English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Action Plan 2021-2025

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

Women

Youth

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The modus operandi by US multinational Ross International on human rights reads like the script of &lsquo;how to behave badly in a globalised world.&rsquo; The company, which manufactures moulds for the glass container industry, appears to follow a handbook on how to subcontract and outsource work, while eliminating trade unions at the same time. 
<img height="66" src="" width="100" alt="" />
In a letter to the company last week, ICEM took on the company&rsquo;s anti-union techniques in Colombia. ICEM Colombian affiliate Sintravidricol is running a campaign in that country to get the company to deal responsibly with its workforce. 
 
Ross International owns one facility in Colombia where a collective bargaining agreement exists, called Moldes Medellin Ltda. Reportedly, this modern facility operates at only 50% capacity and is constantly reducing its number of workers, with a prohibition in place on hiring new ones. The company also owns four other factories in Colombia, which all are enlarging their capacity. 
 
New jobs at these facilities come with far less job security and at lower salaries, with most workers being hired through temporary work agencies. On top of that, Ross International ignores union requests in the one plant with an agreement. It also refuses to comply with earlier agreements in that plant. 
<img height="71" src="" width="130" alt="" />
In the US, where the company is headquartered in the state of Pennsylvania, ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) faces very similar problems. There as well, union members are the victims of Ross efforts to downsize mould shops, and outsource work that has, for years, been performed by USW members. The serious reductions in staff at Ross International&rsquo;s US operations affect three of the four company plants in the US: Penn Mould, Ross Mould, and Brockway Mould. 
 
Another sign that the company is not taking its obligations towards its workers seriously is that representatives of the USW have had seriously difficulties to even get a meeting with the management of the company to discuss the issues of downsizing, layoffs and possible solutions. 
 
As a mould manufacturer, Ross International serves both Owens-Illinois and Saint Gobain Container, Inc.

Ross International: Labour Problems in Colombia and US

&nbsp;<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Manfred Warda was appointed to fulfil the final year, 2007, of Fred Higgs' term as General Secretary of the ICEM. The decision was made by the ICEM's Presidium at its 5 October meeting in Brussels. 
 
Higgs has been diagnosed, along with other health-related issues, with pleural plaques of the lungs, a condition brought about by industrial exposure to asbestos while working, near London, at Chloride Battery, where he got his start in the trade union movement as a shop steward in the 1960s. 
<img height="182" alt="" src="" width="300" />
From left to right: Manfred Warda, ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and Fred Higgs
Higgs, who will turn 60 in December, will remain ICEM General Secretary until the end of the year. 
 
Warda, 59, is currently Head of the International Department of the German trade union IGBCE. A 43-year member of the IGBCE and before that, Industriegewerkschaft Bergbau und Energie (IGBE), the German Mineworkers' Union, Warda began working in the industrial sector in 1963, in his home city of Bochum, North Rhine Westphalia. 
 
He began his career inside IGBE in 1971, and after serving as an assistant and then Head of the President's Office, he became Head of IGBE's International Department from 1990 to 1997. Following the 1997 merger that created IGBCE, he continued as Head of the IGBCE&rsquo;s International Department.

Manfred Warda to Replace Fred Higgs as ICEM GS in 2007

&nbsp;<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
ICEM Workshop on Peer Education 
 
Peer Education was the central topic of the 3rd Regional Workshop for national coordinators, which was held in Johannesburg from 6 to 8 September 2006. Participants from ten sub-Saharan African countries acquired the necessary skills as peer educators and, in turn, train peer educators from ICEM affiliates in their own countries. 
National coordinators identified key functions for peer educators, the core contents of a peer educators&rsquo; programme, the qualities and skills required by peer educators, the sustainability of programmes and the role of unions in peer education. 
 
The ILO draft toolkit on behaviour change communication was an important tool in the workshop. Participants received the CD-Rom of this seven-part toolkit which provides essential resources on developing programmes. 
 
National coordinators also reviewed progress on activities since the 2nd Regional Workshop, in November 2005, and agreed to forward information on workplace policies and collective agreements with HIV/AIDS clauses to the Regional Coordinator in order to compile a best practice guide. 
 
For the remainder of the year, national programmes are planned in the participating countries. The 4th and final regional workshop in the present project cycle will be held in Johannesburg from 4 to 7 December, focussing on accessing external funding sources at national level and the writing of project proposals. 
 
(Source: Report Regional Coordinator) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
Gates Foundation Supports the Global Fund &ndash; Advocates Empowerment of Women 
 
Shortly before the International AIDS Conference took place in Toronto in August, the Gates Foundation announced that it would give USD 500 million to the Global Fund over the years 2006-2010, at a rate of USD 100 million per year. This is a significant increase from the USD 150 million that the foundation gave over the four years 2002-2005. 
 
At the opening night of the Toronto Conference, Bill Gates called the Global Fund &ldquo;a fantastic vehicle for scaling up treatment and prevention&rdquo;. He went on to say that 
&ldquo;Right now, one of the most widely practiced approaches to prevention is the ABC Program, or Abstain, Be faithful, use Condoms. This approach has saved many lives and we should expand it. But for many at the highest risk of infection, ABC has its limits. Abstinence is not often an option for poor women and girls who have no choice but to marry at an early age. Being faithful will not protect the woman whose partner is not faithful. Using condoms is not a decision that a woman can make by herself. It depends on a man. We need to put the power to prevent HIV in the hands of women. 
 
So we need tools that will allow women to protect themselves. This is true whether the woman is the faithful, married mother of small children or a sex worker trying to scrape out a living in a slum. No matter where she lives, who she is or what she does, a woman should never need her partner&rsquo;s permission to save her own life. To be clear, as we discover and distribute preventative tools that women can use without a man&rsquo;s cooperation, we are not excusing men from their obligations to be responsible and to protect their partners. We&rsquo;re just reducing the consequences to women if they don&rsquo;t.&rdquo; 
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation received some USD 31 billion from Warren Buffet, which brings its total assets to around USD 60 billion. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 63, 19 September &ndash; GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
TAC Day of Action &ndash; Call for Minister of Health to Resign 
 
A Day of Action on 24 August, called for by South Africa&rsquo;s Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), was marked by protests in cities throughout the country, as well as at several South African embassies, calling for the resignation of Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. 
The Global AIDS Alliance stated that &ldquo;For many years an effective response to the HIV/AIDS crisis was hampered by disastrous pseudo-scientific policies. South Africa has the knowledge, the skills and the resources to be in the forefront of the fight against the pandemic.&rdquo; 
 
With a prevalence rate of close to 20 percent, around 5.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS; more than 800 are dying every day. This is in the first place an avoidable human tragedy. But it is also affecting the investment climate in the country, with foreign companies increasingly being concerned about the impact of HIV/AIDS. 
 
(Source: TAC Press Release, 20 August and Press Release Global AIDS Alliance, 23 August) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
Roche Transfers Know-How for Generic Production 
 
The Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche has granted a cost-free licence to three African generic producers &ndash; two in Kenya and one in South Africa &ndash; to produce a generic version of its AIDS drug Sequinavir. The drug is used in second-line treatment when resistance to first-line treatment has been developed. 
 
(Source Neue Z&uuml;rcher Zeitung, 23-24 September 2006)
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
Namibia Up-scales ART 
 
The Namibian government expects to treat more than 30,000 HIV-positive people with antiretroviral drugs by the beginning of 2007. This will cover about 58 per cent of those requiring treatment. Under Namibia&rsquo;s treatment programme, which started in 2003, the number of deaths from AIDS-related illnesses has dropped from 3,627 in 2004 to 3,230 in 2005. 90 per cent of the people who have been receiving ARVs since the programme started in 2003 are still alive. 
The procurement of ARVs is mainly financed by PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. According to the WHO, Namibia is among the top countries to provide ARVs. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Website reprinted with permission from the Kaiser Family Foundation and GlobalHealthReporting.org) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
Jamaica: Business Joins the Fight against HIV/AIDS 
 
19 private-sector companies committed to join the fight against HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination at the workplace, during the launch of the Jamaica Business Council on HIV/AIDS. The Council&rsquo;s mission also includes prevention and treatment strategies for the workplace. USAID and pharmaceutical company Merck provided USD 100,000 to set up the Council. No mention is made of the role of unions to fight HIV/AIDS at the workplace. 
 
About 25,000 Jamaicans are living with HIV/AIDS, equivalent to a prevalence rate of 1.5 per cent. 
 
(Source: The Jamaica Observer, 22 September) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
Global Fund Considers Grant Requests 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has announced that its Technical Review Panel has recommended 85 requests for funding, worth a total of USD 949 million over the first two years of the grant period. This represent 43 per cent of all eligible proposals received by the Global Fund for the 6th Round, for which the deadline was 3 August. 
At present, only about USD 650 million is available for Round 6 grants. Proposals worth this amount will most likely be approved by the Board Meeting at the end of October, with the remaining USD 300 million worth of proposals being approved after adequate pledges are received in 2006 or 2007. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 64, 10 October &ndash; GFO is a free service of Aidspan www.aidspan.org)

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 13

<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
Mission to Ghana &ndash; Breakthrough in ICEM Pilot Project 
 
Key elements of the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Project are the pilot projects. In identifying areas where we can make a real contribution, the ICEM has developed the concept of such projects in cooperation with major mining companies. 
These projects target health clinics operated by the companies, which provide functioning medical services to their workers and immediate dependents. The clinics can be used to expand their services to the broader community in the area and provide voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) as well as antiretroviral treatment (ART). 
 
The ICEM concept has now received recognition at the AngloGold Ashanti mine in Obuasi, Ghana. Building on discussions between the ICEM and management in Johannesburg, AngloGold Ashanti is now involved in a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Health. The project is intended to provide HIV clinic services, including voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and antiretroviral treatment (ART) to employees, their dependents and the community of Obuasi. 
In a good example of a co-investment project, the company makes the infrastructure of the hospital and the medical staff available. It provides VCT and ART to its employees and their dependents at its own cost and gets reimbursed for such services provided to the community. 
 
During a joint mission with representatives of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator visited the Obuasi mine. Members of the delegation were briefed at the company&rsquo;s Edwin Cade Memorial Hospital on the HIV/AIDS programme. Weekly health briefings at the Obuasi office of the Ghana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union will involve the union in the programme. 
The delegation also visited the Malaria Control Centre which was opened by the President of Ghana on 28 April. The malaria control programme covers the spraying of all houses in Obuasi. 
 
The joint ICEM/GFATM mission was a first for the global union movement. Representatives of the Ministry of Health/Ghana Health Service, as principal recipient of the grants, and members of the Country Coordinating Mechanism were briefed on the advantages of public/private sector co-investment projects for the implementation of Global Fund grants. 
In all meetings the point was made that the private sector includes business and unions. The ICEM can take credit that this concept has been recognised by the Global Fund when exploring further co-investment projects in other countries. 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS 
 
Heads of state and government, ministers and more than a thousand representatives of civil society and the private sector gathered in New York for the follow-up to the 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) and a comprehensive review of the progress made in achieving the targets agreed by member states five years ago when the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS was adopted. 
 
Trade unions attending the event have urged government representatives and HIV/AIDS activists to focus on workplace strategies to address stigma and discrimination attached to HIV/AIDS. 90% of the 40 million people who are HIV infected are found in the working age population. Many of them live in daily fear of losing their jobs. 
The workplace is particularly well-positioned to combat discrimination in society and it holds tremendous potential for awareness-raising, prevention, treatment and counselling. More attention must be directed to the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, which speaks directly to the need for partnership and social dialogue in the workplace. 
 
Trade union representatives have also approached government delegations to seek support for the creation of a high-level G8 Working Group on HIV/AIDS. This ongoing campaign had already targeted health ministers attending the World Health Assembly of the WHO in Geneva in May. It will continue at the International Labour Conference of the ILO in June. 
 
As reported in the May issue of this e-bulletin, the UN produced two reports prior to the meeting, which can be accessed on the UNAIDS website <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>. On the eve of the High Level Meeting, UNAIDS launched the 2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic. This special edition, marking the 10th anniversary of UNAIDS, contains the most in-depth date from countries to date, based on progress reports from 126 countries. 
(The outcome of the Conference and the UNAIDS 2006 Report will be given more detailed attention in the July issue of this e-bulletin). 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
Global Fund Calls for Round 6 Proposals 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has issued its Sixth Call for Proposals. The application form and support documentation are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/apply/call6">www.theglobalfund.org/en/apply/call6</a>. Proposals have to reach the Global Fund by 3 August. 
 
The Global Fund does not have offices in any country. The application process is devolved to the national level. 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). 
Very few CCMs include trade unionists. This should not prevent trade unions to work through members of the CCM who are sympathetic to their cause and to find cooperating partners who can develop workplace-related project ideas into proposals for the CCM. 
 
The role of the workplace in the fight against HIV/AIDS is recognised. No workplace activities can be efficiently implemented without unions. The role of national unions and their international bodies, the Global Unions Federations, is acknowledged by international organisations such as the ILO, the WHO and UNAIDS. 
 
The Global Fund is keen to build public/private partnerships and to implement co-investment projects. 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 the workers&rsquo; representatives. 
The ICEM has worked with the Global Fund to establish this principle in public/private co-investment projects. 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
FNV Report Acknowledges Contribution of ICEM Projects 
 
In a report entitled &ldquo;Trade union support in the struggle against HIV/AIDS&rdquo;, FNV Mondiaal, the international trade union development organisation of the Dutch national centre FNV, stresses the importance of HIV/AIDS as a trade union issue. 
FNV Mondiaal is currently supporting 12 HIV/AIDS-related projects in cooperation with Global Union Federations and national unions. Fighting the pandemic is one of the priorities of its business plan 2005-2008. 
 
The report cites the ICEM project, which also enjoys the support of the Swedish LO/TCO, as a good example of integrating HIV/AIDS issues in collective bargaining and global framework agreements. 
The report gives credit to the ICEM&rsquo;s efforts to build partnerships, especially in Ghana, to decrease the incidence of HIV/AIDS in mining companies and to upscale VCT and ART. It further acknowledges ICEM&rsquo;s role in working with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and national Country Coordinating Mechanisms to involve unions and generate additional funds. 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
Australia and AIDS 
 
Two initiatives have been launched in Australia to try to stop the spread of HIV infections in Asia, from where 40% of the disease&rsquo;s growth is forecast to come over the next few years. 
The first is a partnership between the Australian government and the Bill Clinton Foundation. Australia will provide USD 18 million to work with the Foundation in China, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea to provide test kits and antiretroviral drugs. The government-Clinton coalition will work with a second cooperative effort involving Australian companies that have operations in Asia. 
(Source: The Economist, 1 April 2006) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
South Africa: May Day Focus on HIV/AIDS 
 
Along with a number of trade unions throughout Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions focussed its 1 May activities on HIV/AIDS under the theme &ldquo;AIDS &ndash; The New Struggle&rdquo;. It emphasised breaking the silence and building solidarity with the slogan &ldquo;Each one teach one! Test, Treat and Fight for Life&rdquo;. 
Sectoral summits with employers and other stakeholders are planned during 2006 and mining companies will be asked to create a fund to assist with the scaling up of access to care and treatment in Lesotho and Mozambique, where the pandemic has been fuelled by migrant labour to the mines. 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
Fighting HIV/AIDS &ndash; Lessons from Brazil 
 
In the history of the response to the HIV pandemic, Brazil is best known for its pioneering decision in 1996 to offer free combination antiretroviral treatment to all citizens. 
The government-funded treatment programme has improved the health and extended the survival of countless Brazilians, has saved the country billions in hospital cost and has inspired similar efforts elsewhere &ndash; including the US President&rsquo;s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the WHO&rsquo;s 3x5 Initiative. 
Between 1996 and 2005, the government spent a total of USD 3.5 billion in response to HIV and AIDS, including USD 2 billion for antiretroviral drugs. All the money for drug treatment has come from internal funds; about 11% of total expenditure has come from World Bank loans, spent chiefly for prevention programmes and to establish a national laboratory network for the clinical monitoring of patients. 
 
Brazil&rsquo;s persistent and aggressive efforts to prevent new HIV infections have probably played an equal if not greater role than treatment in slowing down the spread of the virus and containing the country&rsquo;s epidemic. At the beginning of the 1990s, the epidemics in Brazil and South Africa were at a similar stage, with a prevalence rate of about 1.5% among adults of reproductive age. 
 
However, by 1995, the year before Brazil&rsquo;s treatment programme was established, the epidemic in South Africa began to explode with a prevalence already greater than 10%, whereas the infection rate in Brazil had declined by half. The early success of prevention efforts allowed its national treatment programme to be feasible logistically and financially by limiting the number of people infected. 
In turn, access to free treatment has made Brazilians more willing to be tested and has made it easier to address the types of behaviour associated with transmission. 
 
In Brazil, during the week before Carnival, citizens who ventured to catch a bus, buy a beer or mail a letter were likely to be reminded by their government to use condoms. Postal costumers received condom brochures along with their stamps. Public health officials, contracted with Coca-Cola distributors, delivered condom posters to bars along with the soft drinks. Prevention efforts targeting high-risk parts of the population have achieved impressive success, particularly among injection-drug users and commercial sex workers. 
 
An important factor in making the programme affordable was the expertise of the domestic pharmaceutical industry, which allowed the country to produce generic versions of antiretroviral drugs with patents that had been registered before 1996, predating Brazil&rsquo;s signing of the TRIPS agreement. 
For newly developed drugs, Brazil may still decide to issue compulsory licenses in the future on the basis of the WTO Doha declaration that the TRIPS agreement should be interpreted and implemented by member countries &ldquo;in a manner supportive of WTO members&rsquo; rights to protect public health, and in particular, to promote access to medicines for all&rdquo;. 
 
(Source: The New England Journal of Medicine, No. 19, 11 May 2006) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
News from ILOAIDS 
 
A new brochure &ldquo;The workplace: gateway to universal access&rdquo;, published in April, gives a succinct overview of the role of the ILO in reducing discrimination and increasing access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. 
 
Published in May, &ldquo;Saving lives, protecting jobs&rdquo; is an interim report of the International HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Programme, also known as Strategic HIV/AIDS Responses by Enterprises (SHARE) and financed by the US Department of Labor. Under the programme, almost 2,800 government officials and key members of workers&rsquo; and employers&rsquo; organisations have received in-depth training on developing policies and implementing programmes on HIV/AIDS. Over 2,000 workers have been trained as peer educators. 
 
Both publications can be accessed at <a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids">www.ilo.org/aids</a>. 
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="20" />
REMINDER TO ICEM AFFILIATES 
 
This is your newsletter &ndash; contribute to it! 
 
ICEM affiliates are already engaged in a wide range of activities; some have formal agreements with companies; others run education and awareness programmes at the workplace. 
 
To spread the information on new agreements and campaigns and to build on best practices, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to hiv.aids@icem.org. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 9

<img height="130" alt="" src="" width="350" /> 
&nbsp;
&nbsp; Enactment of the unpopular WorkChoices labour reform law in Australia will reverse the course on gender equality in the workplace, said Sharon Burrow, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
&nbsp;Contents<a name="BackUp"></a>
<a href="#A1">1. WorkChoices Act - Australian Women&rsquo;s Rights Hit Hard</a> 
<a href="#A2">2. Nepal - Equality for Women Goes from Strength to Strength</a> 
<a href="#A3">3. USA - A New Movement for Family-Friendly Policies</a> 
<a href="#A4">4. Canada - C$100 Million Pay Equity Settlement</a> 
<a href="#A5">5. China - Women&rsquo;s Pay Still a Long Way from Equal</a> 
<a href="#A6">6. Colombia - Court Legalises Some Abortions</a> 
<a href="#A7">7. Finland - 100 Years of Women&rsquo;s Suffrage</a> 
<a href="#A8">8. Malaysia - Give Women What is Fair</a> 
<a href="#A9">9. Mexico - Women Allege Sex Abuse by Police</a> 
<a href="#A10">10. Switzerland - Work-Life Balance Means a High Return on Investment</a> 
<a href="#11">11. UK - Iraqi Women Visit Trade Unions</a> 
<a href="#A12">12. Resources</a> 

<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A1"></a><a name="1"></a>
1. <a name="1"></a>Australia &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Rights Hit Hard 
 
The Australian government&rsquo;s industrial relations reforms have set back women&rsquo;s fight for equal rights at work by decades, according to the national labour centre, Australian Council of Trade Unions. 
 
ACTU president Sharan Burrow told a recent women&rsquo;s conference that female equality in the workplace was unachievable under WorkChoices. She said, &ldquo;We were already struggling&hellip;.now with WorkChoices we&rsquo;ve lost the tools to do anything about it.&rdquo; The tools included the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, unfair dismissal laws and equal pay principles. She said the changes had angered many women who had fought hard in the past three decades to try to achieve equality. 
 
But she also predicted the Howard government&rsquo;s reforms will prompt a new generation of women to rally behind the cause for work rights. Burrow is the first woman ever to serve as president of the ICFTU. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A2"></a><a name="2"></a>
2.<a name="2"></a> Nepal &ndash; Equality for Women Goes from Strength to Strength 
 
The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) congratulates all women in Nepal for the new victory in the fight for equality. The House of Representatives made one more landmark declaration guaranteeing the right of women, by providing a 33% requirement in all state bodies. 
 
It will secure women a one-third representation on all security forces, bureaucracy and constitutional bodies, including Parliament. It will be imperative for every political party and mass organisation to follow the same rule. Moreover the declaration put an end to the patriarchal nature of the existing citizenship law and ensured citizenship to all. 
 
Now Nepali citizenship will be awarded on the basis of both mother and father, contrary to the previous practice of citizenship based on the father&rsquo;s only. By this declaration all discriminatory laws and practices against women will be annulled. The demands were the major agenda of Nepali women&rsquo;s movement including working-class women, the trade union movement and gender-friendly organisations. 
 
The ICEM congratulates GEFONT and all women in Nepal on this important achievement in the immediate aftermath of the political capitulation of King Gyanendra.
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A3"></a><a name="3"></a>
3.<a name="3"></a> United States &ndash; A New Movement for Family-Friendly Policies 
 
Patti Devlin from LIUNA wrote about the new movement for family-friendly policies because of the family crisis in America. Mothers and families are in trouble. A full quarter of families with children under six live in poverty, at least 9 million children have no health care, and far too many parents cannot afford to stay home with sick children. 
 
Working toward common sense, family-friendly policies, like those covered in The Motherhood Manifesto, will help all families. To support common sense family-friendly policies that protect and invest in mothers, children and families. Please sign the petition at: <a href="http://www.momsrising.org/">www.momsrising.org</a>.
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A4"></a><a name="4"></a>
4.<a name="4"></a> Canada &ndash; C$100 Million Pay Equity Settlement 
 
BCE Inc., Canada&rsquo;s largest telephone company, agreed to pay about C$100 million to workers represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers&rsquo; (CEP) Union of Canada. 
 
The union filed suit in 1992 to seek equal pay for Bell&rsquo;s largely female operators, and dining and housing-service employees. About 2,000 people who work or have worked full time as operators would each receive between C$25,000 and C$30,000, plus an adjustment to their pensions. 
 
&ldquo;People have waited a long time for this settlement,&rdquo; said CEP President Bryan Payne. The settlement covers current and former employees who worked for Bell between 1993 and 1999. Most of the people covered by the proposed agreement no longer work for Bell because their jobs were cut in the 1990s.
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A5"></a><a name="5"></a>
5. <a name="5"></a>China &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Pay Still a Long Way from Equal 
 
While more Chinese believe both genders are equal, a recent national survey by the All-China Women&rsquo;s Federation found women were still in a passive and disadvantageous position in the workplace. 
 
According to the survey, the employment rate of women age 18 to 49 has decreased by more than 16 percentage points compared to 1990. More than half of all laid-off workers are women. For working women in cities, their average income is roughly 70% that of men, representing a disparity of about 7% wider than a decade ago. This could be based on the fact that far fewer women want to have a voice in the managerial affairs of their units, even though China has many more women leaders in every aspect of social life than ever before, said survey analysts. 
 
According to the survey, only about 42% of women staff are concerned with the politics of their organisations, in contrast with more than 58% of men. 
 
While most men surveyed said their suggestions had been taken on board, most of the women said their suggestions had only brought &ldquo;negative&rdquo; results. It is this attitude towards the ability of women that freezes almost 65% of women in low-ranking positions, said Deng Li from the federation. &ldquo;While gender equality is widely recognized in China, the social tradition and climate promoting a subordinate female role in relation to the male role persists,&rdquo; Deng said. 
 
Consequently the survey found 20% of the men had promotion opportunities in the past three years, while only a little more than 16% of their female counterparts had the same opportunities. 
 
In addition, fewer women have been protected by proper unemployment and retirement pensions, which Deng said will prompt the federation to suggest that the National People&rsquo;s Congress write &ldquo;safeguarding equality in employment&rdquo; into the Law on the Protection of Women&rsquo;s Rights and Interests. 
 
&ldquo;Discrimination against women has become the most severe problem in the employment market in China, ranging from higher recruitment requirements for women to scarce promotion opportunities and humiliating workplace abuse,&rdquo; Deng said. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A6"></a><a name="6"></a>
6. <a name="6"></a>Colombia &ndash; Court Legalises Some Abortions 
 
Colombia&rsquo;s highest court has legalized abortion under limited circumstances. The decision is expected to embolden women&rsquo;s rights groups across Latin America to use courts in their countries to try to roll back some of the world&rsquo;s most stringent abortion laws. 
 
The court overturned Colombia&rsquo;s complete ban on abortion and ruled that the procedure would be permitted when the life of a mother was in danger, or the foetus was expected to die or in cases of rape or incest. 
 
The lawyer in Bogot&aacute; who brought the case fought on the grounds that Colombia was violating its own commitments to international human rights treaties ensuring a woman&rsquo;s right to life and health. The court, explaining its decision, said the life of a foetus could not be put ahead of the life of the mother, and called the complete ban &ldquo;disproportionate&rdquo; and &ldquo;irrational.&rdquo; Advocates of abortion rights say the arguments are applicable to other Latin American countries as well. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A7"></a><a name="7"></a>
7. <a name="7"></a>Finland &ndash; 100 Years of Women&rsquo;s Suffrage 
 
Finns are celebrating a century of being the first country to grant women full political rights. On the First of June, 1906, a law was enacted giving all citizens the right to vote and full political rights for women, the first country in the world to do so. A year later, 19 women were elected into the 200-member single chamber. In 1893, New Zealand became the first country permitting women to vote, but it initially did not allow them to compete in elections. 
 
Finland&rsquo;s Foreign Minister, Erkki Tuomioja, said the country was among &ldquo;the most advanced nations in gender equality. We&rsquo;re not perfect, we have a lot to do still, but we are an example for the rest of the world,&rdquo; Tuomioja said in an article distributed by the Associated Press. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A8"></a><a name="8"></a>
8. <a name="8"></a>Malaysia &ndash; Give Women What is Fair 
 
Referring to the complaint that salary should not be the basis for maternity pay, companies still treat women indifferently, especially when it comes to maternity leave. Employers could be charged in court if they sack a female employee just because she is pregnant, as provided by the 1955 Employment Act. Many companies give two months&rsquo; paid maternity leave (up to the fifth child), even though their salaries are above RM 1,500. 
 
Efforts are being made to amend the Employment Act for the definition of workers to include those who earn more than RM 1,500. The Malaysian government has not ratified ILO Convention 183 on maternity protection, which sets a requirement for 14 weeks&rsquo; paid maternity leave, parenting leave for the spouse, breastfeeding breaks for nursing mothers and provision of childcare centres. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A9"></a><a name="9"></a>
9.<a name="9"></a> Mexico &ndash; Women Allege Sex Abuse by Police 
 
Mexico&rsquo;s human rights agency said on 30 May it has filed complaints with prosecutors after nearly two dozen women claimed they were raped or sexually abused by police following a violent protest. 
 
The allegations are the most serious to arise against police, frequently accused of corruption and violence, during the administration of President Fox, said Guillermo Ibarra, coordinator-general of projects and communication for the Mexican National Human Rights Commission. He said seven women reported that they were raped and 16 others, including three foreign nationals, said they were sexually abused by police who detained them after violent clashes last week in the town of San Salvador Atenco. 
 
Ibarra said his panel has filed criminal complaints with the attorney general&rsquo;s office in the central state of Mexico, where local, state and federal police officers have been accused by the women in the alleged abuses. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A10"></a><a name="10"></a>
10. <a name="10"></a>Switzerland &ndash; Work-Life Balance Means a High Return on Investment 
 
The Swiss union UNIA has found that work-life balance is profitable for companies; that it provides an 8% return on investment. 
 
A government study proves this figure for three reasons. Mothers come back to work after their maternity leave, which lowers the rate of fluctuation and reduces costs for new hiring. New hiring costs for bringing low-paid workers (CHF 4,000 to 90,000) on to payrolls is significant, and making better use of part-time workers means that companies use their human resources more efficiently. And finally, work-life balance makes it possible for mothers to have qualified careers in spite of their family responsibilities. Motivation and company image were not taken into account in these figures. 
 
In addition, in the chemical and pharmaceuticals industry in the Basel region, UNIA managed to boost maternity leave from 16 to 18 weeks. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="11"></a>
11.<a name="11"></a> United Kingdom &ndash; Iraqi Women Visit Trade Unions 
 
Iraqi and Kurdish women trade unionists visited the UK in March with the support of the Trades Union Congress, and unions Unison and Amicus. 
 
The delegation consisted of Nazanin T. Ali, Head of Women&rsquo;s Affairs at the Kurdistan Workers Syndicate, member of the Service Workers Union; Hoda S Rafiq, member of the Kurdistan Journalists&rsquo; Union, who works for the Kurdistan Workers Syndicate newspaper; Hassana Abdulsatar, member of the Mechanics, Metal and Printing Workers Union, and a member of her union&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s committee; and Violet Issa Qalaab, President of the Oil and Gas Workers Union Al Zubair Branch and member of the Iraqi Women&rsquo;s League. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A12"></a><a name="12"></a>
12. <a name="12"></a>Resources: 
 
The EU&rsquo;s Responsibility at the WTO: Environment, Gender and Development, written by Women in Development Europe and Friends of the Earth Europe, 2006. 
 
This publication aims to contribute to a constructive dialogue between civil society representatives from the North and the South, and representatives from the EU that could contribute to an EU trade policy consistent with social and gender justice and environmental sustainability. 
The first part reports on the public hearing, entitled &ldquo;The EU&rsquo;s Responsibility at the WTO: Environment, Gender and Development,&rdquo; highlighting issues such as the commoditization of natural resources under the WTO, the importance of people&rsquo;s food sovereignty, the gender dimension of the trade agenda and biosafety. 
The second part consists of an analysis of the outcome of the Hong Kong Ministerial meeting, from a feminist and environmentalist perspective. Available online at: 
<a href="http://www.eurosur.org/wide/Globalisation/WTO06.pdf">http://www.eurosur.org/wide/Globalisation/WTO06.pdf</a>
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 12

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
In New Zealand, offshore energy and drilling workers belonging to ICEM affiliate Engineering Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union (EPMU) are expected to ratify a new multi-employer collective agreement that will merge separate onshore and offshore agreements into one agreement. 
 
EPMU issued a strike notice to the five drilling companies and several oil firms involved. The strike was to have started on 24 May. Employers responded by filing a court injunction preventing a work stoppage. 
 
But two weeks ago, employers presented a revised two-year pay offer that EPMU&rsquo;s oil and gas negotiating committee was recommending for ratification to the 200 workers. Voting is expected to conclude on the contract proposal in the near future.

New Zealand’s Offshore Oil and Gas Workers Get Tentative Agreement

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The global mining industry did produce one piece of good news over the past fortnight. Canadian mining house Ivanhoe announced it would withdraw from Burma, expressing to sources discomfort with having to deal with the military junta, which jointly owns a copper mine with Ivanhoe. The company will sell its 50% in the Monywa mine to a consortium of South Korean investors, including Daewoo International, which already has investment deals with the Burmese generals. 
 
The Ivanhoe Mines exit will happen in a July 2006 sale. Last week, Burma&rsquo;s military junta extended the house arrest on Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Her strong voice for democracy and human rights in Burma has now been silenced for the past three years by the corrupt Burmese military rulers. In total, she has spent a total of ten of the past 17 years in detention.

Canadian Ivanhoe Mines Pulls Out of Burma

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The coal rush in the eastern United States has brought six more mining deaths in recent days, and again it is a fledgling mining company responsible for five of those deaths. On 20 May, five miners at the non-union Kentucky Darby Mine No. 1 in Harlan County, state of Kentucky, died after a methane explosion inside a shaft. Two of the miners died instantly due to the blast, while three others died underground later due to carbon monoxide poisoning. 
 
On 24 May, a miner underground at International Coal Group&rsquo;s (ICG) Sycamore II Mine near Jarvisville, state of West Virginia, died when he was struck in the head by a heavy wooden object. ICG is the non-union coal operator of the Sago Mine in West Virginia in which 12 miners were killed on 2 January 2006 following an explosion. 
A miner who escaped the Harlan County blast questioned the reliability of self-contained oxygen packs provided to miners only a month before the 20 May explosion. Both ICG and Kentucky Darby LLC, which has operated the mine in eastern Kentucky since 2001, utilized the same emergency devices. Thirty-three mining deaths have happened in the US so far in 2006, with 19 of those deaths in West Virginia and ten in Kentucky. 
<img height="98" alt="" src="" width="150" />
On the day of the latest ICG death, the US Senate passed legislation mandating improved oxygen supplies, electronic tracking systems, fire-resistant lifelines, and local rescue teams, all areas in which start-up coal operators have been lax. The bill also requires up-to-date emergency preparedness and response plans that are continually monitored by the Mine Safety &amp; Health Administration (MSHA). A companion bill is now in the US House. 
The legislation is endorsed by ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), as well as by a coalmining employers&rsquo; group. But the association tempered its support over of a 15-minutes notification requirement to MSHA in the event of serious accidents. MSHA has also issued new rules on mine safety since the Sago Mine explosion. 
 
The UMWA has called for miner tracking devises, wireless communication and emergency rescue chambers already in use in Germany, Poland and Australia. UMWA Director of Occupational Health and Safety, Dennis O&rsquo;Dell, in a published report, said, &ldquo;The emergency rules do some good things but don&rsquo;t go far enough. We in the United States are really behind on the kind of technology that protects miners&rsquo; safety and is already saving lives in other countries.&rdquo;

Mining Deaths Keep Occurring in US Coal Industry

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
In what the Chinese work-safety director is calling the worst coal mine disaster of 2006, 56 miners were trapped and killed by flooding at the Xinjing Coal Mine, Shanxi Province. Miners told managers to cease mining due to rising water levels six days before the 18 May mass flooding, but were ordered to continue mining. 
 
To make matters worse, local safety officials had attempted to cover up the extent of the disaster when it happened by stating only five miners were trapped. After two days, a State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) investigation discovered 56 were trapped. Nine managers are under arrest, while the owner of the licensed mine is reported to have fled. In addition, six others were arrested in connection to the disaster, including two bankers as well as the person charged with work safety, who stands accused of leading the cover-up. 
Also on 18 May, near Beijing, a coal mine collapsed in Fangshan District, killing five miners. The mine is owned by Jingmei Coal, part of the Beijing Coal Group. These two mid-May tragedies follow a fierce explosion that occurred at the Wayaobao Coal Mine in Shaanxi Province on 29 April. It killed 32. 
 
Fatalities occurred in other Chinese mining sectors as well over the past month. On 13 May, at last three were confirmed dead after the Dalongshan Iron Mine collapsed in Anhui Province. On April 30, in an effort to heighten production, the Zhen&rsquo;an County Gold Mining Co., raised water levels on a dam, which then burst and killed 17 villagers. That incident happened in Shaanxi Province.

Coal, Iron, Gold Disasters Kill Scores in China’s Mines

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A dispute has been settled and a first collective agreement is in place in Malaysia&rsquo;s paper industry. ICEM assisted its affiliate Paper and Paper Products Manufacturing Employees&rsquo; Union (PPPMEU), as did Norwegian trade union Fellesforbundet in achieving recognition and a contract at a Malaysian Newsprint Industries mill in Pahang. 
 
Malaysian Newsprint is 34% owned by Norske Skog, with whom ICEM and Fellesforbundet have a Global Framework Agreement. The matter was brought before the Norwegian-based company by Fellesforbundet. 
<img height="102" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A union was formed at the nine-year-old mill in October 2004 and, in March 2005, a government ministry verified PPMEU certification. The union submitted proposals toward a first collective agreement in July 2005, but the company stalled in meeting its bargaining obligations. When the company finally did meet with the union, it informed the union that 70 of 220 workers were in &ldquo;executive&rdquo; capacities and exempt from the union, even though they perform manual tasks. 
 
The ICEM and Fellesforbundet attention to the dispute, and no doubt the formal intent-to-strike notice issued by PPPMEU on 15 May, brought pressure on management to settle. The initial three-year collective agreement will be backdated to 1 October 2005. Even though the scope of the bargaining unit wasn&rsquo;t resolved, it will now be submitted to a Malaysian Industrial Court. Other partners in the newsprint mill include the Hong Leong Group of Malaysia (34%), the New Straits Times newspaper (21%), and Rimbuan Hijau Group of Malaysia (11%).

Global Agreement, Strike Threat Brings First Accord to Malaysian Paper Mill

Archive