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Workers, retirees, and students marched in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 17 November, in a mass protest against employers, who are stalling needed salary increases. Some 70,000 protestors, most clad in red bibs, marched in a peaceful assembly to one of Ljubljana&rsquo;s main squares, marking unification of six trade union federations. 
The six union federations jointly called the manifestation to protest employers&rsquo; reluctance to pay fair salaries in this round of wage talks in the EU country. The six include Zveza Svoodnih Sindikatov Slovenije (ZSSS), Neodvisnost (KNSS), KSS-Pergam, Konfederacija &rsquo;90 of Slovenia, Zveza Sindikatov Alternativa, and Zveza Delacev Solidarnost. 
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Slovenia, which adopted the Euro at the beginning of 2007, is beset by rising prices and an inflation rate that reached 5.1% in 2007. The trade unions seek autumn salary increases of 3.5%, and they want a February 2008 increase tied to inflation, instead of the normal, untimely August inflationary hike. The union federations are jointly calling for a system of productivity bonuses, as well. Slovenia, which became a member-nation of the EU in 2005, has seen a growth rate this year of 6.5%. 
 
In respect to the workers&rsquo; 17 November manifestation, President-elect Danilo Turek and Labour Minister Marjeta Cotman attended the mass public event. Earlier, Prime Minister Janez Jansa said protests were the wrong forum to address rising prices and stagnant salaries. The average net salary in Slovenia currently is &euro;820-per-month. 
 
All six leaders of the labour federations addressed the manifestation, and all stated that a general strike was possible if employers did not move from their entrenched wage offer, and were willing to move away from their reluctance to award productivity bonuses to the people generating Slovenia&rsquo;s growth.

Slovenian Union Federations Unite, 70,000 March in Ljubljana on 17 November

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The ICEM&rsquo;s 4th World Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, elected Senzeni Zokwana, president of the National Union of Mineworkers, as President of the Global Union Federation, and Manfred Warda, former head of the International Department of German union IGBCE, and Acting ICEM General Secretary, as General Secretary. 
 
The 22-24 November Congress also saw the full integration of the former World Federation of Industry Workers (WFIW) into the ICEM, as well as the selection of two WFIW representatives to ICEM&rsquo;s Presidium, and two to the Executive Committee. 
<img height="253" alt="" src="" width="380" />
Italo Rodomonti and Manfred Warda signing the agreement
Representing the former WFIW on ICEM's Presidium are Italo Rodomonti, Belgium, and Achille Dutu, Romania. Former WFIW unionists on the Executive Committee include Wilson Viera, Brazil, and Alphonse Tshimbu, Democratic Republic of Congo, with Justin Daerden and Alphonse De Potter, both from Belgium, servings as Executive Committee substitutes. 
 
Also at the Bangkok Congress, elected to the ICEM Presidium from Western Europe were: Augusto Pascussi, Italy; Hubertus Schmoldt, Germany; Phil McNulty, UK; and Ben Roodhuizen (Netherlands) and Paul Lootens (Belgium) to the rotating seat. 
 
Elected to the Presidium from the Nordic Region: Anders Ferbe, Sweden; and Liv Undheim, Norway. Elected to the Presidium from the Central Europe Region: Juraj Blahak, Slovak Republic. Elected to the Presidium from the Eastern Europe/Central Asia Region was: Ivan Mokhnachuk, Russia. 
<img height="285" alt="" src="" width="380" />
The newly elected ICEM Presidium
Elected to the Presidium from the North American Region: Ken Neumann, Canada; and Dave Coles, Canada. Elected to the Presidium from the Asia-Pacific Region: Kiyoshi Ochiai, Japan; and Chueh-an Chuang, Taiwan. 
 
Elected to the Presidium from the Middle East/North Africa Region was Mohamed El Sayed Morsi Aly of Egypt. Elected from the Sub-Saharan Africa Region to the Presidium was Rayford Mbulu, Zambia. 
 
And elected from the Latin America/Caribbean Region was Sergio Novais, Brazil. 
 
The two Women&rsquo;s seats to the ICEM Presidium were selected by the Women&rsquo;s Committee, with Evgenia Esenina, Russia, chair of that committee, and Angeline Chitambo, Zimbabwe, the designees.

ICEM Congress Elects Statutory Officers, Welcomes WFIW

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A dispute between Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. (NLNG), seven of its contractors at the Nigerian Bonny Island Terminal and ICEM blue-collar oil workers&rsquo; union NUPENG, turned violent on 18 November, causing the union to call a nation-wide strike this week if two demands are not met. 
 
The incident that sparked the strike call was a brutal attack by Nigeria&rsquo;s Joint Military Task Force (JTF) on contract workers &ndash; many of them NUPENG members &ndash; on NLNG property, which blinded one worker in his right eye, and injured 28 other NLNG subcontractors. The JTF fired tear gas directly at the contract workers, attacking with batons. 
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The contract worker who was blinded is NUPENG member Ibifuro Pepple. NUPENG arranged for the victim to be fitted with an artificial eye, with surgery set for 11 December by M&eacute;decins Sans Fronti&egrave;res (MSF) at a hospital in Lagos. 
 
The contract workers protested because NLNG reneged on the signing of an agreement granting them union recognition through NUPENG. The agreement was in place after the Nigerian Ministry of Labour and Productivity certified recognition, but NLNG twice backed away from signing the accord, the second time on 18 November. Contract workers at the Bonny Island transfer terminal in Finima then began their protest. NLNG responded by calling in the JTF. 
 
NLNG is owned jointly by the Nigerian government (49%), Shell (26.5%), Total (15%), and Eni&rsquo;s Agip (10.4%). 
 
NUPENG&rsquo;s Central Working Committee, at a meeting on 27 November, issued a seven-day national strike notice, demanding prosecution of the JTF officers responsible for the violence and full recognition of NUPENG as representative for the contract workers of the NLNG&rsquo;s suppliers. The ICEM supports those demands, and calls on the Nigerian government, as well as the multinationals involved, to give full priority to resolving this unionisation issue, and the other outstanding grievances brought by the workers and NUPENG. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
NUPENG leaders and government officials will meet today, 3 December, to discuss the critical situation. 
 
On November 26, NUPENG&rsquo;s Eastern Zonal members at NLNG began the first sympathy strike against the energy company for its indiscriminate, 18 November, actions. Other strikes at NLNG&rsquo;s five major worksites could occur as early as tomorrow, and other sympathy strikes could spread throughout Nigeria&rsquo;s energy sector. 
 
Following the 27 November NUPENG Central Committee meeting, leaders of PENGASSAN &ndash; ICEM&rsquo;s white-collar affiliate in Nigeria &ndash; stood with their comrades in supporting the declared strike. Senior staff workers at NLNG, represented by PENGASSAN, are firm in their belief that contract workers deserve the right to union recognition with NUPENG.

Nigeria: Police Use Violence to Break Up Unionising Subcontractors, 1 Worker Blinded

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Mobilisation of European trade unions is in full force, counting down to a 4 December European Day of Action in Rotterdam, Netherlands, against food and chemicals company Unilever&rsquo;s unjust job cuts. The mobilisation is being headed by the European Federation of Food, Agriculture, and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), and has the full support of the European Trade Union Congress (ETUC), the European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Federation (EMCEF), and the ICEM. 
In August, the Anglo-Dutch company announced a global reorganisation plan that would make redundant one-tenth of its 180,000 employees. Unilever would close 60 workplaces, out of 300 worldwide. In Europe, the company&rsquo;s global plan results in 10,000 to 12,000 job losses, with 20 to 25 plants endangered over the next 3 years. 
<img height="46" alt="" src="" width="146" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="85" alt="" src="" width="100" align="absMiddle" />
In The Netherlands, where a number of strikes have already occurred, FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Voeding came to agreement with Unilever recently over a new collective agreement, as well as job security terms over closure of three Dutch plants by the end of 2008. The plants targeted for closure are in Delft, where Calv&eacute; food products are made; in Loosdrecht, a plant making Knorr food products; and in Vlaardingen, a Lever Faberg&eacute; plant where consumer products are made. 
 
The job security terms state that plant-site Works Councils will study the company&rsquo;s plans and be allowed to develop alternatives. Those alternatives will then be seriously considered by the company in consultations with workers&rsquo; representatives. The two unions also agreed to fair compensation for any proposed job cuts. Unilever also guarantees that there will be no compulsory redundancies. 
In the collective agreement, running from May 2007 to March 2009, Dutch workers received a retroactive backpay award of 3% to last May. On 1 March 2008, they will receive a structural pay raise of 3.5%. The contract covers 3,000 workers. 
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For the 4 December manifestation, the ICEM and EMCEF issued a joint declaration regarding Unilever&rsquo;s global restructuring. In part, it reads, &ldquo;Unilever&rsquo;s August 2007 announced restructuring is the wrong response to the financial community&rsquo;s criticism of the company.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM, along with its sister Global Union Federation, the International Union of Food Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF), cites Unilever&rsquo;s anti-worker behaviour elsewhere as well. In India, the company has engaged in union-busting with the Hindustan Lever Employees Union at a factory in Assam. In trying to avoid social dialogue with the union, Unilever sold the food operation to a shell company. In Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan, at a foods and tea factory, Unilever called in armed militia to break workers protest against a plan to replace 950 permanent jobs, out of 1,200, with casual and contract workers. 
<img height="75" alt="" src="" width="70" />
In Vinheido, Brazil, Unilever took an uncompromising position in collective negotiations that set the worst precedents on implementing precarious work. Likewise, in Chile, South Africa, and Colombia, Unilever has exhibited clear and negative attitudes relating to labour relations.

European Unions to March 4 December Against Unilever’s Restructuring

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1. The ICEM Women&rsquo;s Conference Runs 17-18 November in Bangkok 
2. Africa &ndash; More Women in Governments 
3. Mexico &ndash; Discrimination Is on the Rise 
4. The Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) Meets in Washington 
5. &lsquo;Molecular condom&rsquo; Is Developed To Fight HIV/AIDS 
6. From Our Readers 
7. Resources
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1. The ICEM Women&rsquo;s Conference Runs 17-18 November in Bangkok
All systems are go for the ICEM Women&rsquo;s Conference, which will kick off week-long events of the ICEM&rsquo;s Fourth Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. The Women&rsquo;s Committee will be meeting on 17 and 18 November, and most delegates will stay on to attend Congress as delegates. The conference theme is &ldquo;Women &ndash; Work &ndash; 21st Century.&rdquo; 
 
The theme blocks for the conference will cover peace, contract and agency labour, women&rsquo;s health in the broadest sense, and the work-life balance. Presentations, debates, and working groups will contemplate these subjects and decide on a work plan covering these issues for the next four years. Congress motions will also be discussed. 
 
The conference will elect the chair and vice-chair of the Women&rsquo;s Section, who in turn will sit on the ICEM Presidium. We look forward to seeing you in great numbers in Bangkok! 
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2. Africa &ndash; More Women in Governments 
In Morocco, seven women were appointed to head strategic ministries, ranging from energy to culture. This compares with two in the previous government. In Senegal, the new Senate has double the number of women. There are now 40 women in that body, out of 100 total, and this compares with the previous chamber, which had only 18 women. 
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3. Mexico &ndash; Discrimination Is on the Rise 
A recent Mexican report indicates that accusations for job-related discrimination have gone up astronomically. From 2001 to 2006 the accusations of sexual harassment went up by 122%, firing for pregnancy-related causes by 106%, work-related violence by 61% and general discrimination by 133%. 
 
Employers tend to consider pregnancy to be a crime, instead of it being normal and a social responsibility. The Women&rsquo;s Institute considers sexual harassment to be one of the reasons why women are not promoted. The salary gap in Mexico is between 7% and 35%. The old forms of discrimination still remain, but they have been joined by new ones &ndash; emphasis on size, stature, figure, physical appearance, and simply on being single. 
 
Discrimination is banned by the Constitution, but the Labour Ministry feels that not much can be done against it because there are too loopholes. The main problem is that there is no culture of equality. Economic necessity also forces women to accept jobs that they know beforehand discrimination exists. But when women are heads of families, they have little choice. 
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4. The Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) Meets in Washington 
The Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) met in Washington on 5-6 November. The Commission worked on the Draft Declaration of San Salvador: Gender, Violence, and HIV and redrafting its statutes. CIM, a specialized organization of the Organization of American States, is the principal forum for generating hemispheric policy to advance women's rights and gender equality. 
 
Established in 1928 at the Sixth International Conference of American States (Havana, Cuba), the CIM was the first official intergovernmental agency in the world created expressly to ensure recognition of the civil and political rights of women. As such, it has played a crucial role in making the participation and support of women a legitimate and indispensable part of governance and international consensus building in the Americas. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
5. &lsquo;Molecular condom&rsquo; Is Developed To Fight HIV/AIDS
Kavita Gupta, a female doctoral student from India at the University of Utah in the US, has developed a &quot;molecular condom.&quot; The condom is really a microbicide gel that kills HIV, and is designed to allow women more control in preventing AIDS since partners need to be involved in the application. 
The university is partnering with a contraceptive marketer to sell the products in India, where AIDS in increasingly being seen as a feminized disease. AIDS is spreading most rapidly in India among young women, according to the World Health Organization, and 2.5 million people there carry the virus. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
6. From Our Readers 
 
The Women&rsquo;s Committee in the Petrochemical, Mines and Energy Workers Union in Palestine held a four-day workshop to train women. The aim of the workshop was to enable women to make plans and support women&rsquo;s issues so that they would have experience and insight into women&rsquo;s activities in Arab countries and the world. 
The workshop dealt with women and democracy, new technologies, public speaking, and support mechanisms for women workers. The women had many ideas about trade unions and society. At the end they received a diploma. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
7. Resources
<a href="http://www.siyanda.org/docs/WGEKN_sen_ostlin_george.pdf">Unequal, Unfair, Ineffective and Inefficient Gender Inequity in Health</a>: Why it exists and how we can change it - Final Report to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health - September 2007 - Women and Gender Equity Knowledge Network 
<a href="http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTOGMC/EXTEXTINDWOM/0,,menuPK:3157100~pagePK:149018~piPK:149093~theSitePK:3156914,00.html">World Bank&rsquo;s website &ndash; Extractive Industries and Gender</a> 
<a href="http://www.mdgmonitor.org">http://www.mdgmonitor.org</a> 
UN&rsquo;s new website to track progress on the Millennium Development Goals. 
<a href="http://www.catalystwomen.org">http://www.catalystwomen.org</a> 
On reports on gender stereotyping at work, inclusive work environments and women&rsquo;s progress in business. 
<a href="http://www.uchastings.edu/?pid=3624">http://www.uchastings.edu/?pid=3624</a> 
Work Life Law, a site dealing with family responsibilities and discrimination 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Feature_stories/lang--en/WCMS_084620/index.htm">Women in the workplace</a>: New ILO report highlights how action in the world of work can help reduce maternal deaths 
<a href="http://www.observatoriogeneroyliderazgo.cl/">http://www.observatoriogeneroyliderazgo.cl/</a> 
Women Leadership (in Spanish) 
<a href="http://www.generoycomercio.org/">http://www.generoycomercio.org/</a> 
Gender and Trade (in Spanish) 
<a href="http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Gender%20Gap/index.htm ">The Global Gender Gap Report 2007</a> 
<a href="http://nomasviolenciacontramujeres.cl/cms/">http://nomasviolenciacontramujeres.cl/cms/</a> 
Chilean network against domestic and sexual violence (in Spanish)

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 26

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers Unions (ICEM) deplores the arrest, two days after the emergency decree in Pakistan, of Deputy General Secretary Rana Ayub Aki Khan, leader of ICEM affiliated WAPDA Labor Union (PWLU). 
 
&ldquo;We demand his immediate release, and the release of the others.&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;It should not be surprising that a leader of a trade union &ndash; and one that has been outspoken in the way Pakistan has operated its public utilities &ndash; is one of the first ones rounded up and arrested.&rdquo; 
 
PWLU is a strong trade union voice inside the 130,000-worker Pakistani Water and Development Authority (WAPDA). ICEM has learned that Rana Ayub Aki Khan, along with 4 colleagues, were arrested on Monday, November 5, and are in a police jail in Gujranwala, Punjab Province. The ICEM also received notice that other leaders of WAPDA have now gone into hiding. 
 
The union has protested against government mismanagement and inefficiency at the public utility. It has also blamed a political patronage system with failure to deliver basic services, such as education and health. 
 
On October 29, nearly 1,000 WAPDA workers marched in Peshawar in protest of authorities ignoring the kidnapping of a co-worker at a WAPDA subsidiary, Peshawar Electricity Supply Co. Mukhtiar Khan is a driver for the utility. <a href="/en/?id=78&amp;doc=2444&amp;la=EN">Click here for more on that</a>. 
 
The ICEM is a Brussels-based 20-million-member Global Union Federation representing oil, gas, power, mine, chemicals, and other manufacturing workers. It has 384 affiliated trade unions in 118 countries. 
 
For more, please contact Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer, <a href="mailto:Dick.blin@icem.org">Dick.blin@icem.org</a>, Tel: +32 2 626 2026, or +32 2 377 4023

Trade Unionist Immediate Victim of Pakistan Crackdown

<img height="37" alt="" src="" width="26" />
&nbsp;World AIDS Day, 1 December 2007 
Leadership is the theme for World AIDS Day 2007. The ongoing campaign slogan of the World AIDS Campaign is &ldquo;Stop AIDS &ndash; Keep the Promise&rdquo;. 
 
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. 
 
At the end of October, the ICEM has sent out its own campaign leaflet together with material from UNAIDS/World AIDS Campaign. The leaflet in English, French, Spanish, German and Swedish is also available on the dedicated section on HIV/AIDS at <a href="/72-HIV-AIDS">/72-HIV-AIDS</a>. 
 
Further campaign material and ideas can be found at <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a>, the website of the World AIDS Campaign. You can also find resources on the website of UNAIDS, the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a> and at ILOAIDS <a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids">www.ilo.org/aids</a>. 
 
Union leaders, gathering in Bangkok, 22-24 November for the 4th ICEM World Congress, will pledge to fight HIV/AIDS anywhere in the world. 
ICEM calls on its affiliates to take the lead in campaigning on World AIDS Day, 1 December. 
Report back to the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Send campaign materials and pictures. This will be published in the e-bulletin. 
<img height="37" alt="" src="" width="26" />
ICEM Regional Workshop on Medical Insurance 
All the coordinators from 12 sub-Saharan African countries participated in an ICEM regional workshop in Johannesburg in October. 
 
The purpose of this 5th workshop for national coordinators was to explore the role of medical insurance schemes in covering treatment of HIV/AIDS for workers and dependents. 
 
Participants examined the funding of schemes, aspects of the coverage of medical insurance schemes, employer-provided schemes, relationship and effects on public health systems and the role of unions in negotiating health insurance schemes and their participation in the governance of these schemes. 
Participants highlighted the need for Know-your-Status campaigns as the key to prevention. Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) can, however, only be encouraged if universal access to treatment is in place and where human and labour rights such as job security, non discrimination and non stigmatisation were strong. 
 
Large companies, especially in the mining sector, had generally good schemes which included HIV/AIDS services for workers and also for dependents. Gaps were identified in the coverage of contract workers and in the lack of schemes at small and medium-size enterprises. Limitations of the schemes were also highlighted. These challenges included the cost to members as a proportion of their wages and that coverage often did not cover workers once they were no longer employed. 
 
While private company schemes provide coverage and, in remote areas, often are the only health services available, participants acknowledged that, as unionists, we must also advocate the strengthening of the public health sector. 
<img height="37" alt="" src="" width="26" />
News from Affiliates
ICEM&rsquo;s affiliates in Tanzania, TUICO and TAMICO, have finalised their VCT Counsellors&rsquo; training programme. From 30 July to 26 August, seven unionists followed an intensive programme at the Muhimbili Health Information Centre. The course, with a total of 160 hours on 20 training days, included lectures and practical training sessions at the hospital, a practicum in the field and advanced skills training following the experience from the practicum. 
 
A similar programme was run for affiliates in South Africa. 
 
With the financial support from the project for national programmes, several countries implemented new activities (see also e-bulletin 23/24 of August/September). 
 
In Nigeria, NUPENG and PENGASSAN conducted a successful mobilisation for voluntary counselling and testing at the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company among workers and members of the community. The campaign over four days in July resulted in 677 people being tested. 
 
In Uganda, UMMAWU organised a training workshop for union representatives and a peer educators&rsquo; course in September. 
 
MUZ and NUCIW of Zambia held two three-day peer educators&rsquo; workshops in July and August. 
 
Very encouraging developments can also be reported from Sierra Leone where the United Mineworkers&rsquo; Union took the initiative to submit a programme and was included in the project. So far UMU conducted two peer educators&rsquo; training workshops for shop stewards and community leaders in Daru Town and Tongo Field. 
 
UMU is also actively engaged with the social partners in the drafting of an HIV/AIDS policy for the mining sector.
<img height="37" alt="" src="" width="26" />
Global Fund: Debt2Health Initiative 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has launched a &quot;Debt2Health&quot; initiative that could generate substantial funds. The initiative is a form of debt conversion, in which Western governments that are owed money by developing countries agree to cancel a portion of the debt on condition that the developing countries in question invest money in Global Fund-approved programmes. 
 
In the first Debt2Health implementation, the German government forgave 50 million Euros in debt by Indonesia, and Indonesia committed to investing the local equivalent of 25 million Euros in Global Fund programmes in Indonesia. Over the next four years, Germany plans to generate a total of 200 million Euros for Global Fund programmes through this initiative. The Global Fund hopes to enter into future Debt2Health agreements with Kenya, Pakistan and Peru. Further details are available <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/D2HMechanisms.pdf">here</a>. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 77, 30 September 2007. 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 height="37" alt="" src="" width="26" />
Still Losing the AIDS Fight 
Excerpts from an article by Richard Holbrooke, President of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: 
 
&ldquo;On the day you read this column, an estimated 12,000 people worldwide will contract HIV. Ninety percent of them will not learn that they are infected until full-blown AIDS hits them &ndash; in 2015. Until then, those people will unintentionally spread the virus that lies silently within each of them. 
 
But on Dec 1, the 19th annual World AIDS Day, political leaders and international health officials will, once again, tell the world that although the fight is far from over, progress is being made. The fight is indeed far from over &ndash; but don&rsquo;t believe the second half of such statements. 
 
It is heartening that more than 2 million HIV-positive people are on lifesaving antiretroviral drugs. But real progress must be measured by the only criterion that ultimately matters: Is the number of people who are HIV-positive declining? The answer is a resounding no. As a strategy to defeat HIV/AIDS, focusing primarily on treatment will never succeed. The only way to reverse the spread of HIV is to focus on prevention. 
 
Here is my challenge to the international health community: This year, tell the truth on World AIDS Day. Admit that we are still losing. Advocate strategies that emphasise prevention and detection, based on the successful &ldquo;opt-out&rdquo; testing systems being tried in Botswana, Lesotho and Malawi.&rdquo; 
 
(Source: Washington Post, 9 October) 
<img height="37" alt="" src="" width="26" />
New Technical Support Publication by the GTZ BACKUP Initiative
The German GTZ BACKUP Initiative has published a guide on where technical support for capacity development of Global Fund recipients is most needed, who is able to provide it, and how to make best use of it. 
 
The guide, entitled &quot;Accelerating action: A technical support guide to develop capacity and to benefit from global health financing,&quot; is intended for use by professionals working on HIV, TB and malaria projects that are financed by the Global Fund, World Bank, and other such mechanisms. The publication is available at <a href="http://www.gtz.de/backup-initiative">www.gtz.de/backup-initiative</a>. 
 
(Source: gtz website) 
<img height="37" alt="" src="" width="26" />
Botswana Continues Anti-AIDS Efforts
As far back as 2001, at the Special Session of the UN General Assembly, President Festus Mogae stated that his nation was threatened with extinction. Almost 40% of the population were infected with the virus and people were dying at a chillingly high rate. 
 
A year later, Botswana became the first country on the continent to provide antiretroviral drugs free of charge. 270,000 people are infected. Today, over 90,000 patients are receiving treatment. This is close to the figure of all of those infected for whom treatment is medically indicated. 
 
While Botswana, with an adult prevalence rate of 24%, is still among the most affected countries, the trend has been downward for many years. A programme for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission has been expanded; voluntary counselling and testing is encouraged as a critical entry point for all HIV/AIDS response programmes. 
 
Botswana now channels most of the international assistance it is receiving into prevention efforts. 
 
(Source: VOA, 9 October) 
<img height="37" alt="" src="" width="26" />
News from the Global Union Programme and Global Union Federations
In its most recent HIV/AIDS updates (no. 30 and 31 of 1 and 15 October) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a> reports, among others, on its World AIDS Day Campaign for which a 16-page brochure was produced with guidelines for campaign activities. 
 
In September the ITF organised a planning workshop in Kolkata to extend its project in South Asia for another three years beyond the end of 2007. South Asia is facing a fast growing pandemic. 
 
In its most recent newsletter on EFA and HIV/AIDS Prevention at Schools, the Education International (EI) introduced its new World AIDS Day Initiative called &ldquo;One Hour on AIDS&rdquo;. Learners around the world will benefit from lessons on AIDS on the same day, 30 November. EI is putting together a kit specially designed for teachers - <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/efaids">www.ei-ie.org/efaids</a>.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Sustainable enterprises will not see the light of day unless concerted and joint union and employer actions occur that engage workers, stated a Brazilian trade union leader last month. 
 
Nilton Freitas, representing the ICEM at a two-day business forum in S&atilde;o Paulo. sponsored by the United Nations Environmental Programme&rsquo;s (UNEP) Division of Technology, Industry, and Economics (DTIE), said workers and their representatives must be involved in the debate on climate change and concerning workplace chemicals, since staff are &ldquo;the first victims of unsustainable management of workplace hazards and chemicals.&rdquo;
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&nbsp;Nilton Freitas, Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC of Brazil
The conference was attended by nearly 200 business, industry, finance, government, and civil society delegates as part of the DTIE&rsquo;s Business &amp; Industry Global Dialogue. 
 
Freitas, an engineer and workplace health expert at ICEM affiliate Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC (CNQ-CUT), gave business and civil society leaders case examples where meaningful union-management agreements on sustainability issues have produced vast improvements in communities. 
 
He cited Global Framework Agreements as a prime example, but said joint workplace committees, assessments, and other tools that protect workers and communities must be viable and active. He said such instruments of industrial relations must be strengthened at the national level, and these tools must be backed by a stronger regulatory regime toward climate change and sustainable development. 
 
Freitas was joined on the panel by Lucien Royer of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Royer said trade unions are uniquely positioned to implement production changes that take into account climate change and sustainability, but that a cooperative mind-set by employers is a prerequisite. 
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Both Freitas and Royer emphasized that the employment impact of such changes must be addressed through a &ldquo;Green Jobs&rdquo; programme that aims to transform the negative impacts of climate change into positive benefits for all stakeholders. 
 
&ldquo;What is different now,&rdquo; said Freitas, &ldquo;is that actions at the workplace must also serve to address social issues, eradicate poverty, and promote social equality and justice.&rdquo; This, he added, must be done &ldquo;while enhancing the participation of workers and citizens in production decision-making.&rdquo; 
 
UNEP-DTIE&rsquo;s director, Sylvie Lemmet, emphasized at the close of the meeting the importance of trade unions and commented on experiences that unions in the chemicals sector have taken to improve quality of life. 
 
The ILO joined with UNEP and other partners &ndash; last June at the International Labour Conference &ndash; to begin the necessary work to realise the potential for &ldquo;Green Jobs&rdquo; and the necessary labour market transition in the face of climate change.

Sustainability Can Only Occur through Worker Involvement, Expert Tells Brazilian Business Leaders

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Latin America serves as the second largest production and marketing area for Italian-based Pirelli, the world&rsquo;s fifth largest tyre-making firm. With production units in Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela, it was little wonder that the region`s rubberworkers&rsquo; unions would get together to form a network of workers. 
 
That inaugural event took place on 25 October in Praia Grande, S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil. Workers&rsquo; representatives numbering 25 launched the regional network that includes these trade unions: Rubber, Tyre and Related Industries Workers` Union (FUB) of Brazil, Tyre Workers Union of Argentina (SUTNA), Bahia Rubber Workers Union of Brazil, and the S&atilde;o Paulo Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union of Brazil. 
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The meeting also welcomed Fabrizio Rigoldi, responsible secretary of the Lombardia Region of ICEM Italian affiliate, UILCEM. It also featured Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM`s Rubber Industry Officer, who presented the company`s general economic situation. &Ouml;zkan gave a special report on union representation at the subsidiaries of Pirelli throughout the world. 
 
The network elected FUB Vice President M&aacute;rcio Ferreira of Brazil as coordinator of the network. The network will meet again next year, and between now and then it will focus on exchange of information, such as health and safety data, collective agreements, and contract and agency labour trends and data. 
 
Following the day-long regional network formation, the group visited the Pirelli tyre plant in Santo Andre and met with company management. Employing some 2,000 workers, the Santo Andre plant, in 1941, was Pirelli&rsquo;s first investment outside of Europe.

Pirelli Latin American Workers Join Hands to Form a Union Network

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The Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada has appealed to Canada&rsquo;s Federal Cabinet the recommendations made by the National Energy Board (NEB) that would allow construction of the 2,970-kilometre Keystone Pipeline from the province of Alberta to the US. 
 
The proposed pipeline would increase Canadian exports of crude oil from the rich Alberta tar sands three-fold, the CEP said. The pipeline&rsquo;s builder, energy company TransCanada Corp., recently applied to the NEB for further pumping capacity to increase export volume from the planed 435,000 barrels-per-day to 590,000 bpd.
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The Ottawa-based ICEM affiliate has strongly asserted throughout the Keystone approval process, as well as with other crude oil pipelines destined to the US, that allowing such exports is directly contrary to the creation of good, sustainable refinery jobs in Canada. 
 
In a study issued earlier this year, the CEP said 18,000 jobs would be lost if Keystone were allowed to export raw crude oil across Canadian borders. Keystone is a US$5.2 billion pipeline project intended to bring unprocessed bitumen from Alberta&rsquo;s tar sands to US refining points in Wood River and Patoka, the US state of Illinois, and to Cushing, Oklahoma. 
 
The CEP is demanding that Canada&rsquo;s Federal Parliament set aside the NEB&rsquo;s recommendations, and refer the issue to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources. 
 
&ldquo;We think parliamentarians and the public need to have the chance to examine this pipeline proposal in the overall good of the country and of Canadians,&rdquo; said CEP President Dave Coles. The CEP is insisting that the Natural Resources Committee conduct full hearings on the pipeline deal, and take up transparency issues regarding the NEB as well.
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CEP President Dave&nbsp;Coles&nbsp;
TransCanada is just now finalising ownership of the pipeline, which has already seen high cost overruns. ConocoPhillips has an option coming soon to purchase a 50% equity stake in the pipeline. In the US, the project also includes conversion of an existing 864-kilometre pipeline from natural gas to crude oil service. 
 
CEP represents 35,000 workers in Canada&rsquo;s oil, gas, and chemicals sectors. Overall, the union numbers 150,000 members.

CEP Calls on Canadians to Reject Keystone Oil Pipeline into the US

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