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<img height="39" width="100" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" alt=""/>
Actions around the world have begun, marking the Global Days of Action for trade union rights in Mexico, 14-19 February. Support the campaign now by writing to the Mexican government through the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=863">LabourStart campaign</a> here.  
 
Today, an international trade union delegation met with the Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Mr. Gomez Camacho, to deliver the demands of the global campaign. Some 60 labour activists turned out. 
<img height="182" width="201" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.mex geneva.4.jpg" alt=""/>
Adriana Rosenzvaig, Manfred Warda, Fernando Lopes
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, Fernando Lopes, Assistant General Secretary of the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), and Adriana Rosenzvaig, SCORE Director at UNI, met inside with the Ambassador while a demonstration continued outside the Mission. 
Warda said the one-hour-and-twenty-minute meeting proved that Camacho had been briefed on the manifestation's purpose. "The only issue he was not familiar with is protection contracts in Mexico," said Warda. "We had to explain how these contracts infringe on genuine trade union rights."
A 50,000 strong march in Mexico City on 31 January saw trade unionists protest shoulder to shoulder against the repressive policies of the Calderón regime. The National Union of Miners marched with the Electricians Union, Pilots’, Teachers’, and farmers’ organisations, calling for social, political, and economic change. 
<img height="190" width="189" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.mex geneva.3 police unia luis blanco.jpg" alt=""/>
Geneva police question ICEM's Tom Grinter and UNIA's Luis Blanco over rally permit
The Calderón government must heed the warnings of this global movement, and end abuses of trade union rights in Mexico. 
 
Rallies and meetings with Mexican Ambassadors will be conducted simultaneously in over 30 countries this week, in a coordinated effort by unions affiliated to the ICEM, IMF, UNI, the International Transport Workers’ Federation, and the ITUC. 
Where demonstrations are not possible, unions are sending written protests and demands to the Mexican government from around the world. 
<img height="163" width="368" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.Mexico City.JPG" alt=""/>
Mexico City
Australia: The global campaign will hold a launch event with the support of Australian trade unions on 15 February. Co-ordinated by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), with support from the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU), and others, a rally and meeting with the Mexican ambassador is planned for 18 February. At the biennial delegates’ conference of the AWU tomorrow, IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina will address the global campaign on Mexico. 
 
Canada: With coordinating support from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada, the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW), Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), and the United Steelworkers (USW), leading actions will occur in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. These will include a meeting with the Mexican ambassador in Canada, and demonstrations, depending on the local circumstances. 
<img height="150" width="200" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.Mex Toronto.jpg" alt=""/>
Toronto, Canada
France: Unions in France are organizing for a delegation to visit the Mexican Embassy in Paris. In addition, through their existing relationship with managers, French unions are also contacting French transnationals on situations of companies’ production plants in Mexico regarding unions, collective bargaining, and wage and working conditions. 
 
Mexico: Unions in Mexico are planning to take action over the entire week, including a press conference in the capital, rallies at embassies of countries where others are taking action, and a march and seminar on 19 February. The Mexican Miners’ Union is also planning a series of events in Pasta de Conchos, Puebla, and elsewhere where the union has strong presences. 
<img height="210" width="279" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.mex Jakarta Indonesia.JPG" alt=""/>
Jakarta, Indonesia
The Netherlands: FNV Bondgenoten will continue its trade union freedom campaign during the global week of action, including media work and asking five Dutch multinationals with protection contracts in Mexico to start dialogue with the trade union. Those companies are AkzoNobel, Heineken, ING, Philips, and Unilever. For more go to: <a href="http://tradeunionfreedom.fnvcompanymonitor.nl/">http://tradeunionfreedom.fnvcompanymonitor.nl/</a>  
<img height="203" width="242" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.mex brussels.jpg" alt=""/>
Brussels, Belgium
Russia: Unions in Russia were awarded the right to protest at the Mexican Embassy and are preparing a letter to give to the Mexican ambassador and articles and press coverage on the issue. 
<img height="192" width="252" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.Embassy of Mexico Moscow.jpg" alt=""/>
Moscow, Russia, -25°C
Turkey: Unions in Turkey will mobilize members to visit the Mexican embassy, present a protest letter, and take picket action in front of the embassy. 
<img height="185" width="336" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.mex geneva.jpg" alt=""/>
Geneva, Switzerland
US: AFL-CIO and affiliates, including USW are holding events in 14 cities. The ICEM-affiliated United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) is organising actions also in many cities. The priority is to meet with Mexican embassy/consulate officials, supplemented by demonstrations and press work where appropriate. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usyexGRbDgI&feature=autoplay&list=ULOqVyVe-7Clo&index=2&playnext=2">Washington D.C. picket</a>. 
 
Download the <a type="internal" href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP">campaign materials</a> here.

Mexico Days of Action Begin

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Following the first joint mission in October 2007, ICEM and Rhodia again visited the company’s Chinese operations from 19-21. This second visit came within the context of the Global Framework Agreement (GFA) that was signed in 2005 and renewed twice since. The objective of such missions is to monitor implementation of the principles and indicators set out in the GFA. Such joint missions by ICEM and Rhodia have also been made to Brazil in 2008, the US in 2009, and to South Korea in 2010. 
 
The ICEM was represented by its General Secretary Manfred Warda and Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal Özkan. Rhodia had Jacques Kheliff, Group Vice-President for Sustainable Development, and Jean-Christophe Sciberras, Group Vice-President for Industrial Relations, on the mission. Rhodia’s Asia & Pacific Zone Chairman, Michel Ybert, Chinese General Manager Michael Zhu, and Asia & Pacific Research and Development Director Pascal Metivier accompanied the joint mission. 
 
The trip coincided with 95% of Rhodia shares being tendered by Belgian-based chemicals company Solvay. Rhodia and Solvay together will create a chemicals company that will have €12 billion in sales, with 40% of that generated in emerging markets. Rhodia will become the third sector of Solvay, in addition to its Chemicals and Plastics segments. This situation also made possible Olivier du Roy de Blicquy, President of Greater China of Solvay Group, being present during the first day of last week’s joint mission. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1109.rhodia.jpg" width="200" height="161"/>
The mission first received a briefing at Rhodia’s zone headquarters in Shanghai. Employing over 2,800 workers in the zone and producing 23% total sales, Rhodia has sites in China, South Korea, India, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, and Vietnam. The zone’s sales in 2010 increased 36% over that of 2009. Rhodia also has shown rapid development in China where the chemical industry has grown on average by 24% from 2005 to 2010. The recent takeover of Feixiang Specialty Chemicals gives Rhodia a leading position in the amines and surfactants markets in China. 
 
ICEM’s Warda and Özkan met with the chairperson and board members of the local trade union organizing employees of Rhodia at the Shanghai campus. Chairperson Jie Dong, who also serves as union representative for the Asia-Pacific region of the ICEM-Rhodia Global Safety Panel, gave a review of union activities at all plants of Rhodia, preparations for collective agreements, and social dialogue initiatives. 
 
She gave a specific attention to the joint training sessions between union and management representatives, which were launched through the GFA. Jie Dong’s report stated that the local union committee got authorization from employees for collective consultation in early June. A questionnaire for getting views and demands of employees was answered with a high percentage. Salary and income (62.5%), insurance and welfare (62%), and rest and vacation (58.7%) were priority topics. 
 
She also reported that workers elected 35 representatives from each workplace section to prepare and negotiate a collective agreement. The collective agreement is expected to be signed at the end of 2011. 
 
ICEM and Rhodia representatives later met with the representatives of Association of International Chemical Manufacturers (AICM), which regroups multinational companies in China. Discussion focused on the Responsible Care initiative. The meeting then welcomed representatives of the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) from the Minhang area and Xinzhuang Industry Park. The parties exchanged information about union activities at multinational companies. 
 
The second day of the mission saw ICEM and Rhodia representatives travel to the city of Feixiang, where Rhodia recently acquired a plant that has been placed in its Novacare business. Warda and Özkan met with union leaders and union members of the plant in a separate meeting where current topics were reviewed. 
 
During the mission’s final day, representatives drove to a Rhodia plant located in Zhenjiang, where union delegates explained work conditions, union activities, and labour-management relations. This was followed by presentations on the site, business activities, employment-related matters, and how the GFA has been implemented at this site. 
 
Warda noted that there has been improvement and progression in union activities in the Chinese operations of Rhodia since the 2007 visit. “The situation in China demonstrates how a GFA can prove instrumental in improving labour relations, even in China. Our clear hope and expectation is this good model of global industrial relations extends to the Solvay Group in the future.”

ICEM, Rhodia Review Chinese Workplaces as Part of GFA

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United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6166 in Thompson, Manitoba, ratified a three-year labour agreement with the mining company Vale on 15 September, the same day that a prior three-year pact expired. Following a strike authorisation vote by the 1,100-strong unionised workforce a week earlier that passed by 95.3%, the USW bargaining team negotiated excellent gains in wage, pension, cost-of-living, and other payment schemes. 
 
But most importantly the union diminished the harsh effects to workers in expected 2015 closures of a nickel refinery and smelter at Vale’s Manitoba Operations. 
 
The new contract contains annual 2.5% wage increases, plus a C$.35-per-hour cost-of-living increase that will lift earnings C$2.72-an-hour over the life of the agreement. USW Local 6166’s defined-benefit pension plan also will increase, to C$3,450 monthly for full work service effective this year and to C$3,550 in September 2013. 
 
The union won “preferential hiring” language for workers that will lose their jobs in 2015 when Vale pares the Thompson workforce by 45% with the refinery and smelter closures. Vale’s Thompson operations exceed new federal Canadian sulphur dioxide standards that will come in 2015. The Brazilian company is building a new C$2.8 billion refining complex in Long Harbour, Labrador/Newfoundland, near Vale’s Voiseys Bay and Goose Bay mine operations in eastern Canada. 
 
The new contract language will mean workers likely to be furloughed will have preference in employment opportunities at Vale’s Canadian operations in Ontario and Labrador/Newfoundland. The company will continue mine and milling processing in Manitoba and also will continue development of new nickel deposits in the western Canadian province. 
 
Other gains in the 2011 to 2014 collective agreement include a transition and retention payment to be paid over the three years. That will total C$10,000 and include a C$4,000 pay-out on 15 October 2011, and C$2,000 pay-outs in each of the next three years. The new agreement also contains an incentive scheme. 
 
“Obviously, the gains we have made are bittersweet, given Vale’s plans to close our smelter and refinery in 2015, eliminating 500 jobs,” said USW Local 6166 President Murray Nychyporuk. The company and union came to terms on 12 September. A senior Vale manager called the negotiations “respectful throughout.” The agreement stands as the second labour accord between USW Local 6166 and Vale, the first coming in 2008 two years after Vale bought Inco Ltd. operations in Canada and elsewhere.

Canadian Steelworkers, Vale Agree to Terms at Manitoba Nickel Mine

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Movement finally occurred in the ten-and-a-half-month lockout by U.S. Steel Corp. of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1005 members in Hamilton, Canada, but too little of it by the concession-seeking company by all accounts. The American steelmaker tabled an offer one week ago, but little in it has changed from US Steel’s original demands. 
 
The lockout of 900 steelworkers in the province of Ontario began on 7 November 2010 when USW Local 1005 refused to put a concession-laden proposal before proud union members. US Steel is demanding closure of the defined benefit plan to new hires, an end to pension indexing for 9,000 retirees, cuts to cost-of-living adjustments, and elimination of two weeks vacation time. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.hamilton lead.jpg" width="212" height="160" alt=""/>
Negotiations commenced on 13 September for the first time since the lockout began and Hamilton Works managers tabled the offer. The union took it to an information meeting on 21 September, but Local 1005’s Executive Committee reviewed it days earlier, and passed a resolution declaring it “substantially the same as the offer presented prior to locking the workers out on November 7, 2010, as concerns the demands to give up indexing of pensions and permitting new hires to go into a defined contribution plan instead of being part of the defined benefit plan.” 
 
Local 1005’s committee also said parts of the new offer actually “make it worse,” proving “that (U.S. Steel) continues to refuse to bargain in good faith.” 
 
A major sticking point reportedly is the offer contains call-back language in which the company will only re-start certain operations with a very limited number of workers. The new offer also contains a modest ratification bonus. 
 
USW Local 1005 and U.S. Steel are expected to continue talks under the guidance of provincial mediator Simon Clark.

Talks Begin but Relations Still Frozen in Canadian Steel Lockout of USW Members

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBriefAlert.jpg" width="110" height="54"/>
The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and & General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) condemns the cold-blooded assassination of a Colombian contract worker who was working with affiliate Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) to bring trade union rights to temporary workers at Ecopetrol’s Barrancabermeja refining and petrochemicals complex in Santander department. 
 
Isidro Rivera Barrera, 45, was repairing a washing machine in front of his home at 16h on 26 September in Barrancabermeja when a gunman jumped off a motorcycle and shot him three times at point-blank range. The assassin and accomplice then escaped on the high-powered motorcycle. 
 
“This cowardly act again reminds us that Colombia is a deadly country for those exercising freedom of association and free speech rights,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. “We reiterate our trade union affiliate USO’s call that Colombia’s public prosecution office uses all means to apprehend and prosecute the criminals and masterminds behind this heinous crime.” 
 
The ICEM also called on Ecopetrol, its major contractor at Barrancabermeja, Foster Wheeler AG, and all other sub-contractors to ensure the security of all oil industry workers in the city. The ICEM further called on 90% state-owned Ecopetrol and its contractors to create workplace climates where freedom of association and rights to join unions and bargain collectively are considered common civil liberties. 
 
Isidro Rivera was shot twice in the shoulder and once in the throat. He died within minutes of the shooting, slumped across the chair he was working on and in front of neighbours who came running after hearing the shots. Isidro Rivera was a recognised union member by Ecopetrol who was attempting to spread the trade union message to contract workers inside Colombia’s biggest downstream oil and petrochemical facilities. He is survived by three children. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842.

Contract Workers’ Leader at Ecopetrol in Colombia Assassinated

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On 6 October, leaders of Indonesian FSP-KEP (SPSI), the Trade Union of Chemical, Energy, and Mine Workers (CEMWU), officially extended a 30-day strike at the world’s largest gold and third largest copper mine one more month – until 15 November – because of mine management’s absence at a provincial forum to address issues in the dispute. 
 
Community leaders also formed a committee and visited different locations of the vast mining complex in order to assess the number of outside workers recruited to break the strike. The committee visits were fired upon, with reports today that one protestor was shot dead. 
 
The Grasberg mine in Papua Province, New Guinea Island, is 91% owned by US-based Freeport-McMoRan. The PT Freeport Indonesia Workers’ Union of CEMWU is in dispute with its subsidiary, PT Freeport Indonesia, over unwillingness to meet the salary demands of 10,000 miners. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1109.indo%20miners.jpg" width="252" height="160"/>
A two-year labour agreement expired on 1 October. The company is offering only an 11% increase in each year of a new two-year agreement, below that recommended by Indonesian government mediation last month. 

Last week, government officials of West Papua Province, leaders of the province’s Parliament, the Papua Peoples’ Council of seven indigenous groups, a human rights committee, and the PT Freeport Indonesia Workers’ Union of CEMWU waited patiently for mine managers to show up to address issues. None did. 
 
This came a week after the ICEM intervened with Freeport-McMoRan’s chairman asking him to personally step in to resolve the dispute, which threatens global copper and gold supplies. The ICEM received a response from a senior vice president of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold stating the executive had full confidence in managers of PT Freeport Indonesia. 
 
The response stated, “The union maintains its unrealistic demands for compensation, which are grossly inconsistent with Indonesian wage levels and, substantially in excess of the wages of mining workers in other countries performing similar duties.” 
Freeport-McMoRan posted a net profit of US$1.37 billion in the second quarter of 2011 and the person ICEM and the CEMWU is trying engage to resolve the dispute, James Moffet, took in a total compensation package in 2010 of US$21.5 million. 
 
The community forum meeting in West Papua took a decision to write PT Freeport Indonesia managers to halt the threats and intimidation of workers in attempting to get them to quit the strike. They also sent a statement to the US embassy in Jakarta encouraging a diplomatic initiative to get Moffet to resolve the bitter strike. 
 
PT Freeport Indonesia managers have broken global labour norms by pressuring strikers to sign statements that they will quit the strike. And they have also removed the job duties of 138 shop stewards, as well as isolating union leaders from workers by posting security guards around them. 
 
The ICEM will continue to support the PT Freeport Indonesia Workers’ Union of CEMWU in the union’s fight for justice, dignity, and a fair 2011-2012 wage package.

Indonesian FSP-KEP (SPSI) Miners Extend Freeport-McMoRan Strike, One Shot Dead

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The Sixth Ordinary Congress of the Norwegian union Fellesforbundet is underway in Oslo with 465 delegates attending. The quadrennial Congress began on 7 October under the banner “Organising for Welfare and Wealth Creation,” and concludes with votes on a host of resolutions on 12 October. 
 
On the opening day, delegates approved a transfer of 7.5 million kroner (€1 million) to the youth wing of Norway’s Labour Party to rebuild Utøya Island. 
 
Deeded to the youth wing by Norwegian national labour centre LO in the 1980s, Utøya is the fateful place where on 22 July a racially motivated person killed 69 mostly young progressive Norwegians. In 2010, Fellesforbundet sold two summer camps in the Nordic nation and delegates moved to donate the proceeds from that to rebuild Utøya. LO Norway is trying to raise at least 15 million kroner to remake the island to reflect the inclusiveness of traditional Norwegian values. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.fellesforbundet raina.jpg" width="241" height="160"/>
Arve Bakke, left, with Jyrki Raina, Finn Erik Thoreson, and Liv Tørres following ‘Trade Unions and the World’ forum
The Congress is taking up a number of structural changes, including statutory ones. One that was passed is another major step in the evolution of the 23-year-old union from a collection of work-based sectors to a unified and cohesive trade union federation. 
 
Instead of a 12-member executive body of five leading officers and seven federal secretaries heading around work sectors, delegates eliminated the specific occupation sectors and formed a seven-member executive. Early today, Arve Bakke was re-elected President of Fellesforbundet, or the United Federation of Norwegian Workers. 
 
Another statutory change that has been debated and will be voted on this week is returning a greater portion of the union’s return on equity to local branches. A major policy change also up for a vote is revising the collective bargaining structure to a vertical system in order to strive for a single collective agreement across an entire company covering workers of all unions within a company. 
 
Delegates are expected to turn down a resolution asking the Norwegian government to adopt the European Union’s directive on temporary work. Norway is not a member of the EU, but has adopted many of its directives. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.fellesforbundet voting.JPG" width="240" height="160"/>
Photo: Morten M. Løberg
On Sunday, 9 October, the Congress conducted a session “Trade Unions and the World” that featured the importance of work in the developing world. The session served as a precursor for a resolution in support of creation of a Palestinian state. It included Norwegian Peoples’ Aid leaders Liv Tørres and Finn Erik Thoresen, and the International Metalworkers’ Federation’s Jyrki Raina. 
 
Tomorrow, 11 October, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will spend a half day with delegates, addressing the Congress and then fielding questions and listening to debate. 
 
In his opening comments to the Congress, Arve Bakke said the 153,000-member union has taken in 73,000 new members in the past four-year Congress period, but is 7,000 less members than it was in 2007 mostly due to the effects of the global financial crisis. One positive note, he reported, is that 23% of active members are under the age of 30. 
 
Fellesforbundet was born in 1988 as an amalgamation of trade unions from the paper, wood, forestry, building construction, textile, and metal sectors. In 2005, unions from inside the printing and hotel and restaurant industries joined.

Fellesforbundet Takes Meaningful Action to Rebuild Norway’s Utøya Island

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An agreement was reached 29 September between Lafarge and the French Central Works Council regarding the Frangey cement plant in the L’Yonne province of Burgundy. The compromise agreement ended a ten-day hunger strike at Lafarge offices in the Paris suburbs by 12 workers plus the mayor of the nearest town to the plant, Lézinnes. 
 
Mayor Jean-Claude Galaud joined protesting workers in the hunger strike on 19 September. Workers and community members alike were fighting to reverse Lafarge’s decision from last May to entirely close the 74-worker cement plant. In social dialogue on 29 September, Frangey workers submitted three proposals through the Works Council to group management while hunger strikers were visible outside Lafarge headquarters in Saint-Cloud. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.lafarge frangey.jpg" width="284" height="160"/>
In the days before, French trade unions CFDT and CGT were also conducting stop-work actions at 14 Lafarge cement plants in support of Frangey’s 74 workers. 
 
The proposal that was agreed to includes extending the life of the plant from November 2011 to 31 March 2012, and then maintaining it as a grinding operation thereafter with an employment level of 40. That will include 35 workers plus five others who are within a few years of retirement. 
 
Lafarge will then seek to sell the grinding operation to another company for continued production. The workers who will be made redundant next year will be offered severance packages and jobs at other Lafarge plants in France. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CFDT General Logo.jpg" width="140" height="91"/>
The hunger strikers were treated as heroes when they returned to Lézinnes by bus in the early morning hours of 30 September. Fellow workers and towns-people greeted them with celebratory hugs and kisses. The hunger strikers lost on average between seven and ten kilos, but their day-to-day protests captured the attention of French politicians and many citizens. 
 
Mayor Galaud described the ordeal as a tough battle, but to keep industrial work at the Frangey plant at some level was a victory. “This action created strong bonds between the (hunger strikers),” said Galaud. “I made 12 friends and it was an incredible life lesson.” 
 
CFDT union leader Laurent Carrilero said the actions across France, as well as the hunger strike made it possible to guarantee substantial severance deals for workers who will be laid off next year. Previous ICEM coverage of this story can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4676-Hunger-Strikers-Protest-Lafarge-s-French-Cement-Plant-Closing" type="internal">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4466-French-Unions-Conduct-4-Hour-Strike-at-Lafarge-Today " type="internal">here</a>.

Lafarge Closure Deal Reached for French Workers at Frangey

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The latest meeting of the ICEM Repsol – YPF Network took place in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, 26-28 September, 2011. Set up in 2005, the Repsol Network brings together unions organising workers within the Spanish energy multinational Repsol from Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain. In attendance at the latest meeting, together with our Spanish affiliates, FITEQA-CCOO and FITAG-UGT, were trade unions from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru as well as from the host country Bolivia. ICEM Vice-President for the Latin American and Caribbean Region, Sergio Novais, represented ICEM together with Energy Officer Jim Catterson. 
 
The meeting followed a well-established pattern with the first day a union-only gathering to update each other on the latest situation in the respective countries as well as to prepare interventions for the following day where management from both the Madrid Headquarters and the Bolivian operations of the company were in attendance. The final day was again restricted to trade union delegates for discussion on the previous day’s business and plans for the future. A protocol agreement signed in November 2008 provides management recognition of the Network. Management of the Madrid-based oil and gas company agreed to recognise the workers’ network as a collective body to represent the trade unions in the countries where both Repsol and its majority owned subsidiary, YPF, operate. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.REPSOLsantacruz-bol-sept 159.jpg" width="276" height="160"/>
Also on the first day Sergio Novais updated participants on the latest situation regarding the forthcoming ICEM World Congress to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 24-26, 2011 and Jim Catterson gave a presentation on ICEM work priorities in the Oil and Gas Industry, following the 2010 World Energy Conference in Stavanger as well as an update on the industry globally and in Latin America in particular. Both presentations led to lively discussions and comparisions with their own situations. It was agreed that interventions would be made the following day expressing concerns at the company’s increasing use of temporary and contract and agency workers, Occupational Safety and Health, and the need to recognise and facilitate trade union organising in all operations. Participants also agreed to request the company to open discussions about reaching a Global Framework Agreement with ICEM. 
 
The second day of discussions opened with detailed presentations by the company representatives covering their global operations, planned expansions and the operations in Bolivia in particular. There were then detailed discussions following question and answer sessions. The discussions focused on many of the issues raised by the unions on the first day and the company representatives gave detailed replies and made commitments to recognise trade unions in their operations. 
 
During the course of the meeting union participants were shocked and appalled to hear of the vicious murder of an activist of USO in Colombia. A strong condemnation of the assassination was agreed and sincere condolences sent to the family of the deceased. 
 
The final day decided that the network needed to prioritise Contract and Agency labour work and participants were interested to hear of the ICEM global campaign on the subject. Occupational Safety and Health continued to be an area of key concern and participants agreed it was important to press for a Global Framework Agreement with the company. It was also important to improve outreach to other trade unions, in particular Trinidad and Cuba where the company had important investments. 
 
Finally it was agreed that the next meeting of the steering committee of the network would take place in Spain, probably Barcelona, in 2012 with a follow up meeting of the full network planned for Ecuador in 2013. 
 
More information on the meeting, including conclusions in Spanish are available <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Santa%20Cruz%202011%20-%20Borrador%20para%20las%20Conclusiones.doc" type="internal">here</a>.

Repsol Workers’ Network Meets in Bolivia

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the ICEM Women’s Workshop in West Africa, the selection of the abstract written for ICASA, and the report of the High Level Panel on Global Fund reforms. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Women and HIV and AIDS, Sub-regional Workshop in Accra 
 
The West African Sub-regional Women’s Workshop, which was held in Accra, Ghana, brought together 17 women from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, and Guinea. 
 
The workshop identified specific challenges facing women at the workplace and in communities with respect to HIV and AIDS. It addressed violence arising from HIV status and women’s health and HIV and AIDS and dealt with the issue of the use of female condoms. 
 
The workshop started with a presentation by Akua Asumadu, the ILO HIV/AIDS Focal Point in Accra on “Gender in the World of Work and mainstreaming gender in workplace response to HIV and AIDS.” 
 
The workshop dealt with the issue of the importance of women structures especially in a male dominated industry such as the mining sector. Participants felt strongly that despite existing challenges, women structures play an important role in uplifting women and suggested that women structures should begin to be relevant to women by addressing specific women health and societal issues in order to improve active participation of women. 
 
Dr. Fred Nana Poku from the Ghana AIDS Commission made a presentation on “The existing progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS, gender related issues that hinder access to care and the strategies in place to encourage the use of the female condoms.” 
 
His presentation was followed by a presentation on the female condoms as a well as a demonstration on its proper use by Paule France Ndessomin, the ICEM HIV and AIDS coordinator. It became clear that the majority of women had never come across a female condom and were ignorant of its existence. The efforts through the ICEM HIV/AIDS project not only familiarise women with female condoms but also demonstrate the potential of their empowerment. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
International AIDS Conference in Addis Ababa 
 
The 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA 2011) will be held in Addis Ababa 4-8 December. The theme of the Conference is “Own, Scale-up and Sustain.” 
 
In the context of the project, sponsored by the Danish LO/FTF and in cooperation with the ICEM affiliate NIFECM, an abstract was written for the Conference proceedings. <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEM%20Abstract-ICASA2011-a.pdf" type="internal">The abstract</a>, entitled “HIV and the Workplace, Awareness and Prevention in the Mining Sector in Ethiopia, Trade Unions Take their Responsibility,” was selected for presentation at an oral abstract session at the Conference. 
 
High Level Panel Recommends Major Changes to the Global Fund 
 
A High Level Panel led by former President Mogae of Botswana and former US Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt has recommended in its report, released on 19 September, that the Global Fund make some major changes in its structure and working methods. The Panel was established six months ago by the Board of the Global Fund after widespread media publicity about corruption among some grant implementers. 
 
The Panel was given a broad remit to look into the Global Fund's problems and what should be done about them. Much is riding on the report; several donors have delayed making, or implementing, their funding commitments for 2011 and later until they see how the Panel reports and how the Fund responds. 
 
It would go beyond the scope of this e-bulletin to summarise the 149-page report (which is done in the GFO Issue 158 quoted below). However, some of the major recommendations stand out. 
 
Firstly, the GF Board should specify the maximum available funding for each type of country. It is further recommended that the GF introduces a two-stage grant application process with a relatively brief concept paper first and a full proposal after “approval in principle.” With respect to staffing, it is recommended that the overall ratio of Country Program Staff (mainly Fund Portfolio Managers) within the Secretariat should increase. 
 
The report was subsequently adopted by the Global Fund Board. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 158 of 20 September. 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>) 
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HIV and the Neglect of Older African Adults 
 
While the focus of HIV and AIDS interventions has always been on the 20-40-year-olds most likely to be infected, African democracy institute Idasa warns that health workers and social planners have neglected to take into account the elderly who have contracted the virus – and their numbers are growing. 
 
Successful ARV treatment is just one factor that has created a new group of HIV and AIDS patients – the over 50s who face their own distinctive needs and challenges. A IDASA study, HIV and AIDS and the Older Adult, points out that old age could disguise the symptoms of HIV and AIDS, leaving it undetected and untreated as health workers and social services focus their attention on the younger population. This could have serious consequences as older adults may fall through the treatment net. 
 
Greater awareness of the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in the older cohort is urgent. The study suggests that older people may be more sensitive to antiretroviral drug toxicity and therefore the body’s reaction to antiretroviral agents may be different in the older person. The authors also warn that older people may be suffering from age-related conditions and using other non-HIV medications, which could introduce complications in the use of antiretrovirals. 
 
The stigma and discrimination experienced by older people suffering from HIV and AIDS is also greater. Furthermore, many of South Africa’s older generation have been left to care for AIDS orphans. They have become the sole breadwinners and sources of income in many households. but a growing numbers of these senior citizens are HIV-positive or suffering from AIDS themselves. 
 
(Source: IDASA press release, 25 August) 
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Swaziland: HIV Prevalence among Factory Workers 50% 
 
A new study has found that more than half of workers in Swaziland’s garment industry are living with HIV, and officials are realizing that the once-hailed promise of manufacturing employment has become a financial and medical nightmare for tens of thousands of Swazi women. 
 
About 30,000 Swazis, mostly women, are employed in garment factories financed by Taiwanese investors and operated by managers from mainland China. The survey also found that most factory workers were well informed about HIV/AIDS, and 90 percent of workers interviewed were aware of the female condom and other methods of preventing HIV. 
 
The prevalence rate for textile industry employees is significantly higher than the 26% rate among sexually active adult Swazis, which is already the highest in the world. Although most of the workers knew how to prevent HIV, their circumstances did not allow them to practice this. Wages for part-time workers can be as low as US$56 a month, and rarely top US$223 a month for factory-floor workers. This forces a lot of factory workers into prostitution where unprotected sex is often demanded. 
 
(Source: IRIN/PlusNews, Matsapha, 11 August) 
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Nigeria: Changing Attitudes to Contraception 
 
Traditional leaders’ support has been vital to reproductive health education efforts. Health workers say an apparent rise in contraceptive use in Nigeria stems largely from a willingness by traditional and religious leaders in some regions to use their influence in promoting reproductive health. 
 
In the predominantly Muslim north, where contraceptive use has historically been far lower than the national average, the support of traditional leaders has helped change attitudes in communities where contraception was long regarded as taboo. 
 
Even in rural areas condoms are being used. People now know the negative consequences of not using condoms - HIV and pregnancy. Culturally relevant performances in villages are used to promote messages about family planning, reproductive health and safe sex. 
 
(Source: IRIN News, 27 July) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
News from Global Unions 
 
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF – <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) in its latest HIV/AIDS update 113 of 1 October, reports on its participation in the Inter-Agency Task Team to scale up HIV workplace policies and programmes and to mobilise the private sector. 
 
The September Newsletter of PSUFASA (Public Sector Unions Fighting AIDS in Southern Africa – <a href="http://www.psufasa.org">www.psufasa.org</a>) gives guidelines for trade union participation in the proposal process for the Global Fund and reports on meetings of PSI affiliates in Zimbabwe to explore the possibilities to include a workplace component in the country proposal. The newsletter also describes the anti-stigma and discrimination programmes which were launched in several southern African countries. 
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Five Years Ago: From the October 2006 (Issue No. 13) 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In current issues, we refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In the HIV/AIDS e-bulletin of October 2006, we reported on the 3rd Regional Workshop for national coordinators. It will be recalled that the first cycle of the ICEM HIV/AIDS project, which ran from 2005 to 2006, included a series of regional training workshops for national coordinators. This third workshop focussed on peer education and laid the foundation for successful national activities in the coming years. The fourth and final workshop in that cycle dealt with accessing resources at national level and the writing of project proposals. Without knowledge of funds which may be available at national level and skills to access them, long-term sustainability cannot be achieved. Only a limited number of affiliates, however, succeeded in mobilising additional resources. 
 
In that issue, we also reported on the difficulties the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria had in financing grants for approved Round 6 proposals. Although only 43% of eligible proposals were approved, a funding gap of US$300 million emerged and project funding had to be postponed until additional pledges were received. 
<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. 73, October 2011

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