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	&ldquo;Local Actions, Global Impact&rdquo; was the motto of the annual Job Stewards&rsquo; Seminar of the ICEM Canadian affiliate, Office and Professional Employees Union (COPE) Local 378, which was held 9-11 March in Vancouver, British Columbia. COPE Local 378 represents 14,000 union members at public- and private-sector companies in the western Canadian province and affiliates to the ICEM through rank-and-file membership in the electricity and gas sectors.

	The seminar offered an opportunity to meet and work with both new and experienced shop stewards, as well as leading union officials with nine weekend-long workshops and courses that includes global solidarity and campaigns.

	The ICEM was represented by Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan and he delivered a presentation on global union solidarity, the ICEM, and the new Global Union Federation, IndustriALL.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 234px;height: 141px" width="390">&nbsp;

	Kemal Ozkan

	&ldquo;Global solidarity is one of the major items of this seminar,&rdquo; said COPE Local 378 President David Black. &ldquo;This course starts to make the links between the experience in our own working lives and communities and workers in other countries.&rdquo; The seminar noted that &ldquo;in an increasingly shrinking world, our struggles are often the same even though they may be half way around the globe.&rdquo;

	The participants discussed the economic circumstances they find themselves in and the ongoing globalization of the world&rsquo;s economy. The seminar designed a toolbox to provide activists with an opportunity to make links with workers in other countries and to demonstrate solidarity with them.

	The seminar also welcomed Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia and Juan Linares from the National Miners&#039; and Metalworkers&#039; Union (SNTMMSRM), or Los Minerosof Mexico as guests. G&oacute;mez, General Secretary of Los Mineros, has been living in exile in Vancouver for over four years through the support of ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW), while Juan Linares was imprisoned in Mexico from 2008 to 2011 after returning to his home country after attending the convention of British Columbia Federation of Labour.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 289px;height: 103px" width="390">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Both G&oacute;mez and Linares have been persecuted and threatened by the Mexican government despite the fact that courts there have dismissed false charges against them over the handling of union funds. Linares, in an emotional speech, cordially thanked participants for the support and solidarity delivered by COPE Local 378.

	Following the close of the seminar, COPE Local 378&rsquo;s Gwenne Farrell wrote to the ICEM, stating, &ldquo;I can tell that we had approximately 165 participants in attendance and the feedback they have given me is that they now fully support the work we are doing with the ICEM.

	&ldquo;Moreover, the course that I facilitated on Global Solidarity trained some of our activists on what they can do to help with a number of global issues.&nbsp; Thank you for making a difference to our members and for doing such a great job promoting ICEM.&rdquo;

Canadian COPE Union Ties Local Actions into Global Impact

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	A merger of labour federations in Swaziland has set the stage for a struggle toward democracy and independent political parties in the country. On 10-13 March, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) convened its first Congress and priority number one is to establish a multi-party political system, or to boycott sham elections next year.

	TUCOSWA, formulated last year, was officially launched at its Congress in Matsapha and its first order of business was to demand registration and participation of political parties in Africa&rsquo;s last absolute monarchy, run by despotic King Mswati III.

	The new labour federation amalgamates the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU), the Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFL), as well as the most powerful single trade union, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). The 50,000-member federation vowed that there will either be open and fair Parliamentary elections next year, or Mswati would face a boycott of next year&rsquo;s elections.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 200px;height: 92px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Political parties have been banned in Swaziland since 1973 and Mswati and his cronies have mismanaged the economy so severely that public sector salaries have gone unpaid. At this month&rsquo;s founding Congress, TUCOSWA announced it would embark on a nationwide education campaign, and as part of that, major protests likely to occur in April and May.

	Such manifestations will no doubt be met forcefully by Swazi police loyal to Mswati. In fact, at a meeting in Lubombo in January by leaders of TUCOSWA to discuss the monarch&rsquo;s introduction of a value added tax, police broke it up after the unionists refused a demand to call off the meeting.

	&ldquo;Workers are more prepared now to go to grassroots levels and into the communities to shed light on what the government should be doing,&rdquo; said TUCOSWA President Barnes Dlamini.

	TUCOSWA General-Secretary Vincent Ncongwane used his speech at the end of this initial Congress to rally civil society &ndash; including faith-based groups and cultural entities &ndash; to frustrate next year&rsquo;s scheduled electoral farce.

	In Swaziland, Mswati operates with what is called a tinkhundla regime, an undemocratic system whereby all power is vested in him with administrative matters put in the hands of tribal chiefs dependent on his patronage. The Swazi Parliament has few powers, with Mswati making appointments to many of the seats in the House of Assembly and Senate.

Merged Swaziland Labour Federation to Advance Cause of Democracy

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	In an astonishing development, the Bavet town governor in Cambodia has admitted to shooting three young women who were striking last month at a shoe factory in Svey Rieng province, but he was only questioned and then released.

	Chhouk Bandith appeared before a provincial prosecutor on 16 March and said he fired shots on 20 February into a crowd of thousands of mostly women strikers at the KaoWay Sports Ltd. footwear factory. But despite the confession, no arrest warrant was issued and he was allowed to go free. (See previous <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4926-Cambodian-Public-Official-Accused-in-Shooting-of-Footwear-Strikers">ICEM report</a> on story.)

	When questioned by the Cambodian press in what has now become a serious stain on Cambodia&rsquo;s judicial system, the Svey Rieng prosecutor said it was his right not to order the arrest of Chhouk Bandith. He also called the incident unimportant.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 130px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Chhouk Bandith

	A majority of 6,000 workers at KaoWay, a supplier of shoes for the German company Puma, were in their second wave of strike action when Bandith exited the factory and fired a high-powered weapon equipped with a silencer at them. The shooting was caught on the factory&rsquo;s security cameras before he fled in a car accompanied by a bodyguard and a uniformed police officer.

	The three women, ages 23, 21 and 18, were seriously injured with one &ndash; Buot Chinda &ndash; near death. She has recovered and after filing a criminal complaint against Bandith, is now in hiding. Reportedly, the three were offered sums of money for their silence ranging from US$500 to US$1,000. None have accepted the bribes.

	Because of the shootings, Chhouk Bandith was terminated from his duties as town governor on 6 March by a special decree from Prime Minister Hun Sen.

	Led by the union representing the striking workers, the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers&rsquo; Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), an affiliate of the International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), some 27 civil society groups issued a joint statement urging &ldquo;this case become an example of rule of law, not another reflection of impunity.&rdquo;

	The statement continued: &ldquo;Recognizing that the Minister of Interior Sar Kheng has identified the suspect of the shooting as being Bavet town governor, Chhouk Bandith, we strongly urge the Royal Government of Cambodia to make the suspect&rsquo;s arrest an utmost priority. We also urge a proper trial and judgement in accordance with the law.

	&ldquo;We remind the Royal Government of its obligation to ensure that human rights throughout Cambodia be respected. We also remind the Royal Government of its obligation to ensure that every Khmer citizen shall be equal before the law, regardless of rank, title or association.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Cambodian Governor Confesses to Shooting Strikers, but No Arrest Made

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	All eyes are on the Rotten Row magistrates&rsquo; court in the Zimbabwe capital Harare today, 21 March, as six political activists will hear their sentences after being found guilty of &ldquo;conspiring to commit public violence.&rdquo;

	The five men and one woman face up to a decade in jail simply for screening a video of the Arab Spring during an innocent academic meeting on 19 February 2011.

	The repressive Mugabe regime is manipulating the judiciary to stamp out and persecute any opposition; in this case by sentencing activists, and in many other cases by indefinitely dragging out court cases based on fabricated charges.

	The six Zimbabwean activists, Munyaradzi Gwisai, Tafadzwa Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo, and Welcome Zimuto, face jail sentences of up to ten years. They confessed to plotting to overthrow the 88-year-old Mugabe, but these confessions were made while being tortured in custody. They were beaten with wooden planks.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 200px;height: 92px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	The verdict was delivered on 20 March in a packed courtroom with riot police in position, after magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini rejected the group&rsquo;s claim that last year&rsquo;s meeting had meant no harm to Mugabe&rsquo;s regime.

	&ldquo;Watching a video like the one in question is not a crime. But the manner of watching had no good intention,&rdquo; the court was told by magistrate Jarabini, a relative of President Mugabe.

	They were arrested last year, together with 39 other people and initially were charged with treason, which carries the death penalty. But during the course of court proceedings, the charges were reduced and the other 39 people cleared.

	Three of the six, Munyaradzi, Tafadzwa and Tatenda, work with the Zimbabwe Labour Centre a non-profit organisation that gives legal support to unions and workers on labour matters and&nbsp;provides educational programmes. Gwisai is a law lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe. Chakuma is a trade union leader.&nbsp;

	The right to meet, discuss events in the world, share ideas and speak openly and freely is a basic human right for which activists should not be victimised and vilified.&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Send your SMS text message &quot;Do NOT send the 6 Harare activists to jail!&quot; now to:

	Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena + 263 712 801 172

	Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri + 263 712 808 290

	Police Minister Kembo Mohadi +263 712 605 424

	Security Minister Didymus Mutasa +263 0712 200 532

Global Indignation over Jail Time That Faces Zimbabwean Activists

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	Schlumberger, the world&rsquo;s largest oilfield services company, has sent a clear indication of its unwillingness to seek solution to a damaging labour relations situation at its Egyptian operations.

	Management of the French-based company in numerous locations and levels throughout the world responded over the past month to letters of different trade unions and activist organisations with a similar response each time, outlining their supposed readiness to solve the dispute in Egypt and launch an investigation.

	However, when ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda offered to come to Egypt to meet Amr Essawi, the Area Manager for Schlumberger in Cairo on 8 March, the offer was ignored.

	In May 2011, the process to establish an independent company-level trade union at Schlumberger Egypt was finalised, as part of the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU), the trade union centre established during the final days of the Mubarak regime.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" height="159" src="" width="263" />&nbsp;

	EFITU Founding Congress, February 2012

	On 11 May, when local management was informed of the new union structure, it responded with threats and dismissed the union branch&rsquo;s General Secretary Mohamed, Abd Elrahman. On 3 July, the day of the union&rsquo;s founding general congress, local management then dismissed the union&rsquo;s President, Brother Essam.

	On 5 July, local management summoned union members to the head office and threatened them with dismissal if they did not leave the union. And then on 7 July, local management followed through on an earlier threat and dismissed the union&rsquo;s Assistant General Secretary, Ayman Abd Elmonem.

	No reason or dismissal letter was given to Abd Elmonem. He was simply blocked from entering the workplace. On 12 July, another union member was dismissed in similar circumstances, Mr. Hossam Al-deed Mostafa, again with no written dismissal notice.

	ICEM affiliates who represent Schlumberger employees in Europe and North America have approached management at their prospective national level, each have been promised that the company is committed to find a solution and establish mature systems of industrial relations throughout the company&rsquo;s operations and specifically in Egypt.

	But the leaders of the nascent company-level union for Schlumberger workers in Egypt remain sacked from their positions and refusal to discuss the situation with the ICEM is concerning.

	The ICEM, therefore, intends to expand its campaign with the next phase targeting Schlumberger&rsquo;s clients, the major oil and gas multinationals. Schlumberger employs 2,500 workers in Egypt, 40% of who work for subcontractors at 10 different worksites.&nbsp;

	Register your protest to Schlumberger Chairman Andrew Gould, CEO Paal Kibsgaard, and Egypt Area Manager Amr Essawy by clicking&nbsp;<a href="mailto:gould1@exchange.slb.com;%20pkibsgaard@exchange.slb.com;%20AEssawi2@exchange.slb.com">here</a>.

Schlumberger Ignores ICEM’s Offer of Dialogue

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the ICEM World Congress and ICEM&rsquo;s involvement in ICASA, as well as the problems the Global Fund is facing. 
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ICEM World Congress 
 
HIV and AIDS featured prominently at the 5th ICEM World Congress held in Buenos Aires from 24-26 November. 
 
The Congress publication of Global Info highlighted the ICEM&rsquo;s HIV and AIDS work in a two-page spread. The Action Programme, which was unanimously adopted by delegates, makes repeated reference to the importance of the role of trade unions in fighting the pandemic at the workplace. With the adoption of the Action Programme delegates expressed their full support for the merger with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). HIV and AIDS work will take a prominent place in the new organisation which will come into existence in June 2012. 
 
At the Congress, the ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant maintained a command post that contained HIV and AIDS material and he talked to many delegates on the ICEM&rsquo;s work on HIV and AIDS, as well as on the importance of the ILO Recommendation No 200 concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, which was distributed at the Congress in print form. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
ICEM at ICASA 
 
The ICEM and its affiliate in Ethiopia, the National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical and Mine Trade Unions (NIFECM), made a great impact at the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa when the NIFECM President, Firew Bekele Afework, gave the oral presentation of an abstract on the HIV and AIDS work in the mining sector in Ethiopia, which is supported by the Danish LO/FTF Council. 
 
The abstract, entitled &ldquo;HIV and the Workplace, Awareness and Prevention in the Mining Sector in Ethiopia &ndash; Trade Unions Take their Responsibility,&rdquo; raised much interest among participants and drove home the message of the importance of workplace HIV and AIDS interventions, and the role of trade unions, whose potential is often underestimated. 
 
ICASA was held in Addis Ababa from 4-8 December under the theme &ldquo;Own, Scale up and Sustain&rdquo;. 
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Global Fund Cancels Round 11 
 
The Global Fund Board has cancelled Round 11 in light of the Global Fund&rsquo;s financial difficulties. This difficult decision was made at a two-day Board meeting in Accra, Ghana, 21-22 November. The wording for the resolution did not include the word &ldquo;cancel&rdquo; or anything implying it. Instead, the Board resolved &ldquo;to convert Round 11 into a new funding opportunity in 2014.&rdquo; 
 
The original decision to launch Round 11 in August 2011 was made at a Board meeting in December 2010. At its meeting in May 2011, the Board did not make any changes to its plans for Round 11 as an estimated US$1.6 billion would be available for that round. But the estimate of funds available for Round 11 declined to US$0.8 billion in September 2011, and then to a negative amount in November. 
 
The Global Fund has long had a policy that the financing of Phase 2 renewals of existing grants has a higher priority than the financing of new grants. As a result, the Board concluded that almost all of the US$8.2 billion in revenues that is now projected to arrive by the end of 2013 will be needed for renewals, leaving no money for Round 11. The next replenishment period will be 2014&ndash;2016. Given that there is no money for Round 11, the next opportunity for countries to apply for new grants will be during the 2014&ndash;2016 period. 
 
Why was Round 11 launched and then cancelled? And what does the decision to cancel Round 11 tell us about the Global Fund&rsquo;s financial condition? Unlike what some news reports suggest, the Global Fund has billions of dollars in the bank, with billions more expected to arrive during the next two years. The problem is that most of that money is needed for the current and renewal phases of existing grants. In addition, the Fund has introduced a more cautious methodology for estimating how much funding it will receive in future. 
 
Primarily because of these two factors, the Global Fund now estimates that until 2014, it will have almost no money for new grants. Hence, the need to cancel Round 11. It is not accurate to say that Round 11 was cancelled because of decisions by donors since May to cancel, reduce or delay their pledges, because that is not happening, although the Fund has serious problems with a few donor countries. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issues 167 and 170 of 23 November and 9 December respectively. 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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Global Progress in HIV Response 
 
Global progress in both preventing and treating HIV emphasizes the benefits of sustaining investment in HIV and AIDS over the longer term. The 2011 joint report by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and UNAIDS Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Response indicates that increased access to HIV services resulted in a 15% reduction of new infections over the past decade and a 22% decline in AIDS-related deaths in the last five years. 
 
Advances in HIV science and programme innovations over the past year add hope for future progress. In times of economic austerity, it is essential to rapidly apply new science, technologies and approaches in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of HIV programmes in countries. 
 
While there are successes in increased access to testing of pregnant women and subsequent treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission, as well as an expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in general, a lot still needs to be done. More than half of the people who need antiretroviral treatment are still unable to get access to it (and many do not even know that they are infected). 
 
Worldwide, the vast majority (64%) of young people aged 15-24 living with HIV today are female. The rate is even higher in sub-Saharan Africa where girls and young women make up 71% of all young people living with HIV - essentially because prevention strategies are not reaching them. 
 
In 2010, HIV epidemics and responses in different parts of the world vary with shifting trends, progress rates and outcomes. Sub-Saharan Africa has reached an ART coverage rate of 49%. But prevention is still lacking with 1.9 million new infections in the region, where 22.9 million people, two thirds of the world&rsquo;s total, are living with HIV. Asia shows a stabilizing epidemic overall, but new infections are very high in some communities. Of the 4.8 million people living with HIV in Asia, nearly half (49%) are in India. Eastern Europe and Central Asia presents a dramatic growth in HIV, with new infections increasing by 250% since 2001. Middle East and North Africa records the highest number of HIV infections ever in the region (59,000) in 2010, which represents a 36% increase over the past year. Latin America and the Caribbean have a stabilizing epidemic with 1.5 million living with HIV in Latin America and 200,000 in the Caribbean. 
 
The report is also critical about the decrease in funding in the wake of the financial crisis. 
 
Echoing these developments and figures, UNAIDS released a separate report called &ldquo;2011 UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report.&rdquo; 
 
(Source: UNAIDS Press Release, 30 November) 
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Botswana: Mogae in Call to Legalise Homosexuality, Prostitution 
 
Botswana should decriminalise homosexuality and prostitution to prevent the spread of HIV, said Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana. Mogae, who heads the government-backed Botswana AIDS Council, said it was difficult to promote safe sex when the practices were illegal. He also called for condoms to be distributed in prisons. 
 
Mogae said that Botswana should not regard homosexuals as criminals. Similarly, arresting prostitutes does not help to protect them or their clients from being infected. He also said that the government&rsquo;s failure to give prisoners condoms has worsened the pandemic. &ldquo;If people go to prison HIV negative and come out of it HIV positive, it means that prisons are one of the sources of infection,&rdquo; he told the BBC. 
 
Botswana has one of the highest infection rates in the world &ndash; 17% of the population are HIV positive. When Mogae was President, it became the first sub-Saharan country where antiretroviral drugs were widely available for free. 
 
(Source: BBC News, 19 0ctober) 
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Burundi: &lsquo;Die-in&rsquo; to Protest Lack of HIV Care 
 
Hundreds of Burundians living with HIV and AIDS recently staged a demonstration in the capital, Bujumbura, to protest against a lack of treatment. Men, women and children lay on the ground for ten minutes to &quot;show the government that if nothing is done rapidly - this week, this month &ndash; we will all die,&quot; said Jeanne Gapiya, a leading Burundian HIV activist. 
 
According to Gapiya, despite funding from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2010, organizations caring for HIV-positive people had not signed agreements with the National Council for HIV/AIDS Control, CNLS, to access the cash. 
 
The Global Fund approved about US$35 million to fight HIV in Burundi under its eighth round of grants. An estimated 150,000 Burundians are living with HIV; the pandemic has left more than 20,000 orphans in the central African country. Global Fund grants to Burundi are channelled through a coordinating body called the Intensification and Decentralization Programme for the Fight against HIV/AIDS (PRIDE), which funds CNLS, which in turn pays for HIV-positive people&rsquo;s healthcare. 
 
(Source: IRIN/PlusNews, Bujumbura) 
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Health Effects of Financial Crisis: A Greek Tragedy 
 
Greece has been affected more by the financial crisis than any other European country. There are signs that budget cuts in health care have led to worsening health outcomes, especially within vulnerable groups. 
 
A significant increase in HIV infections occurred in late 2010. The latest data suggest that new infections will rise by 52% in 2011, compared to 2010, with half of the currently observed increases attributable to infections among intravenous drug users. Budget cuts in 2009 and 2010 have resulted in the loss of a third of the country&rsquo;s street work programmes. Many new HIV infections are also linked to an increase in prostitution and associated unsafe sex. 
 
Overall, the picture of health in Greece is disturbing. It reminds us that, in an effort to finance debts, ordinary people are paying the ultimate price: losing access to care and preventive services, facing higher risk of HIV and in the worst cases losing their lives. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.thelancet.com">www.thelancet.com</a>, volume 378, 22 October) 
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News from Global Unions 
 
The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>), in its latest HIV/AIDS updates 115 and 116 of 1 and 15 November, respectively, reports on a week-long organising and VCT campaign in the road transport sector in Togo, UNESCO&rsquo;s new AIDS strategy, on education sessions for Cambodian fishermen and on the effects of austerity measures in Europe, especially on infections by drug users. 
 
On 30 November, on the occasion of World AIDS Day 1 December, the ITF launched the report on a comprehensive and cross-regional HIV and AIDS survey in the port sector. The survey examines the impact of HIV and AIDS among port communities and illustrates the need for union action and support. It also highlights the importance of ILO Recommendation 200 concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work. 
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Five Years Ago: From the December 2006 Issue (No. 15) 
 
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 December 2006 e-bulletin, we reported on the initial HIV and AIDS workshop in India in Puri, Orissa, in November. The objectives of the workshop included the achievement of a solid knowledge about the HIV/AIDS epidemic; the introduction and advocacy of the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work; the development of workplace policies and of a work plan of activities with sustainable funding sources. From this initial workshop the Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INMF) in cooperation with the ICEM developed a comprehensive programme which has been running from 2008 to the end of 2011. Corporate partnership with funding from the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim made this project possible. 
 
We also reported on the latest HIV and IADS figures published in the UNAIDS/WHO 2006 Epidemic Update. An estimated 39.5 million people were living with HIV. There were 4.3 million new infections in 2006 with 2.8 million (65%) of these occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and important increases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where in some countries infection rates have risen by more than 50% since 2004. In 2006, 2.9 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses. The 2010/2011 look a bit better (see article above). 
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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. 75, December 2011

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From the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation 

In a unanimous vote, the 300-member Central Committee of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) moved to convene an extraordinary Congress in June 2012 to create a new global union for industrial workers. The action occurred on the second day of the Central Committee&rsquo;s meeting in Jakarta on 8 December. 

The new global union organization will unite workers of metal, mining, chemicals, energy and textile industries, and will bring the IMF together with the ICEM and the International Textile, Garment, Leathers Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). The new global union, which will represent 50 million workers in 140 countries, will be launched on 18-20 June 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Introducing the discussion on creation of the new global union, IMF President Berthold Huber said: &ldquo;Many of our members are working in companies that cut across different industrial sectors. We need to bundle up our forces to speak with a single voice of workers in the manufacturing industries.&rdquo;
<img alt="" src="" width="142" height="158" />
Berthold Huber
In a lively debate, delegates expressed hope about building a stronger counter-power to transnational corporations, and more focus and resources for organizing, fighting precarious work and defending trade union rights. Speakers emphasized the need to further improve gender balance in the different structures, including a 30% minimum share of women on statutory bodies and other forums. 

The Central Committee returned the proposal on presidents of IMF&rsquo;s industrial departments back to the Executive Committee in order to find a better gender and north-south balance.

IMF Central Committee Moves on Dissolution, Merger Congresses

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Like past years, the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada held its bi-annual Women&rsquo;s Conference in the days around National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada on 6 December, the fateful date in 1989 when 14 young women were massacred at &Eacute;cole Polytechnique in Montreal in an anti-feminist rage. 
 
Some 350 women attended the CEP&rsquo;s 9th Women&rsquo;s Conference in Canada&rsquo;s national capital, Ottawa, from 4-6 December. The conference, entitled &ldquo;Imagine,&rdquo; included workshops on cyberstalking, gun registry, and street-proofing as deterrent for crime and violence against women.
<img alt="" src="" width="204" height="160" />
CEP Women&nbsp; 
 

On the morning of the conference&rsquo;s final day, former Governor General of Canada Micha&euml;lle Jean spoke and told of battered women&rsquo;s shelters in Quebec and the urgent need to engage young Canadians on the degradation that violence against women brings on societies. Following her address, delegates marched from the Westin Hotel in Ottawa to Parliament Hill, where a mass demonstration was occurring for gun control in Canada and the National Day of Remembrance of the Montreal Massacre. 
 
&ldquo;The gun control law is a monument erected in the memory of our daughters,&rdquo; said Suzanne Laplante-Edward, mother of Anne-Marie, who was slain at &Eacute;cole Polytechnique by a lone gunman. The CEP&rsquo;s Western Region Administrative Vice President, Wendy Sol, also spoke at the Parliament Hill manifestation. 
 
In an ICEM letter to delegates at the opening of the CEP&rsquo;s Women&rsquo;s Conference, the federation reminded Canadian women that the Montreal Massacre is rightfully marked in global observance of &ldquo;16 Days Against Gender Violence,&rdquo; as designated by the Global Campaign for Human Rights. Those 16 days began on 25 November with the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and continued across World Aids Day (1 December), the Montreal Massacre (6 December), and finally International Human Rights Day (10 December). 
 
The ICEM letter read: &ldquo;With the CEP Women&rsquo;s Conference occurring within these globally recognized 16 days, please tell your delegates that the ICEM is using this time frame and indeed, the entire new year, to remind all that gender equity will remain a major global priority.&rdquo;

CEP Holds 9th Women’s Conference in Ottawa, Canada

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Members of the United Steelworkers Local 207L numbering 1,050 are livid that management of Cooper Tire and Rubber in Findlay, Ohio, broke good-faith negotiations and locked them out on 28 November. They showed their anger on Saturday, 17 December, by manifesting strongly with other state and regional trade unionists in the northern Ohio town. 
 
To be sure, descendants of the founders of the company that gave birth to Cooper Tire are also unhappy with current management over the lockout. In a letter to top executives of America&rsquo;s fourth largest tyre maker on 9 December, Janet Clinger and Lingel Winters wrote that their grandfather &ldquo;Claude Hart adhered to the standards &hellip; believ(ing) that the company had a responsibility for the well-being of not only the shareholders, but the workers and the community.&rdquo; 
 
The <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4808-Cooper-Tire-and-Rubber-Locks-Out-Steelworkers-at-Ohio-Factory">lockout began</a> after workers rejected a concession-loaded proposal in late November and after the USW requested to continue work and continue bargaining. Cooper&rsquo;s lockout was sudden, unprovoked, and now damaging both to labour relations and workers&rsquo; lives. Within days of the lockout, the company proudly announced it would re-start production with managers and temporary scab workers.
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Lockout: War on Families
Cooper&rsquo;s war on rubber workers at its flagship factory was evident at the 17 December manifestation. USW Local 207L President Rod Nelson lamented misguided managers who weathered the 2008-09 US manufacturing downturn with no small help from workers&rsquo; pay-check concessions, and now return for more economic cuts from workers when profits are good and executive bonuses are back. 
 
&ldquo;Cooper hasn&rsquo;t been fair with us at the bargaining table,&rdquo; said Nelson, refuting a management that has lost touch with the company&rsquo;s founding principles. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t lock people out of their jobs, we work through our problems.&rdquo; 
 
USW Secretary-Treasurer and ICEM Rubber Sector Chairman Stan Johnson told the rally that the union has responded globally and immediately received support from Serbian union Nezavisnost. That came within days of Cooper&rsquo;s 8 December announcement that it would buy early next year a tyre factory from Trayal Korporacija AD near Krusevac, Serbia. 
 
The USW also received an assist from its trans-Atlantic partner Unite the Union in bringing the lockout to the attention of workers at Cooper&rsquo;s Melksham, Wiltshire, UK. Unite has flooded the shop floor of former Avon Tyres Ltd., which Cooper bought in 1997, with leaflets, posters and details of the American lockout.
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Stan Johnson
&ldquo;This lockout is about greed and gluttony,&rdquo; said Johnson at Saturday&rsquo;s rally. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s about a shiny new jet (Cooper&rsquo;s new purchase) and it&rsquo;s about multi-million-dollar bonuses.&rdquo; 

It is also about abandoning the traditions of social responsibility, judging from the letter by descendants of founders Claude Hart and John Schaefer. Expressing disappointment, Clinger and Winters wrote, &ldquo;Locking out employees who helped the company during hard times and hiring scab workers to replace them subverts the purpose of collective bargaining. &ldquo; 
 
USW Local 207L and Cooper did return to the table on 13 December in talks supervised by US federal mediator Kevin Moyer. But those negotiations produced no trace of Cooper reconciliation, or rescinding of harsh contract terms. 
 
The stakes will now get higher between the USW and Copper as a contract expires on 20 January 2012 between USW Local 752L in Texarkana, Arkansas, and the Findlay-based company. The 1,500 workers there have voted to give their union committee a mandate to strike if necessary.

Steelworkers in Lockout Manifest against Copper Rubber in US

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On 30 November, the ICEM, International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation, and the International Textile, Garment, Leathers Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) collaborated on an event entitled &ldquo;Cutting Emissions - Transforming Jobs.&rdquo; It was a key part of World of Work side events that were coordinated by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) at COP-17 in Durban, or the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 
 
It has become a tradition for trade unions to hold side events under the World of Work banner at COP meetings since COP-15 in 2009 in Copenhagen. 
 
The three Global Union Federations, speaking for workers in the resource, industrial, processing and other industries, held the event to discuss a sustainable foundation for Just Transition and to develop a common industrial strategy for the future of industrial workers. 
 
The panellists included: Philemon Shiburi, National Treasurer, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA); Arvind Shrouti, Analyst, Option Positive, India; Anne Panneels, Senior Advisor on Sustainable Development, European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC); Bob Baugh, Executive Director, Industrial Union Council/AFL-CIO, US; and David Macatha, the National Treasurer of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), South Africa.
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Anne Panneels&nbsp;
All panellists were asked to consider the following points, from their particular regional and sectoral perspective: 
 
Post Kyoto Framework: Could a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol be a solution to avoid a gap in emission reduction commitments and to re-build the legally-binding framework covering all countries in the future negotiation process? 
 
Building a Foundation-Climate Finance: How should the funding be designed/realized to achieve sustainable jobs and a Just Transition? What are the components of a strong financing scheme, e.g. mandatory contributions from governments, Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), levy on maritime transportation &amp; aviation, or other? 
 
Just Transition: What kinds of programmes are needed for industrial workers who are most dramatically affected by the climate change issues? How can both today's and tomorrow's workers benefit from the transformation to a sustainable economy? What support will be needed? 
 
Developing Industrial Strategy: Industrial strategies which aim towards sustainable production, the transformation and enhancement of existing jobs, and the creation of new, greener jobs are needed at local, national, regional and international levels. How could developed and developing countries be engaged to harmonize/develop respective industrial policies? 
 
Union&rsquo;s Role for the Future: How should unions get involved to transform industry and create new, greener jobs be designed and implemented with the full participation?
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Each panellist made a thought-provoking presentation. Philemon Shiburi emphasized the importance of a second Kyoto commitment period to Africans. Finance and technology transfer are essential. Existing jobs must be protected alongside new ones as renewable energy is developed. 
 
Arvind Shrouti identified inequalities as a barrier to sustainability and urged strengthened industrial democracy with worker participation in decision-making. Anne Panneels outlined some of the European efforts to design a long-term industrial strategy through social dialogue, for green and decent jobs that includes a Just Transition. 
 
Bob Baugh showed that in the USA many unions are committed to an industrial policy that endorses the concepts of &quot;green job&quot; transformation and creation through deployment of technology and training and education. David Macatha said that nothing can be accomplished without the efforts of workers to demand change, decent work, and a democratic renewal. 
 
The presentations showed that workers globally share a vision of an industrial and social strategy that promotes the transformation of existing jobs to a more sustainable model, as well as the creation of new, sustainable jobs that fulfil the ILO goals of &quot;decent work.&quot; The path towards a sustainable future for both today's and tomorrow's workers is strong investment in technological innovation, and a Just Transition.

COP-17 Union Panel Stresses Sustainable Industry in Climate Change Debate

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