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This morning, 500 workers demonstrated infront of the Headquarters of Ceramics company Preiss Daimler, in the Belgian city of Saint-Ghislain. Protesters denounced the loss of 173 jobs following the announcement that the ceramics refractory had bankrupt. Workers losing their jobs were not even paid their salary for the month of September. 
 
Slogans of the angry workers, members of the ICEM affiliated FGTB, included: &lsquo;Press Daimler, Rogue Bosses!&rsquo; and &lsquo;Press Daimler, 173 workers on the tiles!&rsquo; 

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The ICEM supports the demands from the FGTB, that these workers deserve respect for their skills, and should be offered new prospects for work in their sector. It should not be the workers who are to pay twice for the financial crisis. 
 
The Press Daimler workers call for intervention from politicians and business leaders to save jobs through a take-over of the company.

Belgian Ceramics Workers Protest Job Losses

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A special feature at the IGBCE Congress in Hannover, Germany, occurred on closing day, 16 October. It was a round-table forum on Global Networks. The panel was moderated by Constantin Grund of the Freidrich Ebert Foundation, and included&nbsp;ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana. 
 
It also included Fabio Lins from ICEM Brazilian affiliate CNQ/CUT, who addressed the highly successful Latin American network of workers within the German chemical company BASF; Robert Oswald, chairman of the European Works Council of BASF; and Ralf Blauth, Human Resources director of Evonik, now a German chemicals firm that evolved from another company, RAG, that had been signatory to a Global Framework Agreement with the ICEM. 

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Fabio Lins, Senzeni Zokwana,&nbsp;Constantin Grund, Robert Oswald, Ralf Blauth
Zokwana spelled out the ICEM&rsquo;s philosophy behind Global Agreements, as well as the distinct features of ICEM workers&rsquo; networks within single multinational companies, specifically related to the regional and global level. 
 
&ldquo;These networks are the direct result of several years of contact between workers of the same company,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have found that the regional networks are working the best, partly because of language and work similarities, but also because company managers have joined with these taking on a high degree of dialogue and actual negotiations.&rdquo; 
 
Lins added that the best example of this might be BASF in Latin America, which has now completed its tenth year. &ldquo;We have succeeded in convincing the BASF managers in both Europe and Latin America to play a hands-on role in this network,&rdquo; said Lins. &ldquo;That has enhanced our work, brought better safety standards to all worksites, and addressed such issues as subcontracting directly with management.&rdquo; 

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Oswald added that the BASF Asia-Pacific Network is moving forward, with the introduction of methods and common values brought forward from both Europe and Latin America. &ldquo;I must add that Supervisory Board members and workers&rsquo; representatives on BASF&rsquo;s European Works Council have gained valuable knowledge and benefited greatly from the experiences that have been shared in both regions,&rdquo; said Oswald. 
 
Blauth addressed the question of a merged company &ndash; RAG and Degussa forming Evonik &ndash; coming forward now to re-negotiate a Global Agreement. He said it is still too early in the process to predict an outcome. &ldquo;We are pragmatic and will place great emphasis on the practicability of reaching such an agreement. The communication process is important in and of itself, and this process inevitably leads to improved company practices. 
 
Warda concluded the session by stating both Global Framework Agreements and multinational workers&rsquo; networks are invaluable instruments to improve dialogue between labour and management, as well as setting forth best practices for trade unions in cross-border workplaces to adopt and implement so work standards can become harmonized.

IGBCE Congress Features Panel on Global Workers’ Network on Closing Day

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Trade unions of the pulp and paper sector affiliated to the ICEM acted in concert with Dutch unions last week in their protest against inferior contract terms put forward by Sappi. On 15 October, 50 protesters from ICEM Netherlands affiliates FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Bedrijenbond, along with two other Dutch unions, made their way to Sappi&rsquo;s European headquarters in Brussels to present a petition signed by the 800 workers of the two paper mills stating they are dissatisfied with contract terms presented. 
 
The 50 shop-floor leaders from Sappi&rsquo;s mills in Nijmegen and Maastricht were joined by scores of protest letters by ICEM affiliates of the sectors. 
 
In mid-September, Dutch workers of all four unions rejected a 21-month pay deal with a 95% vote that would have provided only a miniscule pay rise. Sappi proposed a 0.4% increase effective on 1 July 2009, with a 0.9% increase proposed for 1 April 2010. 

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What&rsquo;s perhaps worse, the South African-based company proposed elimination of &ldquo;seniorendagen&rdquo; for workers 55 years or older. This is the Dutch system of granting days off annually to workers when they reach ages 45, 50, 55 years or older. The days-off do not amount to many per year, but are seen as a just reward to senior workers who have given valuable years of service to the company. 
 
Sappi told union negotiators that its pay proposal as presented was low because Nijmegen and Maastricht workers refuse to give up the senior days. In the ICEM&rsquo;s letter to Sappi European CEO Berry Wiersum on 15 October, General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;The ICEM, and its family of 470 unions in 143 countries, finds this type of dialogue repulsive, and implore you to intervene on behalf of a socially responsible company to change this type of attitude.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM and affiliated unions in the pulp and paper sector will be monitoring Sappi&rsquo;s collective bargaining dispute at its Dutch mills, as well as a developing contract dispute at a Sappi mill in North America and upcoming redundancy talks at three Sappi mills in South Africa, where the company is attempting to pare 500 jobs from ICEM affiliate Chemical, Energy, Pulp, Paper, Wood, and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU).

Pulp, Paper Unions Assist Dutch Unionists in Contract Dispute with Sappi

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In late September, the ICEM continued to carry out reinvigorated activities in its Middle East/North Africa Region (MENA) by organising a workshop for chemicals and petrochemical unions of the region. The two-day set of workshops, sponsored by the Friedrich-Ebert (FES) Foundation of Germany, were held in Beirut, Lebanon, on 28-29 September. 
 
Energy and particularly oil have been one of the major driving forces of the economies of the region, and of ICEM activities in MENA of late. But in addition, the region has increased its overall production capacity in petrochemicals, specifically ethylene and its derivatives such as polyethylene and ethylene glycol. 
 
The joint ICEM-FES workshops were entitled, &ldquo;A Seminar on Reinforcing Trade Union Representation, Industrial Relations, and Social Dialogue in the Petrochemical Industry in MENA.&rdquo; The seminar was chaired by Suleiman Hamdan, President of Chemical Workers Union of Lebanon. 

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It was attended by 30 participants from Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Palestine, Turkey, and France. Following a presentation by ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, entitled &ldquo;Main Developments and Global Challenges in the Global Chemical &amp; Petrochemical Industry,&rdquo; the seminar received reports from individual countries. 
 
The workshop was called &ldquo;Global Dimension of Industrial Relations: International Mechanisms, Social Dialogue, Global Framework Agreements, and Global/Regional Networks&rdquo;. Another session &ldquo;The Rising New Threat to Working Conditions: Precarious Employment,&rdquo; focused on the ICEM&rsquo;s global campaign on Contract and Agency Labour. 

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At the end of the meeting, the participants decided to create an &quot;ICEM MENA Region Chemical/Petrochemical Sectoral Network,&quot; with a series of suggestions for future follow-up activities. Those include social dialogue and industrial relations; labour legislation and international instruments; multinational companies in the sector; Contract and Agency Labour and precarious employment; and Health, Safety, and Environmental issues. 
 
&ldquo;This is a new area of work for the ICEM in the MENA Region,&rdquo; said &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;The enthusiasm and readiness which participants displayed at this seminar shows there is great potential for a MENA network of petrochemical unions. Reinforcing activities in areas of industrial production and manufacture will be one of the priorities of ICEM in the region.&rdquo;

Middle East, North African Chemical Unions Form Network

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The Mexican government of President Felipe Calder&oacute;n Hinojosa surprised many nine days ago by sending federal agents and police in to take over the country&rsquo;s second largest electrical power distributor, Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LyFC) or Central Light and Power. Calder&oacute;n used an executive decree to dissolve the debt-ridden utility, but in doing so he also sacked the entire 60,000 LyFC workforce, and disbanded their union, the 95 year old, Mexican Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union (SME). 
 
The action to bust SME disturbed many in the global union movement, as well as activist groups that monitor trade union rights within Mexico, but did not come as a surprise, considering the repressive measures taken by Calder&oacute;n against trade unions. 

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In July, SME members re-elected Secretary-General Mart&iacute;n Esparza, but the government has refused to certify the election, citing voting irregularities. But the real reason for the government&rsquo;s elimination of SME is the union leadership&rsquo;s opposition to Calder&oacute;n&rsquo;s economic policies, specifically regarding privatisation of the utility. Not incidentally, Esparza&rsquo;s opponent in last summer&rsquo;s elections, Alejandro Munoz, has joined with Esparza in condemning the takeover and has pledged to resist the dissolution. 
 
In a joint letter last week to Calder&oacute;n by the ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), General Secretaries Manfred Warda and Jyrki Raina called the action &ldquo;retaliatory because the leadership of the union opposed your anti-worker, anti-societal economic policies.&rdquo; See the letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/67%20ICEM%20IMF%20letter%20to%20Mr%20Calderon%20-%20Mexico%20-%2015Oct09.pdf">here</a>. 
 
The non-affiliated SME, which has not taken many strides to join the global trade union movement, deserves the support of unions everywhere because it has now become a victim of the current Mexican government&rsquo;s systematic plan to eliminate any workers&rsquo; group which stands in the way of business interests and unencumbered markets. 

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The SME has vowed to resist through peaceful methods the late-night, 10 October takeover, which was carried out by military police. The government has already offered redundancy packages, with the maximum up to 33 months pay, and said it would recall 10,000 of the electrical workers. But the SME has urged workers to reject the packages, and to participate in peaceful manifestations, the latest of which occurred on 15 October, when 100,000 people marched through Mexico City and gathered in the City&rsquo;s main square the Zocalo. The full day of large scale demonstration passed without incident and was widely supported in the capital, including from the left-wing city government. 
 
The huge manifestation of 15 October coincided with an international trade union forum on the issue of Multinational Corporations and their Protection Collective Agreements, sponsored by the Friedrich-Ebert (FES) Foundation of Germany. The contracts represent an enormous obstacle to free trade unionism in Mexico, and allow companies to sign &lsquo;collective&rsquo; agreements on work conditions and salaries, without including workers in negotiations, and without workers even being aware of the agreement made in their name. Calder&oacute;n&rsquo;s government encourages this practice and continues to block new democratic unions by repeatedly delaying official recognition for years, blacklisting trade unionists, and allowing company managements to act with impunity. The Forum issued a statement of solidarity with the SME. 

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A noteworthy statistic in Mexico is that 95% of companies have a collective agreement, whereas union membership in the country is at 10%, clearly the vast majority of collective agreements are signed with yellow unions. Many union leaders are millionaires, due to mafia-style deals with management. Visit the campaign website <a href="http://www.democraciaylibertadsindical.org.mex">here</a>.&nbsp; 
 
The Calder&oacute;n government has temporarily rolled LyFC&rsquo;s day to day operations into the country&rsquo;s largest utility, the Federal Electricity Commission, from which LyFC buys most of its generated capacity, but the speculation is that LyFC will now be sold to private sources. LyFC serves Mexico City and portions of the surrounding states of Mexico, Hidalgo, Morelos, and Puebla.

Mexican Government Shuts Major Electric Utility, Crushes Trade Union SME

On 15 October 2009, 50 workers from four Dutch unions, including ICEM affiliates FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Bedrijvenbond, will assemble at the European headquarters of Sappi in Brussels. There, between 14h00 and 15h00 European time, they will present a petition signed by nearly 800 paperworkers at Sappi&rsquo;s Nijmegen and Maastricht mills. 
 
Since early in the summer, the unions have been unsuccessful in negotiating a new collective agreement with Sappi at these two mills. Finally on 17 September, Sappi presented a final offer. It called for a 0.5% increase effective 1 July 2009, and a 0.9% increase on 1 April 2010. Workers rejected it with better than a 95% vote. 
 
What&rsquo;s more, Sappi seeks to eliminate days off that senior workers, age 55 and over, have accrued due to longevity of service. These no-work days, called &ldquo;seniorendagen&rdquo; in Dutch, are very few per year for each worker of that age, but Sappi made it clear in negotiations that its wage offer was so low because Dutch workers insist on keeping this rightful benefit. These no-work days have been earned by Dutch staff who have long years of service, and they should not have to be given up. 
 
Below, please find a letter that ICEM is hopeful your union can send to the European CEO of Sappi on 15 October. Please cut and paste it (or feel free to change it to fit your union&rsquo;s style), attach it your letterhead and send to the e-mail address of Mr Berry Wiersum, as well as the two fax numbers of Sappi&rsquo;s Brussels office. 
 
It is important to do this on Thursday, 15 October, in order to support our Dutch colleagues who will be traveling to Brussels to present a petition on that day. Thank you for your support and initiative on behalf of our colleagues in The Netherlands.
Please be sure to copy your letter to the following:
Ans van den Akker
<a href="mailto:ansvandenakker@orange.nl">ansvandenakker@orange.nl</a>
Ilja Philippen-Nijssen
<a href="mailto:I.Philippen@bg.fnv.nl">I.Philippen@bg.fnv.nl</a>
Mariska Razoux Schultz-Helbig
<a href="mailto:M.Razouxschultz@bg.fnv.nl">M.Razouxschultz@bg.fnv.nl</a>
(do not hesitate to send your own solidarity message to these trade union leaders.)
&nbsp;
<img alt="" src="" width="280" height="76" />
&nbsp;15 October 2009 
 
Mr. Berry Wiersum 
CEO, Sappi Fine Papers Europe 
154 Chauss&eacute;e de la Hulpe 
B-1170 Brussels 
Belgium 
 
Transmit to <a href="mailto:berry.wiersum@sappi.com">berry.wiersum@sappi.com</a> and fax numbers +32 2 676 9601 and +32 2 676 9660 
 
Dear Mr. Wiersum: 
 
Our trade union, representing pulp and paper workers, has learned of the contract dispute at Sappi&rsquo;s two mills in the Netherlands, at Nijmegen and Maastricht. We understand that in late September, 800 workers at these two mills, represented by all Dutch unions solidly rejected a very inferior company proposal. 
 
We want it to be made known that Sappi&rsquo;s pay offer over the next 21 months is insulting. We also want it to be made known that Sappi&rsquo;s insistence on taking away the &ldquo;seniorendagen&rdquo; for workers with long-time service to the company is unfair. Workers age 55 and over have earned these days off and Sappi must adhere to contractual commitments it has made in the past. 
 
We urge you to instruct your managers in the Netherlands to return to dialogue with the workers&rsquo; representatives and raise the level of salary adjustments over the next two years, as well as assuring that senior workers retain what they have earned in their many long years of employment service to Sappi. 
 
Our union will be watching closely this dispute at your two mills in the Netherlands, and we intend to take further action if need be. We will strongly support our Dutch colleagues in all ways possible, and urge you now to prevent a dispute that will only deepen if Sappi does not return make an acceptable contract offer to Nijmegen and Maastricht workers. Thank you. 
 
Sincerely,

Sappi Dispute in Dutch Paper Mills; Act 15 October 2009

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we call on ICEM affiliates to get involved in activities on World AIDS Day (1 December) and report, among others, on the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific and the road towards an ILO instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. 
 
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are already 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. 
 
Editor: Hans J Schwass, ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant 

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World AIDS Day 2009 &ndash; Call on ICEM Affiliates to be Active 
 
As every year, World AIDS Day will be held on 1 December. ICEM affiliates must plan their participation in national activities now. 
 
The theme of this year&rsquo;s World AIDS Day is Universal Access and Human Rights. Campaign material is designed with the &ldquo;I AM&rdquo; theme, adopting the key slogans: I am accepted; I am safe; I am getting treatment; I am well and I am living my rights. 
 
Supporting material &ndash; four posters and two postcards &ndash; has been made available by the World AIDS Campaign. These can be downloaded from their website <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a>. Hardcopies, which are available in English, Spanish, French, and Russian, can also be ordered from the ICEM. Please send an email to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a> indicating language and number of copies (deadline 23 October). 
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HIV/AIDS and the World of Work &ndash; ILO Consultations 
 
The ILO has recently transmitted to Governments the text of the proposed new Recommendation on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work. The text is contained in the Third Report and it has been prepared by the ILO on the basis of the first discussion at the 98th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) in June 2009. The Governments are now requested to inform the ILO about amendments to suggest, or comments to make, and to inform the ILO whether they consider that the proposed text provides a satisfactory basis for the second discussion by the Conference at its 99th Session in June 2010. The deadline for reply is 19 November 2009. 
 
A Government is supposed to contact and consult national trade union centres before finalizing its reply (pursuant to Article 39, paragraph 6, of the Standing Orders). ICEM affiliates are urged to get involved in the inputs from their national centres. The ILO document, the so-called Brown Report (because of the colour of its cover), Report V (1), ILC 99th Session 2010 can be found <a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_112365.pdf ">here</a>. 
 
(Source: ITUC Circular no. 55 of 25 September) 

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International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) 
 
The 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific took place in Bali, Indonesia, in August under the theme, &ldquo;Empowering People, Strengthening Networks.&rdquo; It brought together more than 3,000 participants, including representatives from the Global Unions and local unionists. 
 
In the workplace, stigma and discrimination are the major barriers for workers infected with HIV. They are often blamed for their condition, discriminated in employment and fired because they are living with HIV/AIDS. During a satellite session on workplace intervention, Dr Syed Asif Altar, Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator of the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF), spoke on the role of trade unions in reducing risky behaviour among transport workers &ndash; transportation having been identified, together with mining and the fisheries industry, as the most vulnerable sectors in Asia. In the symposium on the impact of the financial crisis on labour migration and HIV, Christopher Ng, APRO Regional Secretary of UNI Global Union called on governments to utilize various types of overseas workers&rsquo; funds to assist migrant workers and their families including access to HIV services in the country of origin and country of destination. 
 
A UNAIDS report released at the Congress, claimed that an estimated 50 million women in Asia are at risk of contracting HIV from male partners who engage in risky sexual behaviour. The report, &ldquo;HIV Transmission in Intimate Partner Relationships in Asia,&rdquo; states that of the 1.7 million women now living with HIV in Asia, more than 90% have acquired the virus from their husbands or long-term boyfriends. 
 
(Source: Information from participants, the ILO website and Jakarta Post of 15 August) 

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Global Fund Meeting on Public/Private Partnerships and Co-Investments 
 
In an effort to re-establish a dialogue between the Global Fund and organisations involved in public/private partnership co-investment projects, the Global Fund organised an inter-agency meeting on 14 September. 
 
Such projects benefit from input of the private sector such as clinics, medical staff and management expertise. The private sector in turn can expand HIV/AIDS interventions and services with GF grants channelled through the public sector or as direct recipient of such grants. In remote areas, which is especially the case for mining, with an insufficient public health service, companies can close the gap by extending HIV/AIDS and other health services to the wider community in which they operate in. 
 
The ICEM welcomes this re-engagement. One of the objectives of the meeting was to discuss ways in which employer and employee organisations can access Global Fund grants. The fact that employee organisations are included is a step forward. The ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant, who was the only unionist participating in the meeting, insisted that in future considerations of co-investment projects, unions be given their rightful role. He stressed that for the ICEM, as a Global Union Federation, the private sector is business and organised labour comprises trade unions. HIV/AIDS interventions that are only management driven are not likely to succeed. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Treatment Time Bomb 
 
The goal of achieving universal access to treatment by 2010 has preoccupied the global AIDS community in recent years, but a new report warns that not preparing for the changing treatment needs of people living with HIV will doom the sustainability of treatment programmes in developing countries. Over the next decade an increasing number of patients on inexpensive first-line antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in low-income countries will need second-line ARVs, which currently cost at least seven times more. 
 
&quot;The Treatment Timebomb,&quot; released this month by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on AIDS, a group of UK MPs, argues that action is needed now to bring down the price of second-line and less toxic first-line ARVs if a crisis later is to be averted. 
 
Low-income countries can afford to buy older-generation ARVs largely because multiple manufacturers are producing generic versions of them at a fraction of the original cost, but most of the newer drugs are being produced under patents that prevent generic manufacture. The AAPG report points out that safeguards in the World Trade Organization's Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) allow countries to override patents - for public health purposes - by issuing &quot;compulsory licenses&quot; that enable the generic manufacture of drugs still under patent. However, few developing countries have exercised this right. 
 
The Clinton Foundation announced that it had reached agreements with two major drug companies to bring the cost of second-line ARVs to under US$500 per person annually. As an example, at present, second-line ARVs in Kenya cost around US$1,000 per person per year, while first-line ARVs cost under US$100. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, 28 July and 7 August) 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Canadian Labour Congress Signs Agreement with ITUC Africa 
 
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) signed an HIV and AIDS advocacy agreement with the African regional organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC Africa). The agreement, for an initial period of two years, creates a partnership approach to addressing HIV and AIDS and promotes universal access to prevention, treatment, and care of infected workers and their families. 
 
The accord is not limited to training and education but includes joint political lobbying on HIV/AIDS at international bodies, such as the G8, which will be hosted by Canada in the summer of 2010. It covers strengthening of workplace initiatives and reaching agreements with employers. As these are within the domain of industrial and sectoral unions affiliated to national centres, the partnership contains a provision for other sectors to join the exercise. 
 
(Source: CLC Press Statement, 1 September) 

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Global Fund Five-Year Evaluation Completed 
 
Launched in November 2006, when the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria was approaching its fifth anniversary, the Five-Year Evaluation has been completed after more than two years of work. It would go beyond the scope of this e-bulletin to go into the findings of all three study areas of the evaluation, of which the third one &ndash; Health Impact &ndash; alone cost US$11.7 million. 
 
Not surprisingly, the main finding is that the rapid increase in funding from all partners for the three diseases has resulted in a major expansion in access to services in these countries and has improved coverage of interventions, which will likely impact disease burden. 
 
More specifically, on HIV/AIDS the evaluation found a dramatic increase in the coverage of antiretroviral treatment. That was to be expected as the major thrust of Global Fund grants in the first years was treatment. Other findings include major gaps in basic requirements, such as trained personnel, guidelines, medicines, and equipment, which negatively impact on the quality of services. The evaluation also found that there was little evidence of behaviour change among the most at risk. 
 
It has to be noted that the impact study extended to only 18 countries of the 136 which had received grants at the time of the evaluation. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 106, 19 August. GFO is a free service of Aidspan (<a href="mailto:www.aidspan.org">mailto:www.aidspan.org</a>). To receive GFO, send an email to receive-gfo-<a href="mailto:newsletter@aidspan.org">newsletter@aidspan.org</a>. 

<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. 49 October 2009

<img alt="" src="" width="79" height="75" /><img alt="" src="" width="87" height="75" /><img alt="" src="" width="75" height="75" /><img alt="" src="" width="77" height="75" />
Four days before the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund officials meet with the Turkish Government, Global Unions met with Turkey&rsquo;s Minster for Labour, and lent their support to President Abdullah G&uuml;l&rsquo;s veto of a bill giving &ldquo;Private Labour Offices&rdquo; broad rights to place temporary workers in enterprises and warned of the dangers that precarious employment poses for society. 
 
Representatives of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) reported to the Labour Minister that contract and agency labour and precarious forms of employment have been exploding around the world, bringing with it two categories of workers: one with good secure jobs and another category of workers faced with short term jobs, low wages, no social protection and a loss of rights. 
 
At a press conference in Istanbul today, Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, said, &ldquo;Globally, the massive shift away from regular employment into temporary work or jobs through agencies and labour brokers is having a deep impact on all workers, their families, and on society. Erosion of the employee-employer relationship, often the basis of labour law, is leading directly to a growing number of violations of workers&rsquo; rights.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;There is a connection between international &lsquo;policy changes&rsquo;, those inspired by the international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which have encouraged work flexibility and brought with it a lowering of work conditions at national levels,&rdquo; added Warda. &ldquo;Such changes reflect clear employer strategies to weaken collective bargaining through part-time and agency work, and the ICEM will resist this in every way possible.&rdquo; 
 
Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary, reiterated today a message delivered by the global unions to the G-20 Summit last week, stating &ldquo;The expansion of precarious forms of work and deregulation of the labour market are not the answer to the employment crisis &ndash; in fact, the insecurity of working people over recent decades was a significant contributor to the recession. It is no coincidence that precarious work and fragile financial markets have both been developing in recent decades.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;The way forward must be based on sustainable, not precarious development - a sustainable economy where the financial sector is at the service of the real economy. We need social justice and environmental sustainability to reverse the damage done to our planet in a way that provides good, steady and secure jobs,&rdquo; added Ryder. 
 
Neil Kearney, ITGLWF General Secreatry said, &quot;Agency hires and temporary contracts destroy job security and undermine all other rights and promote gross exploitation of both the temporary worker and the permanent employee working alongside them.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;In Turkey, ITGLWF affiliate Teksif is locked in battle with Ederne Giyim where workers employed on an agency type arrangement with inferior wages and conditions are being used to reduce and eventually eliminate a permanent workforce of long standing. Union resistance to the worsening conditions has resulted in mass firings of union members,&rdquo; Kearney added. 
 
&ldquo;Elsewhere in Turkey, ITGLWF affiliates are in daily conflict with textile, clothing and leather industry employers using every means, including sub-contracting, undeclared labour and short-term contracts to prevent unionisation and the protection of workers' rights. Government action is urgently needed to restore worker protection against this onslaught,&quot; demanded Kearney. 
 
Jyrki Raina, IMF General Secretary, said &ldquo;Permanent jobs are being eroded by an increasing reliance by employers on labour hire via employment agencies. In some plants we are now finding that more than fifty per cent of the workforce are agency workers.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;The financial crisis has delivered a further blow to precarious workers. Hundreds of thousands of them have been the first to lose their jobs, because dismissing workers with no rights to severance pay or notice periods is a cheap and easy way for employers to reduce their workforces. The crisis has had significant and far reaching impacts on employment,&rdquo; he added. 
 
&ldquo;Here in Turkey, IMF affiliate Birlesik Metal Is has been supporting 350 workers who were dismissed last year by Sinter Metal for exercising their right to join a trade union. The company alleges that the dismissals were a necessary response to the financial crisis, but the evidence shows that this is no more than a weak excuse to dismiss union members and prevent workers from protecting their jobs,&rdquo; he said. 
 
Over the next week, metal worker unions around the world will be mobilizing against precarious work and will be joining with other national and sector unions around the globe in a World Day for Decent Work on Wednesday 7 October. 
 
The ICEM will focus World Day for Decent Work activities on its Contract and Agency Labour campaign in Thailand and Turkey. 
 
&ldquo;A sustainable recovery will not be built on precarious and substandard jobs. That&rsquo;s why around the world today, unions and their members are united in their demand for secure jobs and equal rights for all workers, &ldquo; said Jyrki Raina. 
 
The ITUC represents 170 million workers in 157 countries and territories and has 312 national affiliates; the ICEM represents 467 trade unions in 132 countries; and the IMF covers over 200 trade unions in 100 countries. 
 
Notes to editors: 
1. More information about the World Day for Decent Work can be found <a href="http://www.wddw.org/">here</a>. 
 
2. More information on the IMF campaign against precarious work can be found <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?n=696&amp;l=2">here</a>. 
 
3. More information on the ICEM contract and agency labour campaign can be found <a href="http://cal.icem.org">here</a>. 
 
4. More information on the dispute at Sinter Metal can be found <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?n=692&amp;l=2">here</a>. 
 
________________________________ 
For further information, please contact: 
Mathieu Debroux, ITUC, +32 2 224 0210 
Dick Blin, ICEM, +41 22 304 1842 
Neil Kearney, ITGLWF, +32 2 512 2606 
Anita Gardner, IMF, +41 22 308 5032

Global Unions Warn of Dangers in Contract, Agency Work

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ABD'nin en b&uuml;y&uuml;k ulusal sendikal merkezi AFL-CIO'nun Pennsylvania eyaletinin Pittsburgh kentinde yapılan 26. olağan genel kurulunda delegeler Richard Trumka'yı başkan se&ccedil;ti. ICEM &uuml;yesi ABD Birleşik Maden İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası (UMWA) &uuml;yesi Trumka 1995'ten bu yana AFL-CIO mali sekreterliği g&ouml;revini y&uuml;r&uuml;t&uuml;yordu. 
 
Batı Pennsylvania'da madenci bir ailenin &uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;nc&uuml; kuşağından gelen Trumka, sendikaların saflarına gen&ccedil;leri kazanarak Amerikan sendikal hareketini canlandırmayı vaat ediyor. G&ouml;revi devralırken yaptığı konuşmada, Trumka, &ldquo;değişen ekonomide Amerikalıların ihtiya&ccedil;larını karşılayacak yeni bir sendikal hareket&rdquo; inşa edeceğini vurguladı. 
 
AFL-CIO'ya &uuml;&ccedil; d&ouml;nem başkanlık yapan John Sweeney'den g&ouml;revi devralan Trumka sendika avukatlığı da yaptı. 1974'te UMWA'nın Hukuk Servisi'nde &ccedil;alışmaya başladı. 1982'de maden sendikasına başkan se&ccedil;ildi. 1995'te Sweeney'nin AFL-CIO y&ouml;netim ekibinde yer alana kadar bu g&ouml;revi y&uuml;r&uuml;tt&uuml;.
<img src="" width="180" height="200" alt="" />
Arlene Holt-Baker, Richard Trumka ve Liz Shuler
56 sendikadan toplam 10 milyon &uuml;yeyi &ccedil;atısı altında toplayan federasyonun mali sekreterlik g&ouml;revini ge&ccedil;en hafta Trumka'dan devralan Liz Shuler Elektrik İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası'ndan (IBEW) geliyor. Başkan yardımcılığı g&ouml;revine se&ccedil;ilen Arlene Holt-Baker ise kamu y&ouml;netimi &ccedil;alışanlarının sendikası AFSCME'den geliyor. 
 
Genel Kurul'da alınan 70 kadar karardan ikisi Irak'la ilgili. Kararlardan biri, Obama y&ouml;netimini, Irak'ta sendikaların meşruluğunu g&uuml;vence altına alan, ILO normlarına uygun bir iş yasası &ccedil;ıkarılması i&ccedil;in Irak y&ouml;netimi &uuml;zerindeki n&uuml;fuzunu kullanmaya &ccedil;ağırıyor. &Ouml;b&uuml;r karar ise ABD y&ouml;netiminin askeri işgale son vermesini ve askeri birliklerini bu &uuml;lkeden hızla geri &ccedil;ekmesini istiyor. 
 
Bir diğer kararda ise ABD'nin Honduras'taki askeri rejime yaptırım uygulaması isteniyor. Bu yaptırım &ccedil;er&ccedil;evesinde, Manuel Zeleya demokratik Honduras'ın meşru başkanı olarak tekrar g&ouml;revine d&ouml;nene kadar, ABD el&ccedil;isinin geri &ccedil;ekilmesi, Haziran 2009 darbesinden sorumlu kişilerin malvarlıklarının bloke edilmesi ve Honduras'la b&uuml;t&uuml;n ticari ilişkilerin askıya alınması &ouml;neriliyor.

ABD Maden İşçileri Sendikası&#039;ndan Richard Trumka AFL-CIO Başkanı

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ICEM Orta Avrupa ve Doğu Avrupa/Kafkaslar'da anat&uuml;z&uuml;k uyarınca b&ouml;lge toplantıları d&uuml;zenledi. 12 Eyl&uuml;l'de Orta Avrupa toplantısı Hırvatistan'ın Sibenik kentinde yapıldı. 
 
Toplantıya Bosna-Hersek, Hırvatistan, Macaristan, Makedonya, Romanya, Sırbistan, Slovakya ve Slovenya'dan sendika temsilcileri katıldı. Toplantıyı y&ouml;neten Slovakya kimya sendikasının başkanı Juraj Blah&aacute;k, tekrar b&ouml;lgeyle ilgili ICEM Başkan Yardımcısı se&ccedil;ildi. Blah&aacute;k, ayrıca, Orta Avrupa b&ouml;lge komitesinin başkanlığı g&ouml;revine de yeniden se&ccedil;ildi.
<img src="" width="340" height="255" alt="" />
Orta Avrupa toplantısındaki sekiz &uuml;lke sendikasının temsilcileri&nbsp;
Delegeler &uuml;lke raporları sundular, b&ouml;lgesel &ccedil;alışmalar &uuml;zerinde durdular ve k&uuml;resel ekonomik krizin her bir &uuml;lke &uuml;zerindeki etkilerini tartıştılar. ICEM Genel Sekreteri Manfred Warda ise ICEM'in k&uuml;resel faaliyetlerini a&ccedil;ıkladı ve Cenevre'de Haziran ayında yapılan ICEM Y&ouml;netim Kurulu toplantısında &ouml;zellikle ekonomik kriz &uuml;zerine yapılan g&ouml;r&uuml;şmeler ve alınan kararlar konusunda bilgi verdi. 
 
16 Eyl&uuml;l g&uuml;n&uuml; Ukrayna'nın başkenti Kiev'de Azerbaycan, Belorusya, Rusya, Ukrayna ve &Ouml;zbekistan sendikalarının temsilcileri Doğu Avrupa/Kafkaslar b&ouml;lge toplantısı i&ccedil;in bir araya geldiler. Toplantıyı, Rusya maden iş&ccedil;ilerinin sendikası Rusugleprof'dan, ICEM Başkan Yardımcısı ve B&ouml;lge Başkanı İvan Mohna&ccedil;uk y&ouml;netti.
<img src="" width="340" height="255" alt="" />
&nbsp;İvan Mohna&ccedil;uk (solda), &ccedil;evirmen Eugene Kuprin ve ICEM'den Manfred Warda 

ICEM &uuml;yelik aidatları konusunun da g&ouml;r&uuml;ş&uuml;ld&uuml;ğ&uuml; toplantıda, bu konunun gelecek ay yapılacak ICEM Başkanlar Kurulu toplantısına g&ouml;t&uuml;r&uuml;lmesi kararlaştırıldı. Delegelerin &uuml;lke raporlarından sonra, Manfred Warda ICEM Y&ouml;netim Kurulu toplantısı konusunda bilgi verdi. 
 
&Ouml;zbekistan Enerji, Kimya ve Jeoloji İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası'ndan Mavcuda Halilova b&ouml;lge toplantısına Kadın Komitesi'nin raporunu sundu.

ICEM Orta Avrupa, Doğu Avrupa/Kafkaslar&#039;da Bölge Toplantıları Yaptı

Archive

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Global Unions Warn of Dangers in Contract, Agency Work

ABD Maden İşçileri Sendikası'ndan Richard Trumka AFL-CIO Başkanı

ICEM Orta Avrupa, Doğu Avrupa/Kafkaslar'da Bölge Toplantıları Yaptı

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