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Last Spring, trade unions of the Netherlands and the Dutch Association of Temporary Work Agencies, Algemene Bond Uitzendondernemingen (ABU), agreed to an across-the-board 1% wage increase for all temporary workers in the country. 
 
An increase of 0.5% took effect on 5 July and a further 0.5% increase will be awarded on 3 January 2011. The 1% wage increase granted to the employees was based on the average of increases taken from a selection of 30 collective agreements in other sectors. 
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Marcel Nuyten, Director Temp Workers, FNV Bondgenoten
The agreement was reached between the ABU, the ICEM-affiliated FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Dienstenbond, the executives&rsquo; union, and LBV, an independent union. An agreement was also reached whereby wages may be increased every year on 1 July, amending the Collective Employment Agreement for Temporary Employees 2009 &ndash; 2014. 
 
The Collective Employment Agreement, which can be found <a href="http://www.abu.nl/abu2/?fileid=14231">here</a>, stipulates conditions which must apply to temporary agency workers, including the relationships between the worker, agency, and user enterprise; training entitlement; and the conditions under which temporary employment contracts may be terminated.

Dutch Unions Get Wage Increase with Employers’ Federation for Agency Workers

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While European trade unions on 29 September will manifest against government austerity programmes, German trade unions will use that day &ndash; and, and in fact, all of September and throughout the autumn &ndash; to oppose not only public-sector cuts but equally to vehemently condemn the ugly social dumping caused by the boom in temporary work. 
 
This stems from the DGB Congress last May, where the Congress made it a priority to campaign for equal pay, equal rights, and fixed probation periods before the exploited workers of the temporary sector are made permanent employees. Since that Congress, German unions have ramped up the political heat so much that the Christian-Democratic (CDU) Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Ursula von der Leyen, has introduced a partial remedy in legislation that does address the downward spiral of wages brought on by more and more workers forced into temporary employment. 

But the legislation does not go far enough. 
 
Many of the major trade union affiliates of DGB, including IGBCE, IG Metall, and Ver.di, will emphasise this point in upcoming manifestations. The unions are also taking the issue into workplaces, both inside collective bargaining processes and at plant-gates in the form of protests. This month, IG Metall has introduced the &ldquo;equal pay for equal work&rdquo; principle in sector-wide negotiations in three German states. 
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DGB's Micheal Sommer
DGB President Michael Sommer said in the 6 September edition of newspaper Handelsblatt that German union members will abide by national laws prohibiting strikes over political issues, but &ldquo;workplace meetings and actions at plant gates&rdquo; to highlight temporary work as an abhorrent austerity measure in countering the financial crisis will occur. Sommer said this issue will also be heard loud and clear inside German work partnership structures as well. 
 
Von der Leyen&rsquo;s proposed legislation is called the &ldquo;Schlecker&rdquo; bill in reference to the large drug store chain that tried to sack all full-time workers and then re-hire them as contract employees at half their previous salaries. It would require &ldquo;equal pay for equal work&rdquo; to prevent wage dumping such as at Schlecker, with a fine of &euro;25,000 to offending businesses. 
 
But the legislation would fail to reverse the up-surge in temporary work because employers could still use short-term workers so long as they made equal payment for equal work. &ldquo;Schlecker&rdquo; also does not establish a time limit on when a temp worker must be made permanent, and it also does not include a set minimum wage for temporary workers, something that is a priority on the agenda of DGB and German unions. 
 
On average, temporary sector workers in Germany earn 30% less that full-time, permanent staff, DGB-affiliated unions have found.

Equal Rights for Temp Workers Becomes ‘Hot-Button’ in Germany

Following the release in Nigeria early this week of four journalists and their driver, and of a trade union leader of Pengassan, ICEM&rsquo;s white-collar oil and gas workers&rsquo; affiliated union, the Geneva-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) calls on the new government of President Goodluck Jonathan to bolster security, thoroughly investigate and prosecute, and root out rogue elements in law enforcement that may be perpetuating the heinous kidnap-for-ransom industry that again strickens the Niger Delta. 
 
&ldquo;Crimes of kidnapping, extortion, corruption seriously tarnish Nigeria throughout the world,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;It is up to the new President to eradicate it, to eradicate it in such a way that it is gone forever, and to make sure that those responsible are punished to the full extent of the law.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM notes the fact that the recent spate of kidnappings, including the highly publicized abduction of trade unionists leaving the National Executive Council meeting of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) on 11 July, occurred in the states of the Niger Delta. The ICEM is deeply concerned over the safety and security of Nigerian nationals working in the oil and gas sectors of the Delta.
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&nbsp; 
More and more, the targets are Nigerians who have achieved a certain level of prosperity through their work and their technical expertise in energy production. The ICEM points to the recent abduction, and release on 18 July, of Issa Ilbrahim, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (Pengassan) branch chairman of Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.&rsquo;s (NNPC)&rsquo;s Department of Petroleum Resources. 
 
He was kidnapped in Imo State at an airport along with his wife. His wife was released earlier and Ilbrahim was subsequently released on 18 July after a small ransom was paid. But those who committed this cowardly crime remain free. 
 
The ICEM also calls attention to two Pengassan members &ndash; Danjuma Bashir and Malabu Abubakar Ahmad, both NNPC staff at Nigerian Petroleum Development Co. Ltd. &ndash; who were abducted in March 2010 near Mosogar village, Delta State, while on their way to a post-graduate programme in energy and petroleum economics at Delta State University. A week later, their decomposed bodies were found in the bush riddled with bullet holes, suggesting they were killed execution style before their bodies were mutilated. Nigerian federal and state police are no closer to solving the case than when they came across the bodies of the trade unionists on 20 March. 
 
The ICEM commends the Nigerian government and police in the investigation, manhunt, and subsequent release of the four journalists and their driver, NUJ Lagos State Council Chair Wahab Obba, NUJ Area Secretary Adolphus Okonkwo, NUJ Lagos State Council Secretary Sylvester Okere, Lagos journalist Sola Oyeyipo, and driver Azeez Yekini. But it also is mindful that this particular kidnapping in the Niger Delta received wide attention, both inside and outside Nigeria. 
 
&ldquo;The prevailing fear and insecurity caused by the criminal enterprising that carry out these despicable acts is a plague upon Nigeria,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;The new federal administration of President Goodluck Jonathan now has the opportunity be act with strength, with force, and without hint of impunity to eliminate this menace. For the betterment of a critical industry to Nigeria, and for Nigerian nationals who are building this industry into global respectability, we call on the President to make this commitment.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM is a Global Union Federation, representing 367 industrial trade union affiliates in 132 countries. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842, or +41 79 734 8994 (mobile).

ICEM Demands Nigerian Government Crack Down on Kidnappings

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report, among other news items, on the first ICEM &ndash; IndustriEnergi (IE-Norway) workshop on HIV/AIDS in Jordan, on the adoption of an ILO Recommendation on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, and on the launch of the Global Fund &ldquo;Born HIV Free&rdquo; campaign. 
 
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
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ICEM, IndustriEnergi of Norway Break Ground on HIV/AIDS Work in Jordan 
 
The ICEM organised a first HIV/AIDS workshop in a Middle Eastern country! Following a request from its affiliate in Jordan, the General Union of Petroleum and Chemical Workers in Jordan (GUPCW), and with solidarity funding from its Norwegian affiliate, IndustriEnergi, the workshop was organised in Amman in June. 
 
The workshop was attended by some 30 participants, of whom about 35% were women. Essential elements of the programme were presentations by local facilitators, power point presentations by the ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant, and working groups in the evening. A highlight was the presentation by a person living with HIV/AIDS, a first step to reduce stigma and discrimination. 
 
For a first workshop of this kind, the most important objective was to initiate an open discussion and to launch the union&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS work with the participation of civil society organisations and government agencies. 
 
Unionists who came from workplaces have gone back with a better knowledge of basic facts about HIV and AIDS and they are prepared to talk about it. They recognise the importance of reducing stigma and the value of policies against discrimination. They can use the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, and its ten principles in their work. 
 
Khaled Elzyood, the GUPCW President, was actively involved in the workshop. In his presentation on the ILO Code of Practice (and on numerous other occasions), he emphasised that HIV/AIDS is a union issue and that the union has the responsibility to provide workers with information and to safeguard their rights. Lack of knowledge creates stigma and leads to discrimination. People do not talk about HIV and AIDS but we have to accept the realities even though this may go against cultural traditions and religious beliefs. 
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International Labour Conference Adopts New HIV/AIDS Instrument 
 
The annual International Labour Conference of the ILO adopted a new Autonomous Recommendation on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, as well as a resolution. The new standard was adopted by a vote of 439 to 4, with 11 abstentions. 
 
High-level engagement and consensus on the urgency to act prevailed during this second and final round of discussion in the Committee on HIV/AIDS for the formulation of the first international human rights instrument to focus on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. 
 
Over the 19 sittings of the Committee, delegates representing governments as well as employers&rsquo; and workers&rsquo; organizations discussed and reached consensus on 118 amendments without resorting to a single vote. Throughout the amendment process, committee members worked at formulating a recommendation all-inclusive in scope and as practical as possible. Universality of human rights, feasibility, efficiency, sustainability, and accountability were kept at the forefront of all discussions, spurred by a great sense of urgency to address the HIV pandemic. The adoption of the recommendation is accompanied by a strong resolution for its follow-up, promotion, and implementation, which also invites the ILO Governing Body to request regular reports from member States. 
 
For more information and links to interviews with delegates from the HIV/AIDS Committee, please consult the new ILOAIDS web site at <a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids">www.ilo.org/aids</a>. 
 
Note by the Editor: The new standard is in the form of a Recommendation, one of two types of labour standards the ILO can adopt. While distinct from a Convention in that it does not require ratification under Article 19 of the ILO Constitution, a recommendation must still be communicated to national parliaments and discussed in terms of how it might be implemented through national policies and legislation. 
 
(Source: ILO website) 
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UNAIDS Welcomes Creation of New UN Body for Women 
 
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has welcomed the merging of four gender entities of the United Nations into UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The new entity will provide a new powerful voice for women and girls and help move the AIDS response forward. 
 
&ldquo;I look forward to working with UN Women,&rdquo; said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidib&eacute;, &ldquo;Together we can ensure that all women living with HIV access treatment when they need it. And most importantly, we can restore their dignity and rights.&rdquo; 
 
Nearly half the people living with HIV in the world are women. In sub-Saharan Africa more women are infected than men. HIV is a major cause of maternal mortality. It is behind nearly one-in-five of all maternal deaths. 
 
Gender inequities, violence, lack of access to education, health, and economic opportunities are making women vulnerable to HIV. But by teaming up and working on common goals the AIDS movement and the women&rsquo;s movement can dramatically reduce the impact of HIV on women and their families. 
 
UNAIDS recently recognized the importance of promoting gender equality and eliminating violence and discrimination against women, by appointing the renowned singer Annie Lennox as International Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS. Her particular mission is to raise awareness and support for women affected by the AIDS epidemic. 
 
(Sources: UNAIDS Press Statement, Geneva, 5 July) 
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Kenya: Muslim Leaders Champion HIV Testing 
 
Binti Omar waits anxiously for her HIV test in a tent erected as part of a testing drive being conducted by the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) in the coastal city of Mombasa. Omar is accompanied by her fianc&eacute;, Abubakar Ismael, and his two wives. 
 
&quot;I'm about to be part of Abu's larger family, so we found it necessary to come here and get ourselves tested so that we can plan our future much better,&quot; Omar said. &quot;Life nowadays is so risky. It would be good for us all to get to know each other's HIV status.&quot; 
 
Ismael and his family, as well as hundreds of other locals, are getting tested at the CIPK camps in response to calls by imams - Muslim scholars - in mosques in Kenya's largely Muslim Coast Province. 
 
Outgoing Chief Kadhi Sheikh Ahmed Kassim recently led some imams and locals in getting tested for HIV. He noted that the camps were meant to enlighten and encourage Muslim youths, couples, and Kenyans in general on the importance of getting tested. Muslim men are allowed four wives and the initiative is encouraging all spouses to get tested. 
 
For many years, Muslim leaders in Kenya shied away from discussing HIV, especially in the mosques. More recently, however, they have joined the national prevention campaign, although many still reject some aspects of it, particularly the use of condoms. 
 
The HIV prevalence in Coast Province is 7.9%, marginally higher than the national average of 7.4%. The 2007 Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey revealed that an estimated 44% of new HIV infections in Kenya occur among married or cohabiting couples. 
 
(Sources: IRIN PlusNews, Mombasa, 2 July) 
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Lesotho Suffering 
 
The impact of AIDS has ruined Lesotho. A third of the population is HIV positive. Of the total number of inhabitants of 1.9 million, as many as 400,000 are AIDS orphans. Life expectancy has fallen to 34. Uniquely in the developing world, Lesotho&rsquo;s deaths are close to outnumbering its births. 
 
The impact of AIDS has also ruined the economy of the Kingdom. In 1980, Lesotho produced 80% of the cereals it consumed; now this is down to 30%. Due to tariff modifications, its textile industry, largely Chinese-owned, which at its height employed 50,000 people, has collapsed. 
 
In an unusual move, 30,000 people have signed a petition which was delivered to the Lesotho parliament and the South African High Commission, requesting that their country be integrated into its giant neighbour, which completely surrounds it. This followed a move by South Africa barring thousands of people from Lesotho from crossing its borders in the wake of higher security measures ahead of the Soccer World Cup. 
 
(Source: The Observer, 6 June) 
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WHO Issues Technical Brief on Addressing Gender Inequalities in Global Fund Proposals 
 
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a technical guidance brief on &quot;Addressing Gender Inequalities: Strengthening HIV/AIDS Programming for Women and Girls&quot; in Global Fund proposals. The information in the seven-page brief is designed to support the development of proposals to improve access to, and the quality of, HIV prevention, treatment, and care programmes for women and girls through approaches that address gender inequalities. 
 
The brief discusses gender-related elements that should be included in a situation analysis (e.g., harmful gender norms and practices, violence against women, lack of economic security, lack of education for girls). The brief also provides a list of essential elements for gender-responsive programming, as well as examples of strategies and activities for standard HIV/AIDS interventions and broader interventions that promote gender equality. 
 
Examples of strategies and activities for standard HIV/AIDS interventions are: providing skills to women and girls to negotiate safe sex; behaviour change communication strategies that target harmful gender norms and practices; and reducing barriers faced by women in accessing HIV/AIDS services. Examples of strategies and activities for broader interventions that promote gender equality are: working with law enforcement to respond to violence against women; providing economic opportunities to women; and keeping girls in school and making schools safe for them. 
 
&quot;Addressing Gender Inequalities: Strengthening HIV/AIDS Programming for Women and Girls&quot; is available at <a href="http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/toolkits/2-1a_Gender_Oct08EN.pdf">www.who.int/hiv/pub/toolkits/2-1a_Gender_Oct08EN.pdf</a>. 
 
(Source: Global Fund press release and Global Fund Observer, Issue 126 of 14 June. 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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Global Fund Launches &lsquo;Born HIV Free&rsquo; Campaign 
 
The Global Fund is hoping that its &ldquo;Born HIV Free&rdquo; campaign will not only mobilise public support for a world where no child is born with HIV, but will also persuade donor countries to give more to the Fund at the Third Replenishment meeting in New York on 4-5 October 2010. The Global Fund and UNAIDS have said that elimination of HIV transmission from mother to child by 2015 is possible if governments continue to invest adequately in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
In a press release, the Global Fund said that the campaign has been designed to work across digital and traditional media, and that it brings together several major companies who have joined up as official partners in support of the Global Fund: Google, JC Decaux, Jean-Paul Gaultier, MSN, Orange, Tiffany &amp; Co., and YouTube which will be a major platform for the campaign. The campaign is operating in several languages. 
 
To check out the Born HIV Free website and to sign up: <a href="http://www.bornhivfree.org">www.bornhivfree.org</a>. 
To see the videos on YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/bornhivfree">www.youtube.com/bornhivfree</a>. 
 
(Source: Global Fund press release and Global Fund Observer, Issue 126 of 14 June.) 
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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. 58, July 2010

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2010 brings hazards activists a special opportunity - the 12th bi-annual European Work Hazards Conference, hosted by the UK Hazards Campaign at Leeds University. The conference will give hazards activists the chance to meet and work with activists from throughout Europe and other parts of the world. 
 
The conference will explore the impact of the global recession on work environments and occupational health and safety. It is organised by the European Work Hazards Network, a forum uniting activists with different experience, skills and backgrounds - workers, trade union health and safety representatives, campaigners, academics, scientists and occupational safety and health professionals. 
 
Delegates from countries outside Europe are also welcome. Full detail of the conference is available <a href="http://www.ewhn.eu/">here</a>.

European Work Hazards Conference, 10-12 September, Leeds University

The Global Union Federation representing workers in the food, agriculture, and services sector, the International Union of Food and Allied Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF), has written to John Ruggie, UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, requesting that the relationship between precarious work and the effective realisation of human rights be incorporated into his investigations and recommendations as a matter of priority. 
 
In June 2008, Ruggie proposed a policy framework which was unanimously welcomed by the Human Rights Council. The &quot;Protect, Respect, Remedy&quot; framework is made up of three pillars: the state duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business; the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, by avoiding infringing on the rights of others; and greater access by victims to effective remedy, judicial and non-judicial. 
<img alt="" src="" width="145" height="73" />
John Ruggie 
In preparing to make operational the framework, Ruggie is currently consulting with a wide range of actors, including through an online consultation forum, that can be found <a href="http://www.srsgconsultation.org">here</a>, the forum for which the IUF used for its submission. 
 
In that submission, the IUF argues that a meaningful investigation of the relationship between business and human rights must address how the degeneration of traditional employment relationships has impacted on workers&rsquo; human rights. Non-traditional forms of working arrangements, such as agency work, contract work and bogus self-employment, are being used to undermine trade union organising and bargaining. Says the IUF, this is a &ldquo;fundamental human rights issue demanding a strong response rooted in a comprehensive human rights framework.&rdquo; 
 
The IUF draw attention to the ILO&rsquo;s 2008 report on industrial relations at Coca-Cola&rsquo;s Colombia bottlers, which found that the company was systematically denying and restricting the ability to join a union by outsourcing many core jobs. In order to redress this and ensure that workers are capable of fully exercising their rights the global union calls for urgent, systematic action by governments and business to restrict the use of precarious work.

IUF Urges UN Special Representative to Probe Precarious Work

The Zambian Labour and Social Security Minister, Austin Liato, has publically criticised some employers for using temporary workers to fill traditionally permanent positions simply to evade paying statutory employment benefits to workers. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia&rsquo;s (MUZ) 12th quadrennial conference on 27 April, Mr. Liato said this trend is found not only in the mining industry but other sectors as well. 
<img alt="" src="" width="83" height="107" />
MP Austin Liato
Mr. Liato said that despite the Government&rsquo;s commitment to halt the casualisation of employment, the situation has not improved. &quot;The Government has always led a campaign against casualisation. This state of affairs can't be allowed to continue and I urge labour leaders to be vigilant. We should not turn permanent jobs to temporary jobs,&quot; he said.

Zambia’s Labour Minister Decries Labour Casualisation at MUZ Conference

In occupational health and safety, accidents are best described as the results of failures in those systems that ought to keep workers safe. These can include choices of materials, tools, equipment, processes; the design of specific tasks or the work process; level and competence of supervisory control; workplace environment including noise, dust, fumes, heat, cold, and conditions of floors, surfaces, lighting; and the characteristics of workers themselves, including experience, skills, training, and other human factors. 
 
When one or more of these systems fails, an accident can occur. Was an inappropriate tool provided? Was the task poorly designed to begin with? Were supervisors absent or negligent? Was the workplace environment inhospitable? Did the workers have the appropriate skills and capabilities to do the work safely? Systems failures that expose workers to hazards must be corrected at the source, with personal protective equipment used only where elimination at the source is not possible or practical. 
 
Unions demand three fundamental rights for workplace health and safety: the right to know about the hazards of the work; the right to participate in health and safety systems, and the right to refuse unsafe work. 
<img alt="" src="" width="146" height="66" />
The systems above are far more likely to be weak or absent entirely for Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) workers. The hazards they face are less likely to be corrected at the source, and more likely to be dealt with by providing personal protective equipment - if even this is provided. Finally, contract and agency workers are in a weak position to demand any of their three basic occupational health and safety rights, without the risk of losing their job. 
 
The vulnerability of CAL workers is reflected in accident statistics. Last year in Belgium, agency workers were twice as likely as permanent workers to suffer a workplace accident. The ICEM&rsquo;s Peruvian mining affiliate, FNTMMSP, reported that 49 miners died in the first nine months of 2009, 37 of whom were working for subcontracting companies. In Turkey, thousands of young migrants who work in jeans factories are likely to develop silicosis, following exposure to high levels of silica during the denim sandblasting process. Forty-four workers have already died this year and 550 have so far been diagnosed with the disease. 
 
Unions and decent work make work safer. Insecure contract and agency labour can and does injure workers.

Job Vulnerability Puts Health of Temp Workers at Risk

The International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) has conducted a survey of how Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) is affecting workers and unions, and what steps are being taken to deal with the issue. Forty-eight ITGLWF affiliates completed the online survey, which was conducted with the assistance of the ICEM&rsquo;s CAL project. 
 
The results of the survey overwhelmingly indicate that CAL is an increasing problem in the textile, garment, and leather sectors, with 69% of affiliates who responded saying that the share of short-term and agency labour work in their sector and country increasing over the past year. A full 37% said that CAL had increased by 16% or more. Some 26% of respondents said that the share of CAL has decreased. 
 
In parallel with affiliates of the Global Union Federations ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), who conducted similar surveys earlier in the year, ITGLWF affiliates indicate that CAL workers receive significantly lower wages than permanent, direct-employed workers. Over 66% of those who replied said that wages paid to CAL workers are less than those paid to permanent workers, and 21% said that CAL workers&rsquo; wages are less than half those of regular workers. Some 41% of those who responded indicated that the wages and benefits gap between permanent, direct- employed workers and CAL workers had increased as a direct result of the global economic crisis. 
<img alt="" src="" width="146" height="66" />
The survey results make clear that employers evade their obligations to CAL workers in various ways with non-payment of overtime, denial of maternity and family leave, and denial of vacation and holiday leave being the most common forms of abuse. Some 18% of the total responding said that CAL workers are denied access to social security and pensions, and 15% said that the biggest way employers evade their obligations centres on occupational health and safety. 
 
There is a substantial difference in the number of CAL workers that ITGLWF affiliates represent. Fifty-two percent of affiliates indicated that CAL workers make up between 0 and 5% of their membership, while 19% say that CAL workers made up more that 31% of their membership. Almost one quarter of affiliates said that they had organised more CAL workers in the last year, while 17% said they had lost CAL members. The survey asked affiliates what were the obstacles to organising more CAL workers, and the results clearly demonstrate that the biggest obstacle to CAL workers joining a trade union is fear of dismissal or discrimination. Twenty-three percent of affiliates responding say that government legislation was a barrier to organising CAL workers in their country. 
 
ITGLWF affiliates are including CAL issues in their collective bargaining agendas. The four most common CAL-related bargaining objectives were to guarantee equal pay for similar work, to ensure non discrimination and realisation of trade union rights, and to convert precarious jobs into permanent jobs. 
 
In response to the fact that there is an increasing trend towards indirect and insecure forms of employment, 43% of affiliates indicated that they are currently taking action to ensure that new jobs created in the sector are filled by permanent workers with direct employment relationships. 
 
More details on the results of the ITGLWF CAL Survey are available <a href="http://www.itglwf.org/lang/en/documents/CALSurveyresultsITGLWF.pdf">here</a>.

ITGLWF Survey: Garment Sector Experiences Big Increase in Short-term, Agency Work

Following the start up seminar of the ICEM Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) project in Dakar, Senegal, in March 2009, the Industrial Workers' Union of Senegal (SUTIDS), conscious of the issue and consequences on workers and their organisation, started a media campaign through the major outlet channels of the country. 
 
The union did this through the two biggest television channels of Senegal and the West African region. 
 
Statements made by the general secretary of SUTIDS, those of the ICEM/CAL Project Coordinator for Sub-Saharan Africa, and a representative of the Minister of Labour were broadcast and commented on in most of the languages in Senegal (Ouolof, French, Toucouleur, S&eacute;r&egrave;re and English). 
<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="115" />
The conclusions of the seminar were also sent to the Office of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office, the National Assembly, the Senate, the National Labour Advisory Commission, the Ministry of Labour, and the ILO. 
 
When the General Secretary of SUTIDS met the Prime Minister of Senegal, he had the opportunity to raise the issue of outsourcing and interim employment, making the country&rsquo;s leader aware of the sensitive nature of the issue. The Prime Minister requested to see all of the reports of the ICEM/CAL seminar held in March 2009. 
 
SUTIDS therefore organised a media and advocacy campaign among the highest state authorities of Senegal. 
 
These actions contributed to the adoption and promulgation by the President of the Republic of Senegal of Law No. 2009- 1412 on Private Recruitment Agencies and Casual Employment.

Origins of a New CAL Law: ICEM Work in Senegal

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