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The 10th Quadrennial Delegates&rsquo; Conference of ICEM affiliate Ghana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (GMWU) was held in late August in the Brong Ahafo regional capital of Sunyani in late August. GMWU leaders from the West African nation covered a wide range of issues including skills training, mining and sustainability, expatriation, and state investment and regulation in mining. 
 
The Delegates&rsquo; Conference also reiterated its support and continued campaign efforts for ratification and implementation by the government of Ghana of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
Meeting under the banner &ldquo;Blending the Interest of Stakeholders in the Mining Industry Towards Operational Excellence,&rdquo; delegates elected Kwarko Mensah Gyakari as National Chairman and Prince William Ankrah, ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara Africa Regional Vice President, as General Secretary. 
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General Secretary Prince William Ankrah
Also elected were Abdul Moomin Gbana, First Vice Chairman; Philomena Aba Sampson, Second Vice Chairperson; Eric Kwabena Gyimah, Deputy General Secretary; Fred Aniagyei, First National Trustee; James Ackah, Second National Trustee; and William Bart Plange, National Chaplain. 
 
GMWU also elected an 11-member Finance Committee. All office bearers, including Finance Committee members, were sworn in Ghana Trades Union Congress General Secretary Kofi Asamoah. 
 
The GMWU expressed displeasure with the recent shedding by the government of its 10% stake in certain gold mining companies. With gold extraction a major component in the nation&rsquo;s economy, the union pledged to combine with civil society groups to reduce foreign capital in favour of Ghana private of public investment in the major mining conglomerates. 
 
The union sided with Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor who has protested Ghana&rsquo;s divestiture of 10% stakes in Newmont Gold&rsquo;s Ahafo and Akyem projects, Noble Mineral&rsquo;s Bibiano project, and AngloGold Ashanti development at Obuasi, Iduaprim, and Teberebie. Removal of such state involvement runs contrary to the Mining law of 1986 (PNDC Law 153) and the Minerals and Mining Act 20. 
 
GMWU also made it clear to reporters covering the Conference that with the current high price of gold, now is the time to introduce a windfall tax on the commodity. 
 
General Secretary Prince Ankrah did commend the government for putting in place the Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GEITI), but urged the government to adequately fund the body in order to carry out its mission. 
 
A major topic at the Delegates&rsquo; Conference regarded remuneration in mining, and the fact that inequality exists between what is paid expatriates and Ghanaian nationals who are in the same job grades and possess the same skills. 
 
On sustainability, GMWU again expressed displeasure that the major mining houses have allowed a gulf to exist between indigenous communities and their leaders. Ankrah said mining companies in general had failed to honour past commitments regarding infrastructure, and many are non-compliant with environmental standards. 
 
He also criticized mining companies for failing to take into account the input of workers regarding health and safety. 
 
The Delegates&rsquo; Conference pledged that the GMWU would continue to engage with the Ghana Chamber of Mines and its industry captains to ensure that qualified Ghanaians are given opportunities and skills development to take up senior positions in the mining sector.

Ghana Mine Workers Conducts Successful Delegates’ Conference

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Union members of ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) began a strike on 1 September against Anchor Glass Container Corp. at nine US plants. The 140 USW-represented workers are mould makers at Anchor, the US&rsquo;s third largest glass bottle and container manufacturer behind Owens-Illinois and Saint-Gobain Containers. 
 
Workers went on strike immediately after expiration of a prior labour agreement due to regressive and ill-willed contract proposals by the Tampa, Florida-based company. Specifically, Anchor seeks to create a two-tiered health care and pension plan, as well as more excessive out-of-pocket health care costs borne by workers. Wages are also an issue in the dispute. 
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Photo: Mike Perleberg-Eagle 99.3
Privately-held Anchor issued a threatening statement at the outset of the strike saying it would continue glass-bottle mould work without the USW members. The company used high US unemployment and economic uncertainty as a warning against the strike. 
 
Anchor produces glass for the beverage and foods industries. The largest plant that has been hit by the USW industrial action is in Zanesville, Ohio, where 65 workers have struck due to the company&rsquo;s radical rollback proposals. Other Anchor glass plants where work stoppages are in effect include Jacksonville, Florida; Warner Robins, Georgia; Shakopee, Minnesota; Salem, New Jersey, Elmira Heights, New York; Henryetta, Oklahoma; and Lawrenceburg and Winchester, Indiana. 
 
USW negotiators reached a <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1109.ross%20usw%20agreement.pdf">settlement with Ross International</a> on 31 August, achieving wage gains for each year in a three-year agreement, protecting pensions and preventing a two-tier benefit plan for new hires. Among other improvements achieved was enhanced language on subcontracting at the company.&nbsp;

USW Glass Workers at Anchor Begin Strike Action

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Building on their first meeting in 2010, just prior to the historic May Day celebrations in Taksim Square, global unions conducted the second meeting of this kind on defending trade union rights in Turkey. Around sixty participants from centers and Turkish affiliates of ITUC, CGU, ICEM, ITF, IUF, PSI, IMF, BWI, ITGLWF and UNI came together in Istanbul at the workshop held on 8-9 September. The meeting also welcomed international NGOs such as Labourstart and Amnesty International who consistently support labour rights in Turkey. The ICEM was present at the workshop through its Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan as well as its affiliates Tes-Is, Petrol-Is, Belediye-Is, Lastik-Is, Kristal-Is, Cimse-Is, Sel&uuml;loz-Is and T&uuml;mka-Is. 
 
The workshop coincided with a critical time, with Turkish trade union legislation under discussions for modification with a view to harmonise it in line with international standards and norms. Turkey was recently criticised by the International Labour Organization over the lack of genuine union rights in the country. &Uuml;zeyir Ataman, Director of the Collective Bargaining Department of ICEM&rsquo;s affiliate Lastik-Is, who is a part of a working group formed by the government to handle possible modifications, updated the workshop participants in a context of the history of Turkish labour legislation. 
 
Participants were informed of individual organising efforts of Turkish unions in cooperation and solidarity with respective global union federations. Hakan Ko&ccedil;ak, Director of the Organizing Department of ICEM affiliate Petrol-Is, presented his union&rsquo;s widely-publicised national level organizing campaign as well as the ongoing organising drive at Standard Profil with the contribution of the ICEM. The other examples showed the value of solidarity between individual unions and their global union federations in getting success in organising and recognition. 
 
The participants discussed international instruments in boosting union organising campaigns. Particular attention was given to global unions&rsquo; immediate actions such as protest letters, coordinating global solidarity and visits of picket lines. Opportunities in using the newly revised OECD guidelines, ILO tools as well as international courts were also reviewed. 
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ICEM's Kemal &Ouml;zkan addresses press conference
Towards the end of the workshop a press conference was organized with the participation of television and newspaper journalists. In a joint press release the global unions informed the Turkish media about the objectives and content of the workshop. Read out by Ron Oswald, General Secretary of ICEM&rsquo;s sister organisation IUF, the press release stressed that &ldquo;Turkish unions, union leaders from Turkey and representatives of those international bodies present at this meeting have pledged to work together actively and in a sustained and permanent way to support workers' efforts to access those universal rights and to have them universally accepted and respected in Turkey.&rdquo; 
 
The participants were later divided into two groups, as Turkish unions and global union federations to discuss ways to build and promote joint work in Turkey as a base for summary, conclusions and way forward from the workshop. Jim Baker, Coordinator of the Council of Global Unions, summed up discussions and conclusions of the workshop with a way forward. Baker underlined consensus on &ldquo;common action by global unions with their Turkish affiliates and among themselves to improve the quality and increase the effect of practical and concrete solidarity action to strengthen workers and their legitimate, democratic trade unions.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;Turkey is a highly critical place in the activities of all global unions, this country is a priority for the whole union movement&rdquo; said ICEM&rsquo;s Kemal &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;The two-day workshop reaffirmed our commitment to reinforce solidarity with the Turkish trade union movement.&rdquo;

Global Unions Unite in Defending Trade Union Rights in Turkey

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A work stoppage and hunger strike by non-regular coal miners in Bangladesh ended on 6 September, three days after the 1,145 contract workers took up strike action again against state-owned Barapukuria Coal Mine Company Ltd. (BCMCL) and its extraction contractor, the China National Import and Export Corp. (CMC). 
 
The strike originally began on 23 August, but was suspended on 27 August so miners could celebrate the Islamic Eid vacation. In negotiations between the Barapukuria Coal Mine Miners&rsquo; and Workers&rsquo; Union, BCMCL&rsquo;s parent, the Bangladesh Oil, Gas, Mineral Corp. (PETROBANGLA), CMC, the country&rsquo;s Minister of Land, and Dinajpur Province authorities on 5 September, the union won production bonuses and holiday guarantees, as well as assurances that each year 10% of non-skilled workers will see their employment status regularized. 
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BCMCL, the country&rsquo;s only operating coal mine, guaranteed that production bonuses will take effect when coal output exceeds 70,000 tonnes per month. The contract miners, employed by CMC through an arrangement with the Xuzhou Coal Mine Group of China (XMC), also won a four-fold increase in festival allowances, a paid three-day holiday period each for two Eid vacations, and 20 kilos of rice per miner each month. 
 
Regularisation of employment, however, was the major achievement in the August-September strike action. Since CMC began operating the mine the mine in 2005, the contract miners were without many social protections, insurances, and pension pensions. 
 
Barapukuria Coal Mine Miners&rsquo; and Workers&rsquo; Union President Rabiul Islam called the settlement satisfactory, with BCMCL and the Chinese employer accepting a good share of the union&rsquo;s demands. 
 
BCMCL has a recoverable coal deposit of 64 million tones, of which only 1.13 million tones have been extracted since inception of the mine five years ago. The mine produces thermal coal with the bulk of it transported to Bangladesh&rsquo;s lone 250 megawatt electric generating plant.

Contract Coal Miners in Bangladesh Win Guarantees with Strikes

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A first-of-a-kind collective agreement took root in Germany&rsquo;s solar energy manufacturing industry on 1 September. It was then that a labour contract took effect between IG Metall and three subsidiaries of Bosch in the state of Thuringia, making it the first collective agreement in Germany&rsquo;s solar power industry. 
 
The agreement covers 2,500 workers at factories of Bosch Solar Energy AC, Bosch Solar Wafers GmbH, and Bosch Solar Thin Film in the cities of Erfurt and Arnstadt. IG Metal Hesse and Thuringia Region representatives used the effective date of the three-year agreement to distribute leaflets to workers at other solar product manufacturers in central and eastern Germany highlighting details of the Bosch accord. 
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Those companies include Q-cells, Conergy, and Solon, to name just a few. It is the union&rsquo;s hope that the Bosch accord will spur a national collective agreement in the solar manufacturing industry, a sector now encompassing 130,000 German workers. 
 
Labour agreements in renewable energy industries, said IG Metall Regional Secretary Armin Schild, have been &ldquo;a no man&rsquo;s land. This agreement hopefully will become the standard throughout the industry.&rdquo; 
 
Based on the union&rsquo;s metal sector agreement, this first contract contains a bounty of benefits for workers of the three Bosch subsidiaries. Although it contains no set wage increases over the three years, workers will see their pay increase with regular bonuses, performance-based bonuses, and additional compensation for holiday and night-shift work. 
 
The work week will be reduced with full pay from 40 to 38 hours in increments over the three-year term, and overtime work will either be paid in full or employees have the option to convert that overtime to paid time off. And apprentices completing training are assured of at least a one-year fixed-term period of employment. 
 
The three Bosch worksites are relatively new in Thuringia, with Bosch Solar only opening the massive cell and panel plant in Arnstadt a year ago. The agreement is a trendsetting pact within Germany&rsquo;s former eastern states and IG Metall deserves high accolades for achieving this milestone.

IG Metall Breaks New Ground with First Accord in German Solar Energy Sector

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In this issue of ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the HIV/AIDS Workshop in Trinidad &amp; Tobago, on the 1 December World AIDS Day statements, as well as on the 2010 UNAIDS report.
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. 
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OWTU: Make HIV/AIDS Workplace Policies a Priority! 
 
The President General of the Trinidad/Tobago&rsquo;s Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU), Ancel Roget, called on all companies, state or privately owned, to negotiate with unions and jointly adopt and implement HIV/AIDS workplace policies when he spoke at the opening of the OWTU/CEP/ICEM HIV/AIDS workshop in San Fernando, Trinidad &amp; Tobago, on World AIDS Day, 1 December. 
 
OWTU can argue from a point of strength as it adopted its own workplace policy on HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses in June 2009. Roget also warned employers that the union would take decisive action against any employer engaging in covert HIV/AIDS testing of employees. 
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OWTU President General, Ancel Roget
The workshop was attended by some 45 participants from OWTU, as well as representatives from the country&rsquo;s Communications Workers&rsquo; Union, Banking, Insurance and General Workers&rsquo; Union, Fires Services Association, and the Estate Police Association. It was sponsored by the Humanity Fund of ICEM affiliate Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada. 
 
The workshop put HIV/AIDS in the context of decent work to reduce and eliminate stigma and discrimination. ILO HIV/AIDS Technical Specialist Madhuri Supersad introduced the new ILO Recommendation No. 200 concerning HIV/AIDS and the World of Work. She said that a focus must be on prevention and that behaviour change and a prevention revolution must begin at the workplace. 
 
The ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant, Hans J Schwass, reaffirmed the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s commitment to fight the pandemic. When for every one person put on treatment, there are two new infections, we know that prevention must be our focus and the workplace is an ideal entry point to eliminate stigma and discrimination, and advocate voluntary counselling and testing. He also drew attention to the ICEM website on which a model workplace policy and other materials and resources are available. 
 
Participants under the guidance of OWTU Head of Education and Research, Ozzi Warwick, who organised the workshop, worked on an action plan for 2011, which includes a January 2011 peer educators&rsquo; course for two unionists from each of the 27 OWTU units and a minimum of three activities by peer educators within six months of the training. Such activities should comprise workplace interventions, community awareness programmes, and interaction with youth groups and schools. 
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ILO on World AIDS Day: Workplace Policies to Tackle HIV and AIDS 
 
On World AIDS Day, 1 December, ILO online spoke to Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Global Programme on HIV and AIDS and the world of work (ILO/AIDS) about progress made on giving effect to Recommendation 200 since its adoption in June 2010. 
<img src="" width="201" height="134" alt="" />
Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Global Programme on HIV and AIDS 
Kisting said that the response to this strong human rights standard that can help improve the issues of stigma and discrimination at the workplace has been overwhelming. There is also an important understanding that countries need to report back to the Committee of Experts at the 2011 International Labour Conference on progress made in giving effect to the Recommendation. 
 
Referring to the Governing Body&rsquo;s decision to develop a plan of action, she stated that one of the most important steps is the development of national workplace policies on HIV and AIDS and to make sure that these become part of national programmes and strategies so that the workplace is not separate from the broader national response to HIV and AIDS. 
 
(Source: ILO website Communication and Public Information) 
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Global Unions on World AIDS Day 2010 
 
In its World AIDS Day statement, the ICEM affirmed that HIV/AIDS is a social disease. HIV transmission mainly takes place along the fault lines caused by poverty, gender inequality, and social injustice. HIV/AIDS is also a workplace issue. The workplace is crucial for successful action to combat the pandemic. 
 
HIV and AIDS funds are in recession due to the impact of the global financial crisis; HIV and AIDS are not in recession. Still for every three people put on treatment, five more become infected. That is why awareness and prevention as well as advocacy for voluntary counselling and testing are crucial in the fight against the epidemic. These are also cornerstones of the ICEM HIV/AIDS project. 
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HIV is also a human rights issue closely related to workplace non-discrimination laws and regulations. The ICEM calls on its affiliates to negotiate and adopt HIV/AIDS workplace policies, which are rights-oriented, non-discriminatory, and do not victimise people living with HIV and AIDS. 
 
The statement of the Global Unions AIDS Programme (GUAP) reiterated the commitment by trade unions to give effect to the implementation of Recommendation 200. The workplace cannot be left out of a coherent strategy to control the epidemic. GUAP also called for the adoption of national HIV/AIDS workplace policies and for them to be rights-oriented, non-discriminatory, and mainstreamed into national Decent Work strategies. 
 
The International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) reminded unions that World AIDS Day is a focus for action in the workplace. The union movement is intensifying its push for national implementation of the new ILO Recommendation 200 on HIV and AIDS and the world of work. This landmark ILO instrument breaks new ground by providing a framework for HIV and AIDS to be dealt with as a workplace issue, and by reinforcing the human rights consequences of the pandemic. 
 
The ITUC also announced the result of the first-ever writing contest, &ldquo;Positive Workers Write!&rdquo; which was open to HIV positive workers in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
2010 UNAIDS Report: Beginning to Reverse the Spread of HIV 
 
The 2010 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) shows that the AIDS epidemic is beginning to change course as the number of people newly infected with HIV is declining and AIDS-related deaths are decreasing. 
 
Data from the report show that an estimated 2.6 million people became newly infected and that approximately 1.8 million died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2009. Both figures are down by about 20% compared to those five years ago. Still, 33.3 million are living with HIV. And there are two new infections for every one person starting treatment. 
 
From 2001 to 2009, the rate of new HIV infections stabilized or decreased in 56 countries around the world, including 34 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Among young people in 15 of the most severely affected countries, the rate of new infections has fallen by 25%, led by young people using safer sexual practices. Significant progress has also been made in the prevention of mother- to-child transmissions. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS Press Release, 23 November) 
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International Guidelines Launched to Protect Health Workers 
 
Health Workers are at the frontline in providing prevention, treatment, and care for people living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. They are at risk of occupational exposure to HIV and TB, but often lack access to protection and treatment. 
 
To address this gap, new international guidelines were launched by the ILO, WHO, and UNAIDS to protect doctors, nurses, and other medical staff. There are an estimated 60 million health workers throughout the world. The 14 action points of the guidelines are based on respect for workers&rsquo; rights, as well as practical workplace health and safety programmes. 
 
(Sources: ILO, WHO, UNAIDS Press Release, 19 November) 
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Global Fund: Serious Deficiencies in Grant Management 
 
The Global Fund Observer devoted its entire issue 132 to reports released by the Global Fund&rsquo;s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) on deficiencies in grant management and poor performance of principal recipients (PR) in a number of countries. 
 
In Zambia, the PRs have shown evidence of significant financial management and control weaknesses, episodes of misappropriation and fraud, and losses of grant funds, according to a report issued by the OIG. The OIG concluded that the two governmental PRs, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, were not fit to continue as PRs. More than US$10 million in expenses was identified as either ineligible or not properly documented. 
 
According to the OIG, there are a number of significant deficiencies in Cameroon in the financial management control framework of the Ministry of Public Health, principal recipients (PRs) and sub-recipients (SRs). The OIG was particularly critical of the Ministry, which was the PR for five of the six grants. Some US$3.4 million constituted overpayments which have to be recovered. The PR for the sixth grant was Care Cameroon, a non-governmental organisation. The OIG found that the internal control environment at Care Cameroon was strong, and made only minor recommendations. 
 
Insufficient grant management was also reported for Haiti (prior to the earthquake) and Cambodia. 
 
As one consequence, Sweden did not announce a pledge at the Global Fund&rsquo;s replenishment meeting in New York in early October because it was concerned about how the Global Fund is responding to findings by the OIG concerning misappropriated grant money. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 132 of 2 November. 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" />
Global Fund Should Expand Non-CCM Window 
 
In an interesting commentary published in the Global Fund Observer issue 133, the author, David Garmaise, argues that it is time for the Global Fund to make some changes to the eligibility criteria for proposals from organisations other than country coordinating mechanisms (CCM). It is evident that in many countries the needs of key vulnerable populations are not being addressed by the national response because CCMs too often are still dominated by government representatives. Civil society organisations could fill this gap. 
<img src="" width="250" height="53" alt="" />
The Global Fund has always discouraged applications from Non-CCMs, which can apply only if they are from a country that is without a legitimate government; that is, in conflict or in an emergency situation, or that is facing a natural disaster &ndash; or if they are from a country that suppresses, or has not established partnerships with civil society. Of the 150 Non-CCM proposals submitted in Rounds 5-9, more than 90% were deemed ineligible. The most common explanation provided for screening out these proposals was that the applicant had failed to explain why it had applied outside its national CCM. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 133 of 15 November) 
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News from Global Union Federations 
 
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. 95 and 96 of 1 and 15 November, respectively, reports on HIV/AIDS workshops and strategic campaign meetings by its affiliates in the US, Tanzania, Ecuador, and South Africa. 
 
While we focus on sub-Saharan Africa, it is often forgotten that according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one million people are living with HIV in the US. More than one in five of those people living with HIV are unaware of their infection. Despite increases in the total number of people living with HIV in the US in recent years, the annual number of new HIV infections has remained relatively stable. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Five Years Ago: From the December 2005 Issue 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In future issues, we will refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In December 2005, The ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter reported on the Second Regional HIV/AIDS Workshop held in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the theme &ldquo;Fighting for our Rights.&rdquo; This workshop led to the publication of the ICEM Training Manual for Collective Bargaining on HIV/AIDS, a publication which is still relevant and widely used. Furthermore, as witnessed by this issue and previous activities, negotiating HIV/AIDS clauses in collective bargaining agreements and workplace policies has become a focus of ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS work. This is also in line with giving effect to the new ILO Recommendation No. 200. 
 
The Epidemic Update 2005, a joint report by UNAIDS and WHO, which was summarised in the December 2005 newsletter, estimated that there were five million new infections in 2005, bringing the total number of people living with HIV and AIDS globally to 40.3 million. As the summary of the 2010 update in this issue shows, some progress has been made since then. But this is still far from satisfactory and universal access goals have not been reached at the end of 2010. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
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. 63, December 2010

By a vote of 521 to 398 on 6 December, members of Sindicato de los Trabajadores de Collahuasi voted to end a 32-day strike against the world&rsquo;s third largest copper miner, located in Chile. The Union of Workers of the Collahuasi Copper Mine and Do&ntilde;a Ines de Collahuasi, owned jointly through 44% stakes each by AngloAmerican and Xstrata, resumed talks early last week with help from Roman Catholic Prelate Marco Antonio &Oacute;rdenes, Bishop of Iquique. 
 
The union's Second Director, Carlos Daniel Rojas, told the ICEM early today that Bishop &Oacute;rdenes succeeded &quot;in opening the door&quot; with the company when there appeared little hope that talks would resume, and the union took it from there to work out a settlement. 
 
The final resolve came in negotiations over the weekend and early Monday, 6 December, with an acceptable compromise. 
 
The vote Monday night ends the longest private-sector Chilean copper strike, surpassing one of 26 days in 2006 at the Escondida mine, owned 57.5% by BHP Billiton and 30% by Rio Tinto. 
 
Terms of the settlement will give the 1,551 miners of Collahuasi a wage increase of 16.3% over a 42-month period, and a bonus payment of 14 million pesos (US$28,733). Other key issues in the strike, which began on 5 November, were company-paid health care and education costs for miners&rsquo; children. The union did make advances in both these areas from prior levels paid by the company. 
 
The strike was marked by a united workforce led by President Manuel Mu&ntilde;oz and Second Director Rojas. The miners of Collahuasi took up residency in the Santa Mar&iacute;a School in Iquique, and staged peaceful and near-daily manifestations in that city. Those demonstrations were strategic in order to draw attention to their cause of gaining adequate health coverage and educational stipends from an employer that posted net profits in 2009 of US$1.56 billion due to high copper pricing. 
 
Last night&rsquo;s vote took place inside the Santa Mar&iacute;a School. Collahuasi miners were scheduled to return to work high in the Atacama desert of Chile&rsquo;s northern Region I, some 285 kilometres from the port city of Iquique, today, 7 December. 
 
&quot;The Collahuasi miners and their families showed strength and fortitude in a dignified and peaceful way against an enterprise intent on maintaining production and turning profits,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &quot;For that, they have earned the pride and admiration of the world's mining unions.&quot; 
 
Coverage of this heroic strike, taken from the ICEM website, can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4117-Chile’s-Collahuasi-Copper-Strike-Now-in-Crucial-Stage">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4102-Miners-Dig-In-at-Chile’s-Collahuasi-Copper-Strike">here</a>.

Strike Ends at Collahuasi Copper Mine in Chile

<img alt="" src="" width="289" height="62" />
By a vote of 521 to 398 on 6 December, members of Sindicato de los Trabajadores de Collahuasi voted to end a 32-day strike against the world&rsquo;s third largest copper&nbsp;miner, located in Chile. The Union of Workers of the Collahuasi Copper Mine and Do&ntilde;a Ines de Collahuasi, owned jointly through 44% stakes each by AngloAmerican and Xstrata, resumed talks early last week with help from Roman Catholic Prelate Marco Antonio &Oacute;rdenes, Bishop of Iquique.
The union's Second Director, Carlos Daniel Rojas, told the ICEM early today that Bishop &Oacute;rdenes succeeded &quot;in opening the door&quot; with the company when there appeared little hope&nbsp;that talks would resume, and the union took it from there to work out a settlement.
The final resolve came in negotiations over the weekend and early Monday, 6 December, with an acceptable compromise. 
The vote Monday night&nbsp;ends the longest private-sector Chilean copper strike, surpassing one of 26 days in 2006 at the Escondida mine, owned 57.5% by BHP Billiton and 30% by Rio Tinto.
<img alt="" src="" width="190" height="142" />
&nbsp;Collahuasi Miners Vote on the Evening of 6 December 
Terms of the settlement will give&nbsp;the 1,551 miners of Collahuasi&nbsp;a wage increase of 16.3% over a 42-month period, and a bonus payment of 14 million pesos (US$28,733). Other key issues in the strike, which began on 5 November, were company-paid health care and education costs for miners&rsquo; children. The union did make advances in both these areas from&nbsp;prior levels&nbsp;paid by the company.&nbsp;
The strike was marked by a united workforce led by President Manuel Mu&ntilde;oz and Second Director&nbsp;Rojas. The miners of Collahuasi took up residency in the Santa Mar&iacute;a School in Iquique, and staged peaceful and near-daily manifestations in that city. Those demonstrations were strategic in order to draw attention to their cause of gaining adequate health coverage and educational stipends from an employer that posted net profits in 2009 of US$1.56 billion due to high&nbsp;copper pricing. 
Last night&rsquo;s vote took place inside the Santa Mar&iacute;a School. Collahuasi miners were scheduled to return to work high in the Atacama desert of Chile&rsquo;s northern Region I, some 285 kilometres from the port city of Iquique, today, 7 December.
&quot;The Collahuasi miners and their families showed strength and fortitude in&nbsp;a dignified and peaceful&nbsp;way against an enterprise intent on maintaining&nbsp;production&nbsp;and turning profits,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &quot;For that, they have earned the pride and admiration of the world's mining unions.&quot;
Coverage of this heroic strike, taken from the ICEM website, can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4117-Chile’s-Collahuasi-Copper-Strike-Now-in-Crucial-Stage">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4102-Miners-Dig-In-at-Chile’s-Collahuasi-Copper-Strike">here</a>.

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Media Advisory 
 
Who: 
International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) &amp; International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM) 
 
What: 
Cutting Emissions &ndash; Transforming Jobs 
 
Where: 
Room/SALAA - TRABAJO 
World of Work Pavilion 
Universidad del Sur 
S&uacute;per manzana 24, Manzana 15, Lote 10 
Av. Uxmal 
Canc&uacute;n Quintana Roo 
Mexico 
 
When: 
7 December 2010 
15h30 to 17h00 
A unique panel entitled &ldquo;The Links Between the Economic, Environmental, and Social Crises,&rdquo; presenting lessons to preserve decent jobs in green public policy through sustainability and Just Transition. Featuring: Shoichiro Kaneko, IMF-JC/JBU, Japan; Michael O&rsquo;Connor, National Secretary-elect, Construction, Forestry, Mining &amp; Energy Union (CFMEU), Australia; and Anabella Rosemberg, Policy Officer, Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Occupational Health and Safety, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Belgium. 
 
Keynote Address (16h20): Jun Arima, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Japan &ndash; &ldquo;Importance of Sustainable Development in Manufacturing and Energy Industries: Job Creation Through Green Technology Innovation.&rdquo; 
 
Contact: Kan Matsuzaki (IMF): +41 79 947 8618, (mobile), <a href="mailto:kmatsuzaki@imfmetal.org">kmatsuzaki@imfmetal.org</a>; Brian Kohler (ICEM): +41 79 734 9178 (mobile)

Press Advisory: Global Trade Unions’ COP16 Industrial Conference, 7 December, Cancún

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the approval of Global Fund Round 10 grants, on World Aids Day activities, and on HIV and AIDS targets.
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. 

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Global Fund Approves Round 10 Proposals 
 
The Global Fund Board has approved all 79 Round 10 proposals recommended by the Technical Review Panel (TRP), at a cost of US$1.73 billion over the first two years and US$4.72 billion over five years. This makes Round 10 the third largest round ever, after Rounds 8 and 9, respectively. These decisions were made at the Fund&rsquo;s 22nd board meeting, held from 13-15 December in Sofia, Bulgaria. 
 
Unlike in previous rounds, the Fund did not have to delay approval of certain proposals pending further funding becoming available; sufficient funding will be available to cover all Round 10 proposals that the TRP recommended for approval. Also, the Board has not required that budgets be reduced. 

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The Board's decision as to which proposals to approve was, as always, entirely based on the advice it received from the TRP, an independent and non-political body of 43 experts from around the world. In total, the TRP reviewed 150 proposals, of which 78 were for HIV/AIDS, 48 for TB, and 24 for malaria. Malaria proposals were by far the most successful in Round 10, with 79% approved (as against 54% for TB proposals and 44% for HIV/AIDS). Over the last three rounds, malaria and TB proposal success rates have always been above 50%, but HIV/AIDS proposal success rates have always been below 50%. 
 
HIV proposals from the countries where the ICEM also has activities did not fare well: proposals from Botswana, DR Congo, C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mauritius, Mongolia, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe were rejected; most of these for repeated rounds. Only the HIV proposals from Guinea, South Africa, Zambia, and a smaller grant for Uganda were approved. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 135 of 16 December. 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>) 
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World AIDS Day 2010 
 
ICEM affiliates all over the world organised or participated in activities on 1 December, World AIDS Day. 
 
In Trinidad and Tobago, the Oilfield Workers&rsquo; Trace Union (OWTU) organised an HIV/AIDS workshop in cooperation with the Humanity Fund of the Canadian affiliate Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union (see e-bulletin No. 63, December 2010). 
 
The Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU) of South Africa focused on their own staff and organised a &ldquo;Lights for Rights&rdquo; commemoration at the union&rsquo;s head office. Mary Nxumalo, National Gender and HIV Coordinator, spoke of a positive step in engaging trade union officials in dealing with the pandemic. 

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The Canadian Automobile Workers (CAW) launched its new HIV/AIDS information manual entitled &ldquo;HIV/AIDS: A Worker&rsquo;s Issue, A Union Issue&rdquo; on World AIDS Day. The booklet offers information on HIV/AIDS in Canada, prevention and transmission, model collective agreement language, and a wealth of other data. 
 
The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) reports on activities of its affiliates in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Venezuela. In Namibia, the Namibian Transport and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union organised a trucker convoy which travelled through the capital Windhoek, distributing male and female condoms and leaflets. 
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Commentary by the Editor: 
Does the World Need More HIV and AIDS Targets? 
 
&ldquo;UNAIDS in 2011 &ndash; Getting to Zero,&rdquo; says the feature story on the UNAIDS website which introduces the new UNAIDS strategy 2011-2015 adopted by the Programme Committee Board in December 2010. The strategy aims to advance global progress in achieving country set targets for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, support, and care and to halt and reverse the spread of HIV and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development goals by 2015. 
 
Sounds familiar? Well, yes, 2010 just closed without having reached universal access &ndash; a commitment from the G8 summit in 2005. And a few years ago the WHO &ldquo;3 by 5&rdquo; initiative to provide three million people with antiretroviral treatment by the end of 2005 barely reached more than half of the target. 
 
Have such ambitious targets positively affected global HIV/AIDS efforts? Two views on targets are current. &ldquo;People need targets,&rdquo; says Sheila Tlou, UNAIDS head in eastern and southern Africa. &ldquo;Aim for the sky and you&rsquo;ll reach somewhere. Had countries been given lower targets, chances are they would only have realised half of that.&rdquo;
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However, Alan Whiteside, executive director of the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division at the University of KwaZulu-Natal says &ldquo;unreachable targets are demoralising and unfair to health workers expected to meet them with often inadequate resources.&rdquo; 
 
A closer look at the details of targets also reveals that &ldquo;universal&rdquo; and &ldquo;zero&rdquo; do not necessarily mean what is commonly understood by it. The G8 universal access to treatment target was achieving &ldquo;as close as possible to universal access to treatment of all who need it by 2010.&rdquo; As close is possible was often defined as 80%. 
 
And do not be deceived by the fancy zero in the UNAIDS &ldquo;Getting to Zero&rdquo; logo. The goal for 2015 is: sexual transmission of HIV reduced by half. Universal access to antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV who are eligible for treatment is also to be achieved by 2015. But that was already the target for the year that just ended. 
 
We may need targets but we must not forget that the people who are held responsible for missing them are not the people who rolled them out, but the people on the ground charged with implementing them. And we must also consider that sometimes the goal posts shift and targets become more distant, as was the case when the WHO raised the recommended threshold for starting treatment form a CD4 count of 200 to one of 350. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Johannesburg, 1 December 2010; circular World AIDS Campaign of 13 December and feature story UNAIDS, 30 December)
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Drug Kit Helps Mothers to Protect Babies 
 
Close to 400,000 African babies are infected with HIV every year, in pregnancy, during birth, and through breastfeeding. The situation points back to the high HIV prevalence among women of reproductive age. Zambia, where some 85,000 women in the age group 15 to 40 are HIV positive, is one of the countries recognised for making progress in addressing the problem. 
 
The introduction of a new drugs kit called Mother-Baby Pack is expected to further reduce transmission. The kit is a pre-packaged set of medicines including maternal and baby prophylactic anti-retroviral medicines in line with WHO Guidelines. 
 
(Sources: IPS, Lusaka, 30 November) 

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Indonesia: Dramatic Increase in New HIV Infections in Bali 
 
Bali's dramatic increase of HIV prevalence among sex workers has changed the face of the epidemic on this famed tourist destination of 3.9 million local residents. In 2010, 25.9% of Bali&rsquo;s 3,945 sex workers were living with HIV, up from 1.6% in 2000, according to the provincial health department. The HIV prevalence rate among sex workers nationwide in 2007 was 10.4%. 
 
The virus is taking hold of the general population in Bali as some 100,000 clients engage with commercial sex workers, of whom more than half do not consistently use a condom, and then go home to their regular partners. 
 
A decade ago, Bali's HIV problem &ndash; as was the entire country&rsquo;s &ndash; was concentrated among intravenous drug users (IDUs). HIV in heterosexual men and women began its steady upward climb in 2005 in Bali, as the number of new infections of IDUs living with HIV steadily declined. Needle exchange programmes as part of an overall &ldquo;harm reduction&rdquo; initiative targeting drug users since 2007 helped to bring down new drug-related infections. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Denpasar, 3 January 2011)
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Ethiopia: 5-Year Plan to Half New HIV Infections 
 
Ethiopia's government has come up with an ambitious plan to halve new HIV infections, quadruple its annual condom distribution and put 85% of people who need life-prolonging HIV medication on treatment within five years. 
 
An estimated 1.2 million Ethiopians are HIV-positive. According to the government, the country's national prevalence is 2.4%, with stark differences between urban HIV prevalence, which stands at about 7.7% and rural levels of under one percent. 

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According to UNAIDS, Ethiopia has already managed to bring down new HIV infections by over 25% since 2001. The country's HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO) says prevalence among young people is dropping even more; in the capital it was halved. 
 
While this progress is impressive, stigma and ignorance are still common among young people. According to a recent study, a considerable percentage of young people had never heard of condoms or had no exposure to them. One third of young people aged 12-24 felt that moral people do not use condoms; 48% of young people felt that condoms should not be used within marriage; and roughly half felt that condoms are used by promiscuous people. 
 
According to the five-year plan, the government also plans to increase the coverage of antiretroviral therapy from 60 to 85%. Close to 400,000 Ethiopians require treatment for HIV. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Addis Ababa, 23 December 2010) 
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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 update No. 97 of 1 to 15 December, reports on World AIDS Day activities of its affiliates (see article on WAD above). 
 
The ITF also published an HIV/AIDS survey in the civil aviation sector in order to improve understanding of the impact of HIV and AIDS in the aviation industry.
<img src="" width="80" height="80" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="" width="90" height="81" alt="" />
The Building and Woodworkers&rsquo; International (BWI &ndash; <a href="http://www.bwint.org">www.bwint.org</a>) reports on in its work with loggers in Guyana. Guyana, a country of around 750,000, has an HIV prevalence of 2.5% in the age group 15 to 49. Thanks to the cooperation with the ILO and the support from the workplace programme of the US Department of Labor, HIV/AIDS workplace education and prevention programmes are now reaching even the most remote areas of the country, such as logging sites. 
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Five Years Ago: From the January 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 January 2006 issue of the e-bulletin, we reported on the long overdue commitment by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to ensure continued funding for treatment-based grants when they are denied Phase 2 funding, or they are approaching the end of their term. (Global Fund grants are approved for five years but can be suspended on the basis of a review after two years). Concern had earlier been raised over the fate of the people on treatment when a grant is suspended. 
 
The situation in South Africa, at the time, was characterised by denial at the highest level of government. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) joined activist group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) to push for a new approach to AIDS. In a joint statement with TAC and the South African Council of Churches, COSATU said, &ldquo;We lament the continued refusal of our national government to declare the seriousness of the epidemic and to mobilise a response on the scale that is needed.&rdquo; The new campaign, which was launched on World AIDS Day 2005, was designed to more deeply involve unions, employers, and churches in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The organisations demanded that by the end of 2006, at least 200,000 AIDS patients were enrolled for anti-retroviral treatment (the figure at the end of 2005 was 70,000). By the end of 2009, nearly one million were on ART; yet, according to UNAIDS, that is still only 37% of those needing drugs. 
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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. 64, January 2011

Archive

Ghana Mine Workers Conducts Successful Delegates’ Conference

USW Glass Workers at Anchor Begin Strike Action

Global Unions Unite in Defending Trade Union Rights in Turkey

Contract Coal Miners in Bangladesh Win Guarantees with Strikes

IG Metall Breaks New Ground with First Accord in German Solar Energy Sector

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 63, December 2010

Strike Ends at Collahuasi Copper Mine in Chile

Strike Ends at Collahuasi Copper Mine in Chile

Press Advisory: Global Trade Unions’ COP16 Industrial Conference, 7 December, Cancún

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 64, January 2011

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