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Some 2,000 iron ore miners and pellet-plant workers in northern Qu&eacute;bec, members of four United Steelworkers (USW) locals, came to excellent wage, pension, and work terms with ArcelorMittal Mines Canada. 
 
The six-year agreement, ratified by 75% of union members on 3 April, came after arduous bargaining dating to last November. A prior labour agreement in Qu&eacute;bec&nbsp;between the USW and the world&rsquo;s largest steelmaker expired in February. 
 
The contract will give hard-rock miners and processing-plant workers a 45% pay increase over the six years, inclusive of enhanced bonuses and hefty improvements to the yearly cost-of-living adjustment. The hourly wage increase will average 4.1% per year, and 25.6% over the six years. 
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USW Region Five Director Daniel Roy
Additionally, USW Qu&eacute;bec region and local branch negotiators withstood a management affront to create a two-tier pension scheme, with a proposal to cast new hires into a defined contribution plan. Not only did the bargaining units retain a defined benefit pension plan, but they made improvements to it as well. 
 
Workers with 30 years of service will realise a monthly increase of C$210 per month, or 18%, and the union negotiated a 3% increase for current retirees. Steelworkers under the new agreement are employed at the Mont-Wright and Firelake mines near Fermont in northern Qu&eacute;bec, along a 400-kilometre rail link, and at an ArcelorMittal&nbsp;pellet plant at Port-Cartier on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
 
&ldquo;This employment contract reflects the mining boom currently underway in the north coast and Qu&eacute;bec region,&rdquo; stated USW Region Five Director Daniel Roy. &ldquo;It is also the product of difficult negotiations, during which the committee showed determination and solidarity. 
 
&ldquo;I invite non-unionised mine workers a take a look at what we accomplished at ArcelorMittal Mines.&rdquo; 
 
The labour agreement contains new restrictions on outsourcing by strengthening the union-rostered stability list. Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal purchased the iron ore assets in 2006 from Qu&eacute;bec Cartier Mining Co., then owned by an investment company. ArcelorMittal produces 40% of Canada&rsquo;s iron ore output.

Steelworkers Achieve Exemplary Labour Pact with ArcelorMittal in Québec

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Two weeks after a pair of Norwegian unions, together with&nbsp;ICEM and the&nbsp;International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) signed a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with Norsk Hydro ASA, two workers&rsquo; representatives of the aluminium and energy company&rsquo;s board of directors journeyed to Par&aacute; state in northern Brazil to brief workers and trade union leaders there. 
 
Sten Roar Martinsen, a process operator and full-time union representative from the Kopervik extrusion plant, and Billy Fredeagsvik, also an operator and union representative at Hydro&rsquo;s H&oslash;yanger aluminium smelter, met with workers&rsquo; representatives of Brazilian trade unions on 30 March and 1 April. Martinsen and Fredeagsvik are representatives of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) on Hydro&rsquo;s 11-member board. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="150" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="100" height="150" />
Sten Roar Martinsen&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Billy Fredeagsvik
The mission, according to Norsk Hydro&rsquo;s website, was to brief Brazilian workers at a former Vale bauxite mine and aluminium smelter and refinery on the structure and principles for trade union dialogue at Hydro, as well as the impact and significance of the GFA that was signed on 15 March. 
 
In late February, Norsk Hydro concluded the purchase of Vale assets in northern Brazil for US$3.5 billion. Those assets include a 51% stake in the aluminium smelter Albr&aacute;s in Barcarena, Par&aacute; state, 57% of the Alunorte refinery, and a 61% stake in the future Companhia de Alumina do Par&aacute; (CAP) alumina plant, which will start up in 2012. A Japanese consortium of 17 companies holds the minority stakes in these companies. 
 
Also, on 30 March, Martinsen and Fredeagsvik met with union leaders at the former Vale bauxite mine Paragominas. As part of the deal, Hydro bought 60% of the 9.9 million tonne mine, as well as other bauxite mineral rights of Vale in Brazil. Hydro will now call its Brazilian mining assets&nbsp;Minera&ccedil;&atilde;o Paragominas. Hydro will purchase the remaining 40% in 2013 and 2015 for US$200 million in each year. 
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="52" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="80" height="107" />
The Norwegian board members also discussed local issues with Par&aacute; state workers including access to housing in the rural areas, and health and education. 
 
&ldquo;This was an important first step,&rdquo; said Martinsen, &ldquo;towards establishing the right framework for including our Brazilian colleagues in Hydro&rsquo;s internal arenas for dialogue, to ensure that the interests and views of all employees in Hydro are represented in the appropriate forums and decision-making processes.&rdquo; 
 
Added Fredeagsvik, &ldquo;Through these initial meetings, we have created a solid foundation for further work together. The meetings have been interesting, positive, and highly constructive.&rdquo; 
 
Besides ICEM and IMF, Norwegian trade unions IndustriEnergi and Fellesforbundet are signatory to the GFA.

Norsk Hydro’s Worker Reps Talk with Trade Unionists in Brazil

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A long and drawn out court battle in Chhattisgarh state, India, saw exploited contract workers of Holcim Cement again win regularisation of their jobs in March through a High Court appeals ruling. But Holcim Cement of Switzerland is refusing to implement the court&rsquo;s order. 
 
The result is that hundreds of contract workers at one of Holcim&rsquo;s Indian subsidiaries, Associated Cement Co. Ltd. (ACC), and supporters are staging an ongoing&nbsp;&ldquo;dharna,&rdquo; or strike at the Bhilai Industrial Estate statue of Shankar Guha Niyogi, the legendary workers&rsquo; leader and founder of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM) political party who was assassinated in 1991. 
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Shankar Guha Niyogi
The CMM-associated labour union Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh is carrying the struggle for the contract workers, much like Niyogi did for irregular workers in mining, metalworking, and textiles three decades ago. 
 
The rightful fight for contract workers at ACC Jamul Cement to gain full wages, provident fund benefits, and even proper safety equipment dates back nearly 20 years. Holcim bought controlling interest in ACC and Ambuja Cement in 2006-2007 and has continued resistance to the legitimate rights of contract workers at its Indian cement plants. 
 
In 2006, an Industrial Court ruled that some 573 contract workers at ACC Jamul, many subsequently fired, must be made regular employees, with their wages and working conditions tied to the Cement Wage Board, or the&nbsp;Nevatia Award. Holcim, Lafarge, the Aditya Birla Group&rsquo;s Ultratech, and other major cement producers are tied to the Wage Board by hard fought strikes of the past. 
 
The Wage Board agreement has tight restrictions on the use of contract labour, limiting it to loading and unloading raw materials but with pay at the same rate as permanent workers. 
 
Holcim defied the Industrial Court&rsquo;s ruling by paying only between two-to-five days salary per month &ndash; at US$2 per day &ndash; because that is how few days contract workers were on the job at the time of the Industrial Court filing because Holcim was trying to get them to resign. 
 
Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh filed a writ petition with the High Court, and that portion of litigation is still pending. However, on 21 March, the High Court did rule that the paper arrangements between irregular workers and Holcim&nbsp;are &ldquo;sham and bogus&rdquo; and directed management&nbsp;to regularise over 100 contract workers. However, the ruling neglected to recognise the rights of about 400 who were coerced into accepting voluntary resignations. 
 
India is the world&rsquo;s second largest cement producer behind China. The country has an annual growth rate in cement of 11%, which has seen the leading cement producers make major investments and acquisitions. 
 
But multinationals like Holcim and Lafarge are doing nothing to stabilise employment and bring decent work to&nbsp;rural people who are recruited and then exploited as contract workers. Alone in Chhattisgarh state in central India, it is estimated that 3,200 permanent workers are employed in the cement industry, while 11,000 others toil as short-term, expendable contract workers.

Holcim Defies India Court Ruling on Rights for Contract Workers

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A two-week strike against Finnish papermaker UPM by 1,000 members of ICEM affiliate Ammattilitto Pro is continuing. Production is seriously crimped at six pulp and paper mills of Finland&rsquo;s largest pulp and paper firm, with work stoppages at 20 other facilities including UPM&rsquo;s administrative centre in Tempere and its export facility at the Kotka port. 
 
The strike began 6 April and will run until 20 April. Ammattiliitto Pro, representing 4,000 white-collar salaried, technical, and clerical workers across the Finnish pulp and paper sector, targeted UPM because of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation&rsquo;s (FFIF) unwillingness to offer a national salary structure during a March reopening of a two-year labour agreement. 

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UPM's Rauma, Finland, Mill
The ICEM issued a <a href="/en/19-Pulp-Paper/4355-Action-Needed-Votre-intervention-est-souhaitée-Se-requiere-acción-urgente">Solidarity Alert</a> to global trade unions of the sector on 6 April, and union activists are encouraged here to heed that call by sending messages of support to Ammattiliitto Pro.
 
The industrial action came after a government conciliator failed to put forward a compromise on 4 April. Despite promises in early rounds of talks that a national pay scheme would be submitted and structured around work skills and work requirements in a sector dramatically downsized, the FFIF put forward nothing in federal level talks. 
 
Instead, it deferred all bargaining over pay to the individual mills, or within local workplaces. Pro is seeking some level of equity for lower-paid staff, many of whom are women and deserve some semblance of pay equity. 
 
&ldquo;We want a system that recognises the increased work and greater responsibility taken on by our members,&rdquo; said Pro&rsquo;s chief negotiator for the Pulp and Paper Sector, Jukka H&auml;m&auml;l&auml;inen. Some 1,000 clerical and salaried staff in Finland&rsquo;s pulp and paper industry have been furloughed over the past few years because of an economic downturn that only now is recovering. 
 
On 17 March, the union sent notice of termination of the agreement, effective 1 April. It issued its intent to strike on 23 March and following the complete failure of mandatory government intervention on 1 April and again on 4 April, the strike began 6 April.

Ammattiliitto Pro Strike in Finland Against Paper Firm UPM Continues

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Workers in the chemicals sector scored the highest 2011 pay gains yet in all German industrial and service sectors, thanks to mobilisation rallies, worker involvement, and the bargaining tenacity of ICEM affiliate IGBCE. On the final day (31 March) of the second round of federal talks for 550,000 workers of 1,900 companies in Bad Honnef, a 14-month pay increase of 4.1% was won. 
 
The increase will become effective at different times in different regions: retroactive to 1 March for chemical workers in North Rhine, Rheinland-Pfalz, and Hessen R&uuml;ckwirkend; on 1 April in Westfalen, Bayern, Baden-W&uuml;rttemberg, Niedersachsen/Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein/Hamburg, and Berlin; and 1 May in Saarland and the North-east. 
 
The agreement also gives flexibility for employers still recovering from the economic crisis to effectuate the wage increase in May, while most of the major chemical companies that are on strong standing will have&nbsp;already given the increase. 
 
Of particular note, the IGBCE and the chemical employers&rsquo; association, BAVC, agreed to add small- and medium-sized businesses to the unique &ldquo;Start in den Beruf&rdquo; programme, a &ldquo;start your active job&rdquo; project that places young people into chemical enterprises with opportunities for career enhancement and advancement. 
<img height="140" width="165" src="" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="132" width="175" src="" alt="" /> 
 
Michael Vassiliadis&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Peter Hausmann
These employers will now receive subsides from an industry-funded bank that will offset apprenticeship costs for companies. The highly-successful programme developed in social talks in the mid-2000s between IGBCE and BAVC has brought close to 3,000 young persons into relevant positions in Germany&rsquo;s keystone chemicals industry. 
 
The 2011-12 accord also grants current apprentices a &euro;35-per-month increase. 
 
&ldquo;Last year, we signed an agreement that was a bridge between crisis and recovery,&rdquo; said IGBCE President Michael Vassiliadis. &ldquo;Now, as we predicted, we signed a growth agreement. This shows the social partnership in chemicals remains on solid footing in solving some very difficult problems.&rdquo; 
 
IGBCE Head of Collective Bargaining Peter Hausmann added: &ldquo;We fought hard for this achievement. We mobilised and without the outstanding support from workers in the various enterprises, we would not have come to this result.&rdquo; 
 
An ICEM report on <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4340-IGBCE-Mobilises-for-Second-Federal-Round-of-German-Chemical-Talks ">IGBCE&rsquo;s two months of mobilisations</a> leading up the final Bad Honnef settlement can be found here.

IGBCE Carves 4.1% 2011 Increase for 550,000 German Chemical Workers

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Eighty delegates from eight Latin American and Caribbean countries attended the ICEM&rsquo;s region meeting 4-5 April in Mar del Plata that was marvellously hosted by Federaci&oacute;n Argentina Sindical del Petr&oacute;leo, Gas y Biocombustibles (FASPyGP) at the trade union&rsquo;s hotel. 
 
The regional meeting produced three resolutions, including condolences to Japan over human deaths brought by the earthquake/tsunami and heartfelt appreciation to aid workers, especially nuclear workers of ICEM affiliate Denryoku Soren, who have worked non-stop to prevent mass disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. 
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Another resolution was in support of Chile copper miners represented by Sindicato de los Trabajadores de Collahuasi over persecution following a recent strike&nbsp;by Do&ntilde;a Ines de Collahuasi, owned by Xstrata and AngloAmerican. The third was a statement buttressing the legitimate trade unions of Mexico in their current fight to repel regressive labour legislation. 
 
ICEM Latin American/Caribbean Vice President Sergio Novais proudly reported the work plan of the region and that it&nbsp;had exceeded expectations. He also detailed the eight projects he is overseeing in the region. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda gave a progress report on integration with the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and IMF Regional Representative Jorge Alemida explained how the industrial sectors would be integrated. 
<img height="176" width="150" src="" alt="" />
ICEM Latin American/Caribbean Vice President Sergio Novais
Other reports were given by Colombia trade union affiliates, including Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO), and Manuel Mu&ntilde;oz and Lincon Esponoza, representing the Collahuasi copper miners of northern Chile, told of their strike and their efforts to ratify ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, in the South American country. 
 
A detailed report was given by Secretary-General Alberto Roberti of FASPyGP on the burgeoning biofuels industry in Argentina. He said his union is in the&nbsp;forefront in defending the environment and emphasized the need to maintain a balance between producing biofuels and sustained food production to meet the country&rsquo;s growing needs. 
 
Overall, the regional meeting proved a good prelude to ICEM&rsquo;s Fifth Statutory Congress, to be held 24-26 November 2011 in Buenos Aires, with the host union providing excellent example to Argentine unions in how to meet the logistics for 1,200 delegates and guests expected to&nbsp;attend.

Argentine Petroleum, Gas Workers’ Host ICEM’s Latin, Caribbean Region Meet

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In this issue of the HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on ICEM&rsquo;s Southern African Women&rsquo;s Workshop, which took place at the Midrand Conference Centre near Johnnesburg, South Africa, and we inform about the Global Fund&rsquo;s call for proposals, and we deal with funding gaps, which may soon lead to loss of lives. 
 
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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ICEM Southern African HIV/AIDS Women&rsquo;s Workshop 
 
Participants at the Women&rsquo;s Workshop were proudly wearing their scarves with the slogan, &ldquo;Safe Sex Demands Equal Rights.&rdquo; This was the theme of the workshop, which was held in Johannesburg from 18-20 May with 26 participants from Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 
 
The decision to hold a women-only workshop was based on the need to identify specific challenges facing women, especially the empowerment of their sexual relations through the use of female condoms (femidoms). An HIV-positive woman from the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) of South Africa stressed the importance of female condoms and demonstrated their use. Her example also stood out as she gave birth to an HIV-negative baby following the necessary treatment. 

<img alt="" src="" width="315" height="186" />
The workshop also discussed increasing access for women to prevention, treatment, and care and how to address violence arising from HIV and AIDS status. According to a facilitator from the Twaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, only 5% of perpetrators are brought to book. Women are discouraged by untrained police officers handling violence cases and by lengthy legal procedures. 
 
Intensive role play and group work completed the workshop programme. Participants called for a campaign to promote female condoms. They recommended that unions take a stand against violence; that the quality of counselling and testing be improved; and that police be trained to deal adequately with cases of violence. 
 
Another first of the workshop was that it was an almost paperless meeting. Participants were encouraged to save all workshop documents and presentations on memory sticks given to them as part of the workshop materials. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Global Fund Launches New Funding Round 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria launched its tenth call for proposals on 20 May. The deadline for submissions of proposals was fixed as 20 August. Thus, applicants will have three months to prepare their proposals, one month less than in recent rounds. 
 
There is considerable uncertainty whether sufficient funds will be available to pay for all of the Round 10 proposals that are recommended for funding by the Technical Review Panel (TRP). The Global Fund says that, currently, based on confirmed pledges, no money is available for Round 10. However, the Global Fund is in the middle of &quot;replenishment,&quot; with donors due to specify in October how much they expect to give to the Fund over the next three years. Thus, the amount of money available for Round 10 will certainly increase by the time the Global Fund Board approves Round 10 proposals at its meeting in December 2010. 
 
All proposals submitted by the closing date will be reviewed by the Global Fund Secretariat to ensure that they meet the Fund's eligibility criteria. Eligible proposals will then be forwarded to the TRP for consideration. The TRP will make recommendations to the Global Fund Board, which will make its decisions at its meeting scheduled for 13-15 December 2010. (In the past, all proposals recommended by the TRP for approval have indeed been approved by the Board, though sometimes they have been waitlisted pending funding availability.) 
 
The Round 10 proposal form and various support documents are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/applynow">www.theglobalfund.org/en/applynow</a>. 
 
(Source: Global Fund press release; and Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 124 of 21 May. 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>. 
 
The Global Fund Observer has also published a Guide to Round 10 applications which is available in English, French, Spanish, and Russian on the above website. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Malawi Moves to Adopt WHO Guidelines 
 
Developing countries like Malawi are calculating the cost of adhering to new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines that recommend starting HIV-positive people on antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) sooner. 
 
Malawi is one of three African countries that have conducted WHO-supported feasibility studies to assess what adopting the new guidelines would mean, and has announced plans to roll out the new WHO guidelines by mid-2011. According to the feasibility study, the number of people on treatment would rise by about 50%, which could double the cost of the National ARV Programme in terms of additional drugs, personnel, and equipment, and would probably also mean waiting lists at many clinics. Malawi has a HIV prevalence rate of about 12%. 
 
Implementing the WHO guidelines would mean major changes to national treatment protocols: HIV-positive people would start taking ARVs at a much higher CD4 count of 350 (a measure of the viral load to ascertain when HIV-positive people should begin treatment). Like other countries in the region, it has begun treating HIV-positive pregnant women at the WHO-recommended CD4 count of 350, but the standard CD4 count threshold for initiating ARV treatment remains 250. 
 
Finance is among the major hurdles to adopting the guidelines, as well as infrastructure, supply-chain management, and health worker shortages. 
 
(Sources: IRIN PlusNews, Johannesburg, 27 May) 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Eliminate Bottlenecks to End Mother-to-Child-Transmission 
 
Making services for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) available without addressing the factors that keep mothers from accessing these services was an exercise in futility, experts told a press briefing in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. 
 
&quot;There are barriers that stop mothers from accessing prevention of mother-to-child transmission and treatment services, some of which include inadequate involvement of men and communities, and lack of information,&quot; said Chewe Luo, senior advisor on HIV/AIDS to the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF. 
 
Women might not be able to afford medical care or transport to a clinic; cultural taboos might discourage them from giving birth in medical facilities. &quot;We have to expand the scope of what we do to ensure that the burden of prevention does not fall on women's shoulders alone,&quot; Luo said. 
 
Virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission in Africa - where 20 countries share over 85% of the global burden of mother-to-child HIV transmission - would be possible but only if HIV counselling and testing services were expanded so that all mothers had access to effective antiretroviral (ARV) prophylaxis and treatment. 
 
In 2008, globally, 430,000 children became infected with HIV, 90% of whom lived in sub-Saharan Africa. In the absence of access to ARV treatment, most of them would die within one year of birth, according to UNAIDS. Fareed Abdullah, unit director for Africa at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, promised that &quot;The Global Fund will refocus funding to ensure that priority is given to PMTCT programmes in the recipient countries, and more so in the 20 countries that share the 85% of the global burden of mother to child transmission of HIV.&quot; 
 
(Sources: IRIN PlusNews, Nairobi, 28 May) 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Lost Funding Means Lost Lives 
 
As donors retreat from funding HIV and AIDS programmes, years of progress in HIV treatment are under threat and the lives of HIV-positive people are increasingly on the line, according to a new report by the international medical charity, M&eacute;decins Sans Fronti&egrave;res (MSF). Improved access to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment has saved lives, reduced the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) and new HIV infections, and strengthened health systems in many countries hard hit by HIV. But as funding diminishes, these gains are now in jeopardy, says the report, &ldquo;No Time to Quit: HIV/AIDS Treatment Gap Widening in Africa.&rdquo; 
 
Funding shortages in eight African countries have already led to drug stock-outs, treatment rationing, and the inability of most of the countries to adopt improved ARV regimens advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO), the report noted. &quot;About 75% of HIV funding in developing countries is international &ndash; you can't replace that in the short term,&quot; said Mit Philips, a health policy analyst at MSF and one of the report's authors. 
 
The recent decision by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to flat-line it&rsquo;s funding at 2009 levels and decrease annual budget allocations in coming years, has already led PEPFAR-supported clinics in South Africa to begin turning away patients. 
 
UNITAID, the international drug purchasing facility, is to phase out drug funding, leaving Zimbabwe, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Malawi without funding for costly second-line ARV drugs by 2012. 
 
Dr Eric Goemaere, MSF Medical Coordinator in South Africa, called donor backtracking a &quot;moral betrayal. Years ago, countries in the southern Africa region were unsure that they could afford treatment, but they were told by the international community 'Set ambitious targets, we will follow with the money',&rdquo; he said. &quot;If this funding trend is confirmed, I would call it a moral betrayal for patients, who were told to be courageous and face testing because we would provide treatment; for the health staff, who managed to enroll more than four million people on treatment, and who are suddenly told not to enroll patients.&quot; 
 
The report predicted that if the downward trend in funding continued, ARVs would become increasingly inaccessible, which would lead to increased rates of mortality and hospitalisation among those living with HIV, and place a strain on already weak health systems. The report also warned that ARV patients may adopt risky strategies for coping with drug supply shortages, such as sharing pills, thereby increasing the likelihood of widespread drug resistance. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Johannesburg, 27 May) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
HIV/AIDS Project in India Scores Again 
 
The ICEM HIV/AIDS project in India, sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, has continued well into 2010 although funding ceased at the end of 2009. 
 
In the first five months of 2010, 24 courses and awareness meetings were held, under the auspices of the Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INMF) and coordinated by its General Secretary, BK Das. These activities did not only reach mineworkers but also school teachers and students in company schools, as well as paramedical staff in company clinics. 
 
The extension of the project was possible because companies had increasingly taken over some of the costs resulting in budgetary savings which could be deployed for organising additional activities. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Headaches for HIV-positive Travellers 
 
China recently became the latest country to lift travel restrictions on people living with HIV, following the footsteps of the US (see <a href="/en/72-HIV-AIDS/3492-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin-No.-50-November-2009">e-bulletin No. 50</a> of November 2009, and <a href="/en/72-HIV-AIDS/3582-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin-No.-52-January-2010">No. 52</a> of January 2010). 
 
&ldquo;Every individual should have equal access to freedom of movement regardless of his or her HIV status,&rdquo; UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidib&eacute; commented on China&rsquo;s decision. 
 
According to UNAIDS, 51 countries and territories still impose restrictions on the entry, stay and residence of HIV-positive people. Among those countries requiring an HIV test, usually for a stay longer than 30 days, are: the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Singapore, Egypt, and Iraq. 
 
The Inter-Parliamentary Union, at its 122nd Assembly, called for an elimination of all restrictions. It called on parliamentarians to play a leading role in removing them and also encouraged parliamentarians to support legislation and law enforcement to protect people living with HIV from discrimination. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Nairobi, 6 May) 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
News from Global Unions 
 
The ICEM project in India is included in a documentation of good practices which was published by the ILO India Project, which is supported by the US Department of Labor. The publication is available on the website <a href="http://www.ilo.org/hivaidsindia">www.ilo.org/hivaidsindia</a>. 
 
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 No. 86 of 15 May on counselling and testing camps organised at Ethiopian international and domestic airports. The ITF also recently published the 4th issue of Agenda, an annual publication on HIV/AIDS and transport workers. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
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. 57, June 2010

Meeting in Toronto on 19 June, 270 national trade union leaders from 50 countries put forward a stern Declaration to the G8 and G20 that a radically changed global social order must occur, one prioritizing security of employment and preservation of the environment. The Declaration, pointed at the G8 and G20 summits this week in Toronto, came from a &ldquo;Triple Crisis of Sustainability&rdquo; forum, a meeting of union leaders representing 55 million workers from industrial and manufacturing sectors. 

The Declaration was a joint undertaking of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). It was done with local cooperation by five trade unions representing industrial and other workers in Canada: Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), the Power Workers Union (PWU), the United Steelworkers (USW), and the International Association of Machinists (IAM).
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&nbsp; 
Gianni Alioti, Federazione Lavoratori Metalmeccanici, FLM, Italy
At the core of the Declaration is a demand that finance and political ministers put in place a stringent global financial governance system, introduce an international financial transaction tax, and reach an ambitious and binding agreement on greenhouse gas emissions at Cop16 in Mexico later this year. 

The 10-point Declaration also calls for guarantees that fundamental workers&rsquo; and trade union rights be respected in trade and investment deals; that sustainable development be made a criteria in trade and investment agreements; and that thorough assessment and assurance of social, economic, and environment well-being is contained in trade agreements. The full Declaration can be found <a href="-Toronto-Canada-19-June-2010">here</a>.
&ldquo;Industrial workers have a central role to play in building a future that lifts people out of poverty while protecting the environment,&rdquo; states the Declaration. &ldquo;Through industrial and political action, our three global federations demand that the world&rsquo;s leaders take decisive actions to solve the economic, social, and environmental crises.&rdquo; 

Regarding the timing of the Declaration, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;The global economy is still on life-support and continued stimulus is needed. Re-regulating markets, a move to full employment, and a set of social stabilizers to reduce a rapid slide into poverty by hundreds of millions of people is essential.&rdquo;
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IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina&nbsp;
Added IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina: &ldquo;Industry is the locomotive of national economies, as a provider of good quality jobs with decent wages and working hours, and the right to join a union. We need to limit precarious work by legislation and collective agreements, and develop industrial policies for sustainable development both in industrialised and developing countries.&quot; 
 
Geneva-based ICEM has 467 trade union affiliates in 132 countries, and represents 20 million workers. The IMF, also based in Geneva, represents the collective interests of 25 million metalworkers from more than 200 unions in 100 countries. The Brussels-based ITGLWF covers 217 trade unions in 110 countries. 

For more, contact: Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +1 416 361 1000 Ext. 3344, +41 79 734 8994 (mobile); or Alex Ivanou, IMF Communications, <a href="mailto:aivanou@imfmetal.org">aivanou@imfmetal.org</a>, +41 22 308 5033.

Global Union Federations Demand New Priorities from G8, G20 Summits

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ICEM affiliated trade unions in Central and Eastern Europe discussed challenges in the chemicals and pharmaceutical industries with a view to reinforcing representation, industrial relations, and social dialogue in an 8-9 June seminar in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. The meetings, hosted by ICEM&rsquo;s Slovakian affiliate, the Chemical and Energy Workers Union (ECHOZ), were supported by the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), one of the principal project partners in the world. 
 
The meeting was chaired by Juraj Blahak, ICEM&rsquo;s Vice President for Central Europe, who underlined the importance of the meeting for unions in chemicals who face restructurings, including privatisation that has had severe impacts on employment and trade unions. 
 
Clemens Rode, representing FES in the region, stressed the role of trade unions in shaping economic and social life in Central Europe. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda gave specific attention to the togetherness of Central and Eastern European trade unions, calling exchanges of information and experience in restructurings as vitally important. Warda also made a specific presentation on precarious employment and ICEM&rsquo;s global Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) campaign. 

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Attended by around 30 trade union leaders from Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Belorussia, and Tadjikistan, the meeting received an extensive report from the ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Industries&rsquo; Officer, Kemal &Ouml;zkan, on global chemical and pharmaceutical trends, with specifics on the Central and Eastern Regions and individual countries. 
 
The meeting also got a presentation from Mr. Roman Karlubik, President of the Association of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry of the Slovak Republic, who drew the overall picture of the Slovak chemical industry and social dialogue with ECHOZ. 
 
The industry in Central and Eastern Europe suffered through the economic crisis in parallel to many economies in the region posting negative GDP growth, with some countries suffering near financial meltdown. Prior to the crisis, the region was seen as a good place to invest. For the pharmaceutical industry, generic medicines represent around half the industry in the region, with a number of number of companies including KRKA, Gedeon Richter, Polpharma, and Zentiva specifically focusing on generics. 
 
Central and Eastern European countries are projected to spend an estimated US$157.1 billion on healthcare in 2015, equal to 6.9% of total GDP. At present, only 30% of spending in the region is private, but over 85% of this is composed of out-of-pocket payments by people. 

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The Bratislava meeting agreed that in Central and Eastern Europe, chemical and pharmaceutical industries are still in the restructuring process, although levels differ from country to country. Restructuring occurs in ownership, particularly with privatisation, production, technology, and labour relations, which brings fear and challenges trade union recognition and survival. The participants agreed that there could an important exchange of experience on privatisation between Central and Eastern Europe, particularly for countries now undergoing privatisation, namely Belorussia. 
 
Another important point stressed was that the region&rsquo;s chemical industry is still under the dominance of basic chemicals, like fertilizers in Central Asia for example, which brings sustainability problems regarding jobs to workplaces. 
 
Occupational Health and Safety was specifically mentioned since current production systems create serious problems on this issue. A need for capacity building for unions in the region was underlined by the participants. 

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Participants also drew attention to the effects of the standards such as REACH and ETS, which regulates the environment where the chemical industry operates over employment. Outside of the European Union, there are also initiatives in the individual efforts of countries, such as Russia, to be able to harmonise their chemical legislations for survival of the industries. A need for a specific work about this particular area was mentioned by the participants. 
 
At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that networking, regular exchange of information and experience, capacity building on industry matters, collective bargaining, and trade union issues should be continued. 
 
&ldquo;The Bratislava meeting has clearly shown to us that Central and Eastern Europe is still the area where the ICEM needs to focus its activities in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry,&rdquo; said Kemal &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;Coming just months before ICEM&rsquo;s World Chemical Conference in October 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey, the meeting has given us a great overview on what to do for having genuine global union activities in this industry.&rdquo; 
 
On 7 June 2010 a regional ICEM Central Europe Council meeting took place in Bratislava, Slovakia. Trade Union representatives from Hungary, Macedonia, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia took part in the meeting. The meeting was headed by Juraj Blahak, ICEM Vice-President and President of the Central European regional Council.

Challenges to Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals Focus in Central, East Europe Forum

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Two sector-wide collective agreements in Turkey in tyre and glass industries have been concluded, with preservation of gained rights and improvements to salaries and social benefits realised. 
 
The tyre negotiations, which started on 5 February and cover over 4,000 members of the union of Lastik-Iş in four plants of three multi-national companies, namely Bridgestone Brisa, Goodyear, and Pirelli located in the cities of Izmit and Adapazari. 
 
The union&rsquo;s strategy was to preserve gained rights and improve current salaries and social benefits, while employers demanding some concessions on working conditions, such as flexibility of working hours, holidays, extended temporary work, and changing wage grades, particularly the gap between newly- hired workers and existing ones. 
 
The demands of employers were on the basis of the labour code, which recognises flexible working conditions at workplaces in Turkey. 

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Abdullah Karacan, President of Lastik-Is during voting for the CBA, in front of Goodyear plant, Izmit 
After the three-and-a-half-month period of negotiations, with disagreements on 21 provisions of the agreement still in play, Lastik-Iş moved to begin strike action on 9 June. Following a 12-hour bargaining session just hours before the strike was to begin, the two sides reached a two-year agreement covering the 2010-2011 period. 
 
Employers rescinded their concessionary proposals. In addition, wages and social benefits were adjusted in line with the Turkish inflation rate, thus managing to secure purchasing power of workers. The agreement was voted upon by the members of Lastik-Iş in each factory and approved unanimously. 
Commenting on the new agreement, &ldquo;During tough and tensioned negotiations, our members showed a great deal of decisiveness in securing their gained rights, thus the agreement has resulted in preserving past achievements,&rdquo; said Abdullah Karacan, President of Lastik-Iş. 
 
Another important sector-wide agreement was achieved in the glass sector by the ICEM affiliate Kristal-Iş, who negotiates with the Turkish Glass Employers&rsquo; Federation on behalf of over 5,000 members at the factories of Şişecam Group&rsquo;s Paşabah&ccedil;e Cam Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. (plants at Kırklareli and Mersin); Anadolu Cam Sanayi A.Ş. (plants at Topkapı-Istanbul, Mersin, &Ccedil;ayırova-Kocaeli); Trakya Cam Sanayi A.Ş. (plants at Thrace and Mersin Fabrikası) and Cam Elyaf Sanayi A.Ş. 

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Bilal Cetintas, President of Kristal-Is
During negotiations, which started on 10 January as the twenty-second negotiation period for this industry, the Kristal-Iş primary aim was to keep patterns of working conditions intact, patterns existing in the plants for over 40 years. 
 
The union did put forward limitations on sub-contracting, which it defined as one of the most sensible issues in labour relations in the glass sector. The union, through the negotiations, aimed at reaching soıme principles with the employers on regulating this long-standing problem. For this Kristal-Iş proposed some tools to eliminate and minimise sub-contracting in glass factories where maintenance, cleaning, catering, and loading activities are done through sub-contractors. The union&rsquo;s first demand was to stop sub-contracting in maintenance and repair. 
 
Following a tough, ten-round set of negotiations, the two-year agreement was signed on 14 May and it preserves the gained rights and past settlements, as well as improving wages with increases. For the first year of the agreement, the hourly wage is increased 0.65 Turkish Liras (0.35euros) on average, while the second-year increase will be awarded at the level of inflation. Social benefits, such as education, marriage, death, and holiday benefits were also increased at levels higher than the current inflation rate.

Tyre, Glass Labour Agreements in Turkey Preserve Past Conventions

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