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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, we report on the sub-regional workshop in Lagos and the West African assessment mission. Information is also included on the renewal of PEPFAR, the results of the G8 Summit and on latest developments at the Global Fund.
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Sub-regional HIV/AIDS Review Workshop in Lagos 
Fourteen unionists, half of them women, from Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone came together in Lagos, 21&ndash;23 July, for a sub-regional workshop to review progress in their HIV/AIDS work. Working groups dealt with constraints in their HIV/AIDS work and possible solutions; considered new proposals; discussed the role of women and young workers and argued in favour of mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in all union activities; and explored the idea of making HIV/AIDS an organising tool for unions. 
 
Above all, participants discussed future sustainability in view of the expiry of the ICEM HIV/AIDS project. While funding from employers and national and international organisations, and cooperation with NGOs and faith-based organisations are all important, commitment by union leadership is crucial in the fight against the pandemic. Unions should also develop technical competence in proposal writing and project management. 
 
Presentations on HIV/AIDS workplace policies, the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, and peer education were made by SMARTWork, a US-funded organisation which supports workplace programmes in Nigeria and other countries, in cooperation with employers and unions. (SMARTWork stands for Strategically Managing AIDS Responses Together in the Workplace). 
 
A representative of the Nigeria Business Coalition against AIDS (NIBUCAA) presented good practices by employers in case studies from Nigeria. 
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West African Assessment Mission 
Prior to the late July workshop in Lagos, the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator visited Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria to assess the HIV/AIDS work by ICEM affiliates during the past three years. 
 
A full programme in Freetown included meetings with the National HIV/AIDS Secretariat, mine companies, and the Network of HIV Positives in Sierra Leone. These meetings demonstrated the extended contacts the United Mineworkers&rsquo; Union uses for its very successful HIV/AIDS programme and the commitment of leadership. 
 
The national HIV/AIDS coordinator in Nigeria has run innovative activities for NUPENG and PENGASSAN, with the help of SMARWork, and received technical assistance from GHAIN, the Global HIV/AIDS Initiative Nigeria. A new project sponsored by the Humanity Fund of the Canadian ICEM affiliate Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) will take off soon. 
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News from Affiliates 
In the last issue of this e-bulletin, we reported on the national activities supported by the ICEM HIV/AIDS project in Nigeria, Zambia, C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, and Sierra Leone. 
 
ICEM affiliates continue their HIV/AIDS work and reports were received from a number of countries. The Uganda Mines and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union conducted two training courses for HIV/AIDS counsellors in May and June for a total of 50 participants with the objective to developing skills to conduct counselling at the workplace. Unionists as representatives of workers have a special position of trust to overcome stigma and the low uptake of VCT. 
 
The Mine Workers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN), in cooperation with the Occupational Health, Education, and Awareness Programme (OHEAP) of the Chamber of Mines, organised a group education workshop in Walvis Bay in May. Twnety-six participants from R&ouml;ssing Uranium Mine, from salt and chemical manufacturers, and from the surrounding communities attended the workshop. 
 
ICEM and MUN are also sponsoring an evaluation of the OHEAP Programme to be terminated by December. Over the past two years, cooperation between MUN and the Chamber of Mines has increased, recognising a greater role of the union in HIV/AIDS interventions. 
 
In Mauritius, the Chemical, Manufacturing and Connected Trade Employees&rsquo; Union organised an awareness campaign. A total of 192 participants, including migrant workers, attended the main event. With the support of the ICEM HIV/AIDS Project, 7,000 leaflets were printed. The target of the campaign includes female foreign workers who, because of their meagre salaries, often become part-time commercial sex workers in their spare time. 
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G8 Creates Monitoring Mechanism for AIDS 
A three-year lobbying by trade unions and civil society yielded a renewed G8 commitment to universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care, health system strengthening, and the creation of a follow up mechanism to monitor G8 progress on HIV/AIDS. 
 
Such greater accountability was achieved in a three-year campaign lobbying G8 embassies and ministers at UN, OECD, and other inter-governmental meetings. In the short period of seven working days, over 250 organisations, mostly trade unions, signed up in support of the declaration circulated by the World AIDS campaign (see e-bulletin 32, May 2008). 
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US Triples Funding for AIDS, TB, and Malaria 
The US House of Representatives, on 24 July, voted 303 to115 and the US Senate followed with a 60-13 vote to approve a bill that reauthorizes the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The bill allocates US$48 billion for PEPFAR over the next five years. It was signed by President Bush on 30 July. 
 
The bill approved includes a provision that more than half of the program's aid go toward HIV/AIDS treatment and care. It allocates US$2 billion for the Global Fund in fiscal year 2009. The legislation contains an existing requirement that organisations receiving PEPFAR aid have a policy that opposes commercial sex work. The measure also includes a provision that would ease U.S. HIV/AIDS travel restrictions. 
 
(Various sources, as reported in <a href="http://www.kaisernetwork.org">www.kaisernetwork.org</a>) 
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UNAIDS Publishes New Report on Global AIDS Epidemic 
Significant gains in preventing new HIV infections are being seen in a number of countries most affected by the AIDS epidemic. This is according to the 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic. The Report, published every two years, highlights specific examples of countries which are seeing changes in sexual behaviour followed by declines in the number of new HIV infections. 
 
However, the Report also shows that despite the declines in new HIV infections, the AIDS epidemic is far from over, and that rates of new infections are rising in many countries. 
 
The 2008 Report is the most comprehensive report on the response to AIDS. It includes data from 147 countries and enables readers to assess progress made since 2001. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS Press Release, 29 July. The report is available on the website <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>). 
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Record Gains in South-East Asia 
According to the above report, Cambodia and Laos are among the best reformers in the region when it comes to ARV coverage. By 2007, there were 26,000 Cambodians on ARV treatment of the 29,000 people living with HIV/AIDS who needed it. Similarly, Laos is in the small group of developing countries where the coverage is more than 75%. 
 
With much higher absolute numbers, Thailand&rsquo;s achievements are also impressive. They are largely due to cheaper generic drugs. In November 2006, Thailand applied the compulsory licensing option, which allows developing countries to break patents of expensive drugs for public health emergencies under WTO rules. 
 
Papua New Guinea has made significant progress in scaling up VCT services, as well as expanding ARV access during the past few years. In Indonesia, however, the epidemic is among the fastest growing in Asia. The epidemic, which initially centred largely on injecting drug users in Bali and Jakarta, has now spread to 32 provinces. 
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Global Fund Board Confirms Round 9 
The Board of the Global Fund has confirmed that the Round 9 Call for Proposals will be on 1 October 2008, nearly six months earlier than had originally been anticipated. Round 10 is then expected to begin in April 2009. 
 
In the run-up to the decision on R8 proposals, for which the deadline was 1 July, the Technical Review Panel will give more complete information on rejected proposals, including suggested changes that need to be made to submit a proposal for re-submission. In Round 9, CCMs will be permitted to re-submit a proposal that had been assigned to Category 3 in Round 8 and to submit a separate new proposal. As anticipated, there will be a number of changes from the procedures followed in earlier rounds. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, issue 90 of 26 June 2008. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>, a Kenya-based NGO that serves as an independent watchdog of the Global Fund. 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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Do Global Fund Grants Work for Women? 
An Aidspan report entitled, &quot;Do Global Fund Grants Work for Women? An Assessment of the Gender Responsiveness of Global Fund-Financed Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa,&rdquo; has just been published. It is available at no charge, in English only, at <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/aidspanpublications">www.aidspan.org/aidspanpublications</a>. 
 
The report, by Angela Kageni and David Garmaise, provides findings from an analysis by Aidspan of all 211 approved proposals to the Global Fund that were submitted by countries in sub-Saharan Africa in Rounds 1-7. The study examines the extent to which these proposals, including services and activities, were &ldquo;gender responsive.&rdquo; Programmes are said to be gender-responsive when they provide services specifically for women or promote equal access for women to services provided to both men and women. 
 
For five focus countries &ndash; Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia &ndash; Aidspan analysed not just the proposals, but also the grants as implemented, to determine what results have been achieved for gender-related services and activities. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, issue 92 of 31 July 2008) 
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Kenya in Landmark HIV Ruling 
Kenya&rsquo;s High Court has ruled for the first time that it is unlawful to fire someone on the grounds of their HIV status. It awarded a woman compensation of 2.2 million Kenyan shillings (US$35,000) for unfair dismissal. Homepark Caterers terminated the waitress&rsquo;s contract five years ago after she tested HIV-positive. 
 
The landmark ruling could have positive consequences for many of the 2.5 million Kenyans living with HIV, many of whom hide their status for fear of discrimination. 
 
(Source: SAPA, 11 July) 
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New AIDS Threat Emerging in India&rsquo;s Call Centres 
A new AIDS threat is rising in India's numerous call centres, where young staff is increasingly having unprotected sex with multiple partners in affairs developed during night shifts, a top AIDS expert has warned. 
 
While India has made great strides in bringing down its HIV infection rate, the promiscuity among &quot;call centre Romeos&quot; is a great concern, Dr. Suniti Solomon, who detected the first HIV case in India in 1986, told an international medical conference. 
 
According to her, India has reached a plateau of the infections. Her concern now is the call centres, where many of the young staff works at night to correspond with the daytime working hours of their American and European clients. 
 
It is estimated that India&rsquo;s call centres employ some 1.3 million people, mostly youths fresh out of school and colleges, earning a starting salary of 25,000 rupees (US$600) a month, more than a government doctor's pay check. There are no figures for how many call centre workers are infected with HIV. 
 
(Source: Associated Press Worldstream, 22 June) 
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News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions 
In its latest Newsletter on EFA and HIV/AIDS Prevention at Schools of 1 August, Education International reports on the controversy in South Africa in making condoms available in schools; and on HIV/AIDS workshops in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Mali. Articles also deal with preparations for the International AIDS Conference in Mexico and consultations on drafting the ILO Recommendation on HIV/AIDS in the world of work. 
 
The Global Union AIDS Programme is organising a two-day Labour AIDS Forum to facilitate trade union cooperation ahead of the biennial International AIDS Conference in Mexico City from 3-8 August.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

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An expected conclusion to the 11-day strike in Namibia at Skorpion Zinc yesterday did not occur, due to company insistence that wages be tied to ICEM affiliate Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN) withdrawing a pending court case. During negotiations yesterday &ndash; talks that were expected to finalise a new labour agreement and end the strike &ndash; management &ldquo;took a full u-turn&rdquo; on many issues resolved over the weekend, according to MUN President Andries Eiseb. 
 
The MUN has suspended the strike, but has given no guarantee that a further walk-out by its 450 union members at the zinc mining and smelting operation near Rosh Pinah in southwestern Namibia will not occur. 
 
In talks yesterday, management linked a 12% pay offer to Skorpion, owned by major mining house AngloAmerican, gaining an exemption from Namibia&rsquo;s Labour Ministry to move to continuous operations. MUN gave the company a promise that it would support such an application to the government, but that pledge hinged on workers immediately gaining the pay hike 
 
Also, Skorpion management changed the effective date of any new agreement, from 1 May 2008 to the effective date of signing.
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The court matter, dating to 2004, involves compensation &ndash; specifically, overtime pay &ndash; on the operation&rsquo;s shift to continuous operations. MUN has argued that overtime pay be tied to the basic requirements contained in Namibia&rsquo;s labour code. 
 
&ldquo;The company&rsquo;s demand that the wage issue can only be settled once the court action has been withdrawn has crippled the whole negotiation process,&rdquo; said Eiseb. &ldquo;We feel we are being kept at ransom to a pending court case, said Eiseb, adding that the company&rsquo;s negotiation posture has been one of &ldquo;bad faith, intimidation, harassment, and arrogance.&rdquo; 
 
The strike by 680 miners at one of the world&rsquo;s richest zinc operations began on 9 May. The ICEM believes that the MUN and its membership has been a steadfast partner in an operation which has provided the London-based company with its largest profit contribution of late. Since Skorpion came fully on line in 2005, zinc prices on global markets have risen more than 300%.

Skorpion Reneges; Deal to Settle Zinc Dispute in Namibia is Scuttled

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The Council of Global Unions, the coordinating body for most of the 11 Global Union Federations, as well as the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee of OECD, has launched a new website, <a href="http://www.global-unions.org">www.global-unions.org</a>. 
 
The site will rely on RSS feeds from the representative global bodies and will provide relevant data and timely calls for action on issues concerning global trade unions. The site was launched on 1 May, and in the coming weeks will be further updated to include features. 
 
The website was a creation of a global union communicators&rsquo; task force, and had the technical expertise of the ITUC&rsquo;s Alex Gomes in design and innovation. Aidan White, General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, chaired the task force.
<img height="105" src="" width="160" alt="" />
&nbsp;Education International GS Fred Van Leeuwen
&ldquo;The website is just the latest way to improve how we talk to the world,&quot; stated Fred Van Leeuwen, General Secretary of Education International, who is also chairman of the Council of Global Unions. &ldquo;Global-unions.org is the new starting point for anyone, anywhere, who works and is looking to someone in fight in their corner.&rdquo;

Global Unions Raises New Website to Heighten Profile

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The ICEM filed strong protest with the government of South Korea last week over the detention and deportation of two leaders of the Migrants&rsquo; Trade Union (MTU). President Tornu Limbu and Vice President Abudus Sabur were arrested outside the union&rsquo;s offices in Seoul on 2 May, and held in the Cheongju Detention Centre. 
 
The two were deported by South Korea&rsquo;s Justice Ministry on 15 May, according to a release issued by Amnesty International. Due process was denied them, as they were not given legal rights to challenge the deportation order.
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&ldquo;It is very clear to the ICEM, and its 475 affiliates in 173 countries, that the two have been incarcerated because of their trade union activities, a clear violation of accepted international norms and standards,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda in a letter to the Korean head of Mission at the UN in Geneva last week. &ldquo;Migrant workers, like all other workers, deserve the respect and treatment afforded them under freedom of association, as enshrined in ILO Convention 87.&rdquo; Click <a href="/en/7-Asia-Pacific/2652-ICEM-Letter-to-Korea-Over-Detention-Expulsion-of-Migrant-Workers'-Leaders">here</a> to find the ICEM&nbsp;letter. 
 
Reportedly, both Tornu Limbu, a citizen of Nepal, and Abudus Sabur, from Bangladesh, were beaten while in detention. The crack-down occurred just following newly-elected South Korean President Lee Myung-bak&rsquo;s public vow that foreign workers in the country, who are without the necessary papers, will be flushed out of Korea even through use of force. 
 
Limbu, 42, and Sabur, 39, had been effectively organising migrant workers in the country for 16 and nine years, respectively. Limbu has been a vocal critic of the difficulties and unfairness inherent in the work permit process in Korea for foreign workers.
The MTU and the fight for rights for migrant workers have the backing of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. On 18 March, the plight of migrant workers in Korea was the central focus of a seminar in Geneva, which called on the United Nations to take strong action to ensure that migrant workers work with dignity as part of their basic human rights.

ICEM Protests Expulsions by Korea of Migrant Workers’ Union Leaders

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The Labour Government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown appears to have brokered a deal that will give agency workers new and better rights in the UK. Late last week, negotiators for both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Confederation of British Industry struck a deal that would bring the UK more in line with the European Union nations that seek a Temporary Workers Directive. 
 
Although some details of the proposed UK law concerning agency workers still need to be worked out, staff of agencies would get job protection rights after 12 weeks of work. Employer groups had sought up to a year&rsquo;s working time before a doctrine of unfair dismissal could take effect. Equal pay and similar work conditions for 1.4 million agency workers also is included in the UK dialogue, although details on those issues are still in discussions. 
 
Last week&rsquo;s news was a clear victory for the TUC and UK&rsquo;s trade unions, which mounted an effective campaign early in 2008 for work rights for agency workers. 
 
In a speech early last week, Brown tipped his hand to the impending agreement, promising legislation that &ldquo;will, for the first time, ensure new rules for the fair treatment of agency workers here in Britain.&rdquo;
<img height="107" src="" width="75" alt="" />
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber&nbsp;
On Wednesday, 14 May, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said of Brown&rsquo;s draft legislative plan: &ldquo;I welcome the Prime Minister&rsquo;s clear recognition that agency workers get a raw deal. Unions will now step up their campaign to secure proper protection and a fair deal for agency workers.&rdquo; 
 
That campaign produced a record 136 MPs supporting a Private Member&rsquo;s Bill on the issue of rights for temp agency workers. That bill, by Labour MP Andrew Miller, which garnered a full third of the House of Commons in February, left little doubt that the Brown Government must act on a draft law. 
 
Winning work rights for agency workers in Britain will also have enormous significance inside the EU, where a directive has been blocked by only a handful of countries, including the UK. The proposed EU directive has a six-week period for temp workers to gain employment rights.

UK Moves Closer to Granting Agency Workers Better Rights

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African trade union leader&nbsp;&nbsp;Fran&ccedil;ois Yao announced that a 34-month dispute between ICEM affiliate National Union of Workers in Electricity, Gas, and Water (SYNASEG) in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire and Compagnie Ivoirienne d&rsquo;Electricit&eacute; (CIE), a subsidiary of French-based Bouygues Group, ended recently with a framework labour agreement calling for continual social dialogue and respect for trade union rights. 
 
The framework accord was signed on 30 April 2008, after five months of intense negotiations between SYNASEG leaders and CIE. Yao, the SYNASEG General Secretary,&nbsp;announced the agreement at a 1 May, Workers&rsquo; Day, news conference. 
 
&ldquo;We have now opened a new spirit of tolerance and dialogue that will ensure harmony and cohesion within (our country&rsquo;s) electrical sector,&rdquo; he said. He termed the negotiations &ldquo;difficult, but frank and sincere,&rdquo; and credited Bouygues&rsquo; chief manager in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, Marcel Zadi Kessy, with providing an atmosphere that made the draft agreement possible.
<img height="66" alt="" src="" width="100" border="1" />
The union will now begin informational meetings with electricity workers across the West African nation in order to inform them of the accord. 
 
The agreement calls for regular, quarterly meetings between the new social partners. It also pledges both parties to a common goal of profitability and lifting the living conditions of CIE&rsquo;s workforce. And specifically, SYNASEG won full participation in the affairs of the Mutual Investment Fund, a fund established years ago for training, placement, and workers&rsquo; needs. It was the company taking unilateral control of that fund in 2006-2007 that brought the dispute to a near strike in March 2007. Workers make contributions to the fund.
<img height="101" alt="" src="" width="220" border="1" />
&nbsp; 
The dispute itself began in 2005 when CIE began systematic attacks on SYNASEG. That was seen as retaliation against the union for its backing of a then government plan to renationalise the utility and end Bouygues&rsquo; 15-year contract. The ICEM had brought the dispute to both global attention, and to the attention of French social partners. 
 
The ICEM commends both its C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire affiliate and the Bouygues affiliate for reaching a framework agreement that will ensure social harmony. &ldquo;We are sure that this recently achieved milestone of mutual respect and joint confidence will carry the SYNASEG-CIE partnership to greater rewards for both workers and the company,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda.

Three-year Dispute Between Côte d’Ivoire’s SYNASEG and Bouygues Subsidiary Ends

13 May 2008 
 
Sung-joo Lee 
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea 
Avenue de l&rsquo;Ariana 1, CP 2 
CH-1211 Geneva 20 
Switzerland 
 
Transmitted to Fax Nos. 022 748 0001 and 031 356 2444, and e-mail mission.korea-rep@tie.itu.int 
 
Mr Sung-joo Lee: 
 
The International Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), a Global Union Federation numbering 20 million workers, including tens of thousands in the Republic of Korea, writes to file sincere protest with the recent arrests and detentions of Torna Limbu and Abudus Sabur, the President and Vice President of the Migrants&rsquo; Trade Union (MTU) in your country. 
 
I urge you to convey to your government that such arrests and detentions are contrary to social conventions upheld by international organisations, such as the ILO. I also urge you to insist to your government that the Republic of Korea respect all human and trade union rights. 
 
Information received by the Geneva-based ICEM states that Torna Limbu was arrested in front of his office at 08h20 on 2 May 2008, and that one hour later, Abudus Sabur was also rounded up and arrested. We have received further information that the two are being held in Cheongju Detention Centre. 
 
It is very clear to the ICEM, and its 475 affiliates in 173 countries, that the two have been incarcerated because of their trade union activities, a clear violation of accepted international norms and standards. We call on you to insist that Korean authorities release the two and allow them to carry on their valuable trade union services to migrant workers. Migrant workers, like all other workers, deserve the respect and treatment afforded them under freedom of association, as enshrined in ILO Convention 87. 
 
Without further delay, I demand that the Republic of Korea release the President and Vice President of the MTU, and that your government ensures they are able to continue their legitimate work inside Korea on behalf of migrant workers. 
 
Sincerely, 
 
Manfred Warda 
General Secretary

ICEM Letter to Korea Over Detention, Expulsion of Migrant Workers&#039; Leaders

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Negotiations today in Baku, Azerbaijan, between ICEM affiliate Oil and Gas Industry Workers&rsquo; of Azerbaijan (OGWUA), Agip Azerbaijan BV, and Keppel FELS of Singapore will attempt to resolve issues surrounding a strike by 1,000 contractors of Agip that occurred on Wednesday, 11 June.
Agip, a subsidiary of Italy-based Eni, is constructing offshore oil rigs at Caspian Shipyards Co. Ltd., owned and operated by Keppel.
The contractors, mostly Azeri citizens, seek salaries that match those paid foreign workers and corrections to their labour agreements, according to OGWUA Chairman Jahangir Aliyev. The workers also seek improvements in food allowances, and they seek to have their salaries paid in the national currency of Azerbaijan.
<img height="203" alt="" src="" width="280" />
OGWUA Chairman Jahangir Aliyev
The ICEM supports the demands made by the workers, and states that they made the correct decision in turning to OGWUA for help in negotiations.
In late 2005, workers constructing rigs for US-based McDermott International struck for union recognition, and OGWUA stepped in to win important gains. Since, the union which once only represented workers of Azeri state company Socar, has aptly represented 20,000 oil and gas workers in the western Caspian region, workers employed by many oil and gas service companies.

Contract Workers of Agip in the Caspian Strike for Equal Pay

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&nbsp;The European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation (EMCEF) conducted its Fourth Congress 11-13 June in Prague, Czech Republic. The Congress was attended by over 300 delegates from 29 countries, with participants re-electing President Hubertus Schmoldt and Reinhard Reibsch as General Secretary. 

Schmoldt is the President of ICEM and EMCEF affiliate IGBCE of Germany. Reibsch has served as head of the European federation since the year 2000.
<img height="285" alt="" src="" width="380" />
In his keynote speech, Schmoldt stressed that the interests of European workers cannot fall victim to unbridled market forces. &ldquo;We must ensure that European trade unions move a social dimension to the center of all European policy,&rdquo; he said. 

Schmoldt also emphasized the need for close cooperation and collaboration between European trade union federations in the chemicals, energy, mining, metals, leathers, and textile sectors. EMCEF&rsquo;s General Assembly adopted such a resolution in 2006 in Istanbul, Turkey. 

The Congress heard thorough reports on the Secretariat, as well from EMCEF&rsquo;s four standing committees &ndash; Collective Bargaining, Works Councils, Industrial Relations (including environment, health and safety), and Social Dialogue. 
<img height="260" alt="" src="" width="380" />
Main speakers included John Monks, Secretary General for the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), and Manfred Warda, General Secretary of ICEM, who attended the EMCEF Congress with ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana.
Warda credited the many European trade unions, which play such vital roles in creating global solidarity with ICEM affiliates worldwide. &ldquo;For us in ICEM, the link with EMCEF is of the highest value and of top priority,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;A united, strong and successful EMCEF is an essential base for all that ICEM does.&rdquo; 

The 2.5-million-member EMCEF was created in 1996 with the merger of separate chemicals and mining federations. The federation now has 128 affiliated unions in 35 countries.

EMCEF Congress Concludes in Prague with Re-election of Schmoldt and Reibsch

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The aftermath of the early morning, 8 June, coal mine explosion inside the Karl Marx Mine near Yenakiyevo in the Ukraine is remarkable in that only 12 miners perished. The blast was so powerful that it ripped cable couplings on an elevator shaft to metal shreds, causing sparks, thus enhancing the explosion. 
 
The elevator, with nine miners aboard, plummeted down a mine shaft. Those nine and another three miners, who were buried by debris, died. Twenty-four miners were rescued some 36 hours after the explosion. The explosion was so potent that it injured five workers on the surface. 
 
The mine, owned by the state company Ordzhonikidzevuhillia, is a small producer of anthracite coal, with production of only 250 tonnes per day. It is also a high-cost operation. Had the mine been a major producer, meaning hundreds more miners would have been at work, the death toll would have been much higher.
<img height="117" src="" width="160" alt="" />
The government&rsquo;s State Committee of Health and Safety at Work, as well as a Mining Oversight Committee, has put the blame on management. They said mining at this colliery, 40 kilometres east of the regional capital of Donetsk, had been banned two days earlier due to high methane levels. 
 
In fact, according to ICEM affiliate Coal Mining Workers&rsquo; Union of Ukraine (PRUPU), production had officially stopped, but a skip hoist was in use at the time of the explosion, lifting some 700 tonnes of coal to the surface. The coal had already been mined and was in storage at one of the colliery&rsquo;s levels. 
 
Regarding overall safety, the Karl Marx Mine should not have been in operation. But it should be noted that there are few employment opportunities in this area of the central Donbass region, and coal mining provides livelihoods for thousands of families. The 8 June explosion at Yenakiyevo cries out for state-of-the-art mining technology, enhanced safety methods, as well as other, sustainable forms of employment for the region&rsquo;s citizens. 
 
Early Saturday, 14 June, in the community of Gorlovka, Ukraine, just 20 kilometres from Yenakiyevo, 15 miners were hospitalized with sulfur poisoning. The accident occurred when a sulfuric acid cloud was released from a chemical operation adjacent to a coal mine. The factory is owned by JSC Concern Stirol, a make of chemicals and fertilizers. The incident happened when the chemicals producer was re-start of a sulfuric acid plant.

12 Dead, 24 Rescued in Last Week’s Coal Mine Explosion in Eastern Ukraine

Archive

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

Skorpion Reneges; Deal to Settle Zinc Dispute in Namibia is Scuttled

Global Unions Raises New Website to Heighten Profile

ICEM Protests Expulsions by Korea of Migrant Workers’ Union Leaders

UK Moves Closer to Granting Agency Workers Better Rights

Three-year Dispute Between Côte d’Ivoire’s SYNASEG and Bouygues Subsidiary Ends

ICEM Letter to Korea Over Detention, Expulsion of Migrant Workers' Leaders

Contract Workers of Agip in the Caspian Strike for Equal Pay

EMCEF Congress Concludes in Prague with Re-election of Schmoldt and Reibsch

12 Dead, 24 Rescued in Last Week’s Coal Mine Explosion in Eastern Ukraine

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