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This is the 25th Issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin. 
 
There is no Time to Celebrate! 
For more than two years we have tried to give practical, timely and accurate information from a number of relevant sources. Too little feedback has reached us from our affiliates. Many of them are engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS. If we do not know about their activities, we cannot report on them and others cannot benefit from new initiatives and ideas. 
 
Again, we make an appeal to send information on new agreements, campaigns and educational activities 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. 
 
There is certainly no time to celebrate: according to UNAIDS, each day still more than 8,000 people die of AIDS; almost 12,000 get newly infected with the deadly virus, many of them young people, in some regions more than half of them girls and women. Each day, 1,800 children become infected &ndash; the vast majority of them as newborns through mother-to-child transmission. 
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World AIDS Day, 1 December 
 
Leadership is the theme for World AIDS Day 2007. The ongoing campaign slogan of the World AIDS Campaign is &ldquo;Stop AIDS &ndash; Keep the Promise&rdquo;. 
 
Unions can demonstrate leadership at every level &ndash; in the workplace, in their own governing bodies, in women&rsquo;s committees, in health and safety committees, in negotiations with companies, in the community and at the national policy level. 
 
Any union member, shop steward, union official, committee member, gender representative who takes action on HIV/AIDS is a leader in the fight against the deadly disease. 
ICEM calls on its affiliates to take the lead in campaigning on World AIDS Day, 1 December. 
Before the end of October, affiliates will receive campaign material. 
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ICEM Affiliates in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire and Namibia 
 
The HIV/AIDS Coordinator for the three affiliates in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, Charlotte Nguessan, is particularly active. In addition to training workplace representatives, she has coordinated the writing of a proposal on HIV/AIDS workplace interventions, which was submitted to Partners against AIDS in August. 
 
Charlotte was also appointed to the working group for the Round 7 proposal to the Global Fund. 
 
In Namibia, the first two courses (out of three) for the training of VCT counsellors were completed in the Oranjemund region and at Okorusu Flourspar mining. The Mine Workers&rsquo; Union of Namibia makes sure the funds go a long way: instead of the usual 5 to 8 unionists, as in most&nbsp;other countries, it aims to train more than 20. 
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Global Fund: Record Amount in New Grants Recommended for Round 7 
 
Round 7 applicants to the Global Fund submitted fewer, but bigger and better, proposals than applicants in all previous rounds. 
 
The Global Fund's Technical Review Panel (TRP) has reviewed the 150 eligible Round 7 proposals that were submitted to the Fund, and has recommended that the board approve 73 of them. The grants recommended for approval will cost a total of $1,112 million over two years. 
This is a record amount: in the six previous rounds, the two-year value of approved grants ranged from $571 million to $968 million. (The full duration of a grant is five years. After the first two years, a review takes place to decide about the continuation of a grant). 
 
The percentage of proposals recommended for approval was also a record &ndash; 49%, up from an average of 38% over the previous rounds. On the other hand, the number of eligible proposals submitted in R7, at 150, was the lowest ever. 
 
The TRP's recommendations regarding Round 7 will be reviewed and voted on by the Board of the Global Fund at its next meeting on November 12-13. (In previous rounds, the board has always followed the TRP's advice regarding which proposals to approve.) 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 77, 30 September 2007. 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: Donor Governments Pledge Record Amounts 
 
Donors are expected to give the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at least $9.7 billion over the next three years, 57% more than they gave over the past three years. The pledges made at the Global Fund Replenishment Meeting in Berlin constituted the largest single financing exercise for a&nbsp;health issue that has ever taken place. 
 
Some highlights of the pledges: 
 
&bull; The three countries that pledged the most for 2008-10 were USA (USD 2,172 million), France (USD 1,274 million) and the UK (USD 729 million). 
&bull; The three countries that pledged the largest percentage of their Gross National Income (GNI) were Norway (0.087%), Ireland (0.076%) and Sweden (0.075%). 
&bull; The country that pledged the largest amount per capita was the Netherlands. 
&bull; The three developed countries that pledged the smallest percentage of their GNI were Japan, Finland and Switzerland (0.004% each). 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 77, 30 September 2007. 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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ICAAP Held in Colombo 
 
&ldquo;Waves of Change - Waves of Hope&rdquo; was the theme of the International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 19 to 23 August, 2007. The conference brought together 2,500 delegates from 70 countries including politicians, officials, community workers, medical professionals, academics, journalists, trade union leaders and people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) to share knowledge and devise new strategies to deal with the disease. 
 
The HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific remains diverse. A number of countries have taken decisive action to deliver effective and comprehensive AIDS programmes. However, the overall response in the region is still not keeping up with the pace and expanding reach of the epidemic. Leadership at various levels is still not adequately aware of the consequences of an escalating pandemic and its impact, not only on public health, but also on the socio-economic wellbeing of the people of the region. 
 
(Source: adapted from the ITF HIV/AIDS Update 28, 1 September) 
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Cambodia: Prevalence Rate Down 
 
Three international donors have decided to reduce aid for AIDS prevention to Cambodia as the country has reportedly achieved satisfactory progress. 
 
The Global Fund, DFID and USAID will cut funds targeted at reducing the transmission of HIV/AIDS in the country as nationwide infection rates have declined from 3.3% in the 1990s to 0.9% in 2006. 
 
The reduction of aid does not mean the end of prevention activities. It is a recognition of the fact that the Government of Cambodia has enough capacity to carry on the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. For example, the number of voluntary confidential counselling and testing centres increased from 150 in 2005 to 190 this year. 
 
(Source: xinhuanet, 20 September) 
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India: Case Studies on Corporate Response to HIV/AIDS 
 
A recent World Bank paper discusses the role of business in the fight against HIV/AIDS in India, with particular focus on the private sector. The report highlights interventions by five Indian companies (Reliance Industries Ltd, Transport Corporation of India Ltd, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, DCM Shiram Consolidated Ltd and Hindustan Lever Ltd) ranging from advocacy and education to prevention and treatment. 
 
The report argues that because a large share of the country&rsquo;s HIV-positive population are employed by Indian industry, businesses can gain from early and decisive action to prevent HIV and AIDS. The paper also shows the advantages businesses bring to the fight against the pandemic and how the Indian government supports companies involved in HIV/AIDS interventions. 
 
(Source: Eldis Corporate Responsibility Reporter, 6 September <a href="http://www.eldis.org/csr">www.eldis.org/csr</a>. Eldis is a service of the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex)
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South Africa: Setback for New AIDS Policy 
 
The new AIDS policy in South Africa suffered a severe setback when the Deputy Minister of Health, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge was forced to resign in August. 
During the long sick leave of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the Deputy Minister had worked for a turn-around in the government&rsquo;s AIDS policy, advocating a massive increase in antiretroviral treatment. This had been delayed for years by the Health Minister who encouraged people living with HIV/AIDS to treat it with garlic, beetroot and olive oil. 
 
(Source: various newspaper reports) 
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News from the Global Union Programme and Global Union Federations 
 
The ICEM is represented on the Steering Committee of the Global Union AIDS Programme. The last meeting took place in Geneva on 3 October. Among other, the meeting discussed a closer engagement of Global Unions with the Global Fund and an initiative to cooperate with the World Bank. A meeting will take place in Washington in December involving the mining, transport, health and education sectors. 
 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS updates (nos. 26, 27, 28 and 29 of 1 and 15 August and 1 and 15 September) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a> reports, among other, on an agreement between the union and the employers on an HIV/AIDS policy for the railway industry in Zimbabwe; how low levels of awareness and prevalent social stigma contribute to the spread of the disease in Pakistan. 
The Nigerian Government has approved a policy providing guidelines that aim to assist in the establishment of workplace HIV/AIDS policies in the formal sectors, as well as in the informal economy.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

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Dear Colleagues, 
 
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 4th World Congress of the ICEM. It is with a great deal of pride that we hold this Congress in Thailand, a country in which the ICEM has played a role in a number of labour and social causes. 
 
There has been discussion on why the ICEM would hold a Congress in a country that only a year ago experienced a military coup. We consulted with our Thai affiliates on this matter, and they assured us that our presence would be a symbol of hope and expectation that free and democratic elections will occur soon in Thailand. We take this as proof of both the quality of work that ICEM has done in Thailand, and the work that still must be done in this great nation. 
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Senzeni Zokwana, ICEM President
This Congress marks a historic moment for the ICEM. With forces of globalisation rapidly impacting the lives of workers in today's world, the global trade union movement has come together and made the commitment that it will unite to protect workers' interests. 
The ICEM's 4th World Congress will engage several major issues, including enhancing cooperation with the family of Global Union Federations and other world trade union organisations. 
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Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary 

We will begin a process to establish a strong sustainable development policy across all ICEM sectors, and we will reaffirm our commitment to challenge the growing threat of Contract and Agency Labour and the scourge of HIV/AIDS in our workplaces and in workers' lives. 
 
This Congress also marks the full integration into the ICEM of trade unions from the World Federation of Industry Workers. We welcome those unions and we know that your participation and involvement in our structures will make us stronger. 
 
Let us have great success at this Congress, and let us come away fully invigorated with the energy of Unity and Solidarity in order to fulfill the necessary work that we face! 
 
Fraternally,&nbsp;
Senzeni Zokwana and Manfred Warda

Fraternal Greetings to the ICEM&#039;s 4th Statutory Congress!

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Trade unionists from a number of countries in which mining-energy multinational BHP Billiton operates attended an initial forum in Brisbane, Australia, on 9-11 October. The conference was aimed at constituting a formal network of unionised workers at BHP Billiton. It was jointly conducted by the ICEM and the International Federation of Metalworkers (IMF).
<img height="86" alt="" src="" width="100" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="98" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Unions attending included the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU), the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia, the Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU); the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA), both of South Africa; Confedera&ccedil;&atilde;o Nacional dos Metal&uacute;rgicos (CNM/CUT) of Brazil; Sindicato de Trabajadores de Escondida of Chile; Sindicato &Uacute;nico de Trabajadores de Compa&ntilde;&iacute;a Minera Antamina (SUTRACOMASA) of Peru; Community (formerly the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation) of the UK; and the United Steelworkers (USW) of the US. 
 
The conference was highlighted by two panel discussions, one detailing collecting bargaining within the Anglo-Australian company, as well as plant closures, industrial actions, and strategies in dealing with a company making unprecedented profit. The second dealt with building union strength in the face of massive labour outsourcing and other attacks on collective agreements. 
 
In country reports, the effect of imposing individual work agreements in Australia in place of collective agreements was discussed, as was health and safety concerns. Several unions reported on the company&rsquo;s failure to report lost-time injuries in order to be able to report positive sustainability data, and South American unions reported on widespread environmental problems from mines and smelting operations in those countries. NUMSA reported on a high incidence of occupational illnesses stemming from a manganese operation in South Africa. 
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Company representatives were invited to discuss employment concerns and problems, but declined the invitation. 
 
The unions agreed to hold a demonstration and speak at a November AGM of the company in Adelaide, Australia, and they also agreed to each prepare and distribute written dossiers on work conditions at BHP Billiton mines and other workplaces. 
 
The ICEM and IMF agreed to oversee the running of the workers&rsquo; network over the next year. ICEM was represented at the meeting by President Senzeni Zokwana of NUM in South Africa and Joe Drexler, the director of Industry and Corporate Affairs. IMF was represented by Rob Johnston, its director of Steel, Shipbuilding, Non-ferrous Metals, and Health and Safety.

ICEM, IMF Hold Initial BHP Billiton Workers’ Meeting

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ICEM affiliate Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMWU) successfully brought 600 new members into its fold recently. Senior staff at AngloGold Ashanti&rsquo;s Obuasi Mine joined the GMWU, and will become the Professional and Managerial Staffs Union of the GMWU. 
 
At an inaugural event on 5 October, Ghana Trade Union Congress General Secretary Kwasi Adu-Amankwa called the integration a milestone event for the 65-year-old GMWU, a union, he said, that has dramatically improved work conditions and community life in Ghana&rsquo;s gold belt.
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GMWU General Secretary Prince William Ankrah stated that having senior staff in the union will go far in healing the colonial legacy of the 50-year-old west African nation that once saw senior and junior workers pitted against one another by the divide-and-rule dictums of labour relations by mining companies. 
He welcomed the senior staff of the South African-based company into the GMWU, stating they will now be offered the same excellent services built over many years, including job security, career development, dependent educational opportunities, and other social programmes. 
 
The Obuasi Mine is AngloGold&rsquo;s most productive of three mines in Ghana, and the only one that is underground. Gold mining, which accounts for 30% of all revenues derived from the country&rsquo;s exports, occurs at 1.6 kilometres deep at Obuasi, with a current project now underway to dig deeper, expecting to extend the mine&rsquo;s life span beyond the year 2040.
<img height="77" alt="" src="" width="140" />
This mine was the major catalyst behind the 2004 merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields of Ghana. The company also operates open cast mines at Iduaprim and Teberebie. With several other gold producers operating in Ghana, including Goldfields, Newmont Mining, Red Back Mining, and Golden Star of Canada, the country is Africa&rsquo;s second largest gold producer behind South Africa. 
 
The Professional and Managerial Staff of GMWU has an eight-member executive, including Chairman Seidu Adam Bogobiri, Deputy Chairman Charles Owusi, Secretary Samuel Dwamenah, Deputy Secretary Isaac Newton Kusi, First Trustee Collins Ankomah, Second Trustee Eric Obeng Foshuhene, Chaplain M.C. Turkson, and Women&rsquo;s Representative Doris Apem.

Ghana Mine Workers&#039; Union Organises Senior Staff of AngloGold Ashanti

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The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) petitioned South Africa&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) last week to conduct a one-day strike. The strike would call attention to severe safety deficiencies by mining houses operating in South Africa in the wake of the near catastrophe at Harmony Gold&rsquo;s Elandsrand Mine on 3-4 October. 
 
Some 3,200 miners were trapped there when a piece of steel pipe dropped 2.2 kilometres down an elevator shaft, severing electrical cables and shattering the framework of the mine&rsquo;s main elevator. Fortunately, all were rescued, but it took the company 38 hours to complete the rescue.
<img height="60" alt="" src="" width="100" />
But even after that near tragedy, the death toll in South African mines&nbsp;has risen. On 10 October, three miners were killed at Goldfields Kloof gold mine near Westonaria when a rope hoisting a skip loaded with rock snapped, sending the load back down a shaft and crushing the three miners. On the same day, another Goldfields miner was killed by falling rock 2,700 metres underground at the company&rsquo;s South Deep Mine. 
 
Three NUM members at Northam Platinum in Thabazimbi lost their lives in accidents recently. The NUM said the company had failed to report the deaths. The company responded by stating that its policy has been not to report single fatalities. On 17 October, one miner at AngloPlatinum&rsquo;s Paardekraal Mine in Rustenburg perished and another was critically injured and remains hospitalised from an underground rock fall. 
 
A day earlier, Reuters in Johannesburg reported that the subsidiary of Anglo American was contemplating reducing the number of contract workers in its mines because the safety record of such workers is not as good as for permanent staff. &ldquo;We have identified this as the key challenge,&rdquo; stated AngloPlats head of Strategy, Frances Petersen. 
<img height="240" alt="" src="" width="160" />
NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni
The NUM formally applied to the CCMA for a certificate to strike on the same day of the AngloPlats Rustenburg tragedy. The strike could come as early as next week, or the first week of November. It would mark the first time in 20 years that the ICEM affiliate took strike action across the country&rsquo;s entire mining sector.
In a statement, the NUM said a &ldquo;genocide is unfolding, and the NUM is preparing for a strike that seeks to divert attention from the obsession with production targets to the one that deals with realising the sacrosanct human life.&rdquo; 
 
NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni added that the loss of black miners has come at the expense of enormous profits made through continuous operations.

NUM Files for One-Day Safety Strike in South Africa’s Mine

Special Newsletter: Developments in the Global Contract and Agency Labour Project

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At the 26th Constitutional Convention of the US&rsquo;s largest national labour center last week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, delegates elected Richard Trumka as president. Trumka, a member of ICEM-affiliated United Mine Workers&rsquo; of America (UMWA), had been serving as secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO since 1995. 
 
A third generation miner from western Pennsylvania, Trumka pledged to reinvigorate the American labour movement by recruiting more young people into the ranks of organised labour. In his acceptance speech, Trumka promised to build &ldquo;a new kind of labour movement &ndash; one shaped to meet the needs of Americans in a changing economy.&rdquo; 
 
Trumka succeeds John Sweeney of the Office, Professional Workers&rsquo; Union, who retired after three terms as head of the AFL-CIO. A labour attorney by training, Trumka worked in the Legal Department of the UMWA starting in 1974. In 1982, he was elected as president of the UMWA, a position he held until joining Sweeney as part of a new AFL-CIO leadership team in 1995.
<img src="" width="180" height="200" alt="" />
Arlene Holt-Baker, Richard Trumka, and Liz Shuler&nbsp; 
 

Elected last week to replace Trumka as secretary-treasurer of the 56-union, ten-million-member federation was Liz Shuler, a member of the Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union (IBEW) from the state of Oregon. She served most recently as executive assistant to the president of the IBEW. Elected as executive vice president was Arlene Holt-Baker. A member of the public employees&rsquo; union, AFSCME, she has held that position since 2007 after being appointed by the AFL-CIO Executive Council . 
 
Among some 70 resolutions passed, two dealt with Iraq. One called on US President Barack Obama&rsquo;s administration to use its influence on the Iraqi government to adopt internationally-accepted work rights, including passage of an ILO-written labour law that assures the legitimacy of trade unions in Iraq. The other calls on the US government to end its military occupation and bring a speedy withdrawal home of both troops and US armed contractors from the Middle Eastern country. 
 
Another resolution calls on the US to sanction the military regime in Honduras by withdrawing the US ambassador, freezing assets of those responsible for the June 2009 coup, and for the US government to seriously consider suspending all trade with Honduras until Manuel Zeleya is restored as President of a democratic Honduras.

US Mineworker, Richard Trumka, Elected Head of AFL-CIO

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ICEM French affiliate F&eacute;d&eacute;ration Chimie-Energie (FCE-CFDT) denounced market reforms that the government of France recently announced and has planned for EDF, the state-run electricity provider. In a statement issued 17 September, FCE-CFDT said reforms proposed by the government would put at risk the entire enterprise if it had to share revenues from nuclear generation with competitors.
<img src="" width="80" height="109" alt="" />
Electricity market reform in France, with a proposed effective date of 1 July 2010, would destabilize the company, FCE-CFDT warns, with competitors able to buy power at rates far below EDF&rsquo;s production costs. The union said such reforms would also prevent the competition from engaging in their own investments, and calls for a plan that would mandate all electricity providers to make investments. 
 
Further, FCE-CFDT states that although there are supposed safeguards in the reform plan, nothing in the plan would protect consumers from electricity price hikes. The union is calling for the French energy regulatory body, the Commission Champsaur, to re-work its proposals, giving redress to economic development issues, social cohesion, and climate change challenges.

FCE-CFDT Issues Caution Against French Electric Reform Concerning EDF

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The profitable electrical and gas distributor National Grid Plc. has provoked industrial actions in the UK with plans to outsource service work to India. British trade unions GMB and Unison, representing some 2,500 workers, are planning further strike actions in company operations in the near future. 
 
The first such strike, a 24-hour one, occurred on 11 September when workers at a service center in Newcastle walked off jobs and manifested at a public square. Some 181 invoicing, procurement, and other jobs could be lost in Newcastle if National Grid gets its way to offshore jobs. Hundreds of other jobs are at risk in the company fulfills its planned agenda.
<img src="" width="140" height="139" alt="" />
&nbsp; 
Further job actions likely will occur in Warwick and Newcastle. National Grid is the major owner and operator of electric grid distribution and gas distribution in England and Wales, serving 52 million customers. It also controls lucrative electric and gas distribution networks through its private enterprises in the US. 
 
GMB National Secretary Gary Smith says it is &ldquo;absolutely immoral&rdquo; that the company would consider turning its back on UK workers and transferring work to India. &ldquo;It is a shameful example of corporate greed that a hugely profitable UK business is threatening to sack loyal and dedicated staff.&rdquo; 
 
National Grid posted profits of &pound;3 billion in 2008 and the company and workers have identified &pound;3 million in cost savings. Yet, National Grid has already narrowed a search to two contract companies that would outsource the service work to India. 
 
GMB and Unison are getting strong support from North American ICEM affiliate Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA). In a recent trip to the US, Smith met with UWUA-represented workers employed by National Grid subsidiaries in the state of Massachusetts, and engaged first-hand with the UWUA in is first contract battle with waste-to-energy company Covanta. ICEM-affiliated GMB, as well as other UK unions, have assisted the UWUA in bringing to light Covanta&rsquo;s derisive anti-worker practices in the US just as the company attempts to expand into the UK.
<img src="" width="100" height="100" alt="" />
In a letter to GMB&rsquo;s Commercial Services Section, UWUA President Michael Langford called National Grid &ldquo;one of the most profitable, privatised monopolies in the world.&rdquo; He added, &ldquo;In our view, it is unacceptable (for the company) to turn its back on the employees who have sacrificed so much to make National Grid a success.&rdquo; 
 
On 7 September, GMB and Unison counted ballots, revealing a 97% vote for industrial action. Those strikes likely will occur in the coming weeks if the electric/gas distributor does not retreat from its outsourcing plans.

UK Unions GMB, Unison Begin Industrial Actions Against National Grid

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The ICEM extends its condolences to the families of miners killed and injured in a deadly Polish mine explosion on Friday, 18 September, as well as to all mining unions representing workers at the Katowicki Holding Weglowy (KHW) company. 
 
A methane gas explosion followed by a fire at KHW&rsquo;s Wujek-Slask mine in the coal-dominated Silesa region of southwestern Poland killed 13, and seriously injured 18 other miners with severe burns. A total of 40 miners were hospitalized following the explosion. 
 
The deadly blast and fire, Poland&rsquo;s second worst in recent years, ripped through mine shafts 1,050 metres underground at mid-morning on Friday near the town of Ruda Slaska. 
 
The Polish government has declared today and Tuesday, 22 September, a two-day national period of mourning due to the horrible workplace tragedy.
<img src="" width="120" height="120" alt="" />
&nbsp; 
 
A Polish website, Pracownik, reported that a miner at the Wujek-Slask colliery made a video last April, showing methane measurements over four times the levels that are considered safe from such an accident occurring. The video was aired on a Polish TV station late Friday. 
 
Mine-safety activists in Poland hinted that any investigation must centre on whether or not methane reading instruments inside shafts had been tampered with in order to boost production. 
 
State-run KHW had merged the Wujek and Slash collieries in 2004 into a single enterprise in order to save costs. In November 2006, 23 miners perished in another Ruda Slaska mine called Halemba, owned by the state-operated Kampania Weglowa (KW). This was the worst Polish mine tragedy in three decades. The Halemba mine had been idled for eight months then, and the company had sent workers 1,000 metres below the surface to retrieve equipment when the blast occurred.

13 Perish in Poland’s Worst Coal Mine Disaster Since 2006

Archive

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

Fraternal Greetings to the ICEM's 4th Statutory Congress!

ICEM, IMF Hold Initial BHP Billiton Workers’ Meeting

Ghana Mine Workers' Union Organises Senior Staff of AngloGold Ashanti

NUM Files for One-Day Safety Strike in South Africa’s Mine

Special Newsletter: Developments in the Global Contract and Agency Labour Project

US Mineworker, Richard Trumka, Elected Head of AFL-CIO

FCE-CFDT Issues Caution Against French Electric Reform Concerning EDF

UK Unions GMB, Unison Begin Industrial Actions Against National Grid

13 Perish in Poland’s Worst Coal Mine Disaster Since 2006

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