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The ICEM is encouraging trade union activists from southern Africa nations, Brazil, and India to be one of 20 participants in the Global Labour University&rsquo;s (GLU) six-month &ldquo;Engage&rdquo; programme. A 1 November deadline for application approaches for a unique opportunity to engage in a diploma course that puts individuals on the front lines of current labour policies in the rapid globalisation of trade. 
 
The 20 trade unionists from those areas nations assuredly will strengthen their trade union capacities regarding analysis and then intervention on issues affecting labour struggles. &ldquo;We see this as a big advantage for affiliated trade unions to have people with this experience return home and be involved in strategic national issues,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re very enthused about this shortened curriculum and what it has to offer.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="92" height="87" />
For details, including application and scholarship availability, visit the site <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/216.html">here</a>. Applications should be sent to <a href="mailto:engage@uni-kassel.de">engage@uni-kassel.de</a>. 
 
The curriculum will run from April to September 2011, and takes place at Kassel University in Germany and the Berlin School of Economics, as well as an internship at a global trade union federation. The programme was developed by the GLU, InWent Capacity Building International, a German labour-management development centre, the two German universities, and the global trade union federations. 
 
The six-month course includes 3.5 months of academic instruction that includes policy workshops with trade union representatives, and then a two-month internship on policy initiatives with a global trade union organisation. This is the second offering of the &ldquo;Engage&rdquo; programme. The first was a pilot project this year. 
 
The six-year-old GLU, part of the ILO, has trained trade unionists in economics and in social sciences from 49 countries in its short existence. The &ldquo;Engage&rdquo; programme gives national or local trade union staff the opportunity to pick up specific curriculums tailored to improve their skills at home.

Global Labour University’s ‘Engage’ Deadline Nears on 1 November

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The ICEM was saddened to hear of the death on 10 September of Mahjoub Ben Seddik, the Secretary-General of the Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT), who died in Paris at the age of 88. He was buried in the &ldquo;cimitiere des chouhadas,&rdquo; the martyrs cemetery in Casablanca, Morocco. 
 
In attendance at the funeral were the entire political class of Morocco, encompassing leaders of political parties, past and present government ministers, trade union centres, as well as numerous Moroccan intellectuals and wider civil society. All had gathered to pay homage to a great trade union leader who had been of massive importance in the trade union world, and the Moroccan struggle for independence. 
<img alt="" src="" width="130" height="160" />
Mahjoub Ben Seddik, the late Secretary-General of the Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT) 
In a message of condolences, Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, echoed the words of UMT national official, Milourdi Moukharik, in stating: &ldquo;Moroccan workers, their trade union movement, as well as the Arab trade union world, and indeed the international trade union movement, have lost a great leader and fighter for trade union independence and struggle. 
 
&ldquo;He founded and continued to lead a vibrant and independent trade union structure firmly grounded in the workplace. The ICEM and the whole international trade union movement have lost a good friend and colleague. His passing really seems to be the end of an era.&rdquo; 
 
Mahjoub Ben Seddik spent his entire life defending the interests of the Moroccan workers. He never deviated from his conviction that the trade union movement should be independent of political parties, but at the same time was immensely political. He played a major role in the struggle for Moroccan independence and was imprisoned for two years in 1952 and again in 1954 before independence was achieved in 1956. 
 
He remained an active leader of UMT until his death and was a key supporter of wider international trade union, and the work of the ICEM in particular. UMT has been an active ICEM member for many years and has played an important role in the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s recent increased activities throughout the Middle East/North Africa Region (MENA), with Abdesalam Mansour being the MENA member of the ICEM Executive Committee.

ICEM Mourns Moroccan Trade Union Leader Mahjoub Ben Seddik

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Some 90 members of Unite the Union in the UK, employed at the Saxon Way, Corby, warehouse of Oxford University Press, will begin a second round of strike actions this week over the publishing house&rsquo;s inferior 2010 wage offer. Members of the GPM Section of Unite staged an initial 24-hour strike on 12-13 October, following a lawful strike ballot and formal rejection of a 2.5% increase. 
 
Last year, warehouse workers accepted a wage freeze in recognition of the financial crisis, only to learn after signing that managers, call centre workers, and admin staff of Oxford University Press had been awarded 2% increases. The 90 workers, who will soon be moved to new warehouse space at Prologis Park, Ketterling, are seeking a 2010 increase of 4.2% to offset last year&rsquo;s loss. 
<img src="" width="92" height="108" alt="" />
&ldquo;The company is doing well. It recorded an 8% increase in profit last year, on the back of a &pound;500 million turnover, so our members believe they are well within their rights to ask for 4.2%,&rdquo; Unite National Officer Steve Sibbald told the industry publication Printweek. 
 
Further industrial actions are scheduled for next week on 28 October and again on 3 November. Messages of support to workers can be sent to Unite Regional Officer Kathy Brooks <a href="mailto:Kathy.brooks@unitetheunion.org">here</a> who will relay all solidarity notes to striking warehouse workers.

Warehouse Workers of Oxford University Press to Strike Again

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For the first time, collective negotiations in Germany&rsquo;s paper industry will cover both the western and eastern regions of Europe&rsquo;s largest economy. Those talks between ICEM affiliate IGBCE and Deutschen Paperindustrie (VAP), the employers&rsquo; association, started 7 October in Dresden and cover 39,000 paperworkers. 
 
Led by IGBCE Chief Negotiator for the Paper Sector, Holger Nieden, the union insisted in the first round of talks that orders in the industry have picked up, productivity has vastly improved, recovery in the sector is apparent, thus wage increases are justified for both regular workers and apprentices. VAP contended in opening talks that the financial crisis is still in effect due to high raw material and high energy costs. 
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A second round of negotiations is scheduled for 12 November in Sulzbach, near Saarbr&uuml;cken, Germany. IGBCE and VAP are coming off a two-year social accord covering workers at some 220 paper mills and paper converting operations. 
 
Without specifying an exact pay gain, the union said it seeks a noticeable remuneration gain, improvements in general conditions of work, and common collective agreement time frames between enterprises in the east and in the west. The current contract in the west expired on 31 August, while in the east, the two-year agreement runs until 30 November. IGBCE is also seeking special criteria for union members in a new accord. 
 
After 20 years of gradual wage adjustments and improvements in working conditions for paperworkers in eastern Germany, it is the first time that a common agreement is being negotiated for both the western federal states and the eastern ones.

IGBCE Seeking Wage Gains as East, West Enjoined in German Paper Talks

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Negotiations between the United Steelworkers Local 7-669 and Honeywell Inc. failed 11-12 October to resolve a company-imposed lockout on 228 union members at a uranium conversion plant in the US. The failure to resolve the 17-week lockout in Metropolis, Illinois, means scab workers will continue to mix dangerous chemicals in a process that mills yellow-cake uranium into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), and then is sold to nuclear enrichment facilities. 
 
The talks last week were the third set of bi-lateral negotiations since the lockout began on 28 June. Progress was made on the first day on one of the major issues &ndash; health coverage and retiree medical insurance &ndash; but talks broke down on 12 October over retirement benefits and Honeywell&rsquo;s demand to create a two-tier pension scheme. Talks could re-start within the next few weeks. 
 
Other issues separating USW and Honeywell are the transnational&rsquo;s insistence on gaining broad contracting-out rights, a weakening of workers&rsquo; seniority rights, and hours of work. The company is offering a 3% wage increase, but its other demands are so detrimental to workers&rsquo; interests that the union has countered with a wage freeze and continuance of the current entitlement terms. 
<img alt="" src="" width="128" height="192" />
Metropolis, the fictional home of Superman, is now a US nuclear safety risk 
Honeywell, together with subcontracting agent the Shaw Group, has used US political leverage to gain certification from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), allowing the use of 200 replacement workers to perform dangerous tasks inside the nuclear supply chain. 
 
After initially signaling to USW Local 7-669 that it would not operate the plant during the lockout, Honeywell in July began staffing the conversion plant with scabs provided by the Shaw Group, and moved Honeywell supervisors from other areas to Metropolis. On 3 September, the NRC granted approval to Honeywell to re-start the final two steps of a four-step converting process. 
 
On 5 September, the town of Metropolis in southern Illinois along the Ohio River was shook by a loud boom that could be heard two kilometers away. Inside the plant, accumulated hydrogen reacted with fluorine gas during a venting process, causing the boom. NRC inspectors were on site at the time, and local police came to the scene. A NRC spokesman said the accident occurred in a non-regulated area of operation, meaning away from the handling of yellow cake uranium. Honeywell and the NRC jointly stated no damage to assets occurred and no one was injured. 
 
The Honeywell plant in Metropolis is the only such uranium conversion plant in the US and takes yellow cake uranium from Canada, Russia, and Australia and transforms it into UF6 through the four-stage process. That process includes ore preparation, through green salt preparation, to fluorination and distillation, before frozen and shipped to nuclear enrichment sites in US sites of Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, Kentucky, as well as to plants in Russia and some Asian countries. 
 
A previous ICEM report on this US lockout is <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3977-Lockout-of-USW-represented-Uranium-Processing-Plant-in-US-Continues ">here</a>.

Talks Fail Between USW, Honeywell in US Uranium Lockout

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The ICEM Colombian affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO) is being attacked by local management of Schlumberger Surenco, the world's largest oilfield services corporation with operations in approximately 80 countries. In an aggressive union busting campaign, the company is offering considerable benefits to those employees who cancel their union membership and to those non-unionised. 
 
Workers who do not choose to utilise their right to join the union are rewarded with increased salaries, increased holiday days, promotions, and general preferential treatment. Bullying and persecution occurs throughout the production sites in Colombia, especially in the Andina and Milenio plants in Bogot&aacute;. A common response from local managers when workers present a problem is &ldquo;disaffiliate from the union, and then we&rsquo;ll talk.&rdquo; 
<img src="" width="160" height="74" alt="" />
A collective agreement was reached between the workers and management in Colombia on 29 March, following months of negotiations. Now the company breaches the agreement regularly. Health and safety breached are common, with workers having to eat meals at their work posts, and in oil wells, to work continuously for months without time off, to work extra hours without overtime benefit. The company repeatedly insists on conducting disciplinary hearings at company headquarters in Bogot&aacute;, making it difficult for the correct USO representatives to travel long distances and attend, circumventing the proper industrial relations structure and process. 
 
As the ICEM has reported many times in the past, Schlumberger&rsquo;s union busting campaign is being conducted under the consent of the national government, now lead by President Juan Manuel Santos. 
 
The global oil services company has annual operating revenues of US$27.16 billion. 
 
USO asks supporters around the world to write to the company and government to demand that Schlumberger employees can freely exercise their right to organise and bargain collectively. Send those messages to the following addresses. 
 
SCHLUMBERGER &ndash; COLOMBIA 
Calle 100 No. 13-21 
Piso 4 
Edificio Megabanco 
Bogot&aacute; D.C 
 
Presidencia de la Rep&uacute;blica 
Dr. Juan Manuel Santos, 
Cra. 8 No..7-26, Palacio de Nari&ntilde;o, 
Santa fe de Bogot&aacute;. 
Fax: (+57 1) 566.20.71 
 
Vicepresidencia de la Rep&uacute;blica 
Dr. Angelino Garz&oacute;n 
Dr. Carlos Franco Programa Presidencial de Derechos Humanos y de Derecho Internacional Humanitario. Calle 7 No. 5-54 
FAX: (+571) 337.46.67 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:cefranco@presidencia.gov">cefranco@presidencia.gov</a> 
 
Programa Presidencial de Derechos Humanos y de Derecho Internacional Humanitario 
Dr. Fernando Ibarra 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:fibarra@presidencia.gov.co">fibarra@presidencia.gov.co</a> &nbsp; 
 
Comisi&oacute;n Interamericana de Derechos Humanos 
<a href="mailto:cidhoea@oas.org">cidhoea@oas.org</a> &nbsp; 
 
Representante Permanente de la OIT en Colombia 
Dr. Jos&eacute; Lu&iacute;s Daza 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:jmunoz@oit.org.pe">jmunoz@oit.org.pe</a> &nbsp; 
 
Procuradur&iacute;a General de la Naci&oacute;n 
Dr. Alejandro Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez Maldonado 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:dcap@procuraduria.gov.co">dcap@procuraduria.gov.co</a>; 
<a href="mailto:anticorrupcion@presidencia.gov.co">anticorrupcion@presidencia.gov.co</a> &nbsp; 
 
Fiscal&iacute;a General de la Naci&oacute;n 
Dr. GUILLERMO MENDOZA DIAGO (E) 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:contacto@fiscalia.gov.co">contacto@fiscalia.gov.co</a>; 
<a href="mailto:denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co">denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co</a> &nbsp; 
 
Unidad de Derechos Humanos y de Derecho Internacional Humanitario 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:nayacero@fiscalia.gov.co">nayacero@fiscalia.gov.co</a> &nbsp; 
 
Defensor&iacute;a del Pueblo 
Dr. Volmar Antonio P&eacute;rez Ortiz 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:secretariaprivada@hotmail.com">secretariaprivada@hotmail.com</a> &nbsp; 
 
Central Unitaria de Trabajadores CUT 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:presidencia@cut.org.co">presidencia@cut.org.co</a> &nbsp; 
 
USO NACIONAL &ndash; Barrancabermeja 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:jdnb_uso@yahoo.com">jdnb_uso@yahoo.com</a>

Union Busting at Oilfields Services Provider Schlumberger in Colombia

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The ICEM affiliated Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF) reports that the provincial government of Balochistan has passed new labour legislation which does not fulfil its requirements to protect workers in the region. 
 
Up until 30 April 2010 the Industrial Relations Act of 2008 (IRA-2008) governed labour relations throughout Pakistan. However on 30 April that legislation was suspended after its 18th amendment. The provinces of Pakistan were then empowered to pass their own laws. 
 
The Balochistan Industrial Relations Ordinance 2010 was announced after no consultation with employees, where consensus is required from all stakeholders, employers, employees, and government. 
<img src="" width="120" height="179" alt="" />
Secretary General of the PCMLF, Mr. Sultan Muhammad Khan
As trade unionists were angered by the local government&rsquo;s actions, a press conference was conducted, 8 October, in Quetta, Northern Pakistan, by the head of the All Pakistan Labour Federation (APLF) and the Secretary General of the PCMLF, Mr. Sultan Muhammad Khan. 
 
Mr. Muhammad Khan issued the following demands to local government: 
&bull; Do not pass new provincial labour legislation without consensus of the stakeholders &ndash; Employers, Employees, Government 
&bull; Improve the law and order situation in the province 
&bull; Create new Industrial Zones in the province to reduce unemployment 
&bull; Register all mine workers with the Welfare authorities 
&bull; All mine owners must be forced to pay all government welfare contributions 
&bull; Improve health and safety conditions at work in the province

Troubling Pakistan Labour Legislation Passed

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
ICEM Chemical Industries Sector Chair Tomas Nieber opened the Chemicals Sector Conference in Istanbul last week by calling for more regulatory standards as a result of the global financial crisis. Nieber, the head of German affiliate IGBCE&rsquo;s Economic Department who was re-elected chair of the sector that covers both chemicals and pharmaceutical, said with the sector showing a modest recovery in 2010, politicians and governments must not revert to past policies that caused the crisis. 
 
A record 250 delegates from 40 countries attended the ICEM&rsquo;s quadrennial chemicals conference in Istanbul on 27-28 October, a conference splendidly organised by Petrol-İş, the petroleum, chemicals, and rubber union of Turkey. 
<img alt="" src="" width="218" height="163" />
Petrol-İş President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkin
Nieber said 34 million jobs were lost worldwide due to the financial crisis, and he cited a number of challenges facing the sector, including the rising price of fuels and the need to maintain sustainable policies for the two industries. He also said since the sector has been marked by &ldquo;internationalization&rdquo; with increased cross-border investments and mergers, there must be more coordination regarding currency exchange rates. 
 
&ldquo;As trade unions, we must demand more regulations,&rdquo; Nieber said. 
 
Petrol-İş President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkin welcomed delegates to Turkey, but told global chemical and pharmaceutical trade union leaders that his country has implemented policies neutralizing unions. &ldquo;International conventions related to trade union rights and freedoms are routinely violated,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and the national legislation which regulates trade union activity retains its repressive and prohibitive essence.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="220" height="135" />
27 delegates from Japan attended the conference
&Ouml;ztaşkin said recent constitutional modifications that have been accepted by referendum actually are regressive in many ways toward trade union rights. He said Turkey ranks among the top ten worldwide in chemicals production, but he said privatization has decreased employment by 60-70% over the years, with non-union and precarious labour the norm. He also said it has become common for trade unions in Turkey to be the chief advocates for developing social responsibility standards, waste management, health and safety standards, and clean technologies. 
 
The conference included no less than six panel discussions over the two days, including one on Industrial Relations, Social Dialogue, and Social Responsibility. That panel saw Lutz Mugl, General Secretary of the International Chemical Employers&rsquo; Labour Relations Committee, Rhodia Chemistry President Bernard Chambon, and Umicore Human Resources and Development Director Mark Dolfyn participate and review practices, as well as ICEM Chemicals Industry Kemal &Ouml;zkan and Hubertus Schmoldt, former President of IGBCE and President of EMCEF. 
<img alt="" src="" width="215" height="161" />
The delegation from the Russian Chemical &amp; Allied Workers&rsquo; Union was led by President Alexander Sitnov, right
(For a listing of the panels, click <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4051-ICEM’s-Quadrennial-Chemicals-Conference-in-Istanbul-Next-Week ">here</a> to view a previous ICEM article on the conference.) 
 
The conference concluded with development of an 11-point action plan for the next four-year period. Highlights include support and coordination for organising workers of multinational companies; development of decent work practices in collective agreements, as well as equal pay and same terms and conditions of work; use of social dialogue with employers&rsquo; organizations; health, safety, and sustainability practices through union participation; a emphasis on women and young workers in the chemicals and pharmaceutical industries; and support for a new global trade union structure with two other Global Union Federations. 
<img alt="" src="" width="219" height="164" />
Hassan Juma Awad Sdawe of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (GFIW) was a panelist on Global Union Power Through Solidarity
The complete work plan can be accessed <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ChemsActionPlan%20_3_.pdf ">here</a>. 
 
The Chemicals Conference also endorsed a resolution supporting French, Romanian, and other European trade union federations engaged in strikes against austerity measures. That resolution was first adopted by the ICEM Presidium, which met on 26 October at the same venue in Istanbul. That resolution can be seen <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/FrenchResolutionChemConf.pdf ">here</a>.

ICEM Chemicals Conference Concludes with Record Turnout

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the great success of a project by the German IGBCE women in Tanzania, on the South African government&rsquo;s failure to provide promised female condoms at the World Cup games, and on the mining house AngloAmerican&rsquo;s ongoing campaign to stem the spread of the HIV virus in South Africa. 
 
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. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
IGBCE Women Sponsor Successful VCT campaign in Tanzania 
 
The second leg of the campaign for voluntary counselling and testing took place in Mwasa, the second largest town in Tanzania, in August. The campaign was sponsored with donations from the women unionists of the German ICEM affiliate, IGBCE. The African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) gave technical assistance. 
<img src="" width="278" height="202" alt="" />
A total of 875 people were tested, among them 800 workers, members of the ICEM affiliates TUICO and TAMICO in Tanzania. Four percent tested positive, with a marked difference between men (3.1 percent) and women (6.9 percent). All who tested positive were referred to the government hospital in Mwasa. 
 
A dancing troupe of people living with HIV and AIDS provided entertainment, and members of the group also gave testimonies to encourage workers and members of the public to get tested. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Female Condoms Missing During World Cup 
 
Female condoms have been widely celebrated as an answer to putting reproductive health and HIV protection in the hands of women. Yet, the South African government fell far short of its promise of distributing 7.5 million female condoms during the World Cup games in June, with only one million finding their way into the hands of consumers. On the other hand, male condoms were available in high numbers - 565 million - though even these were 20% fewer than expected. 
 
Many women&rsquo;s organisations, who had pressed for the condoms, expressed disappointment that the female versions were largely missing in action, thus offering women less choice of how to protect themselves. Tian Johnson of Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Trust is frustrated at the situation, referring to messages communicated by the organisation to 2010 visitors, &ldquo;Coming to South Africa soon? Bring your own condoms; we certainly don&rsquo;t have enough to share!&rdquo; 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.genderlinks.org.za">www.genderlinks.org.za</a>, as reported in Pambazuka, 23 July) 
 
Note by the Editor: The Coordinator of the ICEM HIV/AIDS Project is campaigning for wider access to female condoms. During the Sub-regional HIV/AIDS Women&rsquo;s Workshop in May, she found that female condoms were not commonly available. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
World AIDS Day 2010: Universal Access and Human RIghts 
 
First observed in 1988, World AIDS Day (WAD) on 1 December has served to raise awareness about the epidemic, focus attention on issues that are key to a successful response, and to inspire positive action. The WAD theme for 2009-2010 is &ldquo;Universal Access and Human Rights.&rdquo; 
 
In cooperation with the World AIDS Campaign and other organisations, this year UNAIDS is organising a global &ldquo;Lights for Rights Commemoration&rdquo; in 100 cities. This campaign aims to highlight the linkages between HIV vulnerability and Human Rights around the world, especially of people living with HIV, women and girls, men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, and transgender people. 
 
The &ldquo;Lights for Rights&rdquo; campaign began on 1 December 2009 in the US, when the lights were turned off and later turned back on, illuminating New York City landmarks. The darkness represents how stigma, discrimination, and criminalization forces people to die alone in fear and shame, while switching the lights on symbolizes the human rights of all people, which allows one to walk in the light of information, treatment, care, and health. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website <a href="http://www.uniaidstoday.org">www.uniaidstoday.org</a>. UNAIDS has produced a toolkit which can be accessed on this site 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Zimbabwe: Patients Forced to Pay for ARVs 
 
Rampant corruption in the provision of life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and other HIV services is threatening Zimbabwe's national AIDS response, according to a recently released report by a local human rights group. 
 
Commissioned by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) in March 2010, the report - Corruption Burns Universal Access to Treatment - found that 73% of HIV-positive respondents had been asked to pay bribes by health workers. Most of those unwilling or unable to pay were turned away or given inadequate services. 
 
The findings were based on interviews with 1,024 people living with HIV in the provinces of Masvingo, Harare, Bulawayo, and Manicaland. Most of the respondents lived in urban areas and 89% had a family income of less than US$100 a month. 
 
HIV patients were often asked to pay for services that were supposed to be free. About a third of the respondents who were asked for bribes refused to pay them, mainly because of poverty; as a consequence, 63% were denied the service and had to pay for drugs or diagnostic tests in the private sector, or on the black market, or go without. 
 
(Sources: Plus News, Harare, 5 October) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Kenya: Minister Condemned for Promoting Gay Inclusion 
 
A Kenyan minister who expressed her opinion in support for HIV and Aids mitigation programmes for gays and lesbians has come under sharp criticism from church and Muslim leaders who said her remarks were &ldquo;satanic&rdquo; and contrary to &ldquo;African culture.&rdquo; 
 
Esther Murugi, the special programmes minister in the Kenyan government, while addressing a Gays and Commercial Sex Workers HIV and Aids Symposium held at the Kenya Coastal City of Mombasa, challenged the government, in which she serves to help the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and inter-sex (LGBTI) community efforts in war against the scourge. 
 
The seminar, titled &ldquo;Most &ndash; At-Risk Populations (MARPs),&rdquo; was targeted at Men having Sex with Men (MSM), sex workers, and Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), believed to be at the greatest risk of HIV infection. 
 
Politicians attacked the minister over her remarks and called on Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki to dismiss her for advocating for the recognition of gays and lesbians. The symposium was partly sponsored by the National Aids Control Council (NACC) which is the government national agency that designs and implements policies on the fight against HIV and AIDS. 
 
(Source: BTM correspondent, 6 October) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Global Fund: Donor Governments Pledge Record Amounts 
 
Donors are expected to give the Global Fund about US$11.7 billion over the three-year period, 2011-2013. This is 20% more than was pledged three years ago for the 2008-2010 period; but it is still less than the Global Fund says that it needs. 
 
More than 40 countries, together with the European Commission, faith-based organizations, private foundations and corporations attended a pledging session in New York on 5 October chaired by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. 
 
The Fund says that its total needs over the three years 2011-13 will be between US$13 billion and US$20 billion. Over the past few months, donor government studied the Fund's needs and effectiveness and deliberated over how much each would commit to for the three years in question. They then came to New York to announce their decisions. 
 
The four countries that pledged the most for 2011-13 are the US, US$4 billion, 40% more than its pledge for the previous three years; France, US$1.48 billion, a 20% increase over the previous three years; Germany, US$822 million, no change; and Japan, US$800 million, a 28% increase. The three countries that pledged the largest percentage of their Gross National Income (GNI) are Norway and France (0.018% each) and Canada (0.013%). 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 131 of 8 October. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>; to receive GFO send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
AngloAmerican&rsquo;s Campaign against HIV/AIDS 
 
AngloAmerican is the largest private sector employer in South Africa and the effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic have ravaged its business. However, over the years the situation has become more manageable. By its own estimates, approximately 12,000 of its 71,000-workforce in South Africa are HIV-positive. 
 
The group&rsquo;s medical consultant, Dr Brian Brink, who is also the Global Fund Board member for the private sector, says that the big turning point came when treatment became available and effective. In negotiations with the union, the company agreed to pay for antiretroviral treatment (ART), but the real obstacle to getting things done was the stigma, fear, and distrust surrounding the disease. Agreement with the union also included guarantees that the jobs of HIV-positive workers were safe. 
 
From the economic point of view, giving out ART free of charge also makes sense. The fully-accounted cost for treatment is US$126 per HIV-positive worker per month. Against this, the total savings from reduced absenteeism and declining health care costs, as well as reduced staff turnover and benefits payments are US$219. 
 
(Sources: Daily Telegraph London, 2 August, with additions from the editor) 
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News from the Swedish Workplace HIV/AIDS Programme 
 
The Swedish Workplace HIV/AIDS Programme (SWHAP) is a joint initiative by the International Council of Swedish Industry (NIR) and the Swedish Industrial and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (IF Metall), an affiliate of the ICEM. 
 
In the latest newsletter of SWHAP, there is a report on the Swedish programme&rsquo;s Sub-regional Conference in Zimbabwe related to the development of its South Africa Peer Educators Network and new HIV/AIDS workplace programmes in cooperation with unions and Swedish companies in Southern and East Africa. The SWHAP programme in Namibia has commenced with the adoption of workplace policies by Auto Sueco, Atlas Copco, and ABB, and the training of peer educators. 
 
(Source: SWHAP Newsletter August 2010) 
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News from Global Unions 
 
The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF), <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>, reports in its latest HIV/AIDS update No. 93 of 1 October on its HIV/AIDS capacity-building workshop for the Asian region and the publication of a new seafarers directory that includes information on practising safer sex and advocacy of condom use. 
 
The August Newsletter of PSUFASA (Public Sector Unions Fighting AIDS in Southern Africa) reports on the projects activities in Zimbabwe. The project, which is supported by the UK Department for International Development, is in its last year of the three-year project cycle. The project is coordinated by Tsitsi Mariwo from the PSI Southern Africa office in Johannesburg. 
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Five Years Ago: ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS e-Bulletin was Born 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In future issues, we will refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In October 2005, we reported on the Global Fund replenishment meeting in London in September 2005. Governments then pledged US$3.7 billion, which was short of expectations as the total needs of the Fund had been estimated at US$7 billion. As the article on the replenishment meeting in New York above shows, the amounts pledged have trebled but so have the needs to cover all approved grants and sustain service delivery. 
 
In the October 2005 issue we wrote: &ldquo;The relatively low level of support raises questions about the G8 commitment (at the Gleneagles Summit in July 2005) to place on antiretroviral treatment by 2010 all HIV patients who need it.&rdquo; 
 
That sadly has become true. As the year 2010 comes close to ending, various estimates say that only half of the HIV positive population who needs treatment still has not access to it. 
 
(The source of the article in October 2005: Global Fund Observer, Issue 50 of 7 September 2005) 
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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. 61, October 2010

Meeting in Stavanger, Norway September 6-8, 2010, delegates to the ICEM World Energy Conference were appalled to hear of the latest attacks on trade unions by the present &ldquo;caretaker&rdquo; government in Iraq. 
 
Delegates listened to presentations by ICEM Executive Committee member, Hashmeya Muhsin Alsadawe, President General Union of Electricity Workers and Abdulah Muhsin International Representative of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) 
 
There is clearly an extended and concerted attack on trade union organisation. The latest attacks have seen on July 21, police storming the offices of the Iraqi Electrical Utility Workers Union in Basra on the orders of Electricity Minister Hussain al-Shahristani to shut the union down. As more police arrived, they took the membership records, the files documenting often-atrocious working conditions, the leaflets for demonstrations protesting Basra's agonizing power outages, the computers and the phones. Finally, Muhsin and her coworkers were pushed out and the doors locked. 
 
Shahristani's order prohibits all trade union activity in the plants operated by the ministry, closes union offices, and seizes control of union assets from bank accounts to furniture. The order says the ministry will determine what rights have been given to union officers, and take them all away. Anyone who protests, it says, will be arrested under Iraq's Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005. 
 
Delegates unanimously confirmed the importance of the ICEM EC resolution of May 26-27, 2010 and resolved to intensity their support and solidarity work with our affiliated trade unions in Iraq in their struggle for fundamental trade union and human rights and a peaceful, prosperous and democratic society.

Resolution on Iraq

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