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<img height="40" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
Workers at Turkey’s state oil company, Tupras, members of ICEM affiliate Petrol-Iş, went on a day-long strike 28 March in protest to the postponement of a definitive ruling that would cancel the 51% sale of the oil company to a private company. 
The union won, on 2 February, a preliminary ruling from Turkey’s highest court, the Council of State, which blocked the US$4.14 billion sale to a consortium led by Koc Holdings and Royal Dutch Shell. The final ruling was scheduled to be handed down by the Council of State on 27 March, but is now delayed until 25 April. 
Workers halted production at Tupras’ four refineries, Izmit, Izmir, Kirikkale and Batman, as well as at a petrochemical plant located next to the Izmit refinery.

Petrol-Iş in Turkey Strikes Tupras Oil Refineries

Please send a message to 
(with a copy to the ICEM - <a href="mailto:info@icem.org">info@icem.org</a>) 
 
François YAO 
General Secretary SYNASEG 
E-mail : <a href="mailto:ykokora@cie.ci">ykokora@cie.ci</a> 
Fax :+225 21 23 38 25 
 
 
 
 
Dear Colleagues, 

Re: Your strike against CIE 
We have learned through the ICEM that you will be on strike against CIE from October 30 to November 1. 
 
We understand that for a long time, CIE has been using the following tactics in an attempt to weaken your union 
 
• Refusal to enter into dialog, and applying dilatory measures 
• Hindered union freedoms by prohibiting the posting of union notices, and refused to allow holding union meetings, etc. 
• Violated the union fees check-off agreement, by withholding fees, abusively use fees that have been collected in favour of third parties. 
• Arbitrary creation and use of a Mutual Investment Fund (FCP in its French acronym) supposed to benefit employees but which proceedings are not used in favour of workers whereas they are the only contributors. 
 
We fully support your decision to call for a strike this week and demand that CIE immediately open unconditional negotiations with SYNASEG. 
 
In Solidarity,

Model support letter for SYNASEG campaign

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
ICEM Canadian affiliate Power Workers’ Union (PWU) supports the efforts of a Canadian company to build more nuclear power capability in the province of Ontario. Bruce Power, a privately held electric generating company based in Ontario, announced recently that it would begin the licensing process with federal and provincial regulators to construct more nuclear reactors. 
“The government of Ontario is clear on its direction to keep nuclear generation in Ontario’s electricity mix,” said PWU President Don MacKinnon. “We support any actions that begin the process of planning for the future of nuclear power.” 
<img height="48" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CanadaPWU.jpg" width="269"/>
Bruce Power currently operates six nuclear reactors, with two other units currently under re-construction and expected back on line in 2009. The company is the source of 20% of Ontario’s power supply and has the capability to generate 6,200 megawatts. Bruce Power is seeking regulatory and licensing approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission under the country’s Environmental Assessment Act to conduct more reactors that would begin operation after 2015. 
PWU is the largest electricity union in Ontario, and has union membership in all of the provinces nuclear and coal-fired power plants. The PWU also represents workers in hydroelectric, gas, oil, and biomass generation plants, as well as in regulatory and research aspects of the industry.

PWU in Canada Supports Efforts to Build More Nuclear Reactors

The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine & General Workers Unions (ICEM), the Global Union Federation for oil and gas workers, condemned today the hostile actions of Iran toward a Romanian-owned oil rig in the Persian Gulf. On Tuesday, 22 August, Iranian gunboats fired on the rig Orizont, owned by Grup Servicii Petroliere (GPS), before boarding the vessel and holding 26 workers hostage. 
 
The violent and life-threatening actions by Iran were over a commercial dispute in which GPS had terminated services to a Dubai-based company, Oriental Oil Company, which had sub-leased development and production in the Iranian South Pars gas fields, off Hengam Island, to Petro Iran Development Company (Pedco), a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
<img height="67" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Iranflag.gif" width="120"/>         <img height="67" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/RomaniaFlag.gif" width="100"/>
Nineteen of the workers are members of ICEM-affiliated trade union Federatia Sindicatelor Libere si Independente din Industria Petroliera (FSLI Petrom) of Romania, while seven are of Indian descent and working for a catering company. 
 
“It is totally unacceptable and reprehensible to place innocent workers’ physical safety at risk, as Iran’s armed forces did in this matter,” said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. “We understand that a commercial dispute was in progress between the companies, and this dispute must be settled through negotiation and the civil process.” 
 
The Orizont rig was under maintenance at the time, in Iranian waters and a very short distance from international waters. After boarding the vessel, Iranian armed forces kept the crew on the rig’s heliport for several hours without food and water. They then allowed the crew to return to other quarters, but cut off all communications between the workers and GPS. 
 
“The Iranian forces had no right to threaten our union members in this way,” said FSLI Petrom Vice President Florin Bercea. “It is an unnecessary demonstration of force by Iran, and our union condemns these hostile actions by the government of Iran.” 
<img height="123" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/RomaniaPetrom.jpg" width="300"/>
Bercea added that workers’ families are deeply concerned over the safety of their loved ones, and the Romanian trade union has reached out to them in order to facilitate direct communication with the oil workers. 
 
The commercial dispute between GPS and Oriental Oil occurred after the Romanian company terminated a contract in April 2006 after Oriental failed to get a renewed bank letter of credit for work this year. Prior to Iran taking military action on Tuesday, the dispute over the removal of Romanian rigs from Iran’s gas fields to maintenance facilities elsewhere had been taken up in Iranian courts, as well as brought before other international bodies. 
 
The ICEM represents the global interests of 379 affiliated trade unions in 123 countries.

Condemnation Towards Iran on Attacking Romanian Oil Rig

Nigerian oil workers’ unions NUPENG and PENGASSAN demand the immediate release of a comrade recently kidnapped in Bayelsa State. Nelson Ujeya, the Community Liaison Officer for Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd, a trade union member of white-collar PENGASSAN, was abducted on 8 August following an official visit to the Letugbene community to examine community projects. 
 
A NUPENGASSAN union communiqué said the kidnapping occurred “in the full glare of a team of senior Bayelsa State Government officials” following the coordinated visit with officials to Letugbene. 
The two ICEM affiliates demanded in the statement “that the Government and good people of Bayelsa should immediately produce our member whom they invited to a Community-related assignment.” 
<img height="135" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaNupeng.gif" width="130"/>     <img height="126" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaPengassan.JPG" width="120"/>
“On our part, considering the escalation of kidnapping and other violent acts in the Niger Delta Region, we are under tremendous pressure to take action that will guarantee the safety of lives and properties of our members.” 
 
In Nigeria, NUPENG and PENGASSAN have been consistent in the call for a stop to the senseless kidnappings of oil workers’ of any nationality, but also for state and federal governments, as well as oil industry enterprises, to do more inside Niger Delta communities. 
 
The two unions, operating under the aegis NUPENGASSAN, call for education and skill development, and other meaningful social protections that improve the quality of life in these oil-rich areas. The ICEM stands behind the efforts of NUPENGASSAN, and applauds their trade union voice on this extremely serious problem in the global oil industry.

Call for Release of Kidnapped PENGASSAN Member in Nigeria

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
Amicus Union in the UK has launched a massive fundraising effort among members to raise money for sanitary products for women in Zimbabwe. The campaign, announced on 26 April, came after Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions’ (ZCTU) Women’s Committee Chairperson Thabitha Khumalo gave moving accounts at an Amicus conference and regional events on how women are forced to bear the brunt of the economic crisis gripping Zimbabwe. 
<img height="62" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/UKAmicus.jpg" width="120"/>         <img height="60" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ZimbabweFlag.gif" width="120"/>
Sanitary pads cost about a third of a woman’s monthly wage, and most women have resorted to newspapers and rags, causing infections. Recently, Amicus was a party to bringing one million sanitary pads into Zimbabwe from South Africa. 
Fundraising efforts will now develop into a monthly project in which sanitary products will be distributed free of charge through the ZCTU. The products will be sourced in Zimbabwe, which will prevent the government of Robert Mugabe from blocking shipments as it has attempted to do in the past.

UK’s Amicus Union Launches Campaign to Aid Zimbabwean Women

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
In Belgium on 1 May, trade unionist Paul Lootens and historians Marie-Louise De Roeck and Julie Urbain will unveil their new book, Tutti Cadaveri: The Trial of the Catastrophe at the Bois du Cazier in Marcinelle. The book depicts the aftermath of Belgium’s worst mining tragedy in history, a fire that raged inside a coal mine near the Wallonian town of Marcinelle, killing 262 miners. 
 
The tragedy occurred on 8 August 1956 and the book marks the 50th anniversary of the devastating loss of so many lives. The book’s title, Tutti Cadaveri, comes from an Italian rescuer who, after surfacing from the mine, said, “All corpses.” 
<img height="127" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/paullootens.jpg" width="120" alt=""/>
The book is available from Aden Publishers for €22 and can be ordered from Aden by contacting editionsaden@skynet.be, or calling +32 2534 46 61. The ICEM will bring further attention to the 50th Anniversary events as the August date draws closer.

May Day Launch of Book on Marcinelle Coal Mine Tragedy

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief.gif" width="100"/>
A ballot taken by UK’s Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) among Imerys workers in the South West has failed to gain the necessary majority. But the country’s second largest private sector union has vowed to continue to press the French multinational for a fair redundancy package for 600 former English China Clay workers in Cornwall. 
 
TGWU represents nearly 1,000 of the 2,100 Imerys kaolin mining and processing workers in the region. The industrial ballot, over the company’s inferior severance package for workers to be made redundant late this year, was sent out on 7 February and counted late last week. 
<img height="203" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/UK.png" width="200"/>
“Our members have decided not to take any industrial action,” stated TGWU National Secretary Jennie Formby. “There were significant numbers of people who voted for action short of strike and for strike action. 
 
“While we’re aware that those who wanted to fight back will be very disappointed, we understand the huge pressure members have been under after the misinformation and propaganda campaign (Imerys) has been waging over the course of the ballot. Members are also under great pressure as they face the loss of their jobs. 
 
“We will continue to do everything we can at home and internationally to ensure workers get a fair deal from this immensely wealthy company.” 
 
Formby commended trade unions in the US and Europe for lending support and aid to the TGWU in its campaign against Imerys. She particularly singled out Serge Gonzales from the French trade union Fédération Force Ouvrière (FO) Matériaux, Céramique et Thermique, who is also secretary of Imerys’ European Works Council. “He took every opportunity to put pressure on the company, and for this we are truly thankful,” Formby said. 
<img height="213" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0611SergeGonzales.jpg" width="150"/>
French FO's Serge Gonzales
“We know this is not the end of the struggle against Imerys, both in the UK and everywhere it operates,” she added. “We will, of course, do all we can to continue to support our members in Imerys UK in our efforts to get fairness.” 
 
The ICEM maintains that Imerys could and should do much better in the redundancy packages offered to the 600 workers who face joblessness later this year. Imerys, one of the world’s biggest and most profitable building materials companies, will fail in its social obligations to the people of the South West, ICEM believes, unless it improves the severance packages.

Imerys Strike Ballot in UK Fails; TGWU will Press for Bigger Redundancy Packages

<img height="40" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
ICEM affiliate IGBCE reminded Germany’s coalition government last week that the recent energy summit agreement promised that brown coal will remain the most important product in the country’s power generation for the foreseeable future. That promise, however, is threatened by the procedural process inside Germany of Phase II of the European Union’s allocation plan for carbon emissions trading. 
 
In order to preserve the future coal mining industry in Germany without state subsidies, stated IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt, the union is advocating more efficient and economical power generation facilities in order to reduce carbon emissions, and to provide safe and reliable energy sources to customers.
<img height="136" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/hubertusschmoldt.jpg" width="100" alt=""/>
IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt
The prerequisite for that, stated Schmoldt, “is sufficient planning and investment now that will ensure coal-driven power stations for the next generation are efficient and economical.” 
 
He added that this is now threatened by the revised plans of the Ministry of Environment to meet the EU’s carbon emissions plan for the years 2008-2012. The ministry is proposing even stricter regulations that will not only endanger the brown coal industry, but power generation stations themselves. 
 
“Irrespective of the ongoing political disputes on the energy policy, what is at stake now is maintaining Germany as an energy producing country,” stated Schmoldt.

German Implementation of EU’s Carbon Emissions Plan Could Threaten Energy Summit Accord

<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
Global Framework Agreement with SCA Includes HIV/AIDS Clause
During a review meeting in Stockholm in January with the Swedish paper multinational Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA), the ICEM and the Swedish paperworkers’ union, Svenska Pappers, proposed to include a clause on HIV/AIDS in the updated Global Framework Agreement, which SCA accepted. The company agreed to comply with the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work. 
Note to ICEM affiliates 
If a company agrees to comply with the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, this opens a whole range of possibilities for negotiations and activities for the unions organising in a Global Agreement company. The ten key principles of the Code of Practice include non-discrimination, gender equality, confidentiality, prevention, care and support. You can obtain the Code of Practice from any ILO office or download it at <a href="http://www.ilo.org">www.ilo.org</a>. It exists in more than 30 languages. 
 
Please note that a Global Agreement applies to all operations of a company worldwide. Often, local management is not familiar with a Global Agreement signed by their head office. Insist on implementation and compliance! 
 
ICEM’s other Global Agreements which include an HIV/AIDS clause are Lukoil, Statoil, and Lafarge. The latter company signed one jointly with the Building Workers’ International. In reviews of existing Global Agreements or in drafting new ones, the ICEM will insist on the inclusion of an HIV/AIDS clause referring to the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work.
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
Global Fund Chooses new Executive Director 
 
The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria has chosen Michel Kazatchkine, a physician and global health expert, as the next Executive Director of the Global Fund. He replaces Sir Richard Feachem, the founding Executive Director, who steps down at the end of his five-year term on 31 March. 
 
Professor Kazatchkine is a physician who has treated people with AIDS for more than 20 years, and led the world’s second-largest AIDS research agency. He currently serves as France's Ambassador for HIV/AIDS and Communicable Diseases. Professor Kazatchkine is a former Vice Chair of the Global Fund Board and first Chair of the Global Fund’s Technical Review Panel, which assesses the quality of grant proposals. 
 
In just five years, the Global Fund has become a leading force in the fight against the three diseases. It provides two-thirds of international funding for the fight against malaria and TB, and 20% of the global funding to fight AIDS. 
 
The Global Fund has approved grants for 450 programs in 136 countries with a total commitment of US$7 billion. As of December 2006, 770,000 people have begun antiretroviral (ARV) treatment through Global Fund-supported programmes and nearly 18 million insecticide-treated bed nets have been distributed to prevent malaria. In addition, tuberculosis programmes have detected and treated two million TB cases under DOTS, the internationally-approved TB control strategy. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Press Release, 8 February 2007)
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
Global Unions Continue G8 HIV/AIDS Campaign 
 
Global Unions continue their campaign for the creation of a high-level Working Group on HIV/AIDS by calling on unions to make representation to German embassies. Such actions are hoped to convince the Heads of State attending the G8 summit this June in Germany to agree to such a Working Group. 
 
The G8 summit in St. Petersburg last year agreed on a tangible process for surveillance of infectious diseases like AIDS. But the G8 has not identified how this process would become a reality and so this has remained an undelivered promise. 
 
The Global Union HIV/AIDS Programme calls on unions to organise special events to deliver letters to the German Embassy in their country on 28 April, the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers. 
 
The German embassy action is twined with lobbying at international meetings of environment, health, and labour ministers at the annual meeting of the United Nations Environmental Programme, the World Health Assembly, and the International Labour Conference. 
 
(Source: Global Unions press release, 23 February) 
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
Some 71,000 people in Ghana are HIV-positive 
Out of 71,000 people living with HIV/AIDS throughout Ghana who need drugs, only 6,000 are receiving anti-retroviral drugs from 32 health facilities. 
 
The director-general of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Professor Sakyi Awuku Amoa, said by July this year, 50% of all district hospitals will be prepared to administer the drugs. 
 
Awuku Amoa was speaking at a workshop for some selected people from the private sector and FM stations in Accra. More than 50 participants from all over the country attended. 
 
Awuku Amoa also said this year a lot of attention will be given to the youth, women and girls as they are more vulnerable. He therefore urged the media to champion the course of the crusade. 
 
The monitoring and evaluation coordinator at the AIDS Commission, Emmanuel Larbi, urged the participants to develop and implement workplace programmes such as condom distribution to reduce the spread of the disease. Topics treated included the National HIV and AIDS Research Agenda, and Ghana HIV Stigma Reduction campaign. 
 
(Source: Radio Ghana, Accra, 7 Feb 07 as supplied by the BBC Monitoring Service) 
 <img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
NUM Protest against Impala Platinum’s Hospital Care 
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa gave Impala Platinum a seven-day ultimatum to respond to demands to improve health care services at the Impala Mine Hospital near Rustenberg, North West State. 
 
The ultimatum was given when miners staged a march on 23 January. NUM was protesting unfair and inferior treatment of workers at the facility. The union also accused the mine management, doctors and hospital administrators of denying antiretroviral drugs for treatment of HIV/AIDS. 
 
The subsequent strike ended on 18 February after management agreed to address the grievances presented to them. 
 <img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
China: Workplace Programme to Help AIDS Prevention 
At the end of January, China launched a national program on HIV/AIDS prevention and care in the workplace. 
 
The $3.5 million HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Program, funded by the United States Department of Labor, will be overseen by the International Labour Organization (ILO), and implemented in the provinces of Anhui, Guangdong, and Yunnan. 
 
"China is now at a critical stage in fighting HIV/AIDS," said Hu Xiaoyi, vice-minister of Labor and Social Security, during the launching of the programme in Beijing. "We should try our best to prevent the spread of the disease from high-risk groups to the general public." Hu believed the 39-month programme would be a good model to promote China's anti-AIDS education policy and implementation. 
 
Hu said another five-year education program, jointly launched by 12 ministries in 2005, had set a target of making 85% of the nation's rural migrant workers knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS prevention by 2010. 
 
The Regulation on AIDS Prevention and Control stipulated that no employer or individual should discriminate against people with HIV/AIDS or their relatives. The regulation protects their rights of marriage, employment, medical care, and education. 
 
The goal is that all workers with HIV/AIDS are well protected; that they can get jobs, keep jobs and have access to AIDS prevention services, such as education, treatment, and voluntary testing and counselling, 
 
Statistics by the ministry shows in some of the provinces, working-age HIV/AIDS people account for 90% of the total infected population and a majority of them are under age 35 years. 
 
(Source: chinadaily.com.ch 27 January 2007) 
 <img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="25"/>
Global Fund Round 7: Aidspan Releases Documents to Help Applicants 
With the Call for Proposals for Round 7 due on 1 March, Aidspan has published three documents providing guidance for applicants considering applying in this round. The three documents are: 
 
1. “Deciding Whether to Apply for a Round 7 Global Fund Grant.” 
2. “Deciding Whether to Submit a Non-CCM Proposal for Round 7.” 
3. “Deciding Whether to Submit a Regional Proposal for Round 7.” 
 
All three documents are available at <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides">www.aidspan.org/guides</a>. 
 
The text of each document has been extracted from a forthcoming guide, entitled “The Aidspan Guide to Round 7 Applications to the Global Fund,” which will be released shortly after 1 March 2007, the expected date for the release of the Call for Proposals. 
 
Already available on the same web page, is “An Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Proposals Submitted to the Global Fund in Rounds 3-6 – Based on Comments of the Technical Review Panel,” which is another excerpt from the forthcoming Round 7 guide. 
 
When “The Aidspan Guide to Round 7 Applications to the Global Fund” is released, it will contain, in addition to the above-mention extracts, a step-by-step guide to filling out the Round 7 Proposal Form. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 70, 5 February 2007. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>.) To receive GFO (if you haven't already subscribed), send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 18

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