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The 28 affiliates of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Slovakia (KOZ) have the antidote for centre-right coalition government intent on imposing dreaded labour laws reforms in the Central European country. KOZ and its trade unions have launched a petition drive to change the eight-hour work day to one of seven and a 25-hour work week, with no reduction in salaries. 
 
The campaign already has the necessary 350,000 signatures needed to put an initiative up for vote under Slovakia&rsquo;s referendum law. But the unions will continue collecting signatures, in part, to galvanise support against Prime Minister Iveta Radicova&rsquo;s labour code revisions to cut worker protections. 
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KOZ has drawn up a draft referendum that poses three questions to Slovak citizens: Do you want to preserve the current system of worker protections? Do you agree that overtime work should be limited to 80 hours per year? Do you want working time shortened to 35 hours per week? 
 
Leaders in the ruling coalition parties claim that if accepted, employers will reduce costs by furloughing workers. But union leaders argue that reducing the number of work hours can produce jobs if fair and socially correct policies are enacted by the government. 
 
The labour-friendly Smer-Social Democracy Party is the one political party supporting KOZ&rsquo;s campaign. 
 
In order for a plebiscite to become effective in the Slovak Republic, at least 50% of voting-age people must turn out for the referendum vote. Since 1993, the country has held seven such plebiscites and only once has achieved the necessary 50% &ndash; in 2003 when Slovakian citizens voted to join the EU.

Slovak Trade Unions Campaign for 7-Hour Work Day

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ICEM-affiliated mineworkers&rsquo; unions know the difficulties in dealing with Rio Tinto, whether it is collective agreements or the charades the company plays to deny legitimate rights for train drivers in western Australia&rsquo;s rich iron ore region. Now an Australian union has set as goal organizing the unorganized plants of Rio Tinto Alcan, the mining giant&rsquo;s aluminum smelting subsidiary there. 
 
The Australian Workers Union (AWU) is currently ramping up a recruiting drive at Alcan factories in Tasmania, Queensland, and the Northern Territory and without surprise, is meeting fierce resistance by Rio&rsquo;s managers. 
 
AWU kicked off its union campaign to deliver better wages and benefits to all workers at Alcan plants last month at its National Delegates Conference. The union intends to do that by recruiting wall-to-wall, or every worker at smelting facilities in Bell Bay, Tasmania, and Yarwun and Boyne Island, Queensland, that does not carry a union card. 
 
AWU began the drive in earnest last week by placing advertisements in Tasmanian newspapers alerting the public and workers at Alcan&rsquo;s Bell Bay smelter that Tassie staff are paid far less than at two union-represented smelters of Alcoa in Victoria. The ads, titled &ldquo;Tassie Workers Deserve Better: Fair Go &ndash; Rio Tinto,&rdquo; reveal that Alcoa operators earn up to A$20,000 more per year than operators at Bell Bay. 
<img alt="" src="" width="188" height="251" />
AWU Newspaper advert 
Photo: AWU 
It was at Bell Bay, in northern Tasmania, in late February where the AWU won a health and safety victory for the 550 workers there. Late in February, a state Justice Department of Justice secretary issued a definitive ruling that AWU representatives must be allowed access to break areas of the plant to consult with union members over safety and work issues. The company had appealed a Tasmania Supreme Court judgment giving the AWU right-of-entry. 
 
Alcan managers at Bell Bay have undertaken vigorous litigation to block access by attempting to restrict union consultation with workers to outside conference rooms, areas where such meetings are in full view of managers. (See previous <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4195-Court-Tosses-Rio’s-Australian-Appeal-on-Safety-‘Right-of-Access’">ICEM InBrief report</a>.) Right-of-entry to lunch rooms is seen by Aussie unions as a pivotal point under Fair Work Australia in order to rid fear and intimidation as factors in workers choosing union membership. 
 
Alcan &ndash; and Rio Tinto &ndash; resistance to unionization was also seen recently at an Alcan facility called Gove Alumina in the Northern Territory. There, members of the Australia Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) have since 2008 rejected three times in enterprise bargaining a demand from Alcan to change roster scheduling at the 403-worker refinery. 
 
Despite enterprise bargaining talks still in effect, last week a leaked e-mail surfaced revealing that Alcan management had advised that the next set of talks not include the designated AMWU representatives. Such an attempt to circumvent the union is a serious breach of Australian federal labour law. 
 
The anti-union bias pattern that Rio&rsquo;s Alcan managers use is best summarized by a labour leader in central Queensland, where AWU is seeking worker power and workplace gains at Yarwun and Boyne Island, both sites that have low union membership. The Gladstone Branch president of the Queensland Council of Trade Unions, Craig Giddens, described the difference between construction of the Yarwun facility and commencement of production, a point when Alcan installed security cameras and heavy locked gates. &ldquo;Whenever we go&rdquo; to meet with workers, Giddens told newspaper reporters, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re locked in an office at the front (and) there&rsquo;s a security camera at the front so management can watch who comes down.&rdquo;

Australian Union Seeks ‘Wall-to-Wall’ Recruitment at Rio Tinto Alcan

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In April, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) will begin searching for union members in the metals and engineering sector who retired between 1980 and 2001. The reason is that NUMSA last month won a long-running battle through arbitration with South Africa&rsquo;s Steel and Engineering Industry Federation. 
 
The arbitrated judgement is an award for R20 billion (&euro;209 million, US$290 million) in surplus pension funds that had been withheld by the employers&rsquo; federation for decades. 
 
NUMSA fought in court and through negotiation channels for the right to disburse the surplus entitlement funds. The money was accumulated in both the Engineering Industries Pension Fund and the Metal Industries Provident Fund since the 1950s. 
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The surplus was accumulated and held when worker contributions to the funds were never paid out to staff who had not reached the vesting scale of ten years employment, or when NUMSA members failed to claim pensions when they retired or resigned. ICEM-affiliated NUMSA began battling for disbursement in 2001, but the case was not resolved because employers imposed many legal entanglements to block any disbursement. 
 
The Steel and Engineering Industry Federation insisted that South Africa&rsquo;s Labour Relations Act (LRA) apply in settling the issue. NUMSA and the Financial Services Board argued that surplus monies should come under the Pension Fund Act because the LRA had no provision for addressing pension issues. Finally, in 2008, the LRA was amended to address pensions and the two sides began negotiations. It was resolved in February through arbitration in the union&rsquo;s favour. 
 
Some 1.5 million former and current NUMSA members will now benefit. A total of R11 billion (&euro;115 million, US$160 million) will be paid out to former or retired members, while R9 billion (&euro;94 million, US$130 million) will go into existing funds to buoy those funds for the benefit of current NUMSA members. 
 
Said NUMSA National Benefits Coordinator Samuel Tsiane, &ldquo;Now it becomes our task to locate former members to deliver what belongs to them.&rdquo; Tsiane said a small part of the pay-out will go to the union to achieve this and in April, NUMSA will utilise 450 people to conduct an initial ten-day blitz to identify retired or former metal or engineering staff. The pay-outs are expected to start being made in September.

NUMSA Wins 20-Billion-Rand Surplus Pension Case

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A precedent-setting case for South African miners was won in the nation&rsquo;s highest court on 3 March. The landmark case is expected to allow thousands of miners stricken with life-threatening respiratory and other diseases to sue companies under common law in South Africa. 
 
The Constitutional Court ten days ago overturned a Supreme Court of Appeal judgement and grants a former AngloGold Ashanti worker the right to sue the company for contracting silicosis. The worker, Thembekile Mankayi, died six days before the monumental ruling, and now it is up to his family whether or not to continue the case. 
 
The Supreme Court and a lower court had ruled against Mankayi because he had received compensation under South Africa&rsquo;s Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (Odimwa). He had received a paltry R16,320 (&euro;1,706, US$2,350) after it was determined he was ill with tuberculosis and silicosis from AngloGold&rsquo;s silica quartz dust after working inside the Vaal Reefs mine from 1979 to 1995. 
 
The Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a June 2008 Johannesburg High Court ruling dismissing Mankayi&rsquo;s claim of R2.6 million (&euro;271,800, US$374,400) against AngloGold for lost income and other compensation. Mankayi was seeking the monetary judgement under South Africa&rsquo;s Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act of 1993 (Coita). In upholding the lower court, the Supreme Court stated that Section 35(1) of Coita barred a worker from bringing a claim against an employer once that worker collected under Odimwa. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="142" />
NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni 
But in the 3 March ruling, Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe ruled that the Supreme Court &ldquo;had erred in concluding&rdquo; the two pieces of legislation had the same compensatory structure, adding the difference between the two was apparent. 
 
&ldquo;If Coida removes Mr. Mankayi&rsquo;s common law right to claim compensation for negligence, employees in his position &hellip; would be left without an effective remedy to rectify the harm caused by the negligence of employers,&rdquo; Khampepe wrote, adding, &ldquo;Mineworkers, African (ones) in particular, have contributed enormously to this country&rsquo;s wealth at great cost to themselves and their health. The impugned legislation affects many vulnerable members of society.&rdquo; 
 
Judge Khampepe ordered AngloGold to pay the court costs for Mankayi, and the ruling opens the way for his family to return to the Johannesburg High Court to again lay claim to R2.6 million. In a statement following the 3 March judgement, the company said if the executor wishes to pursue litigation there, &ldquo;AngloGold Ashanti will defend the case on its merits.&rdquo; 
 
Sadly, Thembekile Mankayi died of the disease on 25 February, leaving a wife and ten children. 
 
ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) hailed the high court&rsquo;s ruling, calling it an achievement and a breakthrough. &ldquo;For many years mining employers had sent hundreds of thousands of poor, sick miners home to die,&rdquo; said General Secretary Frans Baleni. We will remain &ldquo;at the forefront of ensuring that employers pay for their long forgotten sins.&rdquo;

South African High Court Overrules AngloGold in Landmark Silicosis Case

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The Con-Dem coalition government in the United Kingdom is forging ahead on a raft of cuts to public spending which threatens to cause permanent damage throughout the welfare state. Under the argument of reducing the public financial deficit within four years, the right-wing Cameron government is using the cuts as a cover to fundamentally weaken the active state system of fairness and equality. 
 
Under serious threat are public services, the education system, pensions, and the National Health Service (NHS). 
 
Unions are fighting back. An alliance of unions and social groups will march to London&rsquo;s Hyde Park on 26 March, under the banner: &ldquo;March for the Alternative, Cuts are not the Cure&rdquo;. The March is organised by the British Trade Union Congress (TUC), and was announced by TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber last October.
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Alternative measures to Cameron&rsquo;s cuts are a crackdown on tax avoidance, a Robin Hood tax on banks and finance, and policies and time to let economic growth and full employment raise the tax that will close the deficit. 
 
Debate continues within the movement on the best policy combination alternative to the damaging cuts, but what is undisputed is that the cuts must be stopped. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda wrote in a <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/18.ICEM.March%20against%20Cuts.London.14March.pdf">letter to the TUC and ICEM&rsquo;s UK affiliates</a>, &ldquo;As the trade union movement of the UK manifests on 26 March against the cuts, we want your members and all British people to know that they have the support and solidarity of 20 million union members across the world, trade unionists that the ICEM is proud to represent&rdquo;. 
 
The movement against the cuts is gathering momentum. Thousands of workers, students and anti-cuts campaigners marched through Cardiff on Saturday 5 March as the Welsh voted to increase devolved power of the Welsh Assembly, responding to Westminster&rsquo;s imposition of cuts throughout the UK. 
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Tag line: 5 March Demonstration against Cuts, Cardiff
10,000 protestors descended on Sheffield last week for the Liberal Democrat Party Conference. Party leader Nick Clegg has betrayed the electorate by changing policy on University tuition fees and is being targeted now to not allow the sale of the NHS, after Lib Dem members at the Conference voted to reject the government&rsquo;s reforms. 
 
Join the London March. Assembly at 11:00am, Victoria Embankment, and march to a rally in Hyde Park.

London Demonstration against Tory Attack on Welfare State

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Ukraine last week became the 25th country in 16 years to ratify of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. The country&rsquo;s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, on 15 February gave approval to the set of mine safety standards by a vote of 311 out of 418 MPs present. 
 
The effort was spurred by ICEM&rsquo;s two mine union affiliates in the eastern European country, the Coal Industry Workers&rsquo; Union of Ukraine (PRUPU) and the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine. Leaders of both unions, Victor Turmanov and Mikhail Volynets, are members of the Rada.
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PRUPU's Victor Turmanov&nbsp;
The bill, No. 0195, was initiated by Ukraine President Victor Yanukovichem on 10 November 2010, and now awaits the President&rsquo;s signature. Once signed, the Convention will take effect in 12 months, with the expectation that Ukraine&rsquo;s national laws on mine safety will be updated to comply with the global standards. 
 
&ldquo;Ratification of Convention 176 signals Ukraine&rsquo;s commitment to safety and health protections for workers in one of the world&rsquo;s most dangerous occupations,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We welcome this legislation and congratulate our trade union affiliates for advancing this inside Ukraine&rsquo;s government.&rdquo;
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Mikhail Volynets, Independent Trade Union of Miners&nbsp;
The ICEM views ratification of Convention 176 as the precursor for improving a country&rsquo;s national mining laws. The Convention spells out responsibilities for government, employers, and workers and their representatives, and specifically gives miners the right to report hazards, dangerous conditions and accidents, as well as the right to refuse unsafe work. 
 
For employers, Convention 176 places responsibility on them to not only remove workplace hazards, but remove the causes of those hazards. Employers are responsible for ensuring adequate underground ventilation and providing double exits in mines. The Convention also mandates that employers provide adequate safety training programmes to workers and ensure a regular routine of occupational health surveillance of miners. 
 
Of vital importance, the Convention gives workers and their trade unions participation in inspections and accident investigations, and allows workers to select their own safety and health representatives in full partnership with employers and governmental regulatory bodies. 
 
Ukraine is the fourth country in the past three-and-a-half years to ratify ILO Convention 176. In January 2010, Bosnia/Herzegovina ratified the Convention, while Luxembourg ratified it in April 2008 and Peru in June 2007. 
 
The ICEM established a campaign on country ratification of ILO Convention 176 at its 2007 Congress, and information on that campaign can be found <a href="/en/209-ILO">here</a>.

Ukraine Ratifies ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention

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Senior management of Statoil, responsible for the Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with the ICEM and Norwegian trade union affiliate, IndustriEnergi (IE), met at the ICEM on 16 December 16, 2010, together with Lars Myhre, chair of the ICEM Energy Industries Sector, and ICEM General Secretary, Manfred Warda, to sign the latest version of the GFA. 
 
The Statoil GFA was the first one that ICEM reached with any company in any sector in July 1998, and it is seen as a major benefit to both management and unions around the world. The Statoil delegation was led by Siv Oftedal, newly appointed Vice President of Human Resources, and also included Erling Brevik and Aksel Stenerud. 
 
The text of the agreement remains substantially unchanged, with all agreeing that in its present form, it has served all parties well. 
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After signing of the renewal, detailed discussions took place that focussed on the company&rsquo;s investments in Iraq, where it is junior partner with Russian-based Lukoil in the development of the West Querna 2 field. It was agreed that it would be useful to hold a future exchange of information on Iraq early in 2011, with a view to continued contact and the consideration of joint activities. 
 
Another focus was the company&rsquo;s increased activities in the Caspian Sea. Here it was agreed to consider the introduction of regional social dialog in the Caspian, building on both the work IE has done in Azerbaijan and the ICEM&rsquo;s Caspian Sea Workers&rsquo; Network. Two years ago, ICEM affiliates in the Caspian made a declaration on social rights and last year held a first meeting in which Statoil attended with the Azerbaijan national oil and gas company, SOCAR. 
 
Finally discussions covered offshore safety, particularly in the light of the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon disaster last year in the Gulf of Mexico.

ICEM Renews GFA with Statoil

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The cement workers&rsquo; union, Sintraincehsa, an affiliate of the Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI), wrote to the chief labour inspector of the Ministry of Labour in Honduras, Selvin Ram&oacute;n Mart&iacute;nez, on 21 January to decry the union-busting tactics of local management. The union accused&nbsp;French-based Lafarge of&nbsp;breach of&nbsp;the collective agreement, national and international labour legislation, and the Global Framework Agreement signed by ICEM, BWI, and Lafarge. 
 
Local management of Lafarge Cementos in the city of Comayagua have arbitrarily begun&nbsp;alcohol and drug testing on employees as a means to sack union leaders. The tests are not observed by a third party and were initiated without consultation with the union.
<img alt="" src="" width="128" height="115" />
Sintraincehsa requests that inspectors from the Ministry of Labour&nbsp;oversee the testing. The union asked&nbsp;management in June 2010&nbsp;to work together with it&nbsp;in cases where workers were found to be breaking rules on alcohol and drugs. The union wants&nbsp;to&nbsp;rehabilitate and educate those failing drug or alcohol tests. 
 
However, since December 2010, management has increased its unilateral testing, without agreement or dialogue with the union. Sintraincehsa says that this is the latest tactic in the company&rsquo;s union-busting campaign, which has seen membership of the union decrease five-fold in recent years. Local management continues to outsource jobs, with 23 sub-contracting firms&nbsp;now operating on site, jobs Sintraincehsa says should be held by direct and permanently employed workers of Lafarge Cementos. 
 
Sintraincehsa and&nbsp;Lafarge Cementos&nbsp;have had a collective agreement in place since March 2005.

Cement Giant Lafarge in Breach of GFA in Honduras

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On 11 February &ndash; day 18 of mass revolution by the Egyptian people &ndash; Hosni Mubarek was toppled as dictator of Egypt. Newly-minted Vice President Omar Suleiman, who the people reject as well, issued a brief statement on national television that evening saying Mubarek resigned as president, and power is transferred to the Armed Forces Supreme Council, a grouping of top Egyptian generals. 
 
Only speculation exists at this early writing on what steps the military might first take to reduce 30 years of repressive rule, human rights violations, and a lessening of social inequality. One Sunday, 13 February, a military decree restricted trade union freedoms. 
 
One thing is certain: the extraordinary events of the past fortnight must stand as a turning point for Egypt to embark on a road of participatory democracy. 
 
Mubarek&rsquo;s departure came after the biggest yet demonstration in Cairo&rsquo;s al-Tahrir Square on 11 February, and cities such as Alexandria, Aswan, Suez, Port Said, Asyut, and El Kharga saw huge protests as mass calls were heeded by Egyptians to take to the streets and reclaim their country. 
<img alt="" src="" width="257" height="180" />
Days 16 and 17 will become known as the days when workers shut down factories and businesses, bringing the country to an economic standstill. The workers' movment was vast and perhaps serving as prime example was the call &ldquo;People&rsquo;s Revolution for the People&rdquo; by the 4,000-strong Helwan Iron and Steel Workers at the Coking Coal and Basic Chemical Co. They issued an invitation to workers to join the 11 February mobilisation in al-Tahrir Square and called for creation of an independent trade union movement. 
 
The fledgling Iron and Steel Workers&rsquo; Union proclaimed the revolution to be the end of government corruption, and called for higher wages and permanent contracts for temporary workers. Tens of thousands of other Egyptian workers at state companies, and in textile, chemicals, transport, postal services, and other sectors stopped work in the middle of last week, leading surely to Mubarek&rsquo;s departure at week&rsquo;s end. 
 
In Helwan, 6,000 silk and textile workers at Misr Helwan Spinning and Weaving Co. stopped work, as did 400 workers at the Misr National Steel Co. in Suez. Some 2,000 workers of Sigma Pharmaceutical in Quesna protested. And thousands of workers of the Egyptian Petroleum Trading Service Co. (Petrotrade) joined the national demonstrations at six branches of the company, including at the Ministry of Petroleum in Nasr City. 
<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="146" />
In industrial Kafr al-Dawwar, thousands of textile workers took to the streets last week, and 6,000 staff of the Suez Canal Authority began sit-ins at workplaces in Suez, Port Said, and Ismailia on the evening of 8 February that lasted through the next day. 
 
This growing wave of working-class militancy was not unexpected; in the past six years, there have been nearly 3,000 strikes and workers&rsquo; protests affecting two million wage earners who have been cheated by the Egyptian regime&rsquo;s corrupt practices. 
 
Globally, countless demonstrations were held last week in cities and countries demanding an end to Mubarek&rsquo;s rule and justice for the Egyptian people. On 8 February, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) held a day of protest in a number of cities including Geneva. 
<img alt="" src="" width="277" height="185" />
Several ICEM staff joined a large delegation from the Global Union Federation (GUF) UNI and other GUFs to protest at the Egyptian mission to the UN&rsquo;s European headquarters. There, trade unionists led by the Workers&rsquo; Chair of by ILO Governing Body, Leroy Trotman of the Barbados Workers&rsquo; Union, presented a letter by the ITUC and four Geneva-area GUFs to Mission Counsellor Yasser Hassan. 
 
It read, in part: &ldquo;We express our solidarity with our Egyptian brothers and sisters in this difficult situation. We urge you to remind the Egyptian Government that it must fulfil its obligations under international law and respect trade union rights and fundamental liberties such as freedom of expression.&rdquo; 
 
As significant as Mubarek&rsquo;s resignation is, it is only the beginning of the struggle. On Sunday, 13 February, the military&rsquo;s Supreme Council issued an edict banning all union meetings, forbidding strikes, and ordering all Egyptian workers back to work. In the coming weeks and months in Egypt, the world will witness that the struggle for democracy is inseparable from the struggle for workers&rsquo; power and the struggle for workers&rsquo; rights.

Mubarek Overthrown; Egyptian People Await Freedoms

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the HIV/AIDS workshop in India, on the new and ambitious targets of the Global Fund, and on two cases of job-related discrimination on the basis of HIV-positive status in South Africa. 
 
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
HIV/AIDS Workshop in India 
 
Some 30 participants and resource persons attended a three-day HIV/AIDS workshop in Kolkata, India, in February. Participants came from the ICEM affiliate, the Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INMF), as well as from the chemical, cement, and diamond sectors. 
 
The workshop was sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) as part of the HIV/AIDS Project in India. It was organised by the project&rsquo;s coordinator, BK Das, who is also the General Secretary of INMF and a member of the ICEM Executive Committee. The workshop was facilitated by the HIV/AIDS Programme Officer of the ILO office in New Delhi, Ms. P. Joshila. Representatives from employers and government agencies and an organisation of people living with HIV were also involved in the workshop. 
<img src="" width="125" height="38" alt="" />
Emphasis in this workshop was on workplace policies. The ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant, Hans Schwass, gave a presentation on elements of an HIV/AIDS workplace policy and introduced the ICEM Training Manual for Negotiating on HIV/AIDS. Participants also split in groups to establish work plans for their respective companies and regions to the end of 2011 when the BI sponsorship ends. 
 
Much has been achieved in the HIV/AIDS work in India of the ICEM with its affiliates and sponsorship from BI. More than 50 master trainers are available to continue the work with peer educators of whom more than 600 have been trained. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Global Fund: Bold New Targets Set at Board Retreat 
 
The Global Fund Board says that the Fund&rsquo;s new strategic plan should have &ldquo;bold, ambitious and measurable objectives,&rdquo; including tripling the number of lives saved and the number of infections averted between 2011 and 2016. This information is contained in a report prepared by Dr. Tedros A. Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia, Chair of the Board, on the board&rsquo;s recent retreat, which was held prior to its regular meeting in December 2010 in Sofia, Bulgaria. 
 
In addition to the objectives related to lives saved and infections averted, the board said that the Global Fund needs to do more to leverage the impact of its investments, particularly with respect to health gains for women and children; to increase efforts to maximise value for money; to increase efforts to ensure protection of human rights and access to prevention, treatment, care, and support for all, including the poorest and most marginalised populations; and to increase efforts to ensure the sustainability of programmes to which the Global Fund is currently contributing. 
<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="53" />
One area where the board failed to reach a consensus at the retreat concerns the mandate of the Global Fund. There were divergent perspectives on whether the objectives related to the number of lives saved and infections averted should be phrased in a way that will allow the Global Fund to progressively expand its mandate. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 140 of 3 February. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>; to receive GFO send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Decline in HIV Rates in Zimbabwe Driven by Fear of Infection 
 
The big drop in the numbers of people infected with HIV in Zimbabwe is because of mass social change, driven by fear of infection, according to an international study by the journal PLoS Medicine. 
 
A major investigation of the reasons why HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe has fallen from 29% in 1997 to 16% in 2007 was carried out by epidemiologists at Imperial College, London, and Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the UN Population Fund, and UNIADS. 
 
The research included extensive analysis of epidemiological data, together with focus groups and key informant interviews, to test the different explanations of the dramatic decline of prevalence. Although HIV prevalence remains high, the fall in HIV prevalence that has taken place in Zimbabwe is the largest see anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. 
 
(Source: as reported by World AIDS Campaign, Cape Town, 16 February) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
South Africa: Xstrata Coal Accused of Sacking HIV-positive Miners 
 
A dispute has arisen in South Africa between ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Xstrata Coal over the apparent discharge of 12 HIV-positive miners. The miners were first sacked last fall from their jobs at the Tweefontein collieries in Mpumalanga province, but the NUM interceded on their behalf before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) and won reinstatement to their jobs. 
 
But in mid-February, Xstrata Coal South Africa informed the NUM that it would re-sack the 12 and appeal the CCMA&rsquo;s decision to a labour court. At issue is whether or not Xstrata knew of their HIV status through a joint NUM-Xstrata Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) programme that is strictly confidential. Hundreds of Tweefontein miners were tested through the programme in October and November 2010. 
<img src="" width="225" height="169" alt="" />
NUM Highveld Regional Secretary Paris Mashego, left&nbsp;
It is uncertain if Xstrata Coal gained access to results of the screenings, but the NUM alleges that the company does know the results. A private service provider was contracted to do the screenings and results are supposed to be shared only with the individual. 
 
NUM Highveld Regional Secretary Paris Mashego accused the company of dragging backward the campaign to test for the pandemic and said the NUM will continue to press for the real motive behind Xstrata&rsquo;s reversal. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.iol.co.za">www.iol.co.za</a>, 23 February and ICEM InBrief, 28 February)
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
South African Labour Court Affirms Rights of HIV+ Workers, Citing ILO Recommendation No. 200 
 
On 16 February 2011, in the case of Gary Shane Allpass v. Mooikloof Estates (Pty.) Ltd., (Case No. JS178/09), the Johannesburg Labour Court awarded the complainant compensatory damages for unfair dismissal and discrimination on the grounds of his HIV status. The decision examines issues of discrimination in employment on the grounds of HIV status and unfair dismissal, as well as discriminatory screening and forced disclosure of HIV status. 
 
The complainant was employed by the respondent as a horse riding instructor and stable manager on 1 November 2008. At the time of his recruitment, he had been living with HIV for almost 20 years. Prior to being hired, the complainant underwent an interview, during which he informed the respondent that he was &ldquo;in good health.&rdquo; Shortly after his hiring, the complainant &mdash; along with other employees &mdash; was asked to complete a form requiring him to disclose whether he was taking any &ldquo;chronic medication.&rdquo; The complainant complied and disclosed that he was taking, among other things, daily medication to manage his HIV condition. Upon learning of his HIV-positive status, the respondent immediately terminated the complainant on the grounds that he had fraudulently misrepresented his condition and that he was, in fact, &ldquo;severely ill&rdquo;. 
 
The Labour Court found that the complainant had been discriminated against and unfairly dismissed due to his HIV status and awarded him twelve months&rsquo; remuneration in compensatory damages and costs. Apart from considering that the dismissal violated the South African Constitution, the Labour Relations Act, and the Employment Equity Act, the Labour Court also cited the ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) and the Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, 2010 (No. 200). 
 
(Source: ILO/AIDS website) 
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International Cricketing Council Launches Campaign: &lsquo;Get the Facts, Protect Yourself&rsquo; 
 
The World Cup 2011, organised by the International Cricketing Council (ICC), is being held jointly in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Before this event, the ICC in partnership with UNAIDS and UNICEF launched a new campaign, &ldquo;Get the Facts, Protect Yourself.&rdquo; A number of star players feature in a public service announcement which is available to all broadcasters across the globe that encourages young people to inform themselves about HIV, take appropriate action to prevent HIV infection, and stand together against HIV-related stigma and discrimination. 
 
They may be rivals on the field of play, but international cricketing stars Virender Sehwag and Kumar Sangakkara have joined together to support a new &ldquo;Think Wise&rdquo; campaign ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. &ldquo;The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 provides an opportunity to use our status as cricketers to deliver important social messages to the millions of supporters who will be watching the tournament across the world,&rdquo; said India&rsquo;s Virender Sehwag. &ldquo;I hope this public service announcement can encourage young people to get the facts and protect themselves from HIV.&rdquo; 
 
Other cricketing stars in the partnership include Graeme Smith (South Africa), Shakib-Al-Hasan (Bangladesh) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (West Indies). &ldquo;It is important that young people around the world have access to the right information to help them make informed decisions and break down stigma and discrimination,&rdquo; said Sri Lanka&rsquo;s Kumar Sangakkara. &ldquo;Through this public service announcement, I want to help stop the spread of HIV.&rdquo; 
 
(Source: ITF HIV/AIDS update 100, 1 February) 
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News from Global Unions 
 
The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) in its latest HIV/AIDS updates No. 99, 100, and 101 of 15 January, 1 February, and 15 February, respectively, reports on a training programme organised in cooperation with the Mongolian Transport, Communication, and Petroleum Workers&rsquo; Union; on a national campaign organised by the National Transport Workers&rsquo; Union of Columbia to raise awareness of HIV and to promote safer sex practices among bus workers, van, taxi, and truck drivers; and reports, as well, on passengers and on developing and implementing workplace programmes with its affiliates in Mexico. 
 
The February Newsletter of PSUFASA (Public Sector Unions Fighting AIDS in Southern Africa) reports on several in-country seminars, notably in South Africa and Swaziland, and on the ongoing evaluation of the project for which sponsorship from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) will come to an end in March 2011. 
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Five Years Ago: From the March 2006 Issue 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In current issues, we refer to an article from the same month, five years ago, and reflect on developments. 
 
In the March 2006 issue of the e-bulletin, we reported on the integration of HIV/AIDS in the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers. On 28 April, the trade union movement remembers over two million workers who die and millions more who are injured or who fall sick each year due to unsafe, unhealthy, or unsustainable work and workplaces. The slogan for 2006 was Union Workplaces &ndash; Safe Workplaces and the selected themes are: The Global Union Ban Asbestos Campaign, HIV/AIDS &ndash; workplace aspects and implementation of programme response and ILO Conventions and Instruments that relate to Occupational Health and Safety. 
 
We also reported on the Product Red initiative. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, U2 rock musician Bono announced Product RED, an economic initiative designed to deliver a sustainable flow of private sector money to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). Leading brands made a commitment to channel a portion of profits from sales of specially-designed RED products to the GFATM to support AIDS programmes in Africa with a focus on women and children. The GFATM welcomed this new initiative. Through RED and other initiatives, it hoped to increase the private sector share of income from less than 1% in 2005 to 10% or more in the long term. 
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This ICEM HIV/AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="mailto:press@icem.org">press@icem.org</a>. Please put &ldquo;subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin&rdquo; in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 66, March 2011

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