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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we inform about the union action for universal access in the run-up to the G8/G20 summits in Canada and give an overview of the activities planned in sub-Saharan Africa in 2010. 
 
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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G8/G20: Union Action for Universal Access to HIV/AIDS Services 
 
Trade unions in Africa and all over the world have joined forces to lobby the G8 and G20 for the provision of universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. The lobbying is spearheaded by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the Africa Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
 
National trade union centres in Africa and elsewhere have delivered messages to the Canadian embassies in their country calling on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to play a leading role in convincing his fellow leaders to take quick and decisive action on HIV and AIDS. As the host country, Canada will preside over the G8 Summit in June and will co-host with South Korea the G20 Summit. 
 
The Global Union AIDS Programme has called on its membership to participate in this global campaign. The ICEM has delivered a letter to the Canadian mission in Geneva strongly urging that the G8 put forward an action plan to achieve its promises regarding universal access and calling on the Summits to support the ILO Decent Work Agenda and its Global Jobs Pact. 
 
It may be recalled that 2010 is the target year for the G8 commitment to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support made at the 2005 Summit in Gleneagles. The failure to achieve this is evident; not even half of the ten million people who need treatment are actually on it. 

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ICEM HIV/AIDS Project in Sub-Saharan Africa 
 
Planning was completed last month for the HIV/AIDS project in Sub-Saharan Africa with the sponsorship of SASK Finland and FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands. 
 
Activities in 2010 will include two sub-regional workshops to strengthen the workplace response to HIV and AIDS in Anglophone and Francophone West Africa and in Southern Africa in September and October. A further workshop in May will be exclusively for women from the Southern African sub-region. 
 
At the national level, countries have submitted programmes which put emphasis on campaigns for voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and include further training of peer educators and counselors. In Guinea (Conakry) and C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, training will be completed in new target companies and HIV/AIDS workplace policies are expected to be concluded. VCT campaigns will be initiated in Guinea and continue in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire. 
 
Ghana has drawn lessons from the regional workshop in November 2009 and included a VCT campaign and a workshop on collective bargaining in its programme. As a new project country, Mauritius will concentrate its efforts on widespread awareness campaigns at the workplace and address the issue of migrant workers and local and foreign sex workers. 
 
The well-established programme in Nigeria will expand its scope to training women as peer educators. Sierra Leone will draw on trained workers and its collaboration with the National AIDS Secretariat to run VCT campaigns in mining areas. 
 
A well-designed programme in Zambia will deal with peer education, VCT campaigns and collective bargaining issues. Uganda will undertake, among others, a revision of existing collective bargaining agreements to include HIV/AIDS clauses. In Tanzania, workshops will prepare a VCT campaign sponsored by the Women&rsquo;s Department of the German IGBCE. 

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AIDS a Key Cause of Female Death 
 
HIV and AIDS have become the leading causes of disease and death among women of reproductive age worldwide, UNAIDS said at the launch of a five-year action plan addressing the gender issues which put women at risk. 
 
Nearly 30 years from the beginning of the epidemic, HIV services still do not respond to the specific needs of women and girls. Up to 70% of women worldwide encounter violence. Experiencing violence hampers their ability to negotiate safe sex. 
 
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidib&eacute; pointed out that &ldquo;by robbing women of their dignity we are losing the opportunity to tap half the potential of mankind to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Women and girls are not victims; they are the driving force that brings about social transformation.&rdquo; 
 
Of the 33.4 million people living with HIV worldwide, 15.7 million &ndash; or almost half &ndash; are women. The proportion of women infected with HIV has risen in many regions; in Sub-Saharan Africa, it has reached 60%. In Southern Africa, HIV prevalence among young women aged 15 to 24 years is almost three times higher than among men of the same age group. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website and BBC News, 3 March) 

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South Africa: Launches Massive HIV Testing Campaign 
 
From 15 April, everyone attending a clinic or hospital in South Africa will be offered an HIV test, regardless of whether they have symptoms of the disease or not. Patients have the option to refuse the test. 
 
Dubbed the HIV Counselling and Testing Campaign, or HCT, this is the most ambitious HIV testing campaign in the world, according to the SA National AIDS Council (SANAC). The target is to have 15 million South Africans tested for HIV by June 2011. 
 
The campaign has four objectives: to increase health-seeking behaviour; to encourage people to know their status; to equip those who test HIV-negative with ways to ensuring that they do not get infected; and to create an entry point to accessing wellness and treatment services for those who test HIV-positive. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.health-e.org.za">www.health-e.org.za</a>, 18 March) 
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Malawi: Ambitious Plan to Prolong Life 
 
Malawi&rsquo;s government announced plans to more than double the number of people receiving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to half a million by the end of 2010. 
 
The country recently adopted new World Health Organisation guidelines that raise the threshold for starting ARV therapy from a CD4 count (a measure of the immune system strength) of less than 200 to a CD4 count of 350, regardless of whether the patient is displaying symptoms. 
 
Although implementing the changes will be expensive, some experts argue that starting patients on ARVs earlier could actually save money in the long term by reducing the need to treat them for opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis. 
 
Malawi successfully utilised its Global Fund Round 1 grant and was awarded a grant under the rolling continuation channel, which extends funding for six years and which can be used for the expansion of treatment. 
 
(Source: IRIN plusnews, 19 March) 

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Global Funds Seeks $17-20 Billion from Donors for 2011-2013 
 
Mother-to-child HIV transmission may be eliminated by 2015; malaria may be eliminated as a public health problem within a decade; TB prevalence could be halved by 2015. However, these health targets can only be achieved if current rates of scaling up expenditure on the three diseases are maintained and, ideally, further accelerated. And that, in turn, requires donors to give the Global Fund between $17 billion and $20 billion during 2011-2013. 
 
This is what the Global Fund announced in a news release and in several documents released in preparation for upcoming &quot;replenishment&quot; meetings with donors. The Global Fund says that demand for donor support has more than doubled since the last replenishment in 2007 (which raised $10 billion for the period 2008-2010). 
 
An initial replenishment meeting was held on 24-25 March at The Hague, Netherlands. This meeting provided an opportunity for donors to discuss the Fund's financial needs for 2011-2013 and the results achieved by the Global Fund to date. The meeting laid the foundation for the pledging conference that will take place at the UN Headquarters in New York on 4-5 October 2010. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 117 of 18 March. 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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News from Global Union AIDS Programme 
 
At the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Global Union AIDS Programme (GUAP) in Brussels on 17 March, Jan Eastman was appointed Chair of the Programme. Jan is the Deputy General Secretary of Education International (EI), a Global Union Federation. She took over from Alan Leather who had been the Chair since the inception of the Programme. 
 
The Steering Committee reviewed its activities, received reports from Global Unions, and charted its input for major campaigns and events in 2010, such as ILO&rsquo;s International Labour Conference in June, with the second discussion of a new instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, and the International AIDS Conference in Vienna in July. 
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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. 55, April 2010

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ICEM participated in the 4th Congress of the Industrial Workers Union of Albania (FSPISH) on 14 November. The Congress took place in the Museum of History of Albania. The ICEM affiliate represents 22,000 members in the mining, oil, communication, metallurgy, and energy industries. It was the first time the ICEM had been involved with a Congress of the union. 

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The ICEM affiliate used the Congress to illustrate its increased focus on international work and solidarity. The FSPISH President, Br. Taf Koleci, outlined the current challenges and activities of the union and explained the main priorities of the union, moving forward. These include: increased priority given to relationship-building with other trade unions in Europe; increased cooperation especially with Mediterranean and Balkan trade unions through higher contributions to regional trade union bodies in energy, mining, chemicals, gas and petro-chemicals; continued solidarity work with foreign unions where cooperation already exists, through bipartite relationships and through the union&rsquo;s membership in ICEM, EMCEF, PSI, EPSU, ETUC, and RETUNSEE; FSPISH will &lsquo;fight&rsquo; for further development of its relationship with the ILO, seeking to build the foundations for strong tripartite social dialogue in Albania.

Albania’s FSPISH Congress Places Emphasis on International Solidarity

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ICEM will be closely monitoring the discussions at the climate change talks COP-15 (15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in Copenhagen from 7-18 December. On 16 December at 2pm, we will be presenting the views of industrial unions at an event at the &ldquo;World of Work&rdquo; pavilion, in collaboration with the IMF, EMCEF, and EMF. 
 
Read the documents <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3452-Cut-Emissions-Transform-Jobs ">here</a> for further information on ICEM&rsquo;s positions on climate change. 
 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s sustainability policy can be found <a href="/?id=204$">here</a>.&nbsp; 
 
Watch for frequent reports of the discussions on the ICEM website.

ICEM Prepares for Copenhagen Climate Change Talks

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ICEM Mexican affiliate Los Mineros continue to face government repression, and joint government-company action against them. Wednesday 25 November saw a convoy of 10 buses, carrying 400 members and supporters to a peaceful protest in the city of Zacatecas, blocked by riot police and held at Las Arcinas, in the municipality of Sain Alto, 25km from the city. The passengers were told that if they got off the buses, they would be beaten. 
 
The protest was planned as a call for justice over the murder of fellow mineworker Jeventino Flores-Salas in June this year, and also to show support for their exiled leader Napoleon Gomez-Urrutia. Miners from throughout Mexico travelled to Zacatecas on Tuesday 24 November, but were blocked by police the following day from entering the city. The strong suspicion is that Grupo Pe&ntilde;oles asked the federal police to act in this manner. The Mexican Constitution gives citizens the right to move freely, to peaceful demonstration and expression. All of these rights were denied by the police action. Although the workers were finally allowed entry into the city, they were not left alone by the police, and were not allowed to join the manifestation. 

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The union has criticised the state government of Amalia Garcia-Medina, who is supposedly left-wing, but still sides with the right-wing repression of the federal government. 
In other news regarding Los Mineros, the Australian Government is putting pressure on the Calderon Government to rethink its campaign of repression against the Mexican miners. This follows a resolution of the National Executive of ICEM affiliated CFMEU condemning the actions of the Mexican government following the Pasta de Conchos mine disaster in 2006. CFMEU lobbying to the Australian government has resulted in the Australian government making a strong statement of support for the international labour movement&rsquo;s campaign for improved trade union rights in Mexico.

Mexican Riot Police Block Buses of Unionists on Way to Peaceful Protest

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Since late 1997, dating from the merger between BP and Mobil the ICEM affiliated trade union in Greece, the Pan Hellenic Federation of Employees in Petroleum Products, refineries and Chemical Industry has faced a series of challenges from the company regarding increased outsourcing. 
 
Over the last ten years the outsourcing and transferring of the Accounting and Technical departments has taken place with numerous changes in the contracted company. In the initial instances the social plans offered to the workers were identical to those applied by BP Greece SA Oil Trading and Mobil Oil Hellas. 

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The latest conflict concerning the outsourcing of the Accounting and Technical departments and the intention to terminate the contract by BP Hellas is however different. This time it is clear that BP Hellas intends to end the contracts and new people will be employed on inferior terms and conditions of employment to circumvent the original conditions and to deny the workers their rights. Obviously this is completely unacceptable to our Greek affiliate. 
The union has the full support of our sister organization, EMCEF at European level in their claim that the proposed changes would be contrary to various European directives that give protection to the workers in question. EMCEF has already raised the issue with the relevant European Union structures. 
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ICEM is also fully behind our affiliate&rsquo;s claim and add our voice to their demand that there must be complete application of the directives to ensure that any structural changes in the business that impact on labour relation continue to benefit from the protection given by European Social Law. 
 
BP would be clearly violating both legal and ethical obligations, should it continue with its present proposals. It is essential that the company changes track and safeguards the legitimate rights of the relevant employees.

Outsourcing struggle at BP in Greece

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With the end of a 42-day strike on 22 November by miners at BHP Billiton&rsquo;s Spence copper mine, labour peace appears at hand in the copper mines of Chile, the world&rsquo;s largest supplier of the red metal. Leading up to the close of November, future labour agreements are in place for most copper producers now, including at one of the three sets of mines owned by the Chilean state-run government, Codelco. 
 
The Spence strike will go down in this round of Chilean copper talks as the most contentious. With an expiration of 30 September, it was the second set of negotiations between BHP Billiton and the union at the open cast mine in the Atacama Dessert of Region II of northern Chile. 
 
On 13 October, the 560 miners at the three-year-old facility downed tools. The strike was resolved eight days ago when workers accepted a 4% wage increase, a bonus of US$14,000 per miner, and a loan guarantee from the company of US$4,060. The agreement runs for 41 months. 

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Two days earlier, on 20 November, in less acrimonious bargaining, BHP Billiton workers at the smaller Cerro Colorado copper mine ratified a separate 41-month deal with BHP, the world&rsquo;s biggest mining house. That deal, to take effect 1 February, gives miners a 4.8% pay increase and a US$15,000 bonus. 
 
Also settling early were miners at the globe&rsquo;s largest copper mine, Escondida, which is 57.5% owned by BHP Billiton, 30% by Rio Tinto, and supplies five percent of the world&rsquo;s copper. That settlement came even before the official start date of negotiations. In mid-October, mine management and the union representing 3,400 miners agreed to a pay deal of 5%, with a US$28,000 bonus. 
 
Talks continue, but appear headed to a peaceful resolve between Xstrata and the mining union representing workers at its Altonorte mine and smelter in the Tarapac&aacute; region near the city of Antofagasta. An agreement there expires 18 December. 

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At Xstrata&rsquo;s nearby Lomas Bayas mine, where copper ore is processed at the Altonorte smelter, miners walked off jobs last May for a week to ensure a fair pay package. Xstrata also has a 44% stake in the Collahuasi mine, Chile&rsquo;s third largest copper mining operation. 
 
Talks are also underway at the copper and gold Candelaria mine, operated by US-based Freeport-McMoRan. 
 
The agreement at state-run Codelco&rsquo;s Andina mining complex in central Chile came on 21 November, nine days before contract expiration. The wage package was not immediately made known. Three unions are bargaining jointly at Codelco&rsquo;s Chuguicamata mine, part of Codelco Norte, which has a 31 December expiry. 
 
It is expected that the government, similarly as it has done at the Andean division mines, will extend fair wage offers to other workers of Codelco, which the supplies the world with 11% of its copper.

Copper Contracts Being Settled in Chile’s Mining Industry

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ICEM led a workshop for women from ICEM affiliates in Erbil, Iraq, from 17 to 19 November. The workshop was supported entirely by the US Solidarity Center. Hashmeya Muhssin from the Basra Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union and ICEM Executive Member was instrumental in organizing the meeting. The women who participated in the meeting were all highly educated. 

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The meeting focused on violence issues, since that was felt to be the most crucial issue facing women today in Iraq. Self-esteem is one critical area in building women&rsquo;s confidence to participate in trade unions. Women need to build their self-esteem and confidence in order to become better leaders. Violence in all its forms was condemned &ndash; violence against women is not cultural. It is criminal. The women acted out role plays on violence in the family, at work, and in society. Women in armed conflict is another issue that has to be looked at, as women bear arms and are victims of those bearing arms. The women brought examples of Iraqi women role models that they admire. These included Dr Naziha Al-Dulaimy who was the first government minister in the Middle East in the 50&rsquo;s. When it is said that Iraqi women are not participating recently as much as they used to, the explanation can be found in the Iraq-Iran war and the sanctions imposed on the country until 2003, followed by war since then. The problem is that without security, women cannot prosper. It was agreed that women need to go out to work in order to be financially independent and to take their own decisions. 
 
Examples were given of women&rsquo;s organizations, in particular Kurdish women&rsquo;s associations, who fight for legal reforms, provide shelter for the homeless and threatened, train the jobless and help the poor and ill. 
 
Hashmeya has been standing up for women as well as for men in Basra and is working to launch a campaign for social security. A lot of work still needs to be done to clean up the remains from the Iran-Iraq war, as well as provide environmental and community sanitation. This work will continue in connection with the elections scheduled in Iraq for 2010. 
 
The women left the meeting feeling empowered. &ldquo;A bird cannot fly with one wing.&rdquo;

ICEM Iraqi Women&#039;s Workshop Meets in Erbil

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the new ICEM HIV/AIDS Project, on project work with other sponsors, and on forthcoming events in 2010. 
 
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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New SASK/FNV-sponsored HIV/AIDS Project 
 
Agreement was reached with the Solidarity Support Organisations SASK (the Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland) and FNV-Mondiaal of the Netherlands for a new HIV/AIDS project running for three years from 2010 to 2012. 
 
The project will allow the ICEM and its affiliates in sub-Saharan Africa to build on the experience of five years HIV/AIDS project work and intensify activities in a number of countries, as well as continue regional and sub-regional work in Africa. 
 
Special emphasis in the project will be on the training of peer educators/lay counsellors from affiliates to advocate voluntary counselling and testing and counsel on treatment and care, as well as on the conclusion of HIV/AIDS workplace policies and HIV/AIDS clauses in collective bargaining agreements. 
 
The project will be coordinated from the ICEM Johannesburg Project Office with a consultant based in Geneva. 

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Sponsors Continue ICEM HIV/AIDS Projects 
 
Several other HIV/AIDS projects will continue in 2010. The Women&rsquo;s Department of ICEM&rsquo;s German affiliate, IGBCE, is sponsoring the successful campaigning and advocacy project in Tanzania, in cooperation with ICEM affiliates TAMICO and TUICO. The Humanity Fund of ICEM Canadian affiliate, the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union, is supporting the second phase of the HIV/AIDS programme in Trinidad and Tobago in cooperation with ICEM-affiliated Oilfield Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU). Negotiations are underway to extend the very successful HIV/AIDS project in India, which was sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, and to initiate a new project in Jordan with support from the Norwegian affiliate Industri-Energi (IE). 
 
The HIV/AIDS project sponsored by the Danish Solidarity Support Organisation, LO/FTF Council, in cooperation with the Ethiopian affiliate, the National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical, and Mine Trade Unions (NIFECM), will be running until the end of 2011. 
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A Successful Year in Nigeria 
 
The HIV/AIDS project in Nigeria, jointly sponsored by the Humanity Fund of the Canadian CEP Union, the ICEM HIV/AIDS project, and Nigerian affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN, has been particularly successful. 
 
Almost 8,000 workers and members of the community were mobilised for awareness meetings in a six-month period in 2009. Well over 2,000 agreed to be tested. This number would have been much higher if counsellors had not been limited in the number of people they can counsel in a day. The project also demonstrated how far good cooperation with the business sector can go, since the Nigeria Business Coalition against AIDS (NIBUCCA) provided mobile testing units. 
 
Training of project staff was facilitated by USAID and training of union officials and members was sponsored by SMARTWork, which also provided funding for a project office and for the salaries of three staff members. 

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HIV/AIDS Events in 2010 
 
Important HIV/AIDS events will take place in 2010. The 18th International AIDS Conference, a major biannual event, will take place in Vienna, Austria, from 18 to 23 July. The theme of the Conference is &ldquo;Right Here, Right Now,&rdquo; and the conference will emphasise the importance of protecting and promoting human rights as a prerequisite to a successful response to HIV and AIDS. 
 
The G8/G20 Meeting in Huntsville, Canada, just outside of Toronto will test the commitment of the world&rsquo;s leaders to universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support which, they had pledged to achieve by this year. 
 
At the 99th Session of the International Labour Conference in June in Geneva, the second reading and likely adoption of a new ILO instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work will take place. 
 
For the Global Fund, 2010 is a key year with the 3rd Replenishment Meeting taking place in the Netherlands in March. The meeting will determine the amount of funding governments will pledge for the years 2011 to 2013. 

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US Commits US$1.05 Billion to Global Fund 
 
US President Barack Obama signed a spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year that includes a US$1.05 billion appropriation for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This is the largest sum ever committed by one country to the Global Fund in a single year. 
 
With this amount, the Global Fund is closer to meeting the demand for financing Round 9 grants worth US$2.4 billion over two years. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Press Release of 18 December 2009) 

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Asia Close to Winning AIDS Treatment Battle 
 
The departing head of the UNAIDS Programme in the Asia-Pacific Region, Prasada Rao, said that the region is within three years of winning the battle against the AIDS pandemic. Increased treatment coverage and prevention programmes are turning the tide against AIDS. 
 
In Thailand and Cambodia, treatment coverage has reached almost 90%. In India, 50% get treatment, but in China and Burma the number stands at only 30 to 35%. This puts the region on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halting and reversing the epidemic by 2015. 
 
However, access in remote areas in China and India, disrupted AIDS programmes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and sharp rises in prevalence rates in Indonesia&rsquo;s Papua province and neighbouring Papua New Guinea leave millions at risk. 
 
(Source: World AIDS Campaign website, accessed on 7 January) 

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Zambia: HIV Testing Services Missing the Mark 
 
Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services form a critical opportunity to provide risk reduction counselling and HIV prevention information. According to a report by Private Sector Partnerships-One, VCT services in Zambia are squandering this opportunity to reach clients with information about how to reduce their HIV risk. 
 
The study found that although condom use was emphasised only one in three clients received counselling on reducing their number of sexual partners and even fewer were advised on how to disclose their HIV test results to partners. The research also found that VCT services were mainly accessed by the most educated segments of the population and were largely failing to reach those who have no or only primary school education. 
 
Zambia has a prevalence rate of 14.3% but the infection rate is as high as 20% in some urban areas. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, 5 January) 

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Travel Restrictions Based on HIV Status Lifted 
 
The UN, UNAIDS and HIV/AIDS organisations all over the world welcomed the elimination of travel restrictions based on the HIV status of a person by the US and the Republic of Korea. The US policy change was announced by President Barack Obama in October 2009 (see <a href="/en/72-HIV-AIDS/3492-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin-No.-50-November-2009">ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 50</a> of November 2009). 
 
Some 57 countries still have some form of restrictions on entry, stay, and residence based on the HIV status of a person. UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidib&eacute; called for freedom of movement for people living with HIV in 2010, the year when global leaders have committed to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS Press Statement, 4 January) 

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Global Fund Board Addresses Risks of Treatment Disruptions 
 
The Global Fund is taking action to minimise the risk of treatment disruptions arising from interruptions in Global Fund financing and from weaknesses in country-level procurement and supply management systems. 
 
Inadequate stock management and poor state of medical warehouses, non-transparent procurement and late submission of disbursement requests are among the reasons which contribute to the danger of treatment disruptions. 
 
A report of the Portfolio and Implementation Committee to the Global Fund Board contains detailed measures to prevent treatment disruptions, which are a death sentence to people on anti-retroviral drugs. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 113 of 18 December. 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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TAC Receives FES Human Rights Award 
 
On 10 December, Human Rights Day, Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) awarded its Human Rights Prize to the South African Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). TAC has been in the forefront to advocate better HIV/AIDS services and fight for treatment in South Africa. 
 
(Source: News from the FES, 14 December) 

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SWHAP Conference: Business Combating HIV/AIDS 
 
The Swedish Workplace HIV/AIDS Programme (SWHAP) organised a major conference in Stockholm on World AIDS Day, 1 December, on the role of the world of work in combating HIV/AIDS. Close to 100 representatives from business and trade unions in sub-Saharan Africa and from Swedish companies and unions took part in the event. It was co-organised with the ILO. 
 
In this occasion, Atlas Copco South Africa was awarded the SWHAP 2009 Achievement Award for its commitment and support of HIV/AIDS workplace programmes since 2003. 
 
(Source: SWHAP Newsletter December 2009) 

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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. 52, January 2010

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The ICEM&rsquo;s new global Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) Coordinator/Consultant began work in her new duties last week. Ashling Seely comes from the International Textiles, Garment, and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) and will continue working for the ITGLWF part-time as coordinator for the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s Sportswear Project and as Policy Assistant to the General Secretary. 
 
Through her work as the new global Coordinator/Consultant on CAL, it is anticipated that more will be done, including support work to affiliates of ICEM, ITGLWF, and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) in their daily struggles and solidarity actions on CAL and precarious work. 

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New ICEM Global CAL Coordinator, Ashling Seely
Other work at this level will include preparing interviews and newsletters for the ICEM&rsquo;s special CAL website, preparing country reports, assisting other ICEM staff on the issue of short-term and irregular work, and assistance in work related to the Council of Global Unions. 
 
All affiliates are encouraged to directly contact Ashling Seely with any issues they have over CAL. She can be reached <a href="mailto:aseely@itglwf.org">here</a>. View the ICEM CAL website <a href="http://cal.icem.org/">here</a>.

ICEM Welcomes New Global CAL Coordinator, Ashling Seely

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On 12 January, European unions and the European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation (EMCEF) formally signed an agreement creating a European Works Council (EWC) for American pulp and paper producer, International Paper (IP). Chartered under the UK transposition of the EU Directive on EWCs, the council will cover IP worksites in Poland, France, Italy, Spain, and Belgium. 
 
Discussions on creating a EWC with the American-based company have been two years in the making. IP employs some 8,000 direct employees inside EU nations. The EWC composition will consist of two representatives from Poland, and one each from France, Italy, Spain, and Belgium. EMCEF and Belgium will be represented by Peter Ellis, a National Officer for UK&rsquo;s Unite the Union, who negotiated the agreement along with trade union representatives from the countries. 

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&ldquo;This has been a long set of negotiations, held in the main, in a cordial and professional manner,&rdquo; said Ellis. He added that the manner and procedures conducted during negotiations &ldquo;bodes well for a constructive and fully-functional European Works Council.&rdquo; 
 
Ellis said the new EWC will benefit by the fact that it will hold two meetings per year and that, in addition, two meetings annually of a select committee will also be held, a panel to serve as a steering committee. IP will also fund a union expert to be in attendance at all meetings, with that representative to be EMCEF&rsquo;s Belgium delegate. 
 
IP operates two integrated pulp and paper mills in Europe, the Saillant mill in Saillat-sur-Vienne, central France, and the Kwidzyn, Poland, mill. In addition it operates 19 corrugated packaging plants: eight in Spain, including two in the Canary Islands; 7 in France, including one on the island of Guadeloupe, and four in Italy.

Trade Unions, Work Partners Form EWC with International Paper

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ICEM Welcomes New Global CAL Coordinator, Ashling Seely

Trade Unions, Work Partners Form EWC with International Paper

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