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The International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) is calling on the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers&rsquo; and Exporters&rsquo; Association (BGMEA), as well as sourcing companies that use the Garib &amp; Garib knitwear factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, to better compensate the families of 22 workers killed and 50 others injured in a factory fire on 25 February. 
 
The ITGLWF is demanding that the BGMEA and multinational sourcing companies join the Global Union Federation in setting up a relief scheme that fully meets the needs of families of the deceased, as well as those injured at Garib &amp; Garib in Gazipur, some 30 kilometres outside of Dhaka. 
 
To date, the BGMEA has stepped forward with payment of 200,000 taka (&euro;2,085) to each family, while owners of the Garib &amp; Garib have given a mere pittance to families to cover funeral expenses &ndash; 2,085 taka (&euro;150). 

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Left, ITGLWF General Secretary, Patrick Itschert
Said ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert, &ldquo;The establishment of a multi-stakeholder team to determine the needs of those affected, on the basis of field research into the demographics of the victims&rdquo; is essential for fairness. &ldquo;Involving the (BGMEA) in this exercise in particular is an important means of making them aware of the level of compensation necessary to assist families in such circumstances,&rdquo; he added. 
 
The ITGLWF is offering to hold a round-table meeting in Dhaka with the employers&rsquo; association and the brand names to implement the compensation scheme. The union federation said that in 2005, following the collapse of the nine-story Spectrum garment factory that killed 64 and seriously injured 84 others in Savar, Bangladesh, ITGLWF and Spanish retailer Inditex established a compensation protocol that could serve as the model for victims and workers of Garib &amp; Garib. 
 
To date, only H&amp;M of Sweden and Teddy SpA (Terranova) of Italy have confirmed they source from Garib &amp; Garib, but neither company has yet to announce its compensation to victims. 
 
In the evening of 25 February, an electric short-circuit on the second floor of the factory caused a fire, trapping workers because stairwells were blocked by goods and production materials. Many of the workers retreated up several flights of stairs, where they were consumed by rising black smoke and heat. Reportedly, security guards on duty did not know how to operate fire extinguishers and water hydrants. Of the 22 victims, 15 were women. 
 
Only seven months before, in August 2009, another fire at the Garib &amp; Garib factory in Gazipur killed a firefighter and injured seven workers.

ITGLWF Demands Proper Pay Protocol in Aftermath of Deadly Bangladesh Apparel Fire

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The latest in a series of Caspian Sea Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Network meetings took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 22-23 February, again with support fro the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES). FES&rsquo;s local representative in Baku, Rashad Huseynli, actively participating in the event. 
 
Lars Myhre, chair of ICEM&rsquo;s Energy Industries Section and a founder of Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi (IE), again headed this year&rsquo;s discussions. IE has played a strong role in the network since its inception and has carried out extensive bilateral programmes and exchanges with the host union, the Oil and Gas Workers Union of Azerbaijan. 

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Some of the participants at the Caspian Workers&rsquo; Network 
Delegates attending came from the Russia Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Union (ROGWU), led by President Lev Mironov, and included representatives from the trade union structures of both Gazprom and Rosneft. The host union delegation, led by President Jahangir Aliev, included a representative from the Lukoil trade union in Azerbaijan, as well as the newly-elected chairman of the trade union branch at the Caspian Shipyard Company. 
 
Workers here had seen the success of oil workers&rsquo; organising at various contract company operations and began organising themselves. The union is the latest branch structure to affiliate to the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of Azerbaijan, which has successfully organised over 400 of the 650 workers at the shipyard. Apologies for absence were received from ICEM affiliates Petrol-Iş of Turkey and the Oil Workers of Kazakhstan, active members of the network. Both unions were unable to attend because of important meetings in their respective countries. 
 
After an opening session and delegate introductions, updates were given on ICEM activities in Eastern Europe/Central Asia by ICEM Regional Coordinator Anatoly Surin. Jim Catterson, ICEM&rsquo;s Energy Industries Officer, gave an overview of the oil and gas sectors globally. Delegates then shared detailed information on the latest situations in their country&rsquo;s energy sectors, covering such issues as organising, terms and conditions of employment, and recent investments by various multinational companies. 

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Front, from left: Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of Azerbaijan Leader Jahangir Aliyev, ICEM&rsquo;s Anatoly Surin, and Lev Mironov, President of ROGWU 
Lars Myhre gave a detailed presentation on the various agreements that IE has covering Statoil in Norway. 
 
The previous meeting of the Network had formulated a declaration of common social standards to aim for in national negotiations, and this meeting focused on the potential for engaging the multinational companies operating in the Caspian region in a regional social dialog forum. Detailed presentations covering their operations in the Caspian were given by management representatives of both Statoil of Norway and SOCAR, the state-owned company of Azerbaijan that is in the process of expanding regionally, having recently purchased a refinery in Turkey. Both presentations led to lively question and answer sessions. 
 
After a general presentation by Jim Catterson on ICEM activities regarding Social Dialog including Global Framework Agreements (GFAs), presentations were made by Myhre and Lev Mironov on the GFAs that ICEM has with Statoil and Lukoil. 
 
In conclusion, delegates emphasized that the meeting had been extremely useful and had led to a considerable exchange of valuable information. It was time, however, to make the work of the Network more comprehensive and to ensure an effective information exchange occurs between network meetings. 
 
With this in mind, ICEM was asked to create a section of the ICEM website which would initially include the background material and presentations made at the meeting, as well as a report on the discussions. ICEM would also circulate a questionnaire asking all network members to detail the companies that operate in their section of the Caspian and give information on workforce numbers, trade union organization, and terms and conditions of employment. 
 
The results of the questionnaire would also be published. The study would also give a basis as to which companies to approach in order to establish routine social dialog at this regional level. Since ROGWU is considering introducing a system of video-conferencing for routine communication with regions across the Russian Federation, ICEM will also explore the use of this technology for more frequent exchanges. 
 
The work of the Caspian Sea Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Network will also form part of the agenda of the forthcoming ICEM World Conference for the Energy Industries, to be held in Stavanger, Norway, from 6-8 September.

Energy Workers’ Network of Caspian Meets in Baku

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The ICEM reported on 22 February in InBrief No. 150 that the affiliated mining union the National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP), the country&rsquo;s largest mining union federation, has taken strike action at three mines of the precious metal producer Buenaventura. Peruvian law stipulates that companies must share a minimum of 8% of its profits with workers. The union claims Buenaventura are hiding financial information of the period 2006-2009 in order to avoid profit payments to the 4,000 workers during a global price boom. 
 
With the Peruvian Ministry of Labour siding with the company, and announcing the strike illegal, workers were forced back to work to avoid losing their jobs. This decision by the government has led FNTMMSP to go on short, rolling strikes. Workers will again down tools this Friday, 26 March, at the Antapite gold mine, and the next day at the Uchucchacua silver and Orcopampa gold mines of Buenaventura. 

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A FNTMMSP local leader at the Orcopampa mine stated that the demands of the strikers include improvements in working conditions, and the rehiring of a miner fired during an earlier strike, as well as a larger share of profit-earning bonuses. 
 
Buenaventura managers have so far refused to negotiate, with Buenaventura CEO Carlos G&aacute;lvez stating that only shareholders have the power to increase workers&rsquo; wages. He said management is powerless to avoid the rolling strikes. 
 
Uchucchacua is located in Lima's Oy&oacute;n province, Orcopampa in Arequipa region, and Antapite in Huancavelica region. Buenaventura operates four other mines and has a controlling interest in mining companies Cedimin and El Brocal. El Brocal workers went on a separate strike 13 March in response to management failing to pay agreed pay raises. 
 
Elsewhere in the Peruvian mining industry, 630 workers at Doe Run&rsquo;s Cobriza copper mine have ended a strike after one day, as company officials immediately began tripartite negotiations with FNTMMSP and the Labour Ministry. 

<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="120" />
FNTMMSP General Secretary, Luis Castillo Carlos
FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo has led the negotiations for the mineworkers of Doe Run. Castillo argues that the collective agreement has not been fulfilled by management, whereas it has been by workers, a year after it was signed. 
 
Doe Run Peru has been hard hit by the financial downturn. The operation, which is a unit of the US-based Renco Group, had its credit line cut six months ago. 
 
The company was expelled from the country&rsquo;s National Association of Mining and Energy for not completing a government-mandated clean-up at the metals processing complex in the central Peruvian city of La Oroya, which environmental organizations say is one of the world&rsquo;s most polluted places. 
 
Earlier this month, Doe Run Peru signed a letter of intent with Swiss mining multinational Glencore. If the agreement on a sale goes through, Glencore will provide Doe Run with a credit of some US$100 million, and will also finance the environmental clean-up demanded by government. 
 
The Peruvian mining industry&rsquo;s US$16.36 billion in foreign sales last year amounted to nearly 61% of the Andean nation&rsquo;s total exports.

Peruvian Miners Struggle for Fair Profit Share Continues

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ICEM&rsquo;s Norwegian affiliated union, Industri Energi (IE), has established a trade union rights award in the name of the late trade unionist, Arthur Svensson. The award, to come with a cash prize, will be given to a person or organization for outstanding contributions for promoting trade union rights and the strengthening of trade unionism on the international and national levels. 
 
Deadline for nominations for this initial Arthur Svensson International Award for Trade Union Rights is 1 May 2010. The announcement of the winner will be made on 11 October 2010. 

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Arthur Svensson
The award comes with a prize of NOK 500,000, equal to &euro;61,016 or US$82,784. ICEM Vice President Liv Undheim (also Vice President of IE) is coordinated the award. Nominations can be sent to her at <a href="mailto:liv.undheim@industrienergi.no">liv.undheim@industrienergi.no</a>, or faxed to +47 23 06 1360. 
 
Arthur Svensson was a long-time leader of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund, the Norwegian Chemical Workers&rsquo; Association, which merged with NOPEF on 4 September 2006 to form IE. Svensson died in 2008, but left a legacy in Norway and beyond as a man who promoted global peace, disarmament, and a nuclear weapons-free world. 
 
He was also a driving force from his leadership positions of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund in Norwegian environment law, and a strong proponent of clean energy to drive clean industries. But first and foremost, he was a dedicated trade unionist, maintaining membership in LO-Norway for 61 years, the final 48 of those years with the Chemical Workers. 
 
Announcement of the award can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/industrienergi_annonse_ENG.pdf">here</a>.

Norway’s IE Union Announces Arthur Svensson Labour Rights Award

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Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), the subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has begun dialogue with ICEM affiliate PENGASSAN to address the growing use of casual and temporary workers among its contractors in the upstream oil and gas sectors of the country. But it still refuses to take responsibility for the abuse and sudden disposal of casual workers of it contractors. 
 
That is according to Bayo Olowoshile, the General Secretary of PENGASSAN. In talks with Mobil Producing, the company has stated that it is willing to be an observer if contractors and labour brokers do choose to sit down with the union, but not to be an active participant. 

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Bayo Olowoshile, PENGASSAN General Secretary
&ldquo;That is unacceptable,&rdquo; said Olowoshile. &ldquo;The use of these workers is a disguise for MPN. They use Mobil&rsquo;s equipment, they use Mobil&rsquo;s facilities, and they perform the same work that full-time PENGASSAN members perform.&rdquo; He added that PENGASSAN&rsquo;s mandate is equal pay for equal work, and making all casual workers regular, rostered, and full-time employees with the multinational. 
 
Olowoshile said MPN uses 12 such companies, easily characterized as labour brokers, which utilize some 600 casual workers. They earn 40 to 50% less than regular workers, and are denied most social benefits, as well as the right to join a union. 
 
There has been some progress, however. Since an early February strike by PENGASSAN and junior staff belonging to NUPENG, and an ICEM intervention with US-based ExxonMobil over the issue, MPN has converted some 10% of all casual workers to full-time staff. The company has also encouraged its contractors to talk with the union. 
 
PENGASSAN is waiting on the federal Ministry of Labour to issue a ruling on the casualisation issue under Nigeria&rsquo;s local content policies. 
 
Meanwhile, NUPENG&rsquo;s Petroleum Tanker Drivers&rsquo; Division is preparing to strike another multinational&rsquo;s subsidiary over the same issue. NUPENG&rsquo;s Western Zonal committee could take industrial action any day against Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co. for using contractors to employ casual workers, who are then retrenched at will without payment of entitlements. Similar to MPN, Shell uses contractors to disguise the employment relationship, with NUPENG saying that such &ldquo;pay masters&rdquo; gain far more money than what is paid casual workers.

Mobil Producing Nigeria Takes Some Steps to Address Casualisation

About Rio Tinto 
 
 Rio Tinto is a multi-billion dollar global corporation that mines and processes aluminum, coal, copper, diamonds, gold, iron ore and uranium, as well as industrial minerals including borates, titanium dioxide, salt and talc. 
 
 The company is based in London and Melbourne, Australia and traded on the London, Sydney and New York Stock Exchanges. 
 
 Rio Tinto is the 3rd largest mining company in the world, operating in more than 50 countries on six continents, with the majority of production occurring in Australia and North America. 
 
 In 2009, Rio Tinto reported net earnings of almost $5 billion on revenues of $44 billion. 
 
About Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Borate Business 
 
 Rio Tinto&rsquo;s borate mining and processing business is part of its Diamonds &amp; Minerals product group, which reported net earnings of $800 million in 2009. 
 
 The company&rsquo;s borate business consists primarily of its mine &ndash; the largest borate deposit in the world &ndash; and processing plant in Boron, California, USA. Rio Tinto also operates a small borate mine and processing plant in Argentina, as well as plants and/or distribution facilities in Wilmington, California, France, Spain and the Netherlands. 
 
 Rio Tinto supplies nearly half the world&rsquo;s demand for refined borates. Together with Etimine of Turkey, Rio Tinto enjoys a virtual monopoly on the global borate market. 
 
 Borates are industrial minerals with a wide variety of uses, including glass, ceramics, fertilizer, detergents and wood treatments. 
 
 Although Rio Tinto often tells reporters that it has lost 25% of its share of the borate market in order to garner sympathy and justify its attack on families in Boron, the company&rsquo;s claim has never been independently substantiated. Rio Tinto does not report publicly on the financial performance of its borate business. Like most companies, Rio Tinto has been temporarily impacted by the economic recession, but the outlook for Rio Tinto&rsquo;s future is bright and already improving. In his &ldquo;State of Business&rdquo; address in August 2009, Rio Tinto Vice President Chris Robison said, &ldquo;the financial position of the company is very strong.&rdquo; Independent experts predict demand for borates will increase significantly in 2010, mainly due to the growth in Chinese manufacturing. China is Rio Tinto&rsquo;s largest destination market. 
 
About the Mine in Boron 
 
 Located in the Mojave Desert, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, the Boron mine is the largest open-pit mine in California. 
 
 The mine has been operating since borates were first discovered in Boron in 1925. The facility was acquired by Rio Tinto in 1967. 
 
 The mine serves Rio Tinto&rsquo;s borate customers in almost 100 countries around the world. 
 
 There are about 570 hourly workers at the mine, many of whom have worked their entire lives at the facility. Some employees have more than 40 years of experience there. 
 
About the Lockout 
 
 On January 31, 2010, Rio Tinto locked out about 570 hourly workers from the Borax mine. 
 
 Employees had refused to accept Rio Tinto&rsquo;s concessionary contract ultimatum. Their demands included allowing the company to convert good jobs into temporary, part-time or outsourced positions. 
 
 Since the lockout, Rio Tinto has replaced its experienced, skilled workforce with workers from its other facilities and with contract workers supplied by Gettier Security, a Wilmington, DE-based company that specializes in providing workers to firms engaged in strikes or lockouts. 
 
 The locked out families are relying on unemployment insurance and other forms of public assistance to help feed their children and pay mortgages. 
 
 
For more information about Rio Tinto and the Lockout in Boron, or to learn how you can help the miners and their families, please contact Craig Merrilees, Communications Director, ILWU on +1 (0) 415 775 0533 ext 113.

Facts About Rio Tinto and the Lock Out in Boron, California

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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. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
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) 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
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) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
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) 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
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>) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
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. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
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

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 140px;height: 78px" width="390" />The abuse of basic labour rights in Iraq, and the bravery of Iraqi workers to continue to organise under extreme pressure of aggressive employers supported by viciously anti-trade union legislation from the Saddam era is continuing. A raft of recent attacks on trade union activity of oil workers is attracting wide condemnation from international trade unions, and includes fines, forced demotions, and relocation of union officials.Join the <a href="http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1390">LabourStart campaign</a>&nbsp;and join thousands sending messages to the Iraqi government, condemning the continued repression of oil worker trade unions, and calling for a proper labour law that brings the country in line with international standards.The Court of Appeal has ruled against Ibrahim Radi, vice-president of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), confirming a fine of 34 million Iraqi dinars (US$30,000), an amount far beyond the trade union leader&rsquo;s ability to pay. In case of non-payment, Radi will face jail, and also the possible dismissal from his job. Hassan Jumaa Awad Al Assadi, President of IFOU calls for solidarity and assistance from trade union comrades abroad.&nbsp;<img alt="" height="266" src="" width="200" />Hassan JumaaIFOU President Hassan Jumaa has himself recently been disciplined for trade union activity, being arbitrarily demoted three years seniority including a substantial drop in salary.In May 2011 ICEM reported on the Sadrist-controlled Ministry of Labour controlling trade union elections, appointing a &ldquo;Ministerial Preparatory Committee&rdquo; (MPC), consisting of un-elected, politically bias officials, mostly from the Sadrist Party. MPC officials distributed union membership cards, arbitrarily choosing members favourable to their faction. Union offices were taken over with support from police and military personnel, and the union elections were held inside the Sadrist Party offices. Following international outcry, those election results were voided, but today the Ministry of Labour recognised the 2011 election results and asked the same preparatory committee to oversee a new round of worker elections on 2 June. The elections stand to appoint worker representatives at all levels, and will be marred with fraud and misconduct.

Support New LabourStart Campaign for Iraqi Oil Workers

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 130px;height: 63px" width="390" />Affiliates of the ICEM, IMF, and ITGLWF are uniting in action around the world in support of the United Steelworkers (USW) campaign to push Rio Tinto &ldquo;Off the Podium&rdquo;. Scores of affiliates are writing to and taking action at the national representatives of the International Olympics Committee in their home countries. Take another action now to express our collective anger that Rio Tinto can tarnish the London Olympics with their abuse of worker rights and the environment, by casting your <a href="http://c.plma.se/?q=55761153701412040024">vote here</a>. As has been widely reported, the metal used for medals at the upcoming London Olympics comes from Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Kennecott Bingham Canyon mine in Utah, USA, and its Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia.<img alt="" src="" style="width: 190px;height: 160px" width="390" />A great advert for the mining conglomerate, scandalously linking Rio Tinto to the high ideals of the Olympic games. The multinational has a record of catastrophic pollution, and violation of human rights and public health. But the lockout of 780 workers at the aluminium smelter in Alma, Quebec has particularly angered the international trade union movement, as workers there are being punished for rejecting management attempts to halve salaries and outsource the workforce. The Kennecott union, USW Local 392, whose members mined the metal for the majority of the 4,700 medals also want the company &ldquo;Off the Podium&rdquo; because of the labour violations in Alma. Vote now on the <a href="http://c.plma.se/?q=55761153701412040035">London Mining Network&rsquo;s campaign</a> and ensure Rio Tinto is properly portrayed as a company not deserving of a relationship with the Olympics.

Vote to Condemn Rio Tinto as Olympics Medals Provider

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 130px;height: 63px" width="390" />At a critical moment for ICEM&rsquo;s glass worker affiliate in Colombia, Sintravidricol, write to the company management that is attempting to crush the union at the Cogua Cundimarca plant, the largest in Colombia.The US-based glass packaging manufacturer Owens Illinois has a long history of mistreatment of its Colombian employees, with violations including reducing workforce levels to dangerous levels, increased worktime with no rest, no worker replacements, outsourcing sections of the manufacturing process, acting unilaterally and ignoring union offers of cooperation, repeated breach of the collective agreement, and causing unsafe working conditions.Owens Illinois, the company that monopolises the industry in Colombia is now pushing hard to destroy the Sintravidricol union inside Owens Illinois by systematically replacing Sintravidricol members in permanent jobs with outsourced contract and agency jobs.Some of the workers being laid off have worked ten years at the company, and only now are being dismissed because of company policy to get rid of the union. Workers attempting to use their labour rights are given various reprisals by management, including administrative complaint procedures against them. All culminating in a multifaceted attack on basic labour freedoms.Our Colombian comrades request letters from all supporters to demand that management ends this attack and begins to respect their employees&rsquo; core trade union rights. Click <a href="mailto:juan.posada@i-com;%20Ricardo.torres@o-i.com;%20Sintravidricol@yahoo.com;%20icemcol@hotmail.com">here to write</a>&nbsp;to Juan Manuel Posada Pinzon, Human Resources Director at the Cogua plant, Ricardo Torres Lopez, Labour Relations Manager, Sintravidricol, and ICEM Colombia.

Colombian Glass Workers Fight against Union-Busting

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