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A strike by 190 Turkish paperworkers, members of ICEM affiliate T&uuml;mka-İş, against Procter &amp; Gamble is now 16 days old, with little progress made in recent negotiations. The wage dispute began 21 February at a factory in Gebze, just outside of Istanbul, where the American company manufactures paper towels, tissue, and hygiene products, including nappies. 
 
Strikers and supporters held a rally at plant gates on 26 February, where messages of support were read from a number of trade unions from around the world. The ICEM, which generated the support, also lodged a protest with Turkish management of the company. That letter can be found <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0903.Turkey.p&amp;g.pdf">here</a>. 
 
On the day of the manifestation, managers revised upward their wage offer, but not significantly. They also told leaders of T&uuml;mka-İş they were content to allow paper products once marketed from the Gebze plant to originate from expanded Procter &amp; Gamble operations in Poland. 

<img height="132" alt="" src="" width="180" />
Gebze Manifestation, 26 February
A prior two-year labour agreement expired on 31 August 2008. 
 
The wage revision proposal 11 days ago saw the company move its offer from no increase to 2% for the first six months, followed by three increases, separated in six-month segments, of two-thirds the rate of Turkish inflation. The union is seeking an 8% increase for the first six months, and revised its proposal for the remaining three periods to match Turkey&rsquo;s inflation rate. 
 
T&uuml;mka-İş General President Kemal Yilmaz and Erg&uuml;n Tavşanoğlu, a union Executive Committee member who is the central T&uuml;mka-İş leader at the Procter &amp; Gamble plant, expressed gratitude to the family of ICEM trade unions in the Paper and Packaging sector who extended their support at the outset of the strike.

Little Progress Made to Resolve Two-Week Procter &amp; Gamble Strike in Turkey

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French trade unions confirmed in late February that they will issue a call for a day of mobilization on Thursday, 19 March, &ldquo;resulting in strikes and demonstrations throughout the country.&rdquo; The joint statement was made by members of the Inter-Eight group at CFTC headquarters. 
 
The CFDT, FO, CFTC, CFE-CGC, CGT, FSU, Solidaires, and UNSA continue to show their trade union unity, building on the one-day general strike of 19 January 
 
Although the 19 January action did lead to some changes to government legislation, such as establishing a social investment fund, ICEM&rsquo;s French affiliates regard the measures as too fragmentary to change the course of economic policy in these trying times. 
 
French President Nicolas Sarkozy refused to increase the minimum wage, to change his policy on public sector employment, and refused to return taxes on overtime pay. Other factors in organizing the 19 March strike are continued job cuts, further trends toward partial unemployment, and heavy reductions in workers&rsquo; purchasing power, all of which amplify the current economic recession for French workers. 

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Several workers&rsquo; protests began last week. French workers from two Grenoble area factories of US-based Caterpillar protested in the French Alpine city and then marched in Paris over announced plant closure. Rubber workers at a Continental tyre factory north of Paris also protested due to a threatened closure. 
 
And in Lyon on 3 March, 40 workers of auto-parts firm Preciturn began a 30-hour sit-in at the offices of a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland. The highly debt-laden subsidiary, an accounting firm, had abandoned its contract with Preciturn, leaving unpaid bills and an inability to meet salaries. 
 
In extending its joint declaration of 5 January, the eight trade unions listed their targeted goals as: &ldquo;Upholding public and private employment; Fighting against job insecurity and social and economic deregulation; Calling for compensation policies that maintain the purchasing power of wage earners, the unemployed and pensioners; and Defending the collective framework of solidarity and social protection.&rdquo; 
 
The social protests which began last week are expected to gain momentum between now and 19 March, with calls for mobilization among employees in the education sector, doctors and hospital staff, as well as police. According to a 2 March opinion poll, 58% of company executives support the manifestation of 19 March. Workers at Air France have already confirmed that they will take part in the strike. 
 
The group of eight unions will meet again 20 March 2009.

French Unions Call Workers Out on Strike 19 March

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South Africa&rsquo;s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) estimates that between 20,000 and 50,000 jobs will be lost in the country due to the world financial crisis. No mining sector has been spared, but perhaps worst hit is the platinum sector. 
 
In recent days, platinum mining house Lonmin announced 4,000 job cuts, 3,000 at its Western Platinum mine and 1,000 at the Eastern Platinum mine in Marikana. The mining house also plans to suspend operations at its Baobab shaft in Limpopo, causing untold job losses. 
 
These announcements were made by Lonmin CEO Ian Farmer, who claimed the redundancies had been agreed to with unions. But NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka countered that claim, saying it was false, accusing the company of bad planning in the run-up to the start of the crisis last September. 
 
In February, Anglo Platinum CEO Neville Nicolau hinted during a call related to the company&rsquo;s financial results that 10,000 jobs would be cut because of the economic climate. Again, the NUM was critical, citing bad planning and the fact that corporate chieftains publicly proclaim job losses before even consulting with the union, which serves only to frighten miners. 

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Frans Beleni
&ldquo;When platinum prices reached US$2,000 per ounce in May 2008, you could see the reckless spending perpetrated by management,&rdquo; said NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni on a recent South African radio programme. &ldquo;If true leadership prevailed, we could have prevented this bloodbath of job losses,&rdquo; added Baleni. 
 
Platinum is currently selling for about US$1,070 per ounce. 
 
Under Section 189 of South Africa&rsquo;s Labour Relations Act, termed the &ldquo;retrenchments clause,&rdquo; management must confer with labour in order to give an accounting of reasons behind any redundancies. An employer must prove there is a need to cut jobs, otherwise the matter lands in the courts. 
 
One successful intervention occurred at a Simmer &amp; Jacks gold mine in Buffelsfontein in February. The junior miner sought to cull 500 jobs from a production staff of 5,000. But with the help of South Africa&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration, and full dialogue with trade unions, those cuts were reduced to five senior contract workers, with 65 other contract workers becoming permanent staff. 
 
In return, unions, led by the NUM, agreed to miners working one extra shift per month throughout 2009. 
 
In the gold mining sector last week, 4,000 NUM members at Pamodzi Gold went on strike at two mines over non-payment of wages. Miners at the Steyn mine in Free State and at a mine in East Rand began strike action on 6 March after receiving only 20% of their wages for February. 
 
It was the second time this year that Pamodzi faced a shut-down because of its financial outlook. In January, 2,000 miners stayed away from the Free State operation because water supplies had been cut due to unpaid bills. On 5 March, the company announced it was seeking to secure a bridge loan to pay its workers and creditors until its UK and German financiers came through with a loan.

South African Miners Hard Hit by Global Financial Crisis

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Oil workers of Australia&rsquo;s Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU)&nbsp;ratified a renewal three-year enterprise labour agreement on 11 March Royal Dutch Shell&rsquo;s Clyde refinery and Gore Bay terminal in Sydney harbour, but it won&rsquo;t take the sting from Shell&rsquo;s brazen anti-union conduct over the past three months. 
 
Shell manipulated negotiations that began in November 2008 in efforts to force aspects of the draconian WorkChoices law on to the union, seeking to break an enterprise agreement and begin individual work contracts before repeal of former Prime Minister John Howard&rsquo;s anti-worker laws commence on 1 July 2009. 
 
The company initially tabled a proposal reducing a 47-page agreement to 14 pages, stripping away such clauses as workers&rsquo; training, &ldquo;Roles and Responsibilities of Operators,&rdquo; and removing standard manning requirements, thus opening the way for more contractors. Managers also proposed a reduction in operators&rsquo; wages by A$12,000 per year. 

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The 86,000 barrel per day Clyde refinery underwent an extended maintenance shutdown beginning in November, giving the company an opportunity to deploy another union-busting move. That was a demand that its regressive proposals be approved by 30 January 2009, the expiration date of the prior three-year contract, or the CFMEU would face a lock-out. 
 
To prepare for that, Shell&rsquo;s imported managers began bringing in scabs for 18-day training periods as operators, and recruited retired workers from another Australian state. By early February, obviously frustrated with CFMEU&rsquo;s rightful reluctance to accept the concessions, the company applied to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission to submit its proposals directly to workers in a secret-ballot vote. 
 
That ballot was defeated on 20 February by a resounding 82%, which not only forced Shell back to the bargaining table, but forced it to change its agenda. 
 
The enterprise agreement that 150 workers&nbsp;voted&nbsp;to accept on 11 March is far better than what Shell managers had sought. It calls for a 12% wage increase over the three years, and full protection of all current work language. 
 
&ldquo;Shell&rsquo;s agenda was nothing but union-busting,&rdquo; said Lorraine Usher, CFMEU&rsquo;S New South Wales District Secretary. The company&rsquo;s &ldquo;actions have left a work force seething with resentment and it will be a long time before trust in the workplace is regained.&rdquo; 
 
Two British managers of Shell at Clyde and Gore Bay were responsible for bringing on the anti-worker agenda. &ldquo;I believe they did everything in their power to escalate the dispute,&rdquo; said Usher. The former Operations Manager at Clyde, Paul Lunt, was retained to handle negotiations. The other was Mark Stevens, who was brought in from Singapore&rsquo;s Shell operations.

Australian Oil Workers at Shell Ratify Contract, But Scars Will Linger

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In this issue, we call on ICEM affiliates to get involved in activities on World AIDS Day which occurs on 1 December. We report on the engagement of women of ICEM German affiliate of the German IGBCE in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the situation of women in Asia, and the fight of women in Nepal for better HIV/AIDS services. 

 
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are already engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
 
Editor: Hans J Schwass, ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator 
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World AIDS Day 2008, 1 December &ndash; Get Ready! 
 
The ICEM calls on its affiliates to take the lead in campaigning on World AIDS Day, 1 December 
 
The first of December marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. There is no time to celebrate. Since 1988, efforts made to respond to the epidemic have produced positive results, however the latest UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic (see e-bulletin 35/36, August/September <a href="/en/72-HIV-AIDS/2745-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin">here</a>) indicates that the epidemic is not yet over in any part of the world. 
 
Together with its partners, the World AIDS Campaign set this year&rsquo;s theme for World AIDS Day as &ldquo;Lead &ndash; Empower &ndash; Deliver,&rdquo; building on last year&rsquo;s theme of &ldquo;Take the Lead.&rdquo; Designating leadership as the overall theme for 2007 &ndash; 2008 provides an opportunity to highlight the political leadership needed to fulfil commitments &ndash; particularly the promise of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support by 2010. 
 
Unions can demonstrate leadership at every level &ndash; in the workplace, in their own governing bodies, in women&rsquo;s committees, in health and safety committees, in negotiations with companies, in the community and at the national policy level. 
 
Any union member, shop steward, union official, committee member, gender representative who takes action on HIV/AIDS is a leader in the fight against the deadly disease. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS press release, 27 October) 
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IGBCE Women&rsquo;s Conference 
 
The Women&rsquo;s Conference of the ICEM affiliate IGBCE (mining, chemicals, and energy) in Germany made a strong commitment to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
Meeting in Hanover in early October, funds were collected at the conference for an HIV/AIDS project in Tanzania in partnership with ICEM affiliates TUICO and TAMICO, and the ICEM HIV/AIDS project. In numerous discussions with delegates, ICEM Women&rsquo;s Officer Carol Bruce and HIV/AIDS Coordinator Hans J Schwass explained the project in Tanzania which focuses on women and their stronger involvement in HIV/AIDS work, training as counsellors and advocacy for voluntary counselling and testing. 
 
Delegates will continue the appeal in their regional and local structures to raise the funds necessary to sustain the project in 2009 and 2010. 
 

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Global Fund Launches Round 9 
 
(For more details, see the ICEM HIV/AIDS special e-bulletin in October <a href="-Global-Fund-Calls-for-Round-9-Proposals">here</a>) 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria launched Round 9 on 1 October, just seven months after the launch of Round 8. The proposal form and guidelines for Round 9 are substantially unchanged from Round 8. They are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. 
 
Applicants must submit their Round 9 proposals by 21 January 2009. All proposals submitted by the deadline will be reviewed by the Global Fund Secretariat to ensure that they meet the Fund&rsquo;s eligibility criteria. Those that do meet the criteria will then be sent to the Technical Review Panel. The Global Fund Board will decide which proposals to approve at its meeting on 7-8 May 2009. 
 
In light of the fact that the Round 9 application form and procedures have hardly changed since Round 8, Aidspan has not updated its guides for applications which are accessible at <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides ">http://www.aidspan.org/guides </a>in English, French and Spanish. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, GFO, Issue 96, 24 October 2008. The 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 the GFO send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>)
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Caribbean Needs to Increase Efforts against HIV/AIDS 
 
Increased efforts are needed to bolster HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment and education in the Caribbean, Karen Sealy, head of the UNAIDS Caribbean office, said recently. &ldquo;High-risk groups include commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men. An increase in HIV/AIDS cases is also being recorded among drug users,&rdquo; said Sealy, adding, &quot;We know that the spread of HIV in the Caribbean is in fact being fuelled by serious gaps in gender equality.&quot; 
 
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning said that &quot;one of the true successes&quot; of the country's efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS is the decrease in mother-to-child transmissions because of the no-cost antiretroviral drugs provided to all pregnant women who receive treatment at government clinics. Manning said that many of the people living with HIV/AIDS in Trinidad and Tobago are able to live &quot;a high quality of life&quot; because of the country's health care program but added that more work needs to be done to address the spread of HIV. 
 
The Caribbean has the second highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate worldwide, after sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS figures show that an estimated 230,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the region and that 14,000 AIDS-related deaths were recorded last year. 
 
(Source: Medical News Today, 27 October, reprinted with kind permission from <a href="http://www.kaisernetwork.org">www.kaisernetwork.org</a>) 
 

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Assessment Missions to Botswana and Namibia 
 
In the last year of the project cycle, the ICEM conducts an internal assessment of the impact of the HIV/AIDS project at national level. In September, Project Management Assistant Paule Ndessomin went to Botswana and Namibia and met with national coordinators, peer educators trained by the programme and national NGOs. Visits of mining sites completed the mission. 
 
Overall the project had a very positive impact in both countries. Awareness has increased considerably. In Botswana, most large companies organised by ICEM affiliates such as Botswana Power Corporation, Botswana Copper and Nickel (BCL), and diamond miner Debswana have HIV/AIDS workplace policies. Affiliates have cooperated with BONELA, an NGO that deals with issues of ethics, legislation, and advocacy in the field of HIV/AIDS. 
 
Employment legislation stipulates that every employee who enters into a contract of employment shall be examined by a medical officer. As this section in the Employment Act stands, it may include pre-employment HIV testing. The Public Service Code, however, prohibits such testing. Another inhibiting factor is the fact that living on the proceeds of commercial sex is illegal thus making it difficult for sex workers to have access to medical care. 
 
In Namibia, ICEM&rsquo;s only affiliate, the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN), has been engaged in HIV/AIDS activities for some time. Large mines such as R&ouml;ssing Uranium, which is two-thirds owned by mining giant Rio Tinto, have workplace policies in place and provide treatment and care. More recently, MUN has also been involved with the country&rsquo;s employer group, the Chamber of Mines. The Chamber&rsquo;s Occupational Health Education and Awareness Programme (OHEAP) is currently being evaluated in cooperation with the Labour Resource and Research Institute. 
 

<img height="57" alt="" src="" width="40" />
Women need empowerment in fight against AIDS 
 
Women must be more involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS and men must also be encouraged to respect women more. Nafis Sadik, U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region, told a poverty alleviation conference in Beijing that lack of respect for women was helping drive the spread of the virus. 
 
&quot;Gender-based violence and discrimination on grounds of gender drive the HIV and AIDS epidemic among women. Empowerment of women - equipping them with self-esteem, the knowledge, and the ability to protect themselves &hellip; will be of critical importance in winning the battle,&quot; Sadik said. 
 
&quot;Women suffer doubly. First, from HIV and AIDS itself, and secondly from the stigma associated with the disease. Women are routinely blamed for infecting their husbands, though it is almost always the men who infect their wives,&quot; she said. 
 
In Asia, at least 75 million men regularly buy sex from about ten million female sex workers, she added. &quot;The results of male behaviour can be seen in changing patterns of infection. Today, about one-third of all people living with HIV in China are women, compared with one in ten in 1995,&quot; Sadik said. 
 
(Source: Reuters, 17 October) 
 

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HIV-positive Women in Nepal Call for Greater Assistance 
 
Nepal's HIV/AIDS policies and programs have failed to address the problems of women living with HIV/AIDS in the country, stated HIV-positive women of Shakti Milan Samaj, a social organisation working on behalf of women living with HIV/AIDS. 
 
The women also called on the government to guarantee access to no-cost treatment, care, resettlement, social security and jobs, as well as a special programme to help them maintain a living. They added that the government &quot;should make arrangements for free education to our children and announce legal action against all violence against us regarding it as a crime against the state.&quot; 
 
The women said that although the country has received significant funding for efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, the government still does not address the issues they face. Women in the country are vulnerable to HIV because of cultural and economic factors, as well as domestic violence. 
 
(Source: News Medical Net, 5 October with permission from <a href="http://kaisernetwork.org">kaisernetwork.org</a>) 
 

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How Obama and McCain Differed on HIV/AIDS 
 
With Barack Obama winning the US presidential election, it might be useful to look back to see how he and opponent John McCain compared on HIV/AIDS policy. For starters, they both fully support President Bush&rsquo;s PEPFAR programme, the President&rsquo;s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was re-authorised with increased funding. 
 
While this is focused on the epidemic overseas, activists have criticised neglect of the US domestic epidemic. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 5% of the people living in Washington, DC, have the infection. That is a rate two-and-a-half times higher than in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the world. 
 
Barack Obama calls for a more effective AIDS policy and says that studies have shown that the incidence of HIV and AIDS may have been undercounted. Obama&rsquo;s plan begins with his promise to sign universal health care legislation by the end of his first term as president. He wants to prevent HIV through sex education and by promoting HIV testing. The cornerstone of Obama&rsquo;s plan calls for a national HIV/AIDS strategy involving all federal agencies. 
 
While John McCain also called for a domestic plan, his main prescription to prevent HIV is abstinence programmes. For those with pre-existing conditions such as AIDS, he campaigned on a plan to establish &ldquo;guaranteed access plans&rdquo; for affordable insurance. His prescription for rising drug costs was to create greater competition among drug companies. The centrepiece of a McCain campaign blueprint is a US$2,500 tax credit for individuals to purchase health coverage of their choice. 
 
(Source: CBS News, from 14 October) 
 

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New Vigour in Fighting the Epidemic in South Africa 
 
AIDS organisations and activists welcomed the nomination of Barbara Hogan as new health minister of South Africa. Unlike her predecessor, Hogan has made it clear that the HI-Virus causes AIDS and that the only way to treat it is with anti-retroviral drugs. Hogan announced better access to such drugs and an expansion of the programme to fight mother to child transmission. 
<img height="57" alt="" src="" width="40" />
ICMM Launches Guide on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria 
 
The International Council on Mining and Metal (ICMM) launched its new guide, &ldquo;Good Practice Guidance on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria,&rdquo; in London on 15 October. Among the panellists was ICEM HIV/AIDS Coordinator Hans J Schwass who welcomed the initiative of the ICMM to publish this guide but criticised that very little reference is made to organised labour or workers&rsquo; organisations or unions as potential partners in the fight against the diseases. Schwass said, &ldquo;There is no reason not to collaborate on life and death issues with organisations with which companies are at times in dispute over pay and working conditions, especially when these organisations can add value to HIV/AIDS interventions. Of course, to cooperate with trade unions, means recognising them in the first place.&rdquo; 
 
The guide provides a systematic framework and practical advice on the management of the three diseases that will enable mining and metal operations worldwide to address key challenges, both among workers and neighbouring communities. 
 
The guide can be accessed at the ICMM website <a href="http://www.icmm.com">www.icmm.com</a>. 
<img height="57" alt="" src="" width="40" />
News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions 
 
The Global Union AIDS Programme is planning a series of coordinating and capacity building workshops in sub-Saharan Africa, and is coordinating the union input in the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (ICASA), as well as the Global Fund Partnership Forum, both in Dakar, Senegal, in December. 
 
In its latest Newsletter on Education for All and HIV &amp; AIDS Prevention at Schools (EFAIDS) of 2 October, Education International reports on the launch of its programme in Nepal. It also addresses World AIDS Day. The EI EFAIDS programme has prepared an activity kit which teachers around the world can use to share knowledge and encourage discussion on HIV/AIDS issues in the campaign for World AIDS Day &ldquo;One Hour on AIDS&rdquo; &ndash; <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/efaids">www.ei-ie.org/efaids</a>.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 37 November 2008

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One of ICEM&rsquo;s newest affiliates held a workshop in Bandung, Indonesia, 24-26 October, and keenly identified areas of growth for the dynamic trade union. Federasi Serikat Pekerja Pulp Dan Kertas Indonesia (FSP2KI) had 30 participants from 14 mill-level trade unions attend. Six of those unions are branches of FSP2KI, with the potential great for the union to increase its membership due to unions enthusiastic attendance by the others. 
 
The workshop was sponsored by Svenska Pappers, the Swedish Pulp and Paper Workers&rsquo; Union, which has been working closely with the union. The conference heard presentations on the work of the ICEM, as well as work being done by Pappers by Bala Somahsundram, a leader in the Paper and Paper Products Manufacturing Employees&rsquo; Union of Malaysia. 
<img height="186" alt="" src="" width="230" />
From left, Malaysian Union&nbsp;Leader Bala Somahsundram; FSP2KI President Irzan Zulpakar; H.M. Mansyur; and&nbsp;FSP2KI Gen. Sec. Etin Rodiana 
Indonesian paper, packaging, and converting trade union leaders also heard from H.M. Mansyur, chairman of the Indonesian Pulp and Paper Association (AKLI). He told delegates that 50% of Indonesian pulp production is exported, while that figure for paper products is 40%. 
 
He also told of a massive new development coming &ndash; American-based International Paper Co.&rsquo;s decision to build a 1.5 million tonne-per-year pulp mill, and development of 500,000 hectares of timberlands. The US$4 billion project will be undertaken in central Kalimantan on Bornea Island, Indonesia. 
 
The conference included FSP2KI union activists from Indonesian mills of Asia&rsquo;s biggest forest companies, including PT Riau Andalan mills, owned by Singapore-based holding group Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL) and PT Lontar Papyrus&rsquo; Jambi Mill, owned by Pinto Deli Pulp and Paper. Potential affiliates consisted of workplace leaders from PT Indah Kiat&rsquo;s three mills, which are 60% owned by Asia Pulp and Pacific (APP); and PT Kertas Nusantar, owned by Anugera Investment, an Indonesian company. Leaders from several other mills, packaging plants, and tissue operations also took part. 
<img height="140" alt="" src="" width="260" />
The trade unionists forged an agenda that includes insistence that employers negotiate with the respective workers&rsquo; representatives over any negative impact from the current global economic crisis; that FSP2KI study any ambiguities in its constitution; and that the union begin an aggressive reach-out at all Indonesian pulp and paper mills. FSP2KI also will seek paper industry data from the ICEM, including information on the use of hazardous chemicals and materials used in the paper industry. 
 
Even with a global slowdown in pulp and paper, Indonesia&rsquo;s pulp and paper industry is expected to grow by 4.1% in 2009. Exports of pulp and paper from the country expanded in the first half of 2008 to US$1.9 billion, compared to US$1.6 billion for the first six months of 2007.

Indonesian Paper Union Identifies Organising Targets with Help from Sweden’s Pappers Union

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Early in 2009, collective agreements will expire for 30,000 downstream oil workers in the US. In a 45-day period from mid-September to 27 October, local branches of the United Steelworkers &ndash; representing those production workers &ndash; ratified a 12-point national pattern bargaining programme, in addition to granting the union strike authorisation. 
 
That bargaining agenda will aim to gain a share of oil industry&rsquo;s vast profits, which would help ease a US recession by putting money in the pockets of working families. It also is intended to address health, safety, and environmental requirements, grant adequate pensions, and give sufficient medical coverage to workers, their families, and retirees. 
<img height="202" alt="" src="" width="140" />
USW Vice President Gary Beevers 
&ldquo;This strong ratification of the oil policy and strike ratification shows how united and determined the membership is in getting a fair contract,&rdquo; stated USW Vice President Gary Beevers, who heads the union&rsquo;s oil bargaining programme. &ldquo;By adopting the policy, the local unions agree that their contracts will not conflict with it.&rdquo; 
 
Most of the collective agreements between the USW and oil companies expire 1 February 2009. With last month&rsquo;s overwhelming ratification, both national and local branch bargaining will begin in December with an exchange of proposals. The USW will negotiate with the industry to set a national pattern on wages, benefits, and working conditions.
The union is seeking term limits of three years, until 2012, and substantial wages increases, in addition to cost-of-living adjustments. It also seeks increases in shift differential, two added holidays, and no regression on previously agreed terms and conditions. 
 
USW will also be negotiating for union neutrality at non-union worksites, renewal and expansion of successorship language regarding new companies taking over enterprises, and additional occupational death coverage. In mid-September, the union&rsquo;s National Oil Bargaining Conference was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and shaped the agenda, which then went to branch unions for ratification, and granting of the strike sanction. 
 
The union represents workers at scores of US and Caribbean refineries, as well as pipeline, transportation, and marketing staff in the downstream sector. Employers include Shell, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, BP, ExxonMobil, and other refiners us Tosco, Tesoro, Sunoco, and LyondellBasell.

US Steelworkers Ratify Oil Bargaining Platform

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Political agreement was finally achieved at the European Parliament over the Directive on Temporary Agency Work. MEPs passed &ndash; without amendment &ndash; a second reading. Adoption by the plenary on 22 October in Strasbourg, France, now means that the Council of Europe will formally adopt the statute in the coming weeks. 
 
The directive gives agency workers equal protection and equal treatment from day one of employment as permanent workers receive. That covers the &ldquo;essential conditions&rdquo; of work and employment, such as hours, overtime, rest time, paid leave, and non-discriminatory policies. 

<img height="73" alt="" src="" width="110" />
The directive does grant national social partners the flexibility to set specific aspects related to temporary employment, such as equal pay and a negotiated time frame of the temporary period. This would allow collective agreements to address governance of agency work, as well as for national legislation to enact laws and work regulations. 
 
Member-states now have three years to implement the directive into their national legislations, or to ensure and enable social partners to introduce provisions through agreement. 
 
The second-reading vote took place six years after the directive had been first proposed. A first-reading vote, that included some 26 amendments, occurred in June of this year. The Council endorsed a common position on the directive in early October. 

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomed the end of a long political deadlock, and gave special praise to the strong language on equality. The equal treatment principle, said ETUC General Secretary John Monks, &ldquo;will not only apply to national situations but also to cross-border agency work. This is very important in the current times of increased mobility of workers and services.&rdquo;

EU’s Directive on Temporary Agency Work Passes Final Hurdle in Strasbourg on 22 October

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With the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria now issuing its Ninth Call for Proposals, it is imperative that ICEM affiliates involved in the fight against the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic respond now. The application form and support documentation are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. 
 
Proposals Have to Reach the Global Fund by 21 January 2009 
 
All proposals submitted by the closing date of 21 January 2009 will be reviewed by the Secretariat to ensure that they meet the eligibility criteria. Eligible proposals will then be forwarded to the Technical Review Panel (TRP) for consideration. The TRP will make recommendations to the Global Fund Board, which will then decide. 
 
How Does the Global Fund Work? 
The Global Fund, itself a public/private partnership, is a funding mechanism. Since it was registered in January 2002 and up to December 2007 the Global Fund has approved grants with a total commitment of US$14.5 billion, more than half of it designated for HIV/AIDS. 
 
The Global Fund is based in Geneva. It does not have any country representation. The proposal process and the implementation of grants are devolved to the national level. The Global Fund gives the policy framework and issues guidelines on various aspects of its operations. It raises money, spends it and proves it &ndash; the Global Fund is performance based. 
 
All proposals have to go through the Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCM). The composition of the CCMs is supposed to be representative of all stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including civil society, the private sector and organisations of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). 
 
How Can Unions Get Involved? 
The role of the workplace in the fight against HIV/AIDS is officially recognised. The workplace is an important entry point for HIV/AIDS services and no workplace activities can be efficiently implemented without unions. The role of national unions and their international bodies, including the Global Union Federations, is acknowledged by international organisations such as the ILO, the World Health Organisation, and UNAIDS. 
 
The Global Fund is supportive of public/private partnerships or co-investment arrangements. Without the involvement of the private sector, universal access to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), and to anti-retroviral treatment (ART), is not possible or will be further delayed. The private sector is business and trade unions as workers&rsquo; representatives. The Guidelines for R9 proposals mention unions under eligible organisations of the private sector. 
 
The manpower capacities of unions are limited. They have to attend to other day-to-day business. Unions are not single-issue NGOs. They have to look for partners and build alliances with companies and NGOs. 
 
Very few CCMs include unionists. While we continue to call for union representation on CCMs, in the short term, it is vital that unions work through members of the CCMs who are sympathetic to their cause. It is important that unions find cooperating partners who can develop their project ideas into proposals for the CCM. 
 
The German Organisation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) operates the BACKUP Initiative (Building Alliances &ndash; Creating Knowledge &ndash; Updating Partners), which provides support. GTZ is represented in more than 130 countries. Many USAID offices have HIV/AIDS Coordinators and certain embassies, notably of Nordic countries, the Netherlands, the UK, and the European Union, may be able to give assistance. Global Unions and the WHO have agreed to use the potential of unions in up-scaling and accelerating access to VCT and ART. The ILO and its workplace programme ILOAIDS has focal points on HIV/AIDS in a number of offices. 
 
The most significant feature in recent Rounds has been that the Global Fund recommends that applicants specify one (or more) Principal Recipients (PRs) from the government sector and one (or more) from the various non-government sectors, including the private sector which includes unions (dual-track financing). 
 
What are Your Next Steps? 
&bull; Put down your ideas about a workplace programme on one page and prepare a draft budget. 
&bull; Get to know the members of your country&rsquo;s CCM and lobby those who are potentially sympathetic to union causes for the inclusion of workplace programmes in Round 9 proposals. Country-specific information is accessible at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. 
&bull; Contact GTZ, USAID, the ILO, UNAIDS and WHO offices in your country. 
&bull; Build alliances with companies; remind them of their social responsibility. 
&bull; Cooperate with NGOs and organisations of PLWHA. 
&bull; Access the website <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides">www.aidspan.org/guides</a> on which a guide to Round 9 applications is available. 
 
How Can the ICEM Help? 
The ICEM Global Coordinator has good working relations with all the organisations mentioned. He can help you with contacts and links to materials. Send your ideas about a workplace programme and mail inquiries to the ICEM Coordinator below. The ICEM has Global Agreements with a dozen multinational companies, which can be engaged in the fight against the pandemic. 
 
Above all 
&bull; Start today if you want to do something. 
&bull; Remember that the private sector includes business, and unions as the legitimate workers&rsquo; representatives. 
&bull; Remember that you have allies who can be mobilized and who can give assistance. 
&bull; Write to the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator at <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org </a>for further information and help.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-Bulletin: Global Fund Calls for Round 9 Proposals

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The Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF), affiliated to the Labour Confederation of Pakistan, staged a protest demonstration in front of the Quetta Press Club on 13 January 2009, and again ten days later in front of the Mines Inspectorate. The manifestations were in protest to a deadly incident at the Mach coalmine in which eight mineworkers lost their lives. 
 
That tragedy occurred on 4 January when a mine shaft collapsed, causing the mine to fill with poisonous gases. 
 
Comrades of the dead workers were maddened to see a week pass by following the tragedy with only one of the bodies being removed from the mine by the authorities. A further reason for the demonstration was that the First Information Report (FIR), which puts forth information on those responsible for industrial accidents, had not been submitted for the deadly Mach disaster. 

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The mine authorities had no prior registration of the contractors working there, including the victims. It became clear at the protest that it is common practice throughout the mines in the region not to register contract workers. This also stands as an obstacle to organizing workers. 
 
The Pakistani Department for Mines and Minerals received heavy criticism from throughout the country, as it failed to supply the required safety equipment to retrieve the bodies. Mines Inspector Mohammad Farooq stated that there had been eleven miners present at the time of the collapse, with three workers rescued and the others killed instantly. 
 
The colliery belongs to Balochistan Mines, which is owned by Federal Minister for Livestock Mr. Hamayun Aziz Kurd. The protest demonstration culminated with the unanimous adoption of a resolution calling for immediate efforts for the recovery of the dead miners&rsquo; bodies; the granting of compensatory money to the families; that those found guilty of negligence be rigorously punished; that the Mach mine where the tragedy occurred be immediately sealed; and that Pakistan&rsquo;s Mines Safety Act be strictly enacted in the case. 
 
The PCMLF asked for letters of protest to be sent to the relevant authorities.

Pakistani Manifestation Condemns Deadly Mine Accident, Inaction in Retrieving the Dead

Archive

Little Progress Made to Resolve Two-Week Procter & Gamble Strike in Turkey

French Unions Call Workers Out on Strike 19 March

South African Miners Hard Hit by Global Financial Crisis

Australian Oil Workers at Shell Ratify Contract, But Scars Will Linger

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 37 November 2008

Indonesian Paper Union Identifies Organising Targets with Help from Sweden’s Pappers Union

US Steelworkers Ratify Oil Bargaining Platform

EU’s Directive on Temporary Agency Work Passes Final Hurdle in Strasbourg on 22 October

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-Bulletin: Global Fund Calls for Round 9 Proposals

Pakistani Manifestation Condemns Deadly Mine Accident, Inaction in Retrieving the Dead

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