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Because Brazil&rsquo;s government&rsquo;s refused to cancel an onshore oil and gas licensing round last month, 30,000 workers of Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) took action by striking on 17 December. The strike was coordinated by ICEM-affiliated Federa&ccedil;&atilde;o &Uacute;nica dos Petroleiros (FUP), the National Oil Workers&rsquo; Federation. 
 
Although FUP did not disrupt essential services of state-run Petrobras, it did call on refinery workers in nine states to strike that day. FUP joined with the Rural Landless Workers&rsquo; Movement and several other social groups in mid-December to occupy the reception of the company&rsquo;s headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the Ministry of Energy and Mines building. 
 
The protests were aimed at blocking the government&rsquo;s tenth round of bidding for oil and gas blocks, some 130 exploration tracts, covering 70,000 square kilometers in Sergipe-Alagoas, Amazon, Paran&aacute;, Potiguar, Parecis, Rec&ocirc;ncavo, and San Francisco. The union and its aligned social-group constituency, united under the banner &ldquo;Petroleum Must be Ours,&rdquo; seeks to keep oil and gas revenues inside the national economy, with the money used for social entitlements of all Brazilians. 

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&ldquo;We want Brazil&rsquo;s sovereignty to be preserved after the recent oil discoveries,&rdquo; stated a FUP union leader from Rio de Janeiro. &ldquo;The reserves are strategic and worth trillions of dollars and therefore should be used to improve the quality of life in Brazil and not be given over to foreign companies.&rdquo; 
 
FUP is carrying forth with legal efforts in the form of court injunctions in several jurisdictions to stop the bidding process, a process in which 48 companies were qualified by the government to bid. Those companies include Shell, Hess, Anadarko, and Devon, to name just a few. 
In other news affecting Petrobras, a 28-year-old offshore contract worker and father of one was killed on 4 January when a faulty high-pressure shut-off valve exploded on the company&rsquo;s FPSO P-34 platform. This occurred in the Jubarte field in deep-sea waters off the southwestern state of Espirito Santo. Two other workers were seriously injured. The workers were employed by UTC Engineering. FUP has been highly critical of the state company&rsquo;s safety practices, particularly in its policy of outsourcing strategic work.

Brazil’s Oil Workers Conduct 24-Hour Strike; Seek to Keep Resource Wealth at Home

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PENGASSAN, the ICEM-affiliated senior staff union in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas sector, is on the verge of declaring a full scale strike action nationwide. This follows a seven-day warning strike by the oil and gas labour movement, late 2008, which ended without a satisfactory result. The on-going dispute has pitted PENGASSAN and the management of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), particularly PEF Executive Secretary Adefunke Kasali. Kasali, who has been attempting to implement new regional policies which victimise workers in certain areas. 
 
&ldquo;The only thing that could avert this strike is for Kasali to drop the unpopular policy,&rdquo; stated a PENGASSAN representative. 
 
PENGASSAN union members hold significant leverage in Nigeria; its members are supervisors at each of the petroleum depots, which transport fuel and diesel throughout the country. The depots are under the control of PEF. 
<img height="162" alt="" src="" width="154" /><img height="176" alt="" src="" width="170" />
A recent action by the other ICEM affiliate in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas industry, NUPENG, included a joint action with PENGASSAN against the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). Together the two unions issued a 21-day ultimatum to the federal government to rescind its decision to appoint a pre-shipment inspector, Cobalt, or risk industrial action. 
The decision to outsource this work to a foreign firm has angered the unions, especially since the pre-shipment inspection function was already being statutorily performed by Nigerian workers of the DPR. According to union statistics, the federal government will pay up to US$87,400 daily for this unneeded service. 
 
An Edo State PENGASSAN chairman insisted that the deployment of Cobalt &quot;to the country's 21 crude oil export terminals amounts to mortgaging the nation's economic heart beat. NUPENG and PENGASSAN, as responsible unions, cannot, therefore, fold their hands to see this essential sector of the nation's economy ravaged at this point in our nation's history.&quot;

Nigerian Oil Workers Move Closer to Strike

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Aqaba, Jordan, was the venue for the second seminar and workshop in 2008 that brought together Iraqi oil workers trade unions with the country&rsquo;s transport and port workers unions. The programme is part of the ICEM&ndash;International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Trade Union Alliance. The seminar took place from 16-December 16-20 2008. A first meeting took place in Amman, Jordan, in March. 
 
The aims of the Alliance are to discuss, evaluate, and strengthen cooperation between the two Global Union Federations across the entire oil and gas sectors, and their logistical supply chain. Further aims are to develop strategic policy and enhanced organising abilities to jointly influence major companies in the industry, and to jointly organise mutual support and solidarity in achieving these objectives. Iraq is seen as a key country for such cooperation in the Middle East region. 
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The seminar was supported by the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity of the AFL-CIO, which participated as part of their extensive program of assistance to the Iraqi trade union movement. Facilitators were Jim Catterson of the ICEM, Bilal Malkawi of the ITF &ndash;Arab World, and Mary Ann Forbes, Solidarity Centre Country Program Director in Jordan. 
Also participating in the discussions were three Jordanian trade unions, the Port Workers&rsquo; Union, the Petrochemical Workers&rsquo; Union, and the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union. 
The seminar sessions included interactive presentations, which allowed participants to gain a better understanding of the roles of the ICEM, ITF, and Solidarity Centre, including policies towards Iraq and Iraqi trade unions, as well as sessions where participants split into work groups and then reported back to full plenary sessions of the seminar. 
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Participants took time out from discussing their own problems to discuss the year-long lockout of 260 oil refinery workers at a PetroCanada refinery in Montr&eacute;al, Quebec, and sent a statement of support to the workers condemning the company&rsquo;s behaviour, declaring their full solidarity with their fellow workers in Canada and calling on the company to settle the dispute in line with the CEP National Energy &amp; Chemical Bargaining Pattern Agreement. The lockout has subsequently been settled with an agreement meeting union demands. 
 
In the concluding sessions, participants further developed an action plan to build a network between oil &amp; petrochemicals unions and ports unions to improve communication and coordination nationally, regionally, and globally. They returned to Iraq with plans to develop ongoing contacts at a regional level that will meet as a national group again inside Iraq, probably in Iraqi Kurdistan in a few months time. Another meeting will be held towards the end of 2009, again in Jordan.

ICEM, ITF ‘Well to Wheel’ Seminar held in Aqaba, Jordan

Find the following statement in Arabic <a href="/index.php?id=24&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=2957">here</a>. 

The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM) has added its voice to the calls for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of border crossings between Israel and Palestine to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. 
 
&ldquo;It is with shock and horror that I have seen coverage of the bombardment of Gaza in what is now four days of Israeli air strikes that have targeted both Hamas and purely civilian structures, including a major university, a television station, and mosques, as well as refugee camps, which serve as homes to many of the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in this densely populated Mediterranean coastal area,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;The loss of innocent Palestinian lives is deplorable and an immediate and fully respected ceasefire by both Israel and Hamas is now clearly the only way forward.&rdquo; 

According to the United Nations, as well as Palestinian officials, more than 370 Palestinians have died in the air strikes, with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reporting that about a third of those killed since Sunday, 27 December - about 90 Palestinians - were civilians including more than 60 women and children. Over 1,000 Palestinians are said to have been injured, many critically, and hospitals and doctors are struggling to treat the injured in the face of chronic shortages of basic medical supplies and blood.
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&nbsp; 
The air strikes have been in response to rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza that have reportedly caused the death of four Israelis and followed the decision of Hamas, which controls Gaza, not to renew a six-month cease fire that had brought a semblance of temporary and relative calm to the area until it expired earlier this month. The action by Hamas is also deplorable and has been strongly criticised by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas is the Islamist movement which won Palestinian elections three years ago and then violently seized full control of Gaza last year. 

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, said Israel's use of force was &quot;disproportionate&quot; and Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, said in a BBC interview: &quot;Israel is committing a shocking series of atrocities by using modern weaponry against a defenceless population - attacking a population that has been enduring a severe blockade for many months.&quot; 

Israel has said it is ready for weeks of action to end the threat posed by rockets, one of which on Tuesday landed in Beersheba, 46 km (28 miles) from the Gaza Strip. An extra 2,500 reservists have been called up by the Israeli army and, on the frontier with Gaza, preparations continue for a possible Israeli ground operation. Israel has declared the border area a &quot;closed military zone,&quot; which prohibits journalists and others from entering. 

There is no entry by sea possible, either. Israeli naval vessels confronted pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break the Gaza blockade by boat about 45 miles (70km) off the Israeli coast in international waters. The activists said one vessel had rammed the Palestinians&rsquo; craft without issuing a warning during the confrontation. The boat put into port in Lebanon with heavy damage on one side.
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, also President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa called on all parties to address the serious humanitarian needs in Gaza. He said, &ldquo;There must be the immediate opening of border crossings to ensure that the people of Gaza are supplied with food, water, fuel and medical treatment. The Israeli blockade of Gaza must be immediately lifted and full, unimpeded and urgent access for medical teams allowed.&rdquo; 

ICEM has received a message from Shaher Saed, General Secretary of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade unions (PGFTU) where he graphically details the suffering Palestinians face, and how Palestinian people only hope to live normal lives without threats of the weapons of occupation. 
 
Saed stated: &ldquo;It is the human responsibility of the international community to devote all efforts to pressure the Israeli government to stop their aggression and attacks on Palestinian people, who not only face death by the missiles, but also face hunger and death due to the lack of bread, medicine, electricity, and drinking water.&rdquo; 
 
Clearly, the ICEM believes, there is no military solution to the situation in Gaza or the wider search for peace in the Middle East. There must be a seriously increased international effort to ensure that both Israel and Palestine have the land, rights, and security to live in peace. 

ICEM fully endorses the recent statement by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and in particular the statement by ITUC General Secretary, Guy Ryder, that &ldquo;the cycle of attack and reaction must be be replaced with dialogue, to bring a definitive end to the conflict and establish the basis for the co-existence of Israel and Palestine as two democratic states in peace.&quot; 
Ryder added, &quot;The international community must bring real pressure to bear to ensure that Israel and Palestine step back from the cycle of violence and follow the path of dialogue. The UN, its Security Council members and all other countries which could use their influence to bring this about, must do so as a matter of the utmost urgency.&quot; 

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, a former General Secretary of the NUM trade union, is also commended by ICEM for having urged Israelis and Palestinians to stop the violence and asked the international community to find a solution for peace in the Middle East. 

&quot;Both parties must do everything their power to come to a solution in order to end the violence in the Middle East,&quot; Motlanthe said in a statement. &quot;Violence and counter-violence would not advance the cause of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Strength and efforts must not be spared by the Palestinians and the Israelis to find an amicable solution to their problem.&quot; 

Motlanthe called for a two-state solution, with an independent Palestinian state co-existing with an Israel state within secure borders as a lasting solution to the ongoing Middle East conflict. 

ICEM fully agrees with this statement and will continue to work for peace in the Middle East. The Geneva-based ICEM is a Global Union Federeation representing 467 trade unions in 141 countries.

ICEM Calls for Immediate Ceasefire to Ease Gaza Hostilities

The 13-month lockout by Petro-Canada of 260 refinery workers in Montr&eacute;al, Quebec, likely will end tomorrow when unionized members of Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Local 175 vote on a new collective agreement. 
 
Since 2 December, the union and management of Canada&rsquo;s second largest oil company have been engaged in private mediation with Special Mediator Lucien Bouchard, who served as Premier of Quebec Province in Canada from 119 to 2001. That mediation apparently has paid off. The two sides agreed to a tentative agreement late last week. 
 
CEP Local 175 will ballot members tomorrow evening, 23 December. 
 
The union is not releasing terms of the proposed contract until members vote on it, but CEP Local 175 is recommending the proposal for acceptance to membership. CEP Representative Daniel Cloutier said the union&rsquo;s bargaining committee &ldquo;is glad to submit the proposal to the membership,&rdquo; and he predicted it would be accepted. 
 
Petro-Canada locked out workers at the 130,000 barrels-per-day refinery on 17 November 2007. The company was attempting to break from the collective bargaining pattern of the CEP&rsquo;s National Energy and Chemical Bargaining Programme, ironically negotiated first between the union and Petro-Canada at an oil refinery in Edmonton, Alberta, in spring 2007.

Likely End to Petro-Canada Lockout to Come Tomorrow

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A breakthrough came this month in the dispute over trade union rights for workers employed by subcontracting companies of Unilever at warehouses in Turkey. International pressure by three Global Union Federations (GUFs) &ndash; the ICEM, the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF), and the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers (IUF), together with Turkish affiliates &ndash; can be credited with this first and major step toward resolving the dispute. 
 
Management of the subcontracting companies, &Ccedil;ipa and Şimşek, agreed to a protocol agreement with T&Uuml;MTIS, the Turkish Motor Vehicles&rsquo; Workers Union, an affiliate of the ITF, which addresses some of the issues in the dispute. This occurred in December, some six weeks after the GUFs, and ICEM affiliate Petrol-&Iuml;ş and IUF affiliate Tek-Gida-&Iuml;ş, met in a summit in Turkey, and pledged to bring pressure against Unilever on behalf of T&Uuml;MTIS and the subcontracting workers.
<img height="255" src="" width="340" alt="" />
The protocol agreement does not yet give T&Uuml;MTIS recognition status for hundreds of warehouse workers in Gebze, near Istanbul, but it does resolve some issues surrounding the sacking of 87 workers who joined the union. And the employers did agree not to oppose union activity inside the warehouses. 
 
Whether or not &Ccedil;ipa and Şimşek does recognize and bargain with T&Uuml;MTIS is a now a matter that will be resolved in a Turkish labour court. The union agreed to end a continual manifestation in front of warehouses. 
 
Within the protocol agreement, some workers who were fired received payments from employers, while others &ndash; which had won court cases over unfair dismissals &ndash; received add-ons to their indemnity payments. Some workers did get reinstated, while the union is still seeking reinstatement for others. 
 
T&Uuml;MTIS General Secretary G&uuml;rel Yilmaz reported that the protests, and the global labour support, have seen the number of workers who have taken up union membership soar to over 200. He said this has given momentum and renewed motivation among the trade unionists to continue recruitment efforts. 
 
Yilmaz, however, is urging the union partners who joined hands in the 20 October summit to continue their efforts. The ITF will continue to press its trade union rights case in the matter under terms of the OECD&rsquo;s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. 
 
The ICEM, in concert with the ITF and IUF and Turkish trade unions, will continue to monitor this Unilever subcontractors&rsquo; case, and press for union recognition and a collective agreement for the subcontracting workers. &Ccedil;ipa and Şimşek are companies that handle and distribute Unilever products in Turkey and throughout the Middle East.

Joint Global Union Action Gives Contract Workers of Unilever First Grasp of Victory in Turkey

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Kadirpur gaz tesislerini &ouml;zelleştirme kararına karşı y&uuml;r&uuml;t&uuml;len g&uuml;&ccedil;l&uuml; protestolar &ccedil;er&ccedil;evesinde, 19 Kasım Perşembe g&uuml;n&uuml;, binlerce petrol ve gaz iş&ccedil;isi g&ouml;steri y&uuml;r&uuml;y&uuml;ş&uuml; yaptı. Oil &amp; Gas Development Company Ltd. şirketin muazzam varlıklarını yabancı yatırımcılara devretmiş olacak. H&uuml;k&uuml;met &ouml;zelleştirme sonucunda 3-4 milyar dolar arasında bir meblağın eline ge&ccedil;mesini bekliyor. Oysa bir&ccedil;ok yorumcu şirket varlıklarının 12 milyar dolardan fazla olduğu kanısında. 
En son g&ouml;steri y&uuml;r&uuml;y&uuml;ş&uuml; OGDCL sendikasının girişimiyle d&uuml;zenlendi. Sendikanın başkanı Chaudry Mohammad Akram &ouml;zelleştirme girişimini ş&ouml;yle değerlendirdi: &ldquo;Kadirpur gaz tesisi her yıl devlete 182 milyon dolar kazandıran k&acirc;rlı bir işletme. İşletmenin &ouml;zelleştirilmesi ulusal &ccedil;ıkarlara zarar verecek.&rdquo; 

<img height="140" alt="" src="" width="140" />
Dhodhak petrol tesislerindeki y&uuml;zlerce iş&ccedil;i bir g&ouml;steri d&uuml;zenleyerek Taunsa Sharif-Dera Ismail Khan caddesini d&ouml;rt saat s&uuml;reyle trafiğe kapattı. &Ouml;te yandan, Kadirpur tesislerinden onlarca OGDCL iş&ccedil;isinin ger&ccedil;ekleştirdiği a&ccedil;lık grevlerinde h&uuml;k&uuml;metin kararını geri alması talep edildi. 
 
Dhodhak petrol ve gaz tesislerinden Badshah Khan Qaiserani adlı bir y&ouml;netici, &ldquo;Başkan Asif Ali Zardari, IMF-D&uuml;nya Bankası ile ABD'nin politikalarını izleyeceğine, Ali Bhutto'nun misyon ve politikalarını hayata ge&ccedil;irmelidir&rdquo; dedi. 
 
Muhalefet partisi JI'nın lideri Liaqat Baloch g&ouml;stericilere siyasal partilerin iş&ccedil;ilerin davasını destekleyeceği teminatını verdi ve ş&ouml;yle dedi: &ldquo;Eğer h&uuml;k&uuml;met &ouml;zelleştirme kararını geri almayacak olursa, &uuml;lke &ccedil;apında yığınsal bir politik hareket başlatacağız.&rdquo; 
 
Pakistan M&uuml;sl&uuml;man Birliği de &ouml;zelleştirme girişimine şiddetle karşı &ccedil;ıkıyor. Haberleşme Bakanı Ahsan Iqbal ise Kadirpur gaz tesislerini &ldquo;Pakistan ekonomisinin belkemiği&rdquo; olarak niteledi ve &ldquo;&Uuml;lke halen bir enerji kriziyle karşı karşıya, bu durumu daha da k&ouml;t&uuml;leştirecektir&rdquo; dedi. 
 
Pakistan'daki WAPDA Hidroelektrik Santralı İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası'na bağlı iş&ccedil;iler de fiyat artışlarını, işsizliği ve hukukdışılığı protesto eden bir g&ouml;steri d&uuml;zenlediler.

Pakistan&#039;da İşçiler Petrol ile Gazın Özelleştirilmesine Karşı Birleşiyor

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G&uuml;ney Afrika'daki Witwatersrand &Uuml;niversitesi'ne bağlı İnsan Bilimleri Araştırma Konseyi'nin ge&ccedil;enlerde yayımladığı bir araştırma, &uuml;lkedeki maden sekt&ouml;r&uuml;n&uuml;n kısa vadeli ge&ccedil;ici iş&ccedil;iliğe ve taşeron iş&ccedil;iliğine giderek daha fazla dayandığını ortaya koyuyor. Araştırmanın bulgularına g&ouml;re, s&ouml;zgelimi, Rustenburg b&ouml;lgesindeki platin madenlerinin y&uuml;zde 60'ından fazlasında, bir kaza halinde sorumluluktan ka&ccedil;mak ve maliyetleri d&uuml;ş&uuml;rmek i&ccedil;in d&uuml;zensiz istihdam y&ouml;ntemleri uygulanıyor. 
G&uuml;ney Afrika'nın b&uuml;t&uuml;n&uuml;nde, b&uuml;t&uuml;n platin madenlerinin y&uuml;zde 36'sında taşeron iş&ccedil;isi istihdam ediliyor. Bu iş&ccedil;ilerin bir&ccedil;oğu Afrika'nın g&uuml;neyindeki diğer &uuml;lkelerden geliyor. 
 
Araştırma bulguları, G&uuml;ney Afrika'da maden sekt&ouml;r&uuml;ndeki taşeron iş&ccedil;ilerinin sayısının 2003'te 90.231'den 2005'te 122.589'a &ccedil;ıktığını ortaya koyuyor. 

<img height="108" alt="" src="" width="180" />
&Ccedil;alışma Bakanlığı'nın isteği &uuml;zerine y&uuml;r&uuml;t&uuml;len araştırma, vurgulanan trendin kaygı verici bir bi&ccedil;imde arttığını g&ouml;steriyor. Araştırma ekibinin s&ouml;zc&uuml;s&uuml; Profes&ouml;r Edward Webster araştırmadan şu sonucun &ccedil;ıkarılabileceğini belirtti: Otuz yıl kadar &ouml;nce kent yoksullarından gelen iş&ccedil;ileri kayıt dışı ekonomide faaliyet g&ouml;steren işletmelere &ccedil;eken s&uuml;recin yerini, giderek daha fazla taşeron iş&ccedil;isi istihdam eden kayıt i&ccedil;i işletmeler almış bulunuyor. 
 
Araştırmanın bulgularına g&ouml;re, işverenlerin b&uuml;y&uuml;k b&ouml;l&uuml;m&uuml; yasal asgari &uuml;creti uygulamıyor. Bu ise iş&ccedil;ilerin aşırı &ouml;l&ccedil;&uuml;de s&ouml;m&uuml;r&uuml;lmesine ve g&uuml;&ccedil;s&uuml;zleşmesine yol a&ccedil;ıyor. Taşeron iş&ccedil;ileri sendikalarda &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenmeye girişecek olurlarsa, işten atılma tehdidiyle karşı karşıya bulunuyorlar. 
 
&Ccedil;alışma Bakanlığı Genel M&uuml;d&uuml;r Vekili Les Kettledas, bir haber ajansına yaptığı a&ccedil;ıklamada, devletin kısa s&uuml;reli taşeron iş&ccedil;ilerinin s&ouml;m&uuml;r&uuml;lmesini &ouml;nleyecek yasa ve politikalara sahip olduğunu, ama bu politikaları ve yasaları uygulayacak stratejilerin yetersiz kaldığını, araştırmanın bu eksikliği gidermeye y&ouml;nelik olduğunu vurguladı. 
 
Kettledas araştırma bulgularının kayıt i&ccedil;i sekt&ouml;rlerdeki ger&ccedil;ekliği yansıttığını belirtti.

Güney Afrika&#039;da Taşeron İşçiliği Maden Sektöründe Kaygı Verici Bir Büyüme Gösteriyor

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Uzun bir &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve m&uuml;zakere s&uuml;recinin sonucunda, ICEM &uuml;yesi Kolombiya sendikası Sintravidricol, Caldas Cam Şirketi'ndeki iş&ccedil;ilerle birlikte taşeron iş&ccedil;iliğine karşı &ouml;nemli bir zafer kazandı. Sendikal &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme hakkı kazanıldı ve ilk toplu s&ouml;zleşme imzalandı. 
 
Daha &ouml;nce de Zipaquira'da (Kolombiya) Peldar Cam ile kısmi s&uuml;reli &ccedil;alışan iş&ccedil;ileri kapsayan benzer bir toplu s&ouml;zleşme bağıtlanmıştı. Orada, ICEM'in Kolombiya Projesi, federasyonun k&uuml;resel Taşeron İş&ccedil;iliği programı ile Kolombiya'da faaliyet g&ouml;steren &ccedil;okuluslulara &ouml;zg&uuml; Sosyal Diyalog projesini başarıyla birleştiriyordu. B&ouml;ylece Peldar'daki ge&ccedil;ici iş&ccedil;ilerin bir&ccedil;oğu tam zamanlı stat&uuml;ye ge&ccedil;miş oluyordu. 
 
Son 20 yılda, &ouml;zellikle Risaralda-CUT başta olmak &uuml;zere &ccedil;eşitli sendikalar, Caldas Cam'da &ccedil;alışan iş&ccedil;ileri sendikalaştırmak &uuml;zere &ccedil;eşitli girişimlerde bulunmuşlardı. 
Caldas Cam Fabrikası'ndaki iş&ccedil;iler sadece ellerini ve ciğerlerini kullanarak &ccedil;eşitli cam &uuml;r&uuml;nleri &uuml;retiyorlar. Fabrikadaki iş&ccedil;ilerin en az y&uuml;zde 80'i ge&ccedil;ici iş s&ouml;zleşmeleriyle istihdam ediliyor. S&ouml;zleşmeler bir yıldan kısa s&uuml;reli. 

<img height="132" alt="" src="" width="200" />
İşyerindeki 15, 20, 30 yıllık iş&ccedil;iler bile bir yıllık s&ouml;zleşmelerle istihdam ediliyor. &Uuml;cret ve sosyal haklarını genellikle ge&ccedil; alıyorlar. İş&ccedil;iler sonunda &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme kararı aldılar. 
 
&Ouml;rg&uuml;tlenen iş&ccedil;ilerin şu &uuml;&ccedil; ana talebi var: Dayatılan birern yıllık s&ouml;zleşmelerle iş&ccedil;ilerin &ccedil;alışma s&uuml;relerini hi&ccedil;e sayan sisteme son verilmesi; Caldas'ın sendikayı tanıması; iş&ccedil;i istihdamında istikrar g&ouml;zetilmesi. 
 
Şirket y&ouml;netimiyle y&uuml;r&uuml;t&uuml;len m&uuml;zakerelerin seyri, her &uuml;&ccedil; talebin de hayata ge&ccedil;irilebileceğini g&ouml;steriyor. Caldas, ayrıca, iş&ccedil;ilerin sorunlarını g&ouml;r&uuml;ş&uuml;p değerlendirmek i&ccedil;in kurulacak bir komitede Sintravidricol ile bir araya gelecek. Sendika şirketin başkanıyla da d&uuml;zenli toplantılar yapıyor. 
&Ouml;te yandan, m&uuml;zakerenin daha ilk oturumlarında, b&uuml;t&uuml;n &ccedil;alışanların &ccedil;ocuklarına otuz biner pesoluk (2.200 dolar) burs, verimlilik ikramiyesi ve &uuml;cret artışı sağlandı. 
 
ICEM Sintravidricol'un bu &ccedil;ok &ouml;nemli başarısını kutluyor.

Kolombiya Sendikalarının Zorlu Zaferi

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In this issue, we report on World AIDS Day, the sub-regional HIV/AIDS workshop in Windhoek and the Global Fund grant approvals for Round 8. 
 
This e-bulletin is also available on the ICEM Website&nbsp;<a href="/index.php?id=72&amp;doc=2912">here</a>. 
 
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are already engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
 
Editor: Hans J Schwass, ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator 
 
 

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1 December 2008 is the 20th Anniversary of World AIDS Day. To mark the day, the ICEM issued a campaign leaflet which was distributed to all affiliates. The role of trade unions is critical in the struggle against the pandemic. Unions demonstrate leadership by advocating testing and prevention methods at the workplace, in homes and communities. 
 
&ldquo;The fight to eliminate the scourge of the pandemic is far from finished and more must be done&rdquo;, said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We are proud to recognise the 20th Anniversary of 1 December, but even prouder to mark this day with commitment to wage this fight until the disease is gone.&rdquo; 
 
Germany&rsquo;s ICEM affiliate IG BCE held information meetings and raised additional funds for an HIV and AIDS project in Tanzania in cooperation with the mining and industry affiliates there. 
 
On the occasion of World AIDS Day, the Global Union AIDS Programme issued a press statement appealing to governments, the international community and other actors to make Universal Access for HIV/AIDS services an urgent priority for the next two years, to reach the 2010 target. 
 
The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation ITF continued its efforts and published Campaign Guidelines for the planning and implementation of World AIDS Day activities by its affiliates. At the ILO, the Sector department and ILOAIDS together with the ITF and the employers&rsquo; organisation IRU were holding a training course for managers and workers in the transport sector based on a new toolkit. Education International has targeted teachers in its &ldquo;One Hour on AIDS&rdquo; campaign at schools. 
 
The World AIDS Campaign supports, strengthens and connects campaigns that hold leaders accountable for their promises on HIV and AIDS. &ldquo;Stop AIDS &ndash; Keep the Promise&rdquo; is the slogan for the campaign to 2010. &ldquo;Lead &ndash; Empower &ndash; Deliver&rdquo; is the theme for 2008. 
 
UNAIDS, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, published a new report, AIDS Outlook 2009, which calls on countries to realign HIV prevention programmes through understanding how the most recent HIV infections were transmitted. Even though the number of new infections has fallen in several countries, there are five new HIV infections for every two people put on treatment. An estimated 33 million people are living with HIV worldwide; 2.7 million people were newly infected and 2 million died of AIDS in 2007. The report can be downloaded at <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>. 
 

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ICEM Sub-regional HIV/AIDS Review Workshop in Windhoek 
 
Unionists from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia came together in Windhoek, Namibia from 24 to 26 November, for a sub-regional workshop to review progress in their HIV/AIDS work. Working groups dealt with constraints in their HIV/AIDS work and possible solutions; considered new proposals; discussed the role of women and young workers and argued in favour of mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in all union activities; and explored the idea of making HIV/AIDS an organising tool for unions. 
 
Above all, participants discussed future sustainability in view of the expiry of the ICEM HIV/AIDS project. While funding from employers and national and international organisations, and cooperation with NGOs and faith-based organisations are all important, commitment by union leadership is crucial in the fight against the pandemic. Unions should also develop technical competence in proposal writing and project management. 
 
Presentations on HIV/AIDS workplace policies, the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, and collective bargaining for HIV/AIDS were made by representatives of the Chamber of Mines of Namibia, the ILO/GTZ project and NUM of South African. The AIDS Law Clinic in Windhoek dealt with special challenges facing women and youth. 
 

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Women in Namibia Call for Efforts to Improve Sexual Rights 
 
A group of women in Namibia recently called for efforts to improve their sexual rights in an attempt to curb the spread of HIV in the country. A workshop, organised by the group Sister Namibia, examined sexual rights, culture and HIV/AIDS. 
 
&ldquo;Everyone talks about the need to change behaviour to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, but there is hardly any discussion on the need to change harmful sexual cultural practices that are often the drivers of the disease&rdquo;, said Sister Namibia Director Liz Frank. Women are not able to make choices about sex. They do not have the power to negotiate condom use. 
 
(Source: Medical News Today, 7 October from <a href="http://www.kaisernetwork.org">www.kaisernetwork.org</a>) 
 

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Global Fund Approves Round 8 Grants 
 
The Global Fund Board approved 94 Round 8 grants that will cost up to USD 2.753 billion over the first two years and USD 5.840 billion over five years &ndash; a record amount. The decision was made at the Fund&rsquo;s 18th Board Meeting, held in Delhi, India. 
 
The Board decision was rendered particularly difficult because the unusually large average size of the proposals meant that there was not enough money to pay the full cost of the proposals recommended for approval by the Technical Review Panel (TRP). After extensive negotiation, the Board handled this by calling for various budget cuts, and by delaying by six months the date at which Round 9 grants will be approved. 
 
Some of the highlights of Round 8 approvals were as follows: 
 
Ninety-four Round 8 proposals were approved, with a total two-year requested amount of USD 3.1 billion, up from USD 1.1 billion in Round 7, the previous largest round. The average Round 8 approved proposal has a two-year requested amount of USD 33 million, up from USD 15 million in Round 7. 
54% of eligible proposals submitted in Round 8 were approved, up from 49% in Round 7, the previous highest percentage. Malaria proposals in Round 8 were particularly successful. 68% of them were approved. Although HIV/AIDS proposals in Round 8 were less successful than were malaria proposals, they were still significantly more successful than they had been in any previous round. The percentage of HIV/AIDS proposals that were approved in Rounds 5, 6, 7 and 8 respectively was 38%, 39%, 41% and 49%. 
 
Regarding Round 9, the Board decided to extend the date by which applications must be submitted from 21 January 2009 to 31 May 2009, and to make final grant approvals for these proposals at the November 2009 board meeting rather than the May 2009 board meeting. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, GFO, Issue 98, 9 November 2008. The GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>, a Kenya-based NGO that serves as an independent watchdog of the Global Fund. To receive the GFO send an email to receive-gfo-<a href="mailto:newsletter@aidspan.org">newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
 

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Global Fund Adopts New Gender Equality Strategy 
 
At its meeting last month, the Global Fund Board adopted a new Gender Equality Strategy, the full title of which is &ldquo;The Global Fund&rsquo;s Strategy for Ensuring Gender Equality in the Response to HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.&rdquo; The strategy is available under &ldquo;Addendum to Report of PSC: The Gender Equality Strategy&rdquo; <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/board/meetings/eighteenth/documents">here</a>. 
 
The strategy says that the Global Fund will champion and fund proposals that: scale up services and interventions that reduce gender-related risks and vulnerabilities to infection; decrease the burden of disease for those most at risk; mitigate the impact of the three diseases and address structural inequalities and discrimination. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, GFO, Issue 100, 3 December 2008). 
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South Africa: Miners Face Huge HIV/Aids Challenge 
 
By virtue of the physical nature of their jobs, South African miners receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS are vulnerable to discrimination when they are not at peak performance, because of the drugs' side effects. 
This is one of the challenges that workers in the mining sector have to deal with, as HIV/AIDS rips through the industry. It is estimated that about 16%-30% of mineworkers are infected with HIV/AIDS. Experts also say stigmatisation and discrimination are common in many mines. 
It is difficult at the moment to determine the exact HIV/AIDS prevalence figures because the majority of the workers were resistant to participating in HIV voluntary testing programmes. Among those who have tested HIV positive, there is a low uptake of antiretroviral treatment (ART) as most workers are afraid of being subjected to discrimination by managers and supervisors. 
Mineworkers were most vulnerable because of the apartheid-inherited migration labour system through which workers spend many months away from their families. They remained the most affected group. The single-sex hostel systems still exist in many mining companies. These hostels mean that miners cannot be with their partners. 
Eric Gcilitshana, National Union of Mineworkers health and safety secretary, says 60% of mineworkers are still living in same-sex hostels. &quot;We are saying the hostel system must be abolished and be replaced by family units, where workers will live with their families,&quot; he said. The union is engaging with mining companies on the victimisation of infected workers and treatment available to them. These remained some of the biggest challenges towards the ultimate emancipation of mineworkers. 
 
(Source: Business Day, South Africa, 11 November) 
 

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India Loses out on 100m Euros Funding to Combat Diseases 
 
India's fight against the world's three most devastating diseases - AIDS, TB and malaria - has received a serious setback, with the country losing out funding worth over USD 100 million for two years from the Global Fund for its programmes to combat these deadly scourges. 
 
The bad news for India came in the middle of the annual board meeting of the Fund, held in Delhi. The Board rejected Indian proposal for its anti-malaria programmes, the proposals on TB and on HIV/AIDS. The rejection means India has lost out on funds worth USD 255 million for the next five years. The country can, however, re-submit the proposals again next year for Round 9. At the moment, India is the largest recipient of Global Fund grants in Asia with grants worth USD 490 million and based on performance of existing grants will get another USD 250 million to total USD 740 million. 
 
In India, one million people are receiving antiretroviral treatment, 400,000 people have got anti-malaria treatment and 375,000 have got DOTs treatment for TB with Global Fund money. The ongoing programmes will not be affected by the setback India got at this year's funding meeting. 
 
(Source: Times of India, 10 November) 
 

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Botswana: HIV Practice Code Released 
 
The Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs has released a National Code of Good Practice with emphasis on HIV/AIDS in the workplace. The Code&rsquo;s primary objective with respect to HIV/AIDS is to provide guidelines for employers and trade unions on how to manage HIV/AIDS in the workplace. 
 
The Code includes the following principles: creating a safe working environment, developing procedures to manage occupational incidents and claims for compensation, introducing measures to prevent the spread of HIV, developing strategies to assess and reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS and supporting those individuals who are infected or affected. 
 
(Source: Mmegi/The Reporter, Gaborone, 16 October) 
 

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Infections Going up in Switzerland 
 
Although small in comparison to other countries, new HIV infections have been going up in Switzerland since 2005 to reach an estimated 800 in 2008. The increase affects to a great majority men, heterosexual as well as homosexual. Whereas a few years ago new infections among men and women were almost equal, in 2008 73% of the newly infected were men. 
 
In another development, the national NGO Aids-Hilfe Schweiz condemned new criteria of the Swiss army which declare HIV-positive soldiers who undergo ARV treatment unfit for active service. It called on the Department of Defence to revise these rules. 
 
(Source: Neue Z&uuml;rcher Zeitung, 28 October and 12 November) 
 

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This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe or Translate? 
 
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Unfortunately, the e-bulletin can only be published in English. 
For a free automated (non-ICEM) translation of this HIV-AIDS bulletin into other languages, you may want to try <a href="http://www.google.com/language_tools">http://www.google.com/language_tools</a> and insert the following URL into the window &ldquo;Translate a Web page&ldquo;: 
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Cette traduction est faite automatiquement par un logiciel internet gratuit. L&rsquo;ICEM n&rsquo;assume aucune responsabilit&eacute; &agrave; cet &eacute;gard. Elle est approximative, mais peut n&eacute;anmoins vous donner une id&eacute;e g&eacute;n&eacute;rale du contenu de l&rsquo;article. 
 
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Diese &Uuml;bersetzung, f&uuml;r die die ICEM keine Verantwortung &uuml;bernimmt, erfolgt durch eine frei zug&auml;ngliche Internetsoftware. Diese &Uuml;bersetzung ist nicht perfekt, gibt aber eine ann&auml;hernende Idee, wor&uuml;ber der Artikel handelt. 
 
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Этот перевод выполняется автоматически с помощью бесплатной Интернет-программы, и ICEM не несет за него ответственности. Перевод приблизительный, но все же может дать общее представление о содержании статьи. 
日本語への翻訳について、無料オンライン翻訳サービス利用されたい方<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icem.org%2Findex.php%3Fid%3D72%26doc%3D2912&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=ja&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8">はここをクリ</a>ックしてください。ただし、当該サービスを利用した翻訳の質等について、ICEMは一切責任を負いませんので、ご了承ください。 
 
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Esta traducci&oacute;n se hace autom&aacute;ticamente con tecnolog&iacute;a libre del Internet. La ICEM no se responsabiliza de ella. La traducci&oacute;n es aproximada, pero puede proveer una idea general del contenido del art&iacute;culo. 
 
<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icem.org%2Findex.php%3Fid%3D72%26doc%3D2912&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=sv&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8">Klicka h&auml;r f&ouml;r en maskin&ouml;vers&auml;ttning till svenska</a>. 
Denna &ouml;vers&auml;ttning utf&ouml;rs automatiskt med kostnadsfri internetteknik. ICEM tar inget ansvar f&ouml;r den. Den &auml;r inte helt korrekt men ger dig &auml;nd&aring; en allm&auml;n uppfattning om vad artikeln handlar om.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 39 December 2008

Archive

Brazil’s Oil Workers Conduct 24-Hour Strike; Seek to Keep Resource Wealth at Home

Nigerian Oil Workers Move Closer to Strike

ICEM, ITF ‘Well to Wheel’ Seminar held in Aqaba, Jordan

ICEM Calls for Immediate Ceasefire to Ease Gaza Hostilities

Likely End to Petro-Canada Lockout to Come Tomorrow

Joint Global Union Action Gives Contract Workers of Unilever First Grasp of Victory in Turkey

Pakistan'da İşçiler Petrol ile Gazın Özelleştirilmesine Karşı Birleşiyor

Güney Afrika'da Taşeron İşçiliği Maden Sektöründe Kaygı Verici Bir Büyüme Gösteriyor

Kolombiya Sendikalarının Zorlu Zaferi

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 39 December 2008

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