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A 15-week lockout by Rio Tinto on 760 members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30 in Boron, California, ended over the weekend, following a 75% approval of a new collective agreement by union members who voted Saturday, 15 May. 
 
The six-year labour accord at a borax mine and processing operation in California&rsquo;s Mojave desert comes minus nearly all of the job-destroying contract proposals that Rio Tinto Minerals sought over nine months, and stands as testament to the courage and resolution of ILWU Local 30 members. 
 
It came after three straight days of non-stop bargaining last week, negotiations in which ILWU President Bob McEllrath hammered home the fact that loyal and dedicated workers did not deserve the harsh contract-language takeaways that the company sought. Rio Tinto listened. 

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&ldquo;Bob brought something else, something completely different to the table,&rdquo; said a Local 30 Bargaining Committee member. &ldquo;His resolve to get this dispute ended, get these unfair issues wiped clean made all the difference.&rdquo; 
 
Last week&rsquo;s negotiations took place at the offices of the US Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) in Glendale, California. 
 
Boron workers will begin reporting on 18 May for four days of US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) refresher training in Palmdale, California, training for which they will receive 40 hours pay from the company. Rio Tinto will remove the company that provided replacement workers this coming weekend, and Local 30 members will be back to work on 24 May. 
 
The six-year agreement, which takes effect 15 May, provides for a 2.5 percent wage increase each year. In addition, workers receive a US$5,000 ratification bonus.&nbsp; 
 
But more importantly, Local 30 and the ILWU leadership resisted Rio Tinto proposals to restrict job bidding and job transfers based on seniority; protected full-time employment against creation of part-time and temporary work; gained an agreement that prohibits sub-contracting unless union members cannot fulfill company assignments; and beat back a company proposal to eliminate one day of holiday leave each year. 
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The union did concede a few issues. It granted the company some flexibility regarding overtime, in that workers must give one week&rsquo;s advance posting if they will be available to work overtime; sick leave was reduced from 14 to ten days per year, but workers are allowed to maintain up to 200 hours of banked sick leave pay atop the ten days; and new hires will fall into a different pension-savings scheme. 
 
There was pressure on Rio Tinto Minerals to end the lockout, since orders for sodium borates were picking up and replacement workers provided by the private-security company were unable to handle processing work. The mineral is used in detergents, glass, building materials, and other uses such as an ingredient in chemicals. 
 
The ICEM congratulates ILWU President Bob McEllrath, Secretary-Treasurer Willie Adams, Vice President Ray Familathe, and the entire membership of Local 30 for standing together, refusing to settle for less, and sending a signal to all that fiercely resisting a multinational company&rsquo;s family-wrecking agenda can succeed. 
 
The ICEM also commends the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, for providing continual aid and assistance to Local 30 members and their families.

ILWU Beats Back Concessions in Rio Tinto US Collective Agreement

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Next month, the ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) will conduct a pivotal forum for industrial and manufacturing unions on sustainable development. On 18-19 June 2010, the two Global Union Federations &ndash; along with their Canadian affiliates &ndash; will host a conference titled &ldquo;The Triple Crisis of Sustainability&rdquo; in Toronto, Ontario, to precede the G8 and G20 summit meetings near there. 
 
There is little question that the economic collapse, environmental degradation, and the resulting negative social impacts have badly affected workers, their families, and their communities. Contributing to the magnitude of these crises is the absence of effective global regulations and lagging financial governance of markets. 
 
Toronto&rsquo;s World Conference on Sustainability will produce a declaration that will be forwarded to the G8 and G20 summits. It will demand that global economic and political leaders take decisive action to reverse the downward social spiral felt by most of the world&rsquo;s people, and begin implementing real, worker-friendly solutions on climate change and a sustainable economic future. 

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The Conference will include panel discussions, as well as keynote speeches from notable experts on the economic crisis, sustainability, and global governance. In addition, there will be ample opportunities for trade union leaders of ICEM and IMF affiliates, as well as others to tell their own stories of how workers have responded to a crisis not of their own making. 
 
The Conference will be held in the Dominion Ballroom of the Sheraton Centre Hotel, Toronto, 123 Queen Street West. The ICEM has reserved a block of rooms. The registration form for the Conference and hotel rooms can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/EN%20sust.dev%20Attendance%20form.pdf">here</a>, and it should be returned forthwith to <a href="mailto:Fanja.rasolomanana@icem.org">Fanja.rasolomanana@icem.org</a> in order to assure prompt booking. 
 
Workers have a central role to play in building a future that lifts people out of poverty, while protecting the environment. The ICEM and IMF believe that the systematic looting of the global economy by unscrupulous speculators must be stopped. The Jobs Pact, developed by the ILO, is one proposal for exiting a financial crisis brought about by greed and lack of financial oversight. 
 
Regarding the environment, industrial unions did deliver a message in Copenhagen that a fair, ambitious, and legally binding agreement on global greenhouse gas emissions is necessary, but that the legitimate concerns of workers for decent work, social justice, and long-term, sustainable jobs must be forefront. It cannot be jobs or the environment, it must be both, or it will ultimately be neither. 
 
The crises of failing economies, environmental inaction, and social disorder are interconnected. It will be the goal of the ICEM/IMF conference to ensure that the voices of workers are heard on these matters at the highest level. Jobs, workers&rsquo; rights, social protections, quality public services, and sustainability are at the heart of this agenda.

Global Trade Union Sustainability Conference in Toronto Fast Approaching

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The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM), the dominant global trade union federation for the mining industry, endorses a letter by its Liberian union affiliate to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf protesting proposed rail passage through the West African nation by Brazilian-based Vale SA. 
 
Recently, Vale purchased a 51% stake from BSG Resources of iron ore blocks near Simandou in eastern Guinea. The mining house intends to create a rail and logistics corridor from Guinea through Liberia to the Atlantic Ocean coast. 
 
In the letter, dated 13 May, the Forestry, Logging, and Industry Workers of Liberia (FLIWUL) calls on President Johnson-Sirleaf to fully examine Vale&rsquo;s global social record before her government grants the rail concession. Among several irresponsible social acts, Vale has a forced a bitter strike &ndash; now in its eleventh month &ndash; on 3,500 nickel and copper miners in Canada. 
 
&ldquo;We are aware of many serious issues surrounding Vale and its mistreatment of workers and communities where it operates around the world,&rdquo; writes FLIWUL Secretary-General David D. Sackoh. 
 
&ldquo;Organizations in Mozambique, Brazil, Canada, Peru, Chile, Germany, Italy, and New Caledonia have declared that Vale &lsquo;infringes human rights, exploits both male and female workers, imposes precarious working conditions, destroys nature and disrespects traditional communities.&rsquo; It appears that every place where Vale operates, communities are displaced, the environment is harmed and workers&rsquo; rights are not respected. 

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&ldquo;We are disturbed at the treatment that Vale has given to its workforce in Canada. The company provoked a strike through its demands for deep concessions from its workers despite the fact that the company has made billions of dollars in profit in recent years. 
 
&ldquo;Madame President, following many years of civil war and turmoil the Liberian people finally enjoy peace and has a promising future under your leadership. This behemoth Vale with its suspect actions could potentially destroy our fragile economy for the benefit of a greedy few. As key stakeholder in the infrastructural and economic development of Liberia, FLIWUL wishes to urge the government to carefully study the situation and ensure that transitional companies investing in Liberia do so responsibly.&rdquo; 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda soundly endorsed the letter, and said the Geneva-based federation will also raise Vale&rsquo;s investment in Guinea with trade unions there, and with the government of Guinea. &ldquo;We cannot accede to Vale&rsquo;s investment agenda anywhere while the company brings pain and suffering on workers,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;The atrocities that Vale is inflicting on people and their communities in Ontario and Labrador in Canada must stop and we give sound warning that we will follow this mining company everywhere and repeat FLIWUL&rsquo;s message.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM is a global union federation consisting of 467 trade unions in 132 countries, and represents 20 million workers worldwide. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 79 734 8994 (mobile) +41 22 304 1842 (direct line).

ICEM Commends Liberian Affiliate for Opposing Vale Investment

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we continue the G8 campaign for universal access and inform about critical issues concerning prevention of mother-to-child transmission. We also cover a novel Grandmothers to Grandmothers summit between African and Canadian relatives of children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic, an undertaking by the Stephen Lewis Foundation. 
 
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. 
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Support for G8 Campaign for Universal Access 
 
Initiated by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), click <a href="/en/72-HIV-AIDS/3703-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin-No.-55-April-2010">here</a> for details from last e-bulletin, support for lobbying the G8 Summit has extended beyond Africa. Unions all over the world have now sent petitions. 
 
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, has written to the Canadian Mission in Geneva urging the G8 to put forward an action plan to achieve Universal Access to HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support. The ICEM has also called on its affiliates to join the petition and letter writing campaign from their own countries. 
 
Show your support for Universal Access: 
Follow the links below to sign a petition that will be delivered to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and world leaders attending the G8 meetings in June. 
English: <a href="http://cupe.ca/action/hiv-aids">http://cupe.ca/action/hiv-aids</a>&nbsp; 
Fran&ccedil;ais: <a href="http://scfp.ca/action/sida">http://scfp.ca/action/sida</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;
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New ICEM HIV/AIDS Leaflet 
 
The ICEM has produced a new leaflet, &ldquo;The ICEM responds to HIV/AIDS.&rdquo; The leaflet is available in English and French on the ICEM website <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/2010-AIDSLeaflet.2.pdf">here</a>&nbsp;and <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ICEM%20Leaflet%20FR.b.pdf">here</a>.&nbsp;Hardcopies can also be ordered from the ICEM Head Office, by writing <a href="mailto:info@icem.org">info@icem.org</a>. 
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Shortage of Funding Threatens AIDS Prevention for Pregnant Women 
 
Reports from Kenya and Malawi suggest that new WHO guidelines, which recommend an earlier start of anti-retroviral treatment, cannot be met because of shortages in funding. 
 
The WHO recommended to raise the CD4 count (measure of immunity to ascertain when HIV positive persons should begin treatment) from 200 to 350 and called for HIV-positive mothers to begin treatment at 14 weeks of pregnancy, up from the previous 28 weeks. 
 
In Kenya, rejection of Global Fund Round 9 and 10 proposals means that the country will be seriously short of funds and that around 300,000 people in need of life-saving antiretroviral drugs and pregnant mothers are not sure of continued access to medication. The Global Fund denied approval because of the duplication of roles of the ministries of medical services and public health and because of the huge unjustified and unsustainable workforce in implementing agencies. 
 
In Malawi, services to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) are gaining ground but the country continues to battle drug shortages. Pregnant women and mothers and their infants also often do not turn up for follow-up treatment. 
 
In 2005, only 3% of HIV-positive women in Malawi were using PMTCT services and mother-to-child transmission accounted for 30% of all new infections. Today, 45% of HIV-positive women are accessing PMTCT services. More than 95% of pregnant women opt for an HIV test. 
 
But last year&rsquo;s change from single-dose nevirapine to a combination therapy, which is more effective and less likely to lead to drug resistance, also means that more funds are required and that clinics, especially in rural areas, run out of drugs or can only administer a single-dose therapy. 
 
(Sources: IPS, Nairobi 1 April, and IRIN PlusNews, Lilongwe, 7 May) 
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AIDS Activists Ousted during World Economic Forum 
 
The Tanzanian government has deported several AIDS activists and banned a demonstration to protest decreasing funding for HIV and AIDS at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Africa meeting in Dar es Salaam. 
 
Shortly after a small number of activists from different African countries gave a memorandum to be presented to leaders attending the WEF to South African singer and AIDS activist Yvonne Chaka Chaka, they were arrested. The group had the support of Christoph Benn, director of external affairs of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Among those detained was Michael O&rsquo;Connor also of the Global Fund. 
 
In a statement, the activists condemned the Tanzanian authorities&rsquo; &ldquo;complete disregard for the right of freedom of expression in respect of the conveyance of a message as critical as this.&rdquo; 
 
Activists from several African countries said that their government-run antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programmes were turning patients away because of cuts in both domestic and external funding. They declared that the groundwork for achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care has been laid and now is not the time to backtrack on funding commitments and undermine the gains which have been made. 
 
The past five years have witnessed a ten-fold increase in the number of people on life-saving ARVs; an estimated 3 million Africans were on ARVs at the end of 2008, according to the WHO. But some 3.7 million Africans who need ARVs have still no access to them. 
 
(Sources: IRIN PlusNews, Nairobi, 7 May, and Mail &amp; Guardian, Johannesburg, 6 May) 
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Ethiopia: In Search of made-to-measure HIV Prevention 
 
With more than half of all Ethiopian adults tested for HIV in the past five years and a campaign for behaviour change in place, specialists are now calling for a more targeted approach. 
 
Most-at-risk populations (MARPs) have to be targeted through better understanding of how the epidemic is affecting them and in turn, to develop a more specific response. &quot;The government has launched a vigorous campaign to fight HIV, but now it is important to ... target specific groups among whom the epidemic is raging,&quot; said Desmond Johns, UNAIDS country director for Ethiopia. &quot;High testing numbers mean little unless you are testing people at risk, such as commercial sex workers.&quot; 
 
High-risk groups in Ethiopia include sex workers, uniformed forces and migrant workers, street children, students and discordant couples. Men who have sex with men have, for the first time, been included in the national strategic plan for the next five years, which still is in draft form. 
 
A more focused response means that regional branches of HAPCO, the Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office, will need to draw up specific plans for prevention in their regions, where the risks and prevalence differ widely. 
 
According to HAPCO, the provisional national HIV prevalence in 2010 is 2.3%, but big cities such as Addis Ababa have an average HIV prevalence of about 7%, while rural areas &ndash; home to 85% of the population - have an average prevalence of 0.9%. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Addis Ababa, 3 May) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Ukraine: Outcomes of HIV Global Fund Grant 
 
As of 31 March 2008, a recently completed Round 1 Global Fund grant in Ukraine had provided prevention services to 214,103 people who inject drugs. By the end of September 2008, 6,070 people, including 911 children, had received antiretroviral therapy (ART). And, in 2008, 80% of pregnant women living with HIV had received treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission, up from 35% in 2003. The grant exceeded the majority of its targets. 
 
This information was contained in a report released in September 2009 by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. The grant, which cost US$98 million over five years, supported programmes that involved the rapid scale-up of ART, a comprehensive package of care, support and prevention services for most-at-risk populations, and the roll-out of substitution maintenance therapy. 
 
The Global Fund grant formed the major part of the national response to HIV and AIDS in the Ukraine. During the period of the grant, the number of new HIV cases per 100,000 tests decreased from 632.8 in 2006 to 590.2 in 2008; and the AIDS mortality growth rate dropped from 38% to 8% (between 2004 and 2008). 
 
The report, &ldquo;Civil Society Leads National Response &ndash; Final Report: Overcoming the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Ukraine, Funded by the Global Fund (2004-2009),&rdquo; also describes the experiences of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance as principal recipient (PR) of the grant, and outlines the lessons learned from the experience. According to the report, one of the Alliance&rsquo;s major contributions to the grant was to strengthen civil society. 
 
The report is available on the website of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance at <a href="http://www.aidsalliance.org/publication-search.aspx">www.aidsalliance.org/publication-search.aspx</a>. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 120 of 16 April. 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="" width="40" height="40" />
Opportunity to Re-programme Grants to Improve PMTCT Treatment 
 
The Global Fund Secretariat is working with 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa to assess the possibility of re-programming existing Global Fund grants to allow for a switch from the use of single dose nevirapine to more effective dual or triple ARV therapy for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT). 
 
The countries are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, C&ocirc;te d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. (Other countries may be added later; a similar initiative is already underway in India.) 
 
There are several factors that have to be considered to determine whether re-programming is feasible. These include the ability to free up some money in other parts of the grant budgets (e.g., if a particular area is under spent), and whether there already is a PMTCT-related service delivery area in the existing programmes. 
 
The Global Fund projects that the call for the virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission by 2015 is within reach. This is contained in the <a href="http://data.unaids.org/pub/ExternalDocument/2010/20100308_gf_progressreport_en.pdf">Global Fund 2010 Results Report</a> which was released recently. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 120 of 16 April. 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="" width="40" height="40" />
Grandmothers Gather for AIDS Summit 
 
This is a remarkable initiative. Grandmothers from all over Africa have joined hands with grandmothers in Canada to call for greater support and recognition of their role in caring for grandchildren orphaned by AIDS. 
 
&quot;We are the backbone of our communities; with our love and commitment we protect and nurture our orphaned children. Africa cannot survive without us,&quot; declared a manifesto released to coincide with the first African Grandmothers' Gathering held in Swaziland. 
 
Eunice Simelane, who has supported and cared for five grandchildren since her son and daughter-in-law succumbed to AIDS-related illnesses, read the manifesto at the meeting attended by 200 grandmothers from Swaziland, 232 from African nations, and 42 Canadian grandmothers, representing 7,000 others who have formed groups in Canada to raise funds and awareness to help elderly African women struggling to raise AIDS orphans. 
 
The first Grandmothers' Gathering took place in Toronto, Canada, in 2006, and was the brainchild of former United Nations Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, whose foundation has been channelling funds to community-led AIDS organizations that support grandmothers in 15 sub-Saharan African countries. 
 
Swaziland's AIDS epidemic is among the worst in the world - around 160,000 children are classified as orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in a population of less than one million - and was a natural choice to host the first Grandmothers' Gathering held in Africa. 
 
The delegates compiled a list of demands to their governments, including financial assistance and sustainable projects, created with their involvement. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Manzinin, 11 May) 

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News from the Swedish Workplace HIV/AIDS Programme (SWHAP) 
 
SWHAP reports that during 2009 companies that have reached the end of their three years of co-funding continued to implement and invest in their HIV/AIDS programmes. This shows the viability of HIV and AIDS workplace programmes. It also indicates the effectiveness of the strategy &ndash; SWHAP supported programmes achieve results and create sustainability. This achievement is even better considering the adverse economic situation in 2009. 
 
(Source: SWHAP Newsletter April 2010, <a href="http://www.swhap.org">www.swhap.org</a>) 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
News from Global Unions 
 
The Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI) reports that BWI affiliates in East Africa are increasingly mainstreaming HIV/AIDS issues in their activities. HIV issues are integrated in study circles, child labour training, para-legal courses, and industrial relations programmes. A sub-regional HIV/AIDS seminar at the end of March also called on the East African Community to include rights for people living with HIV and AIDS in the East African protocols. 
 
The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) reports in its latest HIV/AIDS update on a new navigation tool for truck drivers to help them find healthcare centres along major transport corridors in Africa. Most of these centres also provide HIV/AIDS testing. 

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This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; 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 &ldquo;subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin&rdquo; in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 56, May 2010

Making available a significant number of key statistics, including the ICEM&rsquo;s own, as well as a wide range of &ldquo;best practice examples,&rdquo; the ICEM issued a new comprehensive presentation on &ldquo;CAL and the ICEM CAL campaign.&rdquo; Slide by slide, this education tool provides information on the ICEM&rsquo;s national and international CAL work, highlighting, among many other items, what unions around the world are doing in their daily struggles against precarious work. The presentation can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/2010CAL.ppt">here</a>. 
 
The statistics indicate that the phenomenon of short-term, contract, agency and other precarious work is still growing in almost every part of the world. On the other hand, there also is progress being made. In a lot of countries, for example, laws have been changed for the better. In other cases, unions managed to gain improvements for precarious workers through successful collective bargaining. Trade unions are also increasingly looking towards their own structures and strategies, aiming to better protect and defend often non-affiliated CAL workers.

New CAL Facts and Figures Overview

As part of its strategy to improve working and living conditions for metalworkers in Europe, the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF) has adopted a coordinated collective bargaining policy. 
 
The first coordinated, or common, demand was adopted in 2005 and called for the individual right to training, guaranteed by collective agreements. Last November, at the 6th EMF Collective Bargaining Conference, the 75 unions affiliated to the EMF agreed on a second common demand &quot;for more secure employment - against precarious work.&quot; 
<img alt="" src="" width="135" height="180" />
EMF Deputy General Secretary Bart Samyn
&ldquo;The last years have seen an incredible increase of precarious work and the number of insecure jobs has exploded in all European countries,&rdquo; said EMF Deputy General Secretary Bart Samyn. &ldquo;Everyone agrees that we can no longer deny this very real problem. Hence, the importance of this second common demand of the EMF and the willingness of all EMF affiliates to put the fight against precarious work central in their demands, in their upcoming collective bargaining rounds all over Europe.&rdquo; 
 
EMF affiliates are developing specific demands, relevant to their national situation, on temporary agency workers (TAW), workers employed on fixed term contracts, the bogus self-employed, and those on projects-based and zero-hour contracts, and are including these demands in their collective bargaining. A number of EMF affiliates have also initiated awareness-raising campaigns for more secure employment. 
 
The EMF Second Common Demand brochure is available <a href="http://www.emf-fem.org/Press/Publications/EMF-Second-Common-Demand">here</a>.

European Metalworkers’ Second Common Demand for more secure employment

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="86" />&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="100" height="97" />&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="145" height="69" />
Leaders of mining and metal workers&rsquo; unions from around the world on 13 July condemned the Mexican government&rsquo;s failure to bring justice to the families of the 65 mineworkers who died in an explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine on 19 February 2006. 
 
&ldquo;The Mexican labour authorities are guilty of a triple failure,&rdquo; said Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), in Nueva Rosita, Coahuila. &ldquo;They failed to prevent the disaster at Pasta de Conchos, they have failed to accomplish justice for the families of the victims, and they have failed to take the necessary measures to prevent future disasters.&rdquo; 
 
A special committee of the ILO, in a report issued in April, concluded: &ldquo;the Government of Mexico did not do all that was reasonably expected of it to avoid or minimize the effects of the Accident which had such devastating effects with the loss of life of as many as 65 miners.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="278" height="240" />
The union leaders from Argentina, Canada, Peru, South Africa, and the US met with family members of the victims and with the rescue team that is working to recover the 63 bodies that remain entombed in the mine. At the entrance to the mine, they placed wreaths in memory of the workers who died. 
 
&ldquo;Mineworkers around the world are one family,&rdquo; said Tim Baker, an occupational health and safety specialist for ICEM-affiliated United Mineworkers of America (UMWA). &ldquo;We mourn the deaths of our brothers at Pasta de Conchos and we are outraged that Grupo Mexico and the labour authorities who are responsible for their deaths have gone unpunished, while the government continues to attack the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union.&rdquo; 
 
United Steelworkers (USW) District 3 Director Steve Hunt pledged his union&rsquo;s support for the families&rsquo; effort to recover the bodies of the victims, and challenged other unions to commit their resources to the cause. 
 
The delegation was organized by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), the IMF, and the United Steelworkers.&nbsp; This was the last of the six-day series of events, which included a rally over the weekend.
<img alt="" src="" width="270" height="192" />
Joe Drexler, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, who also met with family members, commented, &quot;we believe that the refusal of the government and Grupo Mexico to recover the bodies is an effort to cover up the real causes of the mining disaster and the inadequacy of rescue efforts.&quot;
In addition to the USW and UMWA, the other ICEM affiliates to meet with the widows were the National Union of Mineworkers, South Africa&nbsp;(NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union, South Africa&nbsp;(CEPPWAWU), and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), alongside ICEM affiliate Los Mineros.

Global Union Leaders Demand Justice for Mexican Families at Pasta de Conchos Mine

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A unified strike by members of three unions at Saint-Gobain glass plants in Belgium ended Friday, 10 July. But not before Auvelais workers at the French multinational made a defining stand in this industrial action: no company will be allowed to use the financial crisis as a pretext to implement common restructuring! 
 
Workers returned to their jobs 11 July, after voting 58 to 48% to end the nine-day strike, a strike that saw two plants totally blockaded for most of that time. A mediated agreement was put forward on 8 July. The dispute started in February 2009, when Saint-Gobain proposed 241 job cuts. Over the ensuing months, Saint-Gobain resisted all practical alternatives put forward by social partners. 
 
Some 880 are employed at the twin plants of Saint-Gobain Sekurit and Saint-Gobain Knell near Charleroi, in southern Belgium. 
When the strike started &ndash; 2 July, after months of fruitless bargaining &ndash; the company still wanted 215 job cuts. The unions, including ICEM affiliates Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB/ABVV and the CSC/ACV, proposed constructive options to the job cuts. But these proposals were ignored. Saint-Gobain as well sought cuts to worker entitlements, such as pre-pension benefits, transfer compensation, and severance on voluntary departures. 

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&ldquo;The absence of meaningful dialogue is an insult to what is now demanded,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We know that Saint-Gobain is guilty of social dumping and we also know that this conduct is not related to the financial crisis.&rdquo; 
 
Trade union strikers blocked access to all company assets at Saint-Gobain Knell throughout the strike, and at Sekurit, a blockade was lifted partially in the sixth day of the strike. Other restructurings have occurred in these Wallonian plants. In May 2008, 100 jobs were cut. The Sekurit plant makes flat glass, while the Knell operation makes glass in building and construction products. 
 
The ICEM extended support to the strikers during the labour action. &ldquo;The ICEM questions Saint-Gobain and its motives in using the world&rsquo;s economic crisis to gain financial strength in the restructuring of the Belgian factories,&rdquo; the Global Union Federation wrote Belgian union members. &ldquo;The ICEM and its family of trade unions worldwide stand with you in Auvelais as you take justified industrial actions.&rdquo; 
 
Saint-Gobain has faced fierce resistance to job cuts in other parts of Europe, as well. Strikes in Italy and France occurred in April and May, and European trade union federations manifested at Saint-Gobain offices in Paris on 20 May. 
 
Currently, CGT in France has called for urgent talks with the company at Mers-les-Bains over 100 proposed job cuts, and social partners at Saint-Gobain Desjonqu&egrave;res in Real Sitio, Spain, began deep discussions over a proposed six-week shutdown in August and September, affecting 180 workers. 
 
In Germany, IGBCE, EWC, and Saint-Gobain completed social talks related to transfer and re-skilling at Saint-Gobain Vetrotex operations.

Financial Stress Brings Industrial Unrest to Belgian Glass Sector

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Workers at the Bridgestone aerospace tyre plant in Frameries, Belgium, will hit the five-week mark on strike this Thursday, 16 July. The strike was brought on by the Japanese-based company&rsquo;s refusal to negotiate. A company decision on whether or not to close down a 140-worker re-treading factory in Frameries has not been communicated to workers and their majority representative, Belgian affiliate Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB, and the union exhausted all legal means before striking on 11 June. 
 
That strike came when Bridgestone unilaterally decided to dismiss all 8 workers in one area of the factory without proper social talks. Many of those workers had been on the job for over 20 years. One of the dismissed workers is a senior trade union officer and secretary of the Works Council, who has been working at the plant since 1980. 

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Bridgestone has disrupting social harmony in Frameries, despite a formal commitment to protect jobs in the current collective bargaining agreement. Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB insisted that the company exam all options to safeguard employment, including part-time redundancy, early retirement, in-house transfers, time credit, or other such social options. The union also stresses that 14 workers are employed at Frameries on short-term contracts. 
 
Local management at Bridgestone-Frameries has continued its anti-labour practices throughout the strike. Instead of seeking reasonable solutions through dialogue, managers will not even answer telephone calls to address issues. 

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Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB condemns such practices, calling them immoral and reprehensible and also condemns the company for criminalizing its own workers who are only defending their rights. 
 
The ICEM also condemns such social behaviour. &ldquo;At the heart of Europe, in Belgium, a multinational company is deciding on issues of employment outside the lawful prerequisites of the social model,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda. He added that ICEM&rsquo;s Bridgestone Global Union Network addressed this strike recently in its deliberations and put the issue forward to Japanese senior management. 
 
Bridgestone on the corporate level has not responded. The ICEM is asking global affiliates to send a solidarity message in your own words and your own language to Bridgestone-Frameries workers by clicking <a href="mailto:alain.denooze@accg.be">here</a>.

Bridgestone Tyre Re-treading Strike Continues in Belgium

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The ten-year existence of the ICEM&rsquo;s BASF Workers' Network in South America was celebrated on 30 June 2009 in S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil. The event was attended by more than 100 guests, partners from the trade union movement, employers, workers, and managers from throughout the chemicals industry in Brazil. 
 
As the experiences of the first ten years of the network's operations were recalled from both trade union and company point of view. The network coordinator mentioned the main struggles that occurred and went into the network's future challenges. Those include the issues of subcontracting, health and safety, and unfair dismissals. 

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The ten-year anniversary celebration of ICEM&rsquo;s most successful regional workers&rsquo; network came between two, full working days of the Network, on 29 June and July 1. 
 
The presentation by Wagner Brunini, BASF Human Resources Director for South America, gave evidence to the company&rsquo;s commitment to the network and its appreciation to all forms of workers' representation. Brunini defined one challenge: informing and training all management staff to create a new management culture. 

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Michael Vassiliadis 
Thematic panels were also held during the event on social dialogue, presented by IGBCE Board Member Michael Vassiliadis, and on sustainable enterprises, presented by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. 
 
Vassiliadis emphasised that the workers' experience at BASF in South America ought to serve as a social dialogue example for other companies. According to Vassiliadis, society's interest in this labour relations practice has to be awakened. 
 
&quot;We need trade unions and trade unionists who cultivate a sensible relationship with companies,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;It is necessary to define our requirements and to know where we need to go with dialogue.&quot; 
 
Warda pointed to important fundamentals for sustainable enterprises: &quot;Listen to what the other side is saying, comprehend its needs, and exercise mutual respect.&quot; 
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At the end of the ceremony, an excellent publication was distributed, entitled, &quot;Rede de Trabalhadores na BASF Am&eacute;rica do Sul: 10 anos de Solidariedade Sindical e Di&aacute;logo Social,&quot; a homage to those who conceived of and founded the network. 
 
ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Vice President Sergio Novais coordinated the event, which was also attended by the IGBCE International Officer Michael Wolters, and the President of BASF South America, Dr Rolf-Dieter Acker.

BASF South American Network Celebrates Ten Fruitful Years

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