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As a priority, the ICEM has been building union networks within major multinational companies and sectors at global, regional, and national levels. These networks engage in exchange of information and experiences, organizing strategies, occupational health/safety, as well as building cross-border trade union solidarity through joint actions and campaigns. 
 
Some networks have provided valuable social dialogue lessons, with participation by various managements of companies. This is particularly the case in Latin America, where ICEM-affiliated unions have established a number of workers&rsquo; networks, with several of them operating quite well. 
 
With this, the ICEM held a 9-10 November conference called &ldquo;Latin American Regional Company Networks in the Chemical Industry&rdquo; in S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil with the support of the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES). The main objective was to make an evaluation on activities, and to harmonise and coordinate the activities of these networks.
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FES Workshop in&nbsp;S&atilde;o Paulo last week
In communication with the Latin American affiliates, ten multinational companies were included, namely Bayer, BASF, Akzo Nobel, Novartis, Sanofi Aventis, Lanxess, Solvay, Dupont, Dow Chemicals, and Bunge. 
 
Chaired by ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Regional Vice President S&eacute;rgio Novais, some 70 trade union representatives attended the two-day meetings from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Peru. The conference also welcomed Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer; Michael Wolters, International Secretary of Germany&rsquo;s IGBCE; Isidor Boix, International Secretary of Spain&rsquo;s FITEQA-CC.OO; Kent Holsing, a local union president of the United Steelworkers (USW) in the US; Brian Finnegan of the US Solidarity Centre; and Fons Welters, Chairman of the Works Council of Akzo Nobel, representing FNV Bondgenoten of the Netherlands. 
 
Participants received solidarity messages from Belgian Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale, French FCE-CFDT, and Switzerland&rsquo;s UNIA. 
 
&quot;Our confederation supports and encourages conferences like this, because this is fundamental to strengthening our activities around multinationals,&rdquo; said Silvan Antonio Oliveira, president of CNTQ, the National Confederation of Chemical Workers of Brazil. &ldquo;Through these kinds of events, we know these companies better and we have a full explanation of the problems that affect workers in the industry.&rdquo; 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan made two presentations, &ldquo;The Global Chemical Industry&rsquo;s Main Developments and Global Challenges, &ldquo; and &ldquo;Global Dimension of Labour Relations Through International Mechanisms &ndash; Social Dialogue, Global Agreements, and Workers&rsquo; Networks.&rdquo; 
 
Later, BASF and Repsol were examined as successful examples of regional network and social dialogue, while Bayer, Akzo Nobel, and Solvay were presented as successful examples of national networks. 
 
On 11-12 November, six different networks, including BASF, Bayer, Lanxess, Akzo Nobel, Solvay, and Dow Chemicals met individually and discussed how to move forward successfully. The ICEM was also represented in these individual meetings through &Ouml;zkan. 
 
Related to US-based Dow Chemicals, both For&ccedil;a Sindical and CUT unions of Brazil, the Argentine unions, and the USW shared their learning experiences from the ICEM seminar, and agreed to compile the contributions into a DOW network bulletin within the next 30 days. The Solidarity Centre agreed to support another meeting of the present members of the network in the first quarter of 2010. 
 
On Belgium-based Solvay, this meeting thanked the ICEM for making possible the conference which did much to improve communication and exchange of information necessary for the expansion of the network in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. 
 
The follow-up 11-12 November sessions served to evaluate recent activities, as well as to analyze the challenges that will be faced in 2010 regarding expanding the network and pursuing social dialogue with managements. 
 
For BASF, the final meeting discussed deeply the actions needed to promote decent work for contract employees. This network is completing a survey on Contract and Agency Labour in Latin America that will enable participating organisations to identify problems and promote decent work. The parties have major differences on how to use new technologies, such as the internet during work hours, and BASF has been neglecting to involve workers&rsquo; representatives in this process. The network will invite management of BASF to accompany workers on a visit to BASF Colombia, scheduled for March 2010, and also report on how BASF workers in Peru are creating a union there.

Social Dialogue, Networks In Latin American Chemicals Focus of FES Workshops

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With the Canadian winter already set in and four long months already on picket lines, 3,000 striking members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6500 in Sudbury, Ontario, remain upbeat. Their fight to retain living standards and working conditions opposite an interloping landlord, Vale of Brazil, has turned into a test of wills between a profitable multinational and working-class Canadians. 
 
This match-up pits Vale, intent on taking much more than just rich nickel reserves from Canadian soil, against miners and metalworkers, who together with their families see now experience unique fusion through their union in protecting their livelihoods. 
 
Strikers here, as well as 500 other striking steelworkers at Port Colborne, Ontario, and Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay, Labrador, know now their walkouts will last through the long Canadian winter. They know by Vale&rsquo;s reticence to return to bargaining, by the firm&rsquo;s secretive and intimidating posture to resume production, and by the fact that global nickel prices have not risen &ndash; following the collapse &ndash; to levels that will further maximize Vale&rsquo;s profits.
<img alt="" src="" width="130" height="131" />
&nbsp;USW Local 6500 President John Fera 
 

So they&rsquo;ve prepared for a long winter without pay checks. While teams of strikers fan out across the world to spread a message of corporate greed, Local 6500 President John Fera remains in Sudbury and tends to what is necessary &ndash; nurturing unity and fraternity, and waging the fight against Vale on the local front, a relentless task considering company assaults on picket lines and in courtrooms. 
 
&ldquo;Everyone here knows what this fight is about,&rdquo; Fera told the ICEM. &ldquo;Every worker on strike is fully engaged and every family member knows what is at stake for this community. And that is a credit to the Steelworkers union.&rdquo; 
 
He then ticks off an ever-expanding list of local actions, activities, and self-help programmes that USW Local 6500 is engaged in through its newly-built union hall. Strikers receive C$200-a-week in strike benefits from the international union. That is supplemented by a big food bank, a special-needs fund, as well as social service professionals on duty &ndash; all operated out of a union hall that was rebuilt from a costly fire 14 months ago. 
 
Local 6500 continues to launch activities on a weekly basis, including a &ldquo;coats-for-kids&rdquo; drive, in which donations from unions, organizations, and individuals will fund new winter wear. A recent &ldquo;Family Day&rdquo; on picket lines underscores what Fera speaks of. The union also will sponsor several Christmas events to forge even greater cohesion.
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Union Meetings Produce Huge Turnouts
As testament to this unity is that not one striker has crossed picket lines to return to work since the strike began on 13 July. 
 
While dozens of striking steelworkers have taken the strike to Vale worksites and Vale showcase events on four continents, hundreds other Sudbury activists have been just as active at home. They have protested at Vale offices in Toronto, at provincial offices, and against a national Tory government that has turned a deaf ear to the Investment Canada Act, a law that is meant to protect Canadian jobs and resources when non-Canadian enterprises take over. 
 
Sudbury strikers have also taken the fight to Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement, a Conservative who at the outset of the strike said the Sudbury region would be a &ldquo;valley of death&rdquo; had it not been for Vale buying Canadian-based Inco in 2006. 
 
Now, as a fading day&rsquo;s light turns rapidly to another winter night, the only semblance of death is on picket lines with Vale&rsquo;s black-suited security guards trying to prod strikers into violent acts for the sake of cameras and the courtroom. Since early October, the company has feigned start-up of production. But there has been no real output, only Vale&rsquo;s false tricks to psychologically intimidate workers. 
 
The company has manipulated unionised administrative and technical workers, who remain on the job with a working labour agreement, to begin training for production. Fera says maybe 50 out of 450 such workers might be doing Local 6500 work, adding that three of the six mines might have limited activity. Workers and non-union personnel are also active in a nickel refinery, but there is no activity inside the huge, 100,000-metric-tonne-per-year smelter. 
 
&ldquo;The company wants us to believe that one shipment has gone out from the Clarabelle refinery, but our sources in transportation say this is not true,&rdquo; Fera said.
<img alt="" src="" width="190" height="142" />
From left: USW Local 6500's Nick Larochelle; Andi Karman, President of FSP-KEP Soroako; and Local 6500's Tim Kiley in Indonesia&nbsp;
Meanwhile, trade union activity across the world continues. Last month, the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) joined the campaign to press Vale for a fair collective agreement in Canada. Today, in Seoul, Korea, the ICEM and IMF facilitated two Canadian strikers in a public &ldquo;head-shaving&rdquo; protest in front of Vale offices in Seoul. 
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F34Af4nT7mw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F34Af4nT7mw</a> 
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Canadian USW members at head-shaving today in Seoul: Doug Olthuis, Nick Larouche, and Tim Kiley&nbsp;
The protest today was also brought before Korea Zinc, a company whose subsidiary &ndash; Korea Nickel Corp. &ndash; is 25% owned by Vale. In a letter to CEO and Chairman Chang Keun Choi, USW President Leo Gerard, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, and IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina, said: We request &ldquo;that you contact Vale and demand that they treat workers fairly around the globe, including by returning to the bargaining table in Canada and ceasing to use replacement workers.&rdquo; 
 
The letter requested that Korea Zinc &ldquo;refrain from the purchase, receipt, or processing of nickel and nickel products produced in Canadian facilities where members of the USW are on strike.&rdquo;
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Manifestation in Seoul, Korea, today, 16 November
Thirty Korean activists turned out today for the manifestation outside of the office tower housing Vale, including all three&nbsp;ICEM Korean&nbsp;trade union affiliates, and eight of their officers.&nbsp; 
 
The same team of Canadian strikers now in Korea &ndash; Nick Larochelle, Tim Kiley, along with the USW&rsquo;s Doug Olthuis, and Brazilian CNM-CUT Metalworkers&rsquo; General Secretary Sergio Guerra &ndash; accompanied the ICEM and Indonesia Chemicals, Energy, Gas, and Mining affiliate, FSP-KEP, and its President D. Patombong Sjaiful, to Vale&rsquo;s remote PT Indonesia Nickel Corp. at Soarako, Sulawesi. The delegation attempted to meet with miners there, themselves victimized by Vale&rsquo;s corporate policies. 
 
The unions produced a joint statement. It can be seen <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP/3495-Joint-Statement-of-Vale-Unions-from-Soroako">here</a>. 
 
In Brazil, a team of strikers from Canada, including those from both Ontario and Newfoundland/Labrador, were inside during a Vale investors meeting in Rio de Janeiro, raising questions related to the company&rsquo;s social responsibilities. They also are meeting with politicians, civil society groups, and will address worker delegate assemblies of trade unions representing Vale miners and metalworkers, who are themselves considering ratification of tentative collective agreements with Vale in Brazil. 
 
A week ago in the UK, a team of USW members joined top leaders of Unite the Union in a protest in front of Deutsche Bank in the City of London, while Vale was inside giving a report on its performance in global metals market. 
 
In addition, LabourStart, the trade union activists&rsquo; portal to the global union movement, began an on-line protest against Vale two weeks ago. To lodge a protest with Vale in Brazil on its maltreatment of Canadian workers and there families, click <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=595">here</a>. 
 
And back in Sudbury, all the latest strike activity by Local 6500, and Local 6200 in Port Colborne and Local 9508 in the Canadian maritime province, can be accessed by visiting the union&rsquo;s excellent website, <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca/">here</a>.

Miners Dig In: Steelworkers Ready Nickel Strike for Long Canadian Winter

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The fruits of the ICEM&rsquo;s Contract and Agency Labour campaign were revealed last week when the first sub-contracting company at massive Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n recognized a newly-formed union. Chaneme Comercial S.A., a mechanical maintenance contractor, has recognized the trade union Sintracheneme, and with the assistance of ICEM mining affiliate Sintracarb&ograve;n, is currently negotiating a first collective agreement for 300 maintenance contract workers. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM salutes the leaders and dedicated union members of Sintracarb&ograve;n,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;Through their diligence, and the diligence of Project Coordinator Carlos Bustos, they made this possible. History has been made at one of the world&rsquo;s largest coal mines.&rdquo; 

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Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, equally owned by BHP Billiton, AngloAmerican, and Xstrata, employs some 3,500 miners, who are represented by Sintracarb&ograve;n. But another 4,000 workers at the sprawling mine pits in La Guajira state are employed by contract workers. 
 
This past summer, Sintracarb&ograve;n assisted 150 drivers with union organization, but that employer, SOTRANS, has refused to consider the transport workers&rsquo; demands or recognise their union, Sintrans. (See that story <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3290-Sintracarbón-Seeks-Unionisation-for-Subcontractor-at-Cerrejón-in-Colombia">here</a>) The ICEM has taken the matter up with the parent companies of Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n. 
 
But with Chaneme Comercial, however, talks are now underway regarding work conditions at Cerrej&oacute;n, education allowances for both workers and their children, and on community development. Chaneme employs another 400 maintenance mechanics in other mines of northern Colombia. 

<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="173" />
Jaime Deluquez, centre, with Jes&uacute;s Brochero and Jos&eacute; Nicol&aacute;s Brito Mendoza
Workers of Chaneme repair and maintain the massive 240-tonne and 320-tonne trucks, as well as doing the same for the heavy digging equipment that inhabits the eight open cast mines of Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n. 
 
&ldquo;This is an important precedent here and more important is that we reach an amiable and effective collective agreement,&rdquo; said Jaime Deluquez of Sintracarb&ograve;n, who together with Edilberto Contreras of national labour center CUT has been assigned to assist the bargaining committee from Sintracheneme in reaching a first labour agreement. 
 
That accomplishment may be only days away, since the employer &ndash; unlike SOTRANS &ndash; has displayed a willingness to reach terms.

Metal Maintenance Contractor Recognises Union in Colombia’s Cerrejón Coal Pits

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The conclusion of a three-day Indian National Conference on Mining Health and Safety, 28-30 October, ended with a stirring call to action and endorsement of a campaign plan to convince the government of India to finally ratify ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
In an interview given to Mint, an Indian financial newspaper, BK Das, General Secretary of the Indian National Mineworkers Federation (INMF), stated that national industrial action would be considered if the government continued its stalling tactics. Shri Jibon Roy, Secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said that miners will lead the way in educating the public to join the campaign. 
 
That campaign was developed by 30 rank-and-file miners from various mining regions of India who spent a day-and-a-half discussing and outlining the plan. (See the Programme of Action <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3493">here</a>.) 

<img src="" width="230" height="173" alt="" />
The miners pointed out that India was present at the debates in Geneva when the convention was drawn up in 1995 and the Indian delegation voted in favor of its adoption. But mining laws and regulations remain weak or unenforced in India. A declaration adopted at the conference calls for the five mining federations to reach a consensus on a plan of action and to develop national, company, area, and pit committees to educate miners and the public on the need to improve mine health and safety and the importance of ILO Convention 176. 
 
(See that Declaration <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3494">here</a>) 
 
The conference was organized with help from the ICEM and financial assistance from ACTRAV, the workers&rsquo; wing of the ILO. The Indian government refused the request of the ILO, made in 2008, to sponsor a tripartite regional meeting of governments, trade unions, and employers on ILO Convention 176. The meeting was later moved to Mongolia, and was attended by participants from six Asian countries. 
 
Although the Indian trade unions were present at the meeting in Mongolia, the Indian government and employers were not, and India was the only invited country not to send employer and government representatives. 
 
Despite the failure of the Indian government and employers to engage in tripartite dialogue on ILO Convention 176, the mining trade unions believe ratification can only occur on a tripartite basis, and the campaign is designed to bring this about. Included in the campaign will be petitions to government officials with a special targeting of the Ministry of Labour, company-wide conferences including members of all five mining federations, and demonstrations at Parliament. And the necessity to take possible industrial action. 

<img src="" width="160" height="91" alt="" />
The Indian unions have been inspired by the successful one-day national strike in 2008 to improve health and safety by ICEM-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa. The use of contract workers in mining also received major attention at the conference and the news that South Africa may soon outlaw labour brokers. 
 
Also attending the meeting and giving presentations were Joe Drexler, ICEM Director on Industry and Corporate Affairs, Martin Hahn of the ILO, and Stirling Smith, who prepared a manual covering the origins of the convention, its contents, and how best to campaign for ratification of ILO Convention 176. The manual will be revised based on the experience from India. 
 
&ldquo;We are also insisting that the ILO must take a much more aggressive role in promoting the convention since miners continue to be injured and die on the job due to inadequate laws and regulation,&rdquo; said Drexler. Maden-İş, the largest mining union in Turkey, has already developed a campaign plan and is moving forward with it. The ICEM is monitoring efforts to promote ratification in Colombia, Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia, and other countries where the convention is badly needed. 
 
The ICEM, and its predecessor organization, the Miners&rsquo; International Federation, were the principal force behind the adoption of the convention in 1995.

India’s Mine Unions Trumpet Call for Ratifying ILO Convention 176

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As part of a SASK of Finland sponsored Sub-Sahara Africa project on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL), the ICEM held a regional meeting on precarious work 2-3 November in Togo for trade unionists from nine different African countries attended. The main aim of the conference was to assess and discuss how the ICEM&rsquo;s campaign has had an impact on solving some of the problems faced by millions of non-regular workers in the region. 
 
The region is no exception to the rule: CAL workers face many difficulties. Many of them are women and young workers. Typically, agency, temporary, and outsourced workers lose out in various areas, including salary levels, health and safety protections, as well as not receiving ordinary job benefits, vocational training, and job protection, and trade union rights. 

<img alt="" src="" width="179" height="71" />
Especially in mining, with examples cited from Guinea, Namibia, Senegal, Sierra Leon, South Africa, and Togo, CAL problems appear to be chronic and shocking. But unionists also talked about CAL difficulties in other ICEM industrial sectors, including oil and gas, cement, and chemicals. There was a clear link for participants between the increased CAL problems and escalating investment on the continent by Chinese companies. 
 
The meeting also heard about a variety of success stories that have countered the worst abuses of precarious work. For example, several unions had organised previously unorganised CAL workers. Examples given &ndash; Guinea, Mauritius, Senegal, and Sierra Leone &ndash; were inspiring, with citations noted that workers of a few hundred at a time had been organised into trade unions. 
 
Sutids from Senegal is just one union that has managed to change hundreds of workers&rsquo; individual contracts into one giving permanent employment. This specific campaign topic was adopted by the union as part of the &ldquo;ICEM national seminar project plan.&rdquo; 
 
In Nigeria, ICEM oil and gas affiliates, NUPENG and PENGASSAN, report they now represent up to 60% of all CAL workers, admitting, however, that basic work conditions for these workers are still much lower than those of directly and permanently employed workers. 

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="80" />
Actions by the ICEM Sub-Saharan Africa affiliates have not been limited to organising and collective bargaining. Several unions in Africa have also engaged their governments, seeking law changes. In South Africa, where the issue is a top political priority (see Ban on Labour Brokers, click <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3289-ICEM’s-Contract-Labour-Forum-in-Guinea-Forces-Expulsion-of-Russian-Mine-Boss">here</a>), labour brokers were said to receive 50-to-60% of the fees they charge companies for their own &ldquo;service fees,&rdquo; thus taking much directly from the pockets of agency workers themselves. 
 
Reportedly, for a number of labour brokers, having an office means having a laptop and an automobile. In Namibia, the law already bans labour brokers and, in Sierra Leone, the government agreed to review the country&rsquo;s labour laws after a campaign by the United Mineworkers&rsquo; Union (UMU). That review looked specifically at ending CAL abuses there, another result of a national plan adopted at an ICEM-CAL seminar. 
 
In Guinea, the government decided to start a process to review all mining contracts in the country after the ICEM-CAL seminar there last spring. Guinea&rsquo;s Labour Minister has also started the process of preventing sham subcontracting companies from operating in the country, which in some cases are owned by managers of primary employers, including human resources managers. A recent victory (see Guinea Forces Expulsion of Russian Mine Boss, click here) came despite the country being at high risk due to the current political situation. 

<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="100" />
Regretfully, good laws are often not respected, with Nigeria and Senegal serving as examples. This has led the ICEM CAL Campaign to emphasize &ndash; quite successfully in Mozambique &ndash; to trade unions that they engage governments to embark on labour inspections. Cooperation between the unions and the labour inspectorate was a main topic at the national CAL seminar in Mozambique. 
 
Unions are also examining their internal rules and structures, in efforts to attract more precarious workers into their ranks. In Mauritius, for example, Sindicatravayer offers membership to CAL workers for a symbolic 1 rupee (instead of 50). The union extended existing collective agreements to also cover contract and agency workers. The union furthermore won, in certain sectors, an extra payment of one day&rsquo;s salary per month for temporary workers. That money goes into a fund, making sure that also CAL workers at the end of their contract get a dismissal fee. Sutids from Senegal helps precarious workers with easier access to medical care and legal assistance. 
 
There has been much progress in ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara Africa Region, but the many problems still outweigh these important steps forward. Sadly, the progress itself is also precarious in some cases. 
 
Workers in Mauritius are facing a different, new &ldquo;precarious&rdquo; problem after the country&rsquo;s government, in February 2009, decided to change the labour law, turning virtually every worker into a &ldquo;contractual.&rdquo; This new law removes obligations to pay dismissal fees. At the same time, it also makes it possible to dismiss any worker at any time without good reason. 
 
Many participants in the ICEM-SASK seminar in Togo reported on the fact that the more successful CAL activities in their respective countries took off after, and as a result of, ICEM project seminars in the different countries. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="123" />
ICEM Project Coordinator, Joseph Toe
The person most responsible for that has been ICEM&rsquo;s project coordinator, Joseph Toe. He, while organising the CAL seminars for the ICEM affiliates, almost invariably manages to get the respective country&rsquo;s Minister of Labour, or a high-ranking representative from that office, at CAL conferences. 
 
This was also the case at the most recent 2-3 November regional seminar, which was opened by Togo&rsquo;s Labour Minister, Mr. Broohm Octave Nicoue. The fact that Toe has succeeded in such organizing has improved access on the political level, and coupled with this high-level political participation, is the reason behind a number of the successes in the region.

Action on CAL Evident as ICEM African Affiliates Tackle Irregular Work

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada held its Eighth Bi-annual Women&rsquo;s Conference from 8-10 November in Ottawa. Entitled &ldquo;Breaking Down Barriers&hellip;Building Equality,&rdquo; the conference was attended by a record number of women from the 150,000-member union &ndash; 250 &ndash; making it the union&rsquo;s largest women&rsquo;s conference ever. 
 
The conference was organized mostly with workshops, with one on the opening day dealing with the new harassment policy of the Canadian union. Three other workshops were held over the ensuing days, including &ldquo;Confronting Harassment and Bullying,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Economic Crisis: We&rsquo;re Not Taking This Sitting Down,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Finding Our Voices.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="125" height="150" />
Lara Acheson, CEP
Lara Acheson, a rank-and-file CEP member from the telecommunications sector, serves as chairperson of CEP&rsquo;s National Women&rsquo;s Committee. 
The conference paid special remembrance to what has become known in Canada as the Montr&eacute;al Massacre. Twenty years ago, on 6 December 1989, 14 women were shot dead at &Eacute;cole Polytechnique de Montr&eacute;al by a deranged man who stormed into a classroom, separated men and women, and shot dead the women in anti-feminist lunacy. Because of that, Canada designates 6 December as &ldquo;National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women,&rdquo; and that theme was carried out in CEP women&rsquo;s workshops last week. 

<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="157" />
CEP Women's Committee
The harassment workshops emphasized that there would continue to be zero tolerance for harassment on the job and in the union. The economic crisis workshop detailed the effects that the crisis was having on women. And in the &ldquo;Finding Our Voices&rdquo; workshop, CEP women were empowered to begin standing up and speaking, and begin to be heard. 
 
The Canadian crisis in the pulp and paper industry was one recurring theme at the conference, specifically on the toll such economic depravation is taking on women in communities. CEP women developed a set of demands for the Canadian government to counteract the adverse economic consequences, such as affordable childcare and reform of the employment insurance scheme.

CEP Women Turn Out in Record Numbers at Canadian Conference

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Newton B. Jones, the President of ICEM North American affiliate, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB), was elected chairman of the Materials Sector at the ICEM&rsquo;s World Conference for Materials, held 3-4 November in Izmir, Turkey. 
 
The conference was attended ay 118 delegates from 31 countries, and was aptly hosted by ICEM Turkish affiliates &Ccedil;imse-İş and Kristal-İş. Alan Black of ICEM UK affiliate GMB was elected vice chairman. Jones is leader of the 100,000-member Boilermakers, North America&rsquo;s leading cement and building materials manufacturing union, with members in other sectors as well. Black&nbsp;replaces Michael Decayeux of F&eacute;d&eacute;chimie-CGT FO, who retired after a long service career in the French and global trade union movement. 
 
The Materials Conference produced two resolutions, and saw lively discussions come out of a panel debate. That panel, entitled &ldquo;Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue in the Turkish Materials Industries,&rdquo; featured employers&rsquo; representatives from Turkey&rsquo;s cement, glass, and ceramics associations. 
 
The panel saw keen perspectives from Metin Bozkurt of &Ccedil;imse-İş and M&uuml;n&uuml;r Dinler of Kristal-İş. 
 
In cement industry, M&uuml;rsel &Ouml;zt&uuml;rk of the Cement Employers&rsquo; Association of Turkey (CEIS), together with the trade union panelists, discussed some positive developments through social dialogue to avert job dismissals during the financial crisis. In ceramics, both the employers&rsquo; representative, Bekir Uzun, and the trade unionists expressed the hardships and challenges faced during the crisis. 

<img alt="" src="" width="280" height="185" />
From left, Kristal-İş President Bilal &Ccedil;etintaş, ICEM&rsquo;s Manfred Warda, Tes- İş President and ICEM Executive Committee member Mustafa Kumlu, Materials Sector Chairman Newton B. Jones, and &Ccedil;imse-İş President Ramazan Şafak 
In Turkey&rsquo;s glass sector, despite problems of union recognition in the past, the importance of mature and institutional labour relations was stressed. Hakan Yilirimoğlu represented the glass employers. 
 
A number of other presentations were made throughout the two-day event, including global sector reviews of cement, glass, and ceramics by Phee Jungsun, ICEM&rsquo;s Materials Officer, and on the ICEM&rsquo;s leading role among Global Union Federations regarding sustainable development by Brian Kohler, the Health, Safety, and Sustainability Officer. 
 
A further presentation was given by Warren Fairley of the IBB in the US. He stated how many employers have used the economic crisis as a pretext for facility closures, job cuts, and general cost cutting. He said an important lesson his union learned is to demand accurate financial information from companies seeking relief. 

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Kristal-İş President Bilal &Ccedil;etintaş, IBB International President Newton B. Jones, &Ccedil;imse-İş President Ramazan Şafak 
Another presentation was made by Rashid Arin, President of the Malaysian Cement Industry Employees&rsquo; Union (CIEU). He spoke on the large number of irregular workers in that sector in his country, and the fact that they are deprived of social benefits and medical care. Hwan-seop Shin of the Korea Chemical and Textile Workers&rsquo; Federation (KCTF) stressed that Asian unions need structural changes from company-based and plant-level trade unions to industry-wide unions. 
 
The resolutions included one giving full support to 29 members of Teamsters Local 455 in the US states of New Mexico and Colorado, who were locked off their jobs at an open pit mine on 7 October. The company involved, Harborlite, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Imerys World Minerals, mines perlite, a substance used in building materials, insulation, and filler uses. 
 
The workers refused to agree to company terms to work longer hours at less pay. That resolution can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Imerys%20Resolution%20Harborlite%20Fact%20Sheet.2.pdf">here</a>. 
 
A second resolution, found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Events_pdfs/Resolution%20of%20Materials%20Conference.pdf">here</a>. 
 
dealt with the global economic crisis, as well as reiterating ICEM&rsquo;s commitment to its Contract and Agency Labour Campaign, achievement of Global Framework Agreements, and growing trade union bargaining power and strength through organising in the Materials Sector. It serves as the sector&rsquo;s four-year work plan. 
 
The ICEM highly appreciates the support given by the IBB, which enabled many delegates from across the world to attend the quadrennial World Conference for the Materials Sector in Izmir.

Leader of North American Boilermakers’ Union to Head ICEM’s Materials Sector

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The ICEM was saddened today to learn of the passing of Neil Kearney, the General Secretary of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). Kearney died of a massive heart attack in his sleep last night in Dhaka, Bangladesh. 
 
Kearney was a tireless advocate in halting ill-willed sweatshop practices around the world, child labour in its worst forms, and the horrid working conditions he saw throughout the developing world, conditions that Neil saw as a disgrace on humanity. 
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&ldquo;He was a friend, a fighter for workers&rsquo; rights, and an extremely dedicated trade union leader,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;His passing must now stand as a juncture where all of global labour re-dedicates itself to the causes he strongly championed, the dignity, compassion, and justice for the dispossessed who work in the worse scenarios imaginable.&rdquo; 
 
Kearney, 59, became the General Secretary of ITGLWF in 1988. Born in Donegal, Ireland, he started his trade union career with the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers in 1972. In 1998, he received the &ldquo;IL Natale, La Notta della Vita&rdquo; International Award for his work on the elimination of child labour worldwide. A year later, he received the &ldquo;Work and Environment Award&rdquo; of the Associaiazione Ambiente e Lavoro for his work to improve working conditions in the developing world. 
 
He is survived by his wife, Jutta, and two daughters, Nicole and Caroline. Funeral arrangements are pending. The ICEM mourns the loss of a humanitarian in the truest sense of the word.

ICEM Mourns Death of Neil Kearney, ITGLWF General Secretary

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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. 

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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. 

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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) 
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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; 

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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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