the value of cost-of-living adjustments, and elimination of two weeks vacation time. 
 
A provincial mediator delivered these social cuts to Local 1005’s bargaining committee on 4 November, three months after a prior collective agreement expired. With the union refusing to adhere to a company demand to put the proposal to a vote, U.S. Steel imposed the lockout. Local 1005 seeks status quo in a new labour agreement. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011.usw.lockout.2.jpg" width="204" height="151"/>
Photo: Cathie Coward/Hamilton Spectator
“These workers and their community were promised by their government and U.S. Steel that they would benefit from this foreign multinational’s takeover of Stelco,” stated USW Canadian National Director and ICEM Vice President Ken Neumann. “Instead, the takeover has resulted in pain and suffering for working families. U.S. Steel’s ‘net benefit’ has consisted of plant shutdowns, productions cuts, lost jobs, and labour disputes.” 
 
Twice in the past two years, U.S. Steel has defied the Investment Canada Act. Only five weeks ago, on 8 October, the company shut Hamilton’s blast furnace and idled all steel-making, citing weak customer orders. Although no workers were made redundant then, the shutdown was the harbinger to the 7 November lockout. 
 
From November 2008 to March 2009, a mere 15 months after buying Stelco, U.S. Steel laid off 1,500 of 2,000 workers at both operations as it moved production to steel mills in the US. The Canadian government is attempting to enforce the Investment Canada Act. It has brought a lawsuit in federal court against U.S. Steel for breaking job and production level promises with the 2008-2009 shutdowns. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/People/Ken.Neumann.USW.Canada[1].jpg" width="100" height="152"/>
USW Canadian National Director Ken Neumann
The government is seeking fines of up to C$10,000 per day for breaching the Act. 
 
But in court arguments, still underway, U.S. Steel used the economic recession to justify curtailments in Canadian steel production. Adding to production flight – and yet another slap at the Canadian law – near parity between the Canadian dollar and US dollar now has made a shift in production economical for the company. Slab steel made in both Hamilton and Nanticoke has been destined southward for finishing, and the weak American dollar has now made raw steel production cheaper in the US. 
 
Neumann has seen the Investment Canada Act trampled on too many times. “Whether it’s Vale in Sudbury and Labrador, or U.S. Steel in Hamilton and Nanticoke, foreign corporations show no qualms about breaking their commitments and inflicting economic pain,” he said. 
 
Neumann, the USW, and all Canadian industrial unions seek a re-write to the Investment Canada Act, revisions that give genuine social and economic guarantees to workers in the wake of corporate takeovers.

Flawed Investment Canada Act Again Seen in Steel Lockout

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Leading negotiations from exile in Canada, General Secretary of ICEM-affiliate Los Mineros of Mexico, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia achieved wage gains for four locals of the union. Direct salaries were increased by 8% in each, apart from Section 269 in Guerrero, Mexico, where Los Mineros members saw their overall income increase 10%. 
 
The negotiations were conducted in direct dialogue with company management, with no involvement by the Federal Ministry of Labour, a further indication that the Ministry is not regarded as able to fulfil its role as a fair adjudicator. 
 
The 10% gains for Section 269 were achieved through bargaining with Canadian-owned Gold Corp, a producer of gold and silver. Direct salaries were increased 8% and additional social benefits were improved by 2%, including scholarships for workers’ children, among other advantages. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Napoleon.Gomez.Los.Mineros[1].jpg" width="205" height="137"/>
Los Mineros General Secretary Napoleón Gómez Urrutia
The 8% salary increases were achieved for members of Fraction 1 of Section 269 with employer Mineral Raw Materials in Puebla; members of Section 247, Western Jalisco, at Minera El Pilon; members of Section 16 in Coahuila, employed by coal producer Industrial Materials; and members of Section 274 at the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas at the Sadcom de Occidente company. 
 
The ICEM salutes these significant advances by Los Mineros for its members, in the face of continuing persecution by the government of Felipe Calderón. 
 
Elsewhere in Mexico, last week the ICEM-affiliated United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) launched a legal campaign, calling on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCHR) to investigate the continuing violation of Mexican workers’ rights to free association. The UE, together with the National Lawyers Guild and Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers, are soliciting letters of support from labour, legal organizations, and law firms. See more <a href="http://www.nlginternational.org/action/current.php#134">here</a>.  
 
The letters will be filed to coincide with the 100th Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, on 20 November. 
 
View the ICEM’s letter <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/138.ICEM.Mexico.OHCHR.15Nov.pdf" type="internal">here</a>, which can serve as a model letter.

Mexico’s Los Mineros Achieves Wage Gains Despite Persecution

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The annual Regional Conference for the Eastern Europe/Central Asia Region of the ICEM was conducted in Moscow on 23 September. Participating affiliated trade unions came from Azerbaijan, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus. 
 
The meeting was chaired by ROSUGLEPROF – the Russian Independent Coal Employees’ Union – President and ICEM Vice President Ivan Mokhnachuk. Each delegation briefed participants on today's situation in their respective country and union. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda spoke on the process of building joint structures with the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF). The idea of creating a new Global Union Federation was supported by Mikhail Tarasenko, President of the Russian Mining Trade Union, a union invited as a guest to the meeting. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1010. EE regional Council meeting.jpg" width="298" height="197"/>
The ICEM’s Regional Contact Person for the Eastern Europe/Central Asia Region and the Central Europe Region, Anatoly Surin, gave a report on the activities in the region since the last regional Council in September 2009, in Kiev, Ukraine. The participants of the meeting adopted a resolution of support to the miners of the enterprise “STRATEX” of Moldova in a struggle for fair wages. 
 
The ICEM’s Regional Conference in 2011 will take place in Uzbekistan.

ICEM Holds Eastern Europe/Central Asia Regional Conference

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the great success of a project by the German IGBCE women in Tanzania, on the South African government’s failure to provide promised female condoms at the World Cup games, and on the mining house AngloAmerican’s ongoing campaign to stem the spread of the HIV virus in South Africa. 
 
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"/>
IGBCE Women Sponsor Successful VCT campaign in Tanzania 
 
The second leg of the campaign for voluntary counselling and testing took place in Mwasa, the second largest town in Tanzania, in August. The campaign was sponsored with donations from the women unionists of the German ICEM affiliate, IGBCE. The African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) gave technical assistance. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1010.hiv.JPG" width="278" height="202" alt=""/>
A total of 875 people were tested, among them 800 workers, members of the ICEM affiliates TUICO and TAMICO in Tanzania. Four percent tested positive, with a marked difference between men (3.1 percent) and women (6.9 percent). All who tested positive were referred to the government hospital in Mwasa. 
 
A dancing troupe of people living with HIV and AIDS provided entertainment, and members of the group also gave testimonies to encourage workers and members of the public to get tested. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Female Condoms Missing During World Cup 
 
Female condoms have been widely celebrated as an answer to putting reproductive health and HIV protection in the hands of women. Yet, the South African government fell far short of its promise of distributing 7.5 million female condoms during the World Cup games in June, with only one million finding their way into the hands of consumers. On the other hand, male condoms were available in high numbers - 565 million - though even these were 20% fewer than expected. 
 
Many women’s organisations, who had pressed for the condoms, expressed disappointment that the female versions were largely missing in action, thus offering women less choice of how to protect themselves. Tian Johnson of Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Trust is frustrated at the situation, referring to messages communicated by the organisation to 2010 visitors, “Coming to South Africa soon? Bring your own condoms; we certainly don’t have enough to share!” 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.genderlinks.org.za">www.genderlinks.org.za</a>, as reported in Pambazuka, 23 July) 
 
Note by the Editor: The Coordinator of the ICEM HIV/AIDS Project is campaigning for wider access to female condoms. During the Sub-regional HIV/AIDS Women’s Workshop in May, she found that female condoms were not commonly available. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
World AIDS Day 2010: Universal Access and Human RIghts 
 
First observed in 1988, World AIDS Day (WAD) on 1 December has served to raise awareness about the epidemic, focus attention on issues that are key to a successful response, and to inspire positive action. The WAD theme for 2009-2010 is “Universal Access and Human Rights.” 
 
In cooperation with the World AIDS Campaign and other organisations, this year UNAIDS is organising a global “Lights for Rights Commemoration” in 100 cities. This campaign aims to highlight the linkages between HIV vulnerability and Human Rights around the world, especially of people living with HIV, women and girls, men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, and transgender people. 
 
The “Lights for Rights” campaign began on 1 December 2009 in the US, when the lights were turned off and later turned back on, illuminating New York City landmarks. The darkness represents how stigma, discrimination, and criminalization forces people to die alone in fear and shame, while switching the lights on symbolizes the human rights of all people, which allows one to walk in the light of information, treatment, care, and health. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website <a href="http://www.uniaidstoday.org">www.uniaidstoday.org</a>. UNAIDS has produced a toolkit which can be accessed on this site 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Zimbabwe: Patients Forced to Pay for ARVs 
 
Rampant corruption in the provision of life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and other HIV services is threatening Zimbabwe's national AIDS response, according to a recently released report by a local human rights group. 
 
Commissioned by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) in March 2010, the report - Corruption Burns Universal Access to Treatment - found that 73% of HIV-positive respondents had been asked to pay bribes by health workers. Most of those unwilling or unable to pay were turned away or given inadequate services. 
 
The findings were based on interviews with 1,024 people living with HIV in the provinces of Masvingo, Harare, Bulawayo, and Manicaland. Most of the respondents lived in urban areas and 89% had a family income of less than US$100 a month. 
 
HIV patients were often asked to pay for services that were supposed to be free. About a third of the respondents who were asked for bribes refused to pay them, mainly because of poverty; as a consequence, 63% were denied the service and had to pay for drugs or diagnostic tests in the private sector, or on the black market, or go without. 
 
(Sources: Plus News, Harare, 5 October) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Kenya: Minister Condemned for Promoting Gay Inclusion 
 
A Kenyan minister who expressed her opinion in support for HIV and Aids mitigation programmes for gays and lesbians has come under sharp criticism from church and Muslim leaders who said her remarks were “satanic” and contrary to “African culture.” 
 
Esther Murugi, the special programmes minister in the Kenyan government, while addressing a Gays and Commercial Sex Workers HIV and Aids Symposium held at the Kenya Coastal City of Mombasa, challenged the government, in which she serves to help the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and inter-sex (LGBTI) community efforts in war against the scourge. 
 
The seminar, titled “Most – At-Risk Populations (MARPs),” was targeted at Men having Sex with Men (MSM), sex workers, and Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), believed to be at the greatest risk of HIV infection. 
 
Politicians attacked the minister over her remarks and called on Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki to dismiss her for advocating for the recognition of gays and lesbians. The symposium was partly sponsored by the National Aids Control Council (NACC) which is the government national agency that designs and implements policies on the fight against HIV and AIDS. 
 
(Source: BTM correspondent, 6 October) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Fund: Donor Governments Pledge Record Amounts 
 
Donors are expected to give the Global Fund about US$11.7 billion over the three-year period, 2011-2013. This is 20% more than was pledged three years ago for the 2008-2010 period; but it is still less than the Global Fund says that it needs. 
 
More than 40 countries, together with the European Commission, faith-based organizations, private foundations and corporations attended a pledging session in New York on 5 October chaired by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. 
 
The Fund says that its total needs over the three years 2011-13 will be between US$13 billion and US$20 billion. Over the past few months, donor government studied the Fund's needs and effectiveness and deliberated over how much each would commit to for the three years in question. They then came to New York to announce their decisions. 
 
The four countries that pledged the most for 2011-13 are the US, US$4 billion, 40% more than its pledge for the previous three years; France, US$1.48 billion, a 20% increase over the previous three years; Germany, US$822 million, no change; and Japan, US$800 million, a 28% increase. The three countries that pledged the largest percentage of their Gross National Income (GNI) are Norway and France (0.018% each) and Canada (0.013%). 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 131 of 8 October. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>; to receive GFO send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
AngloAmerican’s Campaign against HIV/AIDS 
 
AngloAmerican is the largest private sector employer in South Africa and the effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic have ravaged its business. However, over the years the situation has become more manageable. By its own estimates, approximately 12,000 of its 71,000-workforce in South Africa are HIV-positive. 
 
The group’s medical consultant, Dr Brian Brink, who is also the Global Fund Board member for the private sector, says that the big turning point came when treatment became available and effective. In negotiations with the union, the company agreed to pay for antiretroviral treatment (ART), but the real obstacle to getting things done was the stigma, fear, and distrust surrounding the disease. Agreement with the union also included guarantees that the jobs of HIV-positive workers were safe. 
 
From the economic point of view, giving out ART free of charge also makes sense. The fully-accounted cost for treatment is US$126 per HIV-positive worker per month. Against this, the total savings from reduced absenteeism and declining health care costs, as well as reduced staff turnover and benefits payments are US$219. 
 
(Sources: Daily Telegraph London, 2 August, with additions from the editor) 
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News from the Swedish Workplace HIV/AIDS Programme 
 
The Swedish Workplace HIV/AIDS Programme (SWHAP) is a joint initiative by the International Council of Swedish Industry (NIR) and the Swedish Industrial and Metalworkers’ Union (IF Metall), an affiliate of the ICEM. 
 
In the latest newsletter of SWHAP, there is a report on the Swedish programme’s Sub-regional Conference in Zimbabwe related to the development of its South Africa Peer Educators Network and new HIV/AIDS workplace programmes in cooperation with unions and Swedish companies in Southern and East Africa. The SWHAP programme in Namibia has commenced with the adoption of workplace policies by Auto Sueco, Atlas Copco, and ABB, and the training of peer educators. 
 
(Source: SWHAP Newsletter August 2010) 
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News from Global Unions 
 
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>, reports in its latest HIV/AIDS update No. 93 of 1 October on its HIV/AIDS capacity-building workshop for the Asian region and the publication of a new seafarers directory that includes information on practising safer sex and advocacy of condom use. 
 
The August Newsletter of PSUFASA (Public Sector Unions Fighting AIDS in Southern Africa) reports on the projects activities in Zimbabwe. The project, which is supported by the UK Department for International Development, is in its last year of the three-year project cycle. The project is coordinated by Tsitsi Mariwo from the PSI Southern Africa office in Johannesburg. 
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Five Years Ago: ICEM’s HIV/AIDS e-Bulletin was Born 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In future issues, we will refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In October 2005, we reported on the Global Fund replenishment meeting in London in September 2005. Governments then pledged US$3.7 billion, which was short of expectations as the total needs of the Fund had been estimated at US$7 billion. As the article on the replenishment meeting in New York above shows, the amounts pledged have trebled but so have the needs to cover all approved grants and sustain service delivery. 
 
In the October 2005 issue we wrote: “The relatively low level of support raises questions about the G8 commitment (at the Gleneagles Summit in July 2005) to place on antiretroviral treatment by 2010 all HIV patients who need it.” 
 
That sadly has become true. As the year 2010 comes close to ending, various estimates say that only half of the HIV positive population who needs treatment still has not access to it. 
 
(The source of the article in October 2005: Global Fund Observer, Issue 50 of 7 September 2005) 
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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. 61, October 2010

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