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The conference held in Oslo, Norway, on 13 September by the ILO and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided rhetoric giving economic redress to the great financial crisis, but it&nbsp;must now be followed up&nbsp;with prompt action on job creation, according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
 
The conference, entitled &ldquo;The Challenges of Growth, Employment and Social Cohesion,&rdquo; produced plenty of well-intentioned talk toward developing policies that promote job-creating growth, but the ITUC &ndash; one of the participants at the conference &ndash; stressed the importance of the ILO and IMF acting jointly and immediately on a job-centred recovery to pull tens of millions of the world&rsquo;s citizens from impoverished conditions. 
 
&ldquo;The ILO should be fully integrated into the G20&rsquo;s Mutual Assessment Process,&rdquo; stated ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow, adding that national policies must adopt progressive taxation, quality public service agendas, expanded collective bargaining and better workers&rsquo; protections, and respect for the world&rsquo;s core labour standards.
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ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow&nbsp;
She also said that it is crucial that wage increases keep pace with growing productivity in order to stop the income decline of working people. 
 
&ldquo;In the face of the persisting global employment deficit, the IMF should encourage countries, including those that borrow from the Fund, to adopt and maintain job-intensive stimulus policies until recovery is self-sustaining and unemployment is falling to pre-crisis levels,&rdquo; said Burrow. 
 
The IMF&rsquo;s General Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was pointed in his remarks at the conference. &ldquo;The labour market is in dire straits,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The Great Recession has left behind a wasteland of unemployment, and this devastation threatens the livelihood, security, and dignity of millions of people across the world.&rdquo; 
 
A joint ILO-IMF report said 30 million jobs had been lost due to the crisis, 75% of which occurred in developed nations. The IMF admitted that the percentage of workers laid off for long terms has grown with each economic downturn for decades, but that figures for such from the recent financial crisis have surged even more dramatically. 
 
The Oslo conference, hosted by the Norwegian government, was attended by four heads of state &ndash; Spain&rsquo;s Prime Minister Jos&eacute; Luis Rodr&iacute;guez Zapatero, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, Liberia President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, and Norway&rsquo;s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg &ndash; as well as seven national ministers and 25 trade union leaders.

ILO, IMF Oslo Conference on Crisis Now Demands Immediate Action

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The 42nd Congress of the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) was convened in Mexico City, 5-12 August, under the theme &lsquo;Strong Unions &ndash; Sustainable Transport&rsquo;. The more than 1,000 Congress delegates saw outgoing ITF president Randall Howard deliver his last address as president, as he stands down also from his position as general secretary of the SATAWU South African transport workers&rsquo; union. Howard, who was elected at the 2006 Durban Congress, was appointed as an advisor to the South African minister of public services and administration last year. Newly elected president Paddy Crumlin was recommended by ITF&rsquo;s executive board and unanimously endorsed by the Congress&rsquo; 1,500 delegates. 
 
&quot;The ITF finds itself at a critical time for workers around the world following the global collapse of international economies. It is now our responsibility to protect the rights and futures of all transport workers against the excesses of capitalism set against a slow and uncertain recovery of transport related industries.&quot; stated Crumlin in his acceptance speech. 
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Paddy Crumlin, incoming ITF President
Paddy Crumlin, National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), is seen as a driving force in the development of regional strategic alliances and is widely respected for his central role in trade union development in East Timor and Papua New Guinea. He was previously the Chair of the strong Dockers&rsquo; section of the ITF. 
 
General Secretary David Cockcroft was reelected by Congress. 
 
One important delegate to the Congress was missed, Mansour Osanloo, the leader of the Vahed Syndicate Tehran bus workers&rsquo; union in Iran is still in prison, in spite of a fierce international campaign for his release, and in spite of an announcement last month by the Iranian authorities that he soon would be released. There are 52 other trade unionists in prison currently in Iran. 
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The ICEM participated in the Congress in Mexico City and, together with the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) sought to highlight the struggle of Los Mineros to delegates. 
 
On Sunday 8 August the Congress sponsored a forum on freedom of association, where Los Mineros were centrally featured, along with the Electricians Union SME. The two unions have recently formed an alliance. ICEM Director of Industry &amp; Corporate Affairs Joe Drexler appealed to unions in attendance to join a broad solidarity committee, currently being formed for those free trade unions under attack in Mexico. The symposium educated 400 trade union leaders about the repressive conditions faced by Mexican trade unions.

42nd ITF Congress in Mexico City Elects MUA&#039;s Paddy Crumlin President

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The ICEM&rsquo;s statutory quadrennial World Energy Industries Conference will be held in Stavanger, Norway, 6-8 September, followed by the annual ICEM International Nuclear Workers&rsquo; Union Network (INWUN) on 9 September. Some 115 global delegates representing ICEM affiliates and others are expected to attend. 
 
The World Energy Conference will feature four panel discussions, including ones on Future Energy Resources, Global Framework Agreements in the sector (Statoil, EDF, Lukoil), Campaign Experiences from five countries, and ICEM&rsquo;s various Energy Networks and the ongoing networking occurring in those workers&rsquo; networks. 
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ICEM&rsquo;s Energy sector Chair, Lars Mhyre
The conference will also feature a representative from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate speaking on Offshore Safety and Environmental Protection, challenges stemming from deepwater drilling. 
 
The Energy Conference will highlight a presentation by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda on the building of a new global union trade structure in manufacturing. The ICEM&rsquo;s Energy sector is chaired by Lars Myhre of IndustriEnergi (IE) of Norway. 
 
The ICEM World Energy Conference and the INWUN Conference will be held at the Radisson Blu Atlantic Hotel in Stavanger, beginning at 9h30 on 6 September with welcoming and opening by IE President Leif Sande.

ICEM Energy Conferences Coming to Stavanger, Norway, 6-9 September

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In what has been described as a move to win back support from France&rsquo;s right-wing, President Nicholas Sarkozy is pushing adoption of new legislation to push back the retirement age, and increase public sector workers&rsquo; pension contributions in France. Trade unions plan a national protest strike on 7 September. 
 
The National Assembly&rsquo;s social affairs committee voted in favour of the Bill on 22 July, enabling it to go to Plenary debate in France&rsquo;s lower house on 7 September, and to the Senate in October. The Bill would raise the legal retirement age from 60 to 62 in the year 2018, and increase the number of years of contributions to 41.5 before workers receive a full pension. 
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Sarkozy&rsquo;s low opinion poll ratings were recently compounded by claims of his and UMP party former chief fundraiser Eric Woerth&rsquo;s financial misconduct, accepting illegal political cash from L&rsquo;Or&eacute;al heiress Liliane Bettencourt. With the President seeking re-election in 2012, defeat of his pension reform bill would conserve workers&rsquo; conditions, but also strike a significant blow to Sarkozy&rsquo;s right-wing UMP party&rsquo;s election chances. 
 
The mass mobilization planned by France&rsquo;s trade unions will coincide with the Plenary Session in the lower house, debating the pension bill. The action will seek to fight the proposed pension reforms, and also defend jobs and demand government action for economic recovery. 
 
ICEM French affiliated union FCE-CFDT describes the pension reform and other government austerity measures as &ldquo;carriers of social injustice&rdquo;, adding that it is unacceptable that all the financial burden of the economic downturn is passed onto employees in both the public and private sector.

French Trade Unions to Strike in Protest of Sarkozy’s Cuts to Pensions

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ICEM Serbian affiliate Sindikat Nezavisnost, the Chemical, Non-Metal, Energy, and Mining Industries Union, will decide today if a proposal by the pharmaceutical concern Srbolek AD is good enough to end a 15-day strike by some 70 workers in Belgrade. On Friday, 20 August, a Serbian state mediation agency moderated an exchange of proposals between the union and company regarding this most recent strike over wage arrears. 
 
The strike began on 9 August, and workers and Nezavisnost leaders have been subjected to physical and psychological abuse by managing director Jovica Stefanovic Nini and his hired security team. Workers of the privatized pharmaceutical producer and distributor have not been paid in six months, with social contributions, taxes, statutory severance packages, and retirement earnings also withheld. 
 
A four-day strike in May 2010 resulted in retaliatory action being taken by the managing director against strike leaders. He unilaterally reduced the pay of union leaders by 60% then. Another strike over wage arrears occurred in August 2009. 
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The ICEM intervened on 11 August in the most recent strike, calling into question the extreme anti-social behavior of management, including overt discrimination against women workers who are pregnant or who have given birth since August 2009. 
 
Following the first day of strike activity on 9 August, the company made a proposal through a state mediator that it would pay one month&rsquo;s salary if workers halted the strike. Nezavisnost declined to consider the offer. The very next day, another trade union at a plant of Srbolek affiliated with the Sindikat Samostalni Federation of Serbia (SSSS) joined the strike, thus ratcheting up pressure on Stefanovic Nini. 
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But again security of Serbia&rsquo;s third largest pharmaceutical company undertook brute tactics by prohibiting union leaders from entering the state mediation agency&rsquo;s offices. 
 
Finally, following near constant negotiations last week, state mediators crafted a set of proposals that appears to satisfy the strikers. Srbolek, for the first time since the outset of the strike, also submitted a proposal on 20 August that could end the strike. It is that proposal which union leaders and strikers will examine today. 
 
The ICEM will continue to monitor the dispute and even if proposals are accepted to end the current strike, the Geneva-based Global Union Federation will follow future labour-management developments between Srbolek and trade unions.

Wage Arrears Again Fuel Bitter Serbian Pharmaceutical Strike

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Ukrainian trade unions are furious with the International Monetary Fund&rsquo;s (IMF) unlawful interference into domestic policy, following agreement of a US$15 billion crisis loan. The conditions of the loan see workers hit hard, through a raft of social cuts. 
 
Opposition has been lead by the main Ukrainian national labour centre, the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPU), an ITUC affiliate. A demonstration staged by trade unionists outside the IMF regional office in Kiev, on 17 August, condemned a wage freeze for 4 million public sector workers, increased gas prices, fines for delayed payments for utilities, and a 5-year increase to the retirement age for women from 55 to 60, which will slash opportunities for young professionals seeking first-time employment. Gas price rises will double the average household&rsquo;s monthly bill. IMF loan conditions also oblige Ukraine to increase the minimum period of employment that qualifies for a state pension from 5 to 15. 
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While the IMF conditionalities demand penalties for overdue payment of utilities bills, they do not address the common problem of overdue payment of wages. 
 
Trade unions demand that the IMF hold joint consultations with the Ukrainian cabinet and trade union representatives, leading to a lifting of the social restrictions, especially the raise in retirement age. 
 
Ukraine&rsquo;s heavily industrialized economy was hit hard by the global financial crisis. The US$15 billion IMF loan will be paid back over 2.5 years. Ukrainian trade union leaders requested international solidarity and support, stating that the IMF&rsquo;s intrusion into domestic policy will increase poverty levels in the country and create a permanent dependence on IMF credit.

Ukrainian Trade Unions Protest IMF Interference in Domestic Policy

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Members of ICEM UK affiliates GMB and Unite, at pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca have voted for strike action over cuts to pension benefits of 2,500 staff, based mainly in Macclesfield, Cheshire, North West England. 
 
Public-sector trade union GMB recorded 70 percent support for strike action in a recent ballot of their members at Astra Zeneca. The multinational refused to back down during three months of talks earlier 2010, maintaining its proposal to end its final-salary pension scheme for workers. Some workers&rsquo; pensions would be frozen forever if they accepted the changes proposed by management. 
 
GMB National officer, and ICEM Materials Section Vice-Chair, Allan Black described the result of the ballot as a &ldquo;clear mandate for a strike in the midst of the current economic circumstances (which) ought to be a wake-up call to Astra Zeneca to resume negotiations&rdquo;. 
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Unions agreed in 2000 to close the company&rsquo;s defined benefit pension scheme to new recruits. Now, new joiners have been offered membership to a defined contribution pension scheme instead. Since that date, workers have contributed &pound;645 million. Now the multinational is attempting to push members of the defined benefit scheme to choose between continuing making their contributions, but with their pensionable salary frozen at current levels, or moving to the defined contribution scheme. 
Astra Zeneca employees in the UK have tolerated huge job losses and radical changes of working practices over the last three or four years, to increase to the company's profits. &nbsp; 
 
Strike action will take place next month, although the unions are hoping for a return to the bargaining table by management. 
 
These plans for cost cutting come at a time when Anglo-Swedish Astra Zeneca is making record profits. In 2009, operating profits rose by 24%, and by a further 11% in the first quarter of 2010.&nbsp;
In a letter to CEO David Brennan, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda described management&rsquo;s demands as &ldquo;unacceptable and warrants a critical re-evaluation by corporate management of AstraZeneca&rdquo;. &ldquo;Please know that if the dispute escalates, and GMB members do vote to take industrial actions, the ICEM will not hesitate to communicate this dispute to other AstraZeneca workplaces in the world, as well as to all our chemical and pharmaceutical trade unions across the globe,&rdquo; Warda added. 
 
ICEM Swedish affiliate IF-Metall also wrote to corporate management, urging a change to the draconian measure. 
 
The Macclesfield plant is the company&rsquo;s second largest facility worldwide. Workers there produce the drug Zoladex, used to treat cancer of the prostate and breast cancer.

AstraZenica Workers in UK to Strike against Pension Cuts

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the HIV/AIDS workshops in Trinidad and Tobago and in Ethiopia, and inform on the Global Fund approvals for Round 9, as well as on the 2009 Epidemic Update. 
 
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. 

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World AIDS Day 
 
In his statement on World AIDS Day, 1 December, the ICEM General Secretary focused on the &ldquo;I AM&rdquo; theme, with the key slogans: &ldquo;I am accepted; I am safe; I am getting treatment; I am well and I am living my rights&rdquo;. &ldquo;Our approach is also rights-based &ndash; we never forget that our first responsibility is to protect the rights, health and livelihoods of our members, their families and the wider community&rdquo;, he stated. &ldquo;Above all, we have to advocate Know-Your-Status campaigns for voluntary counselling and testing. If for every two people who go on antiretroviral treatment five more are newly infected, then we know that prevention must be the focus of our HIV/AIDS work&rdquo;. 
 
The ILO contributed to the &ldquo;I AM&rdquo; theme with the slogan &ldquo;I am living my rights. I am working.&rdquo; 

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World AIDS Day: HIV/AIDS Workshop in Trinidad and Tobago 
 
The Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago, with the support from the Humanity Fund of the ICEM Canadian affiliate, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP), organised the opening of their HIV/AIDS workshop for OWTU General Council members to coincide with World AIDS Day, 1 December. 
 
Speaking at the opening, OWTU President General Comrade Ancil Roget emphasised the importance of fighting HIV/AIDS at the workplace. He highlighted that the World AIDS Campaign and World AIDS Day are about understanding that access to prevention, care and treatment is for ALL, not just for some. He also reminded the participants that high HIV infections are a manifestation of the deeper social and political crisis we are in and we cannot ignore the fact that poverty, inequality and social injustice make people more vulnerable to HIV. He pledged that his union, in line with the World AIDS Day slogan, will keep the promise to stop HIV/AIDS and protect the rights of workers living with HIV. 
 
Carol Ann Senah, Technical Director of the National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC), pointed out that the infection does not just hitch rides with truck drivers on lonely highways; it also travels business class with men in dark suits. The number of people living with HIV and AIDS has gone up from 14,000 to 20,000 in a short time. With the productive workforce,&nbsp;the age group 15-49 years hardest hit, the workplace must be an enabling environment to fight the pandemic. She called on everybody to be tested on national testing day, 4 December. 
 
During the three-day workshop, some 45 participants discussed behaviour change, preventing HIV transmission, negotiating on HIV and AIDS and they elaborated the elements of an HIV/AIDS workplace policy on the basis of a presentation by Hans Schwass, the ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant and the OWTU&rsquo;s own HIV/AIDS policy presented by Executive Officers, Comrades Chandersain Ramsingh &amp; Sati Gajadar-Innis, which was adopted in June 2009. Their work in groups was also informed by the excellent presentation of the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work by the regional ILO HIV/AIDS specialist, Madhuri Supersad. 
 
Participants came up with many ideas for HIV/AIDS activities at their workplace and within their communities to be organised within the next six months and to be reviewed and further carried forward at an HIV/AIDS workshop in 2010. 
 
One of the highlights of the workshop was the participation in a mixed performance of pantomime, music and testimonies of people living with HIV, which addressed stigma and discrimination. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
HIV/AIDS Workshops in Ethiopia 
 
In two consecutive workshops in Addis Ababa in November, stakeholders advanced the LO/FTF-sponsored HIV/AIDS project in cooperation with the ICEM and its affiliate, the National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical and Mine Trade Unions (NIFECM). 
 
In the first workshop, officials revisited the NIFECM HIV/AIDS Policy which was adopted by Congress in August and the excellent leaflet which was produced in Ethiopia. They also reviewed and selected materials which should go into a toolbox for peer educators. 
 
A larger group of 20 participants, of whom 9 were women, with unionists from the basic unions discussed strategies to negotiate on HIV/AIDS, elaborated an HIV/AIDS workplace policy, acquired campaigning skills and brainstormed campaigning ideas. 
 
The Project Advisory Committee with participation from NIFECM, the LO/FTF and ICEM also met on the occasion. Priorities for the next few months are the training of peer educators and the starting of awareness and prevention campaigns in mining localities, as well as training on bargaining skills. 

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Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation Receives ILO Certificate, Organises Peer Educators Training for Women and Commemorates World AIDS Day 
 
On behalf of the INMF, its General Secretary B.K. Das received a certificate from the ILO Delhi Office in recognition of the contribution made to the prevention of HIV/AIDS in the world of work through the successful implementation of the HIV/AIDS Project sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim and the ICEM. 
 
In September, the Federation organised a training course for women to become HIV/AIDS peer educators. Peer educators courses held so far have shown a low participation by women, due to strong cultural barriers. Yet the potential of women and their involvement with families and the community has to be harnessed to fight HIV and AIDS. 
 
On World AIDS Day, 1 December, master trainers and peer educators, trained by the HIV/AIDS project, organised meetings, symposiums and rallies in major coalfields. The programmes did not only involve workers but also reached out to local authorities, teachers and students of schools and colleges, non-governmental organisations and organisations of people living with HIV. The HIV/AIDS project provided campaign materials for the events. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Global Fund Board Approves 85 Grants in Round 9 
 
The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, meeting in Addis Ababa from 9-11 November, approved 85 grants (out of 159 proposals received) worth almost USD 2 billion over the first two years for the three diseases. 54 grants received immediate approval, whereas 31 were approved in principle, subject to funding becoming available. 
 
Of the total amount, 44 percent are for HIV/AIDS grants. TB and malaria grants received 28 percent each. Of the grants approved, Africa (East, Southern, West and Central) will receive 56 percent. 
 
Subject to confirmation by the Board meeting in April 2010, Round 10 will be launched at the start of May 2010. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 110 of 12 November. 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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2009 AIDS Epidemic Update: New HIV Infections Down 
 
New infections in 2008 were 30 percent lower than they were 12 years ago, according to data released by UNAIDS and the WHO. The 2009 Epidemic Update, available at <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>, confirms a trend first observed about two years ago. 
 
UNAIDS and WHO state that the spread of HIV appears to have peaked in 1996. An estimated 2.7 million new infections occurred in 2008, the same number as in 2007, but well below the estimated 3.5 million new infections in 1996. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most heavily affected region, accounting for 71 percent of all new HIV infections in 2008. According to the report, there seems to be evidence that the declines are due to HIV prevention measures. 
 
However, the number of people living with HIV continues to grow. In December 2008, an estimated 33.4 million people were living with HIV, compared to 33.0 million in 2007. The reason that this number continues to grow while new infections are levelling off is that HIV-positive people are living longer, due in large part to expanded antiretroviral (AARV) coverage. The percentage of those needing ARV treatment who actually receive it rose from 7 percent in 2003 to 42 percent in 2008 or 4 million. That also means that over half of those in need of treatment or about 5 million people are still not receiving it. AIDS-related deaths in 2008 amounted to 2 million. 

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President Zuma Addresses the Nation on World AIDS Day 
 
In a national address on World AIDS Day, South African President Jacob Zuma declared that drug therapy for HIV-positive women and babies would be broadened and start earlier. 
 
The new policy on pregnant women, aimed at ensuring that babies are born healthy, is in line with the new treatment guidelines issued by the WHO just a day before. This new policy and extended access to antiretroviral drugs gives substance to Zuma&rsquo;s break with the views of his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, who during almost a decade in office had questioned whether HIV causes AIDS. It is estimated that delays during this decade caused the death of 35,000 babies and that 330,000 people died prematurely for lack of treatment. 
 
With more people being HIV positive than in any other country, Zuma called on South Africans to struggle against AIDS as they had against apartheid. 
 
(Source: Right Vision News, 4 December) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
News from Global Union Federations 
 
The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a> reports in its HIV/AIDS Updates 75 and 76,&nbsp;1 and 15 November, on the opening of an HIV/AIDS drop-in centre on the Indian-Nepalese border which is designed to reach out to those working on the 2000 trucks that cross the border every day. It further reports on the private sector workshop held in Ghana which focused on the role of the private sector in Global Fund processes. It also informs on preparations for the 18th International AIDS Conference to be held in Vienna from 18-23 July 2010. 

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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. 51, December 2009

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The world&rsquo;s biggest steelmaker announced to workers and trade unions at its December European Works Council (EWC) that the company likely will continue to reduce its global workforce in 2010. Trade union projections suggest that ArcelorMittal plans to cut some 10,000 jobs, or 3.5% of its total global workforce, as the company seeks cost savings of US$500 million. 
 
Arcelor Mittal currently employs 285,300 people worldwide. The Luxembourg-based company aims to regain lost market share. Company spokesman Bill Steers told the EWC at a plenary meeting on 9 December that &ldquo;global workforce reductions [will be] due mainly to natural attrition and optimisation of production.&rdquo; 

<img src="" width="100" height="95" alt="" />
The company has said that most of the cuts will affect US and Europe, where its growth potential is limited. ArcelorMittal workers in South Africa were relieved to be told that the announcement of 10,000 job losses would not affect them. Some of ArcelorMittal's facilities in the U.S. and South America are struggling, particularly those producing flat rolled steel for the auto industry. 
 
Dave McCall, District 1 director for the ICEM-affiliated United Steelworkers (USW), said the union did not expect mass job cuts in the US, as demand there is picking up some in the wake of the financial crisis. 
 
Overall, demand for steel is rising again, after most steelmakers took a major hit in 2009 and were forced to cut their production in response to a slump in demand. ArcelorMittal has put a bid down on Zimbabwe's Zisco; it has invested in a mill in India; and is looking at further Brazilian operations to match iron-ore supplies there. The company has operations in 60 countries around the world. 
 
The cuts are expected to affect workers who were temporarily laid off at plants idled last year. 
 
The company had originally planned to eliminate 9,000 positions in its administrative and commercial functions during 2009, but ended up cutting 36,000 jobs, of which 50 percent were in Europe.

ArcelorMittal to Cut 10,000 Jobs This Year

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While the campaign for retention of coal-mining jobs and a fair contract by the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) with Xstrata in Australia continues, another union is resisting proposed mining and metallurgical job cuts by the Anglo-Swiss mining house. 
 
In North America, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) launched a campaign in northern Ontario in mid-December to preserve 676 copper and nickel smelting and refining jobs at Xstrata&rsquo;s Kidd Creek metallurgical plants in Timmons, Ontario. The company announced on 8 December that it was permanently shuttering a smelter and refinery, effective 1 May 2010, thus heaping further economic havoc on a region already beset by job losses and a strike. 

<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="74" />
The proposed job losses come on top of 725 mineworker layoffs by Xstrata in February 2009, when it temporarily shut three mines in the region. CAW Local 598 of Sudbury, Ontario, which is currently engaged in negotiations with Xstrata Nickel toward a 1 February contract expiration, has made recall of those jobs its number one bargaining table priority. 
 
In Timmons, CAW Local 599 has started a public campaign aimed at drawing business and government pressure on Xstrata Copper Canada to reverse the Kidd Creek closure. A major part of the campaign is aimed at the federal government, which, the union contends, must protect Canadian jobs as part of the C$19 billion sale of these former Falconbridge assets to Xstrata in 2006. 
 
That issue is similar to one included in the campaign by the United Steelworkers (USW) in its strike against Brazilian Vale. The CAW has supported USW Local 6500 on picket lines and with financial support in its current six-month strike against Vale, and it has also joined USW in calling on the Canadian Parliament to enact legislation that would give transparency to deals made under the Investment Canada Act. 
 
In the corporate takeovers of both Vale buying Inco and Xstrata paying a premium to get Canadian-based Falconbridge, many details between the federal government and the foreign mining houses were kept secret, and the job-slashing now &ndash; the unions feel &ndash; could have been prevented had more disclosure come in 2006. 
 
CAW Local 599 is pursuing an aggressive petition campaign calling for both retention of the Kidd Creek facility and for government action on the proposed job cuts. Visit the union&rsquo;s website <a href="http://www.caw599.ca">here</a> to learn more and to join the petition. 

<img alt="" src="" width="183" height="150" />
In Australia, CFMEU&rsquo;s campaign against Xstrata in New South Wales on redundancies and lack of a current enterprise agreement continues. Last summer, Xstrata announced it was cutting 180 coal-mining jobs at two collieries, Tahmoor and Ulan. 
 
The union has been engaged in lawful industrial actions at Tahmoor over the past several months (see past ICEM coverage <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/">here</a>), with miners conducting a march through Tahmoor on 21 December to coincide with a 24-hour work stoppage. Other industrial actions included the refusal to load coal on to trains for shipment to Port Kembla. 
 
Early in the new year, the industrial actions were halted so coal could be loaded on to trains and eventually shipped to German steelmaker ZKS. That request came from metalworkers in Germany due to low inventories and in order to keep operations at ZKS in production. 
See the CFMEU's campaign website <a href="http://www.xstratafacts.com/">here</a>.

Mine Unions in Australia, Canada Reject Xstrata’s Job Cuts

Archive

ILO, IMF Oslo Conference on Crisis Now Demands Immediate Action

42nd ITF Congress in Mexico City Elects MUA's Paddy Crumlin President

ICEM Energy Conferences Coming to Stavanger, Norway, 6-9 September

French Trade Unions to Strike in Protest of Sarkozy’s Cuts to Pensions

Wage Arrears Again Fuel Bitter Serbian Pharmaceutical Strike

Ukrainian Trade Unions Protest IMF Interference in Domestic Policy

AstraZenica Workers in UK to Strike against Pension Cuts

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 51, December 2009

ArcelorMittal to Cut 10,000 Jobs This Year

Mine Unions in Australia, Canada Reject Xstrata’s Job Cuts

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