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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) 
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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>) 

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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>) 
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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>) 

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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

The annual ICEM Asia-Pacific Regional Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) seminar took place in Singapore on 18-19 April. The seminar, hosted by the ICEM with the assistance of Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), brought together 52 delegates, including representatives of the ICEM, the Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI), International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), Public Services International (PSI), and Union Network International (UNI). 
 
Union leaders and activists from 14 Asian countries, members of the Western European Team of experts from Denmark and Sweden, and representatives of the ICEM Secretariat and the FES attended the meeting, spoke about the impact of precarious employment in their countries, and shared strategies which they had developed to deal with CAL issues. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda had been scheduled to attend the seminar, but was unable to do so because of the disruption to European flights caused by volcanic ash from Iceland. 
<img alt="" src="" width="241" height="181" />
Participants discussed how CAL is being used to undermine the right to freedom of association, by companies who are letting go of permanent staff and hiring temporary workers in their place. Participants also discussed how the global economic crisis is being used by multinational companies as an excuse to reduce their permanent workforce, despite the fact that CEOs are receiving ever increasing pay packages. 
 
The participants proposed a number of next steps, including that unions should make CAL a priority issue and prioritise organising of CAL workers; that they should cooperate in campaigning at a national level for legislation which would make user enterprises responsible for agency workers;, and that collective bargaining should fully include CAL issues. 
 
Participants also proposed that a workshop be arranged to discuss how dialogue can best be arranged with labour-hire agencies to assure that labour rights and standards are upheld.

Global Union Federations Gather in Asia-Pacific Region to Develop CAL Tactics

The ICEM Executive Committee, meeting in Geneva on 26-27 May 2010, is deeply disturbed by the extraordinary high number of workplace deaths and injuries in recent months, particularly in mining and both upstream and downstream oil and gas industries. This deterioration in safety and health conditions is attributable, the Executive Committee believes, to the rush to maximize profits by corporations in the wake of the financial crisis, and a general disregard to follow best practices in safety and health by these same corporations and, in some cases, governments. 
 
The ICEM points to the 17 May mine explosion in Zonguldak province, Turkey, which killed 30 workers as just one example. The Karadon mine is state-owned, but private contractors without trade union representation and with limited experience on safety matters operate this mine. The ICEM also points to the tragic explosion in May of the Raspadskaya mine in the Kemerovo region of the Russian Federation. Ninety miners perished and although cause of the methane gas explosion remains unknown, the ICEM deplores the coal-mining pay structure in Russia in which monthly salaries are kept extremely low and workers are expected to supplement their pay by reaching high production quotas. 
 
As well, the ICEM condemns Massey Energy in the United States, a company that has viciously avoided union representation while challenging all US federal mine safety citations given the company. Such appeals serve to delay corrective measures needed in Massey&rsquo;s mine. The 5 April explosion inside Massey&rsquo;s Upper Big Branch mine in the state of West Virginia, killing 29 miners, was compounded and made worse by the callousness and arrogance of the company&rsquo;s CEO in the aftermath of the explosion. 
 
In South Africa, where overall, mine safety is improving due to the militancy of the National Union of Mineworkers, the ICEM notes three miners were needlessly killed at AngloGold Ashanti in late April, bringing to over 30 the official death toll thus far in the country&rsquo;s mining industry. The ICEM also cites a recent roof collapse inside the Barapukuria Coal Mine Company in Dinajpur, Bangladesh, which killed and maimed several workers. An improper support system was the cause. Major mining accidents dating back to 2009 have also occurred in Poland, the Ukraine, and India. Also, the ICEM takes notice of continued deaths inside China&rsquo;s vast coal-mining industry and the fact that the death rate increased by 14% in the first quarter of 2010 over the same period in 2009. ICEM strongly believes this increase is due to negligence in safety in pursuit of greater production. 
 
In the oil and gas industries, the same is true. While much is made of the environmental destruction along the United States Gulf coast brought about by the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which indeed merits attention and the wrath against BP, who is the overall responsible operator, and its contractors, Transocean and Halliburton. Little is made of the fact that 11 offshore workers died and 15 others were severely injured. 
 
In the downstream oil sector as well, a rash of fires and explosions recently in the USA and elsewhere proves that the industry is neglecting correct process safety principles and procedures. 
 
The ICEM calls on the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors of the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries to engage the legitimate trade union representatives in correcting systematic deficiencies in safety procedures and methods to minimize this industry&rsquo;s inherent risks. 
 
The ICEM specifically recalls at this time recent and horrific accidents such as the tragic refinery explosion of the Tesoro company at its Anacortes, state of Washington, refinery that killed seven dedicated union members in April 2010, as well as the death of a contract employee in the state of Texas, and very recent fires at ExxonMobil&rsquo;s refinery in the state of Louisiana and a Valero refinery in the state of Tennessee, both seriously injuring workers. The ICEM grieves the death of a Petrobras worker at an onshore oil field in the state of Bahia in May. 
 
The ICEM also recognizes that there have been further workplace deaths in other sectors, many brought on by the expanded utilization of contract workers by companies attempting to decrease direct employment. 
Therefore, the ICEM firstly endorses the hour-long strike actions planned by affiliate Genel Maden-Is of Turkey in the Zonguldak region in the aftermath of the Karadon explosion that will take place on 26 May in protest of the government&rsquo;s general disregard for adherence of global safety standards. 
 
The ICEM also reiterates its campaign for ratification of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, and pledges to intensify efforts to directly engage governments of resource-rich nations that have not ratified this Convention into doing so. Further, as an integral component of Convention 176, the ICEM insists that trade unions be fully involved in all design, safety methodology, and implementation of safety equipment, as well as fully involved in investigatory work following accidents or malfunctions. 
 
The ICEM pledges it will alert affiliates when there is incidence of mass deaths inside any work facility that is caused by negligence or faulty safety systems. It is the expectation that trade union affiliates will bring attention to these horrific acts to their own governments and inside their own enterprises in order that a new safety consciousness is raised. 
 
It is also the ICEM&rsquo;s expectation that the ILO take immediate action in regard to implementation of ILO Convention 176, focusing on stricter methane gas controls and ventilation systems. ICEM also expects that the ILO will investigate causes of recent negligence in mine safety accidents, namely pay systems that reward maximum productivity to the detriment of safety, and mining enterprises that rely on temporary or short-term contract workers. 
 
The ICEM also calls for ratification and strict adherence to ILO Convention 155, the Occupational Safety and Health Convention; Convention 174, the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention; Convention 162, the Asbestos Convention; Convention 148, the Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise, Ventilation); Convention 136, the Benzene Convention; Convention 170, the Chemicals Convention; Convention 115, the Radiation Protection Convention; Convention 139, the Occupational Cancer Convention; Convention 183, the Maternity Protection Convention; as well as attention to the ILO Guidelines on Health and Safety Management Systems. 
 
Finally, the ICEM calls on other Global Union Federations to join its campaign for better safety and health conditions throughout all industries.

Executive Committee Resolution on Safety in ICEM Sectors

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After review of the deadly clash between workers and police at Advanced Chemical Industries Ltd. (ACI) in Siddhirganj, Bangladesh, on 23 January, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM) finds ACI&rsquo;s conduct contemptible and the root cause of the violence that left one worker dead and over 100 hospitalised. 
 
The Geneva-based ICEM also supports trade unions in Bangladesh who are risking repression and have demonstrated since last Sunday in opposing the heavy-handed use of police force in central Narayanganj district in putting down the legitimate protests of ACI workers on 23 January. 
 
After numerous attempts to correct disparities inside the 407-worker ACI Pharmaceutical plant, full-time and temporary workers alike attempted to stage a peaceful protest. ACI&rsquo;s response to the worksite protest was to call police, who caused mayhem by firing rubber bullets and some 30 canisters of tear gas at the protestors. 
 
One worker, a 25-year-old temporary worker, Enamul Huq, died in a hospital from wounds inflicted from police. Scores others remain hospitalised and the police now have unfairly issued arrest warrants for workers involved in the protest.
<img src="" width="123" height="151" alt="" />
Arrest warrant: Beaten Striker
The ICEM determines that responsibility for the melee belongs with ACI, which too long neglected the pleas of both workers and their plant-level trade union in addressing legitimate workplace concerns. Workers&rsquo; grievances center on failure to give temporary workers full-time, permanent work status, with some temporary staff working as long as 12 years in those unsecured position and without the level of benefits that permanent workers receive; refusal to allow temporary workers to join the plant-level union; and failure to address extremely low wage rates for both permanent and full time workers. 
 
&ldquo;The fact that nearly all 400 workers, temporary and full-time alike, participated in this disaffection and that is one signal that management of ACI failed in its duties,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in total support of workers&rsquo; grievances and call on ACI to adopt a higher level of social conduct.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM also reminds civil society that Bangladesh has ratified ILO Conventions 87 and 98, freedom of association/right to organise/right to organise/bargain collectively conventions, and the Bangladesh government has a duty to ensure these global standards are applied. 
 
The ACI plant produces drug aids for human use. The plant employs 167 full-time workers and 240 temporary workers. ACI is major Asian manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of drug aids, agri-chemical and pesticide products, and basic consumer products. 
 
The ICEM is a Global Union Federation representing 20 million workers, encompassing 467 trade unions in 132 countries. 
 
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, or +41 79 734 8994.

ICEM Condemns ACI Conduct in Deadly Bangladesh Chemical Plant Riot

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Respect for freedom of association, decent work and the payment of a living wage were high on the list of demands for over 3,000 Cambodian workers who marched in Phnom Penh on the occasion of May Day. 
 
The issues raised by the nine participating union organisations were a reflection of the pressure garment workers come under in attempting to defend their rights. Demands included the reinstatement of workers sacked or suspended for joining a strike for fair pay, the release of an unfairly detained union leader, and an end to efforts to curtail trade union rights through a proposed new Trade Union Law, as well as an end to the use of short-term contracts. 
 
Last September, some 200,000 supporters of ITGLWF affiliate C.CAWDU went on strike in protest at the increase in the minimum wage to 61 dollars, a wage which fails to cover basic living expenses and does not meet living wage standards. The strike led to mass dismissals of union supporters and dozens of legal cases filed against union leaders. 
 
Earlier this year, C.CAWDU signed an agreement with the Goldfame company regarding outstanding issues following the strike. The deal, aimed at promoting workplace cooperation and industrial relations, includes the reinstatement of 161 dismissed union leaders and members. The agreement was witnessed by the ITGLWF, the ILO and two buyers at the factory, Inditex and H&amp;M. 
 
In May ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert will return to Cambodia for talks with 13 factories which in spite of national and international pressure have not yet reinstated dismissed strikers. 
 
Although the September strike did not succeed in increasing the minimum wage it did result in an agreement to discuss benefits. As a result, the unions were able to negotiate a US$10 a month increase in bonuses for attendance, seniority and overtime. 
 
The May Day union demands also included the immediate release of Sous Chantha, a union leader at the United garment factory who was arrested six months ago on trumped-up charges of drug trafficking in retaliation for changing his union&rsquo;s affiliation. Sous Chantha&rsquo;s case has had a chilling effect on workers, with employers telling them that the same thing could happen to them if they step out of line. 
 
Meanwhile, the unions are continuing to campaign to prevent a proposed new trade union law from weakening unions and making them highly vulnerable to interference from government and employers. In addition, they continue to oppose the widespread use of short-term contracts which deprive workers of benefits and discourage them from joining or supporting trade unions for fear of dismissal. 
 
The ITGLWF is supporting the union demands through pressure on the government, the employers and the brands sourcing from Cambodia.

Cambodian Garment Workers Demand Fair Pay, Right to Unionise

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Mega sports events, like the Olympics and the World Cup, can have a tremendous positive influence on workers. Too often, however, we hear stories of accidents on construction sites and horrendous sweatshop-like conditions in factories. Workers who build the stadia and manufacture the merchandise suffer behind the glamorous facade of the games. 
The Play Fair alliance, which joins unions and NGOs from around the world, began in 2003 and since then has been campaigning to put workers&rsquo; rights on the agenda of the International Olympic Committee and FIFA. Many of Play Fair&rsquo;s demands have not been met, but the campaign has had some positive achievements. For the London 2012 Olympics all official merchandise must be sourced from factories which pay workers a living wage and provide &ldquo;regular employment.&rdquo; Workers in these factories must have access to a complaints mechanism, and grievances must be investigated in a timely fashion. For the first time, the 2016 Olympic bid questionnaire asked prospective hosts to demonstrate how labour standards would be taken into account in making sourcing decisions for licensed goods. 
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In addition to sporting bodies, the Play Fair campaign has been targeting the brands and retailers who supply the team kits worn at sports events. Companies like adidas, which last year paid its board members almost &euro;11.5 million, and Puma, which have a sponsorship deal with Usain Bolt reportedly worth &pound;21 million, yet who refuse to commit to paying workers in their supply chain a living wage. Progress in improving brand practices has been slow, but a significant step forward will be made next month when Indonesian suppliers, their buyers, unions and NGOs come together to sign a protocol guaranteeing unions the right to freedom of association, including releasing an agreed number of union officials from work duties and providing adequate office and communication spaces, and time off for workers for union activities. 
In 2014 and 2016 Brazil will become the first country ever to host the World Cup and the Olympics within two years of each other. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity, Brazilian unions from the construction and textile sectors have joined forces to demand decent work for all those who contribute to the games. 250 people attended the public launch of the campaign on 1 April in front of the main gate of the Maracana Stadium, and the ITUC, BWI, ITGLWF and their affiliates exchanged messages of solidarity. 
The prevalent theme of the messages was a demand that the Brazilian World Cup and Olympics leave a positive legacy based on respect for workers&rsquo; rights.

A Sporting Chance for Workers: Launch of Play Fair Brazil

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In March, the ICEM had the assistance of the IMF in a public campaign in support of ICEM affiliate Petrol-İş in Turkey to get Standard Profil, a manufacturer of rubber products, to begin bargaining. Petrol-İş had gained well past the necessary 50% of Standard Profil&rsquo;s 2,300 employees workers seeking union representation, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security certified that the company&rsquo;s product line fell into the Petrol-İş negotiating jurisdiction of petroleum, chemicals, and rubber. 
The purpose of the public campaign, which included global letters of endorsement to Petrol-İş by unions and Works Councils representing Standard Profil customers in the automotive sector, was to dissuade the company from appealing the Ministry&rsquo;s industrial sector determination. The union called on the company, in the words of Petrol-İş President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkin, to &ldquo;start with mutual good will and consideration of mutual interests.&rdquo;
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&nbsp;Petrol-İş President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkin
The maker of rubberized automotive sealing systems had already engaged with the union over freedom of association and workers&rsquo; rights training through intervention by the Multinational Investment Guarantee Agency, a monitoring agency of the World Bank&rsquo;s International Finance Corp (IFC). The IFC has loaned Standard Profil development money at its two factories in D&uuml;zce and Bursa and criteria for the loan compels the company to foster proper social and environmental conduct. 
In April, the company ignored the workers&rsquo; olive branch made by Petrol-İş and filed an appeal with the government. The company claims its jurisdiction is in the metal industry. Such an appeal in Turkey is meant to thwart union recognition and negotiations by tying the matter up in court procedures for two years or more. And following jurisdiction outcome, an appeal on the 50% plus one is automatic, which further binds the hands of legitimate workers&rsquo; rights to join a union and bargaining collectively. 
This is a main reason why Turkey&rsquo;s archaic labour code is currently under scrutiny at the ILO. 
Despite Standard Profil&rsquo;s labour rights training in 2008-09 under its IFC responsibilities, the company signalled ill-will in sync with its appeal last month by sacking five union activists, including one who is a disabled worker. 
In fact, ICEM and Petrol-İş developed the public campaign with a back-up strategy in the event Standard Profil turned hostile. The Istanbul-based company manufactures rubber sealers for doors, boot, engine covers, and other seals for automobiles. It was owned by Bancroft Private Equity LLP but in early May was sold to the Pawan Ruia Group of India. 
The Ruia Group is heavily involved in the rubber industry and holds big equity stakes in Dunlop Tyre, Monotana Tyre, and Falcon Tyre of India. It also holds a big share of the automotive fastener market, making it a strategic company in the automotive supply chain. ICEM and Petrol-İş will now focus on that fact.

ICEM at Standard Profil: Halting Union Avoidance in Turkey’s Rubber Sector

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