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The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM), the dominant global trade union federation for the mining industry, endorses a letter by its Liberian union affiliate to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf protesting proposed rail passage through the West African nation by Brazilian-based Vale SA. 
 
Recently, Vale purchased a 51% stake from BSG Resources of iron ore blocks near Simandou in eastern Guinea. The mining house intends to create a rail and logistics corridor from Guinea through Liberia to the Atlantic Ocean coast. 
 
In the letter, dated 13 May, the Forestry, Logging, and Industry Workers of Liberia (FLIWUL) calls on President Johnson-Sirleaf to fully examine Vale&rsquo;s global social record before her government grants the rail concession. Among several irresponsible social acts, Vale has a forced a bitter strike &ndash; now in its eleventh month &ndash; on 3,500 nickel and copper miners in Canada. 
 
&ldquo;We are aware of many serious issues surrounding Vale and its mistreatment of workers and communities where it operates around the world,&rdquo; writes FLIWUL Secretary-General David D. Sackoh. 
 
&ldquo;Organizations in Mozambique, Brazil, Canada, Peru, Chile, Germany, Italy, and New Caledonia have declared that Vale &lsquo;infringes human rights, exploits both male and female workers, imposes precarious working conditions, destroys nature and disrespects traditional communities.&rsquo; It appears that every place where Vale operates, communities are displaced, the environment is harmed and workers&rsquo; rights are not respected. 

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&ldquo;We are disturbed at the treatment that Vale has given to its workforce in Canada. The company provoked a strike through its demands for deep concessions from its workers despite the fact that the company has made billions of dollars in profit in recent years. 
 
&ldquo;Madame President, following many years of civil war and turmoil the Liberian people finally enjoy peace and has a promising future under your leadership. This behemoth Vale with its suspect actions could potentially destroy our fragile economy for the benefit of a greedy few. As key stakeholder in the infrastructural and economic development of Liberia, FLIWUL wishes to urge the government to carefully study the situation and ensure that transitional companies investing in Liberia do so responsibly.&rdquo; 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda soundly endorsed the letter, and said the Geneva-based federation will also raise Vale&rsquo;s investment in Guinea with trade unions there, and with the government of Guinea. &ldquo;We cannot accede to Vale&rsquo;s investment agenda anywhere while the company brings pain and suffering on workers,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;The atrocities that Vale is inflicting on people and their communities in Ontario and Labrador in Canada must stop and we give sound warning that we will follow this mining company everywhere and repeat FLIWUL&rsquo;s message.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM is a global union federation consisting of 467 trade unions in 132 countries, and represents 20 million workers worldwide. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 79 734 8994 (mobile) +41 22 304 1842 (direct line).

ICEM Commends Liberian Affiliate for Opposing Vale Investment

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we continue the G8 campaign for universal access and inform about critical issues concerning prevention of mother-to-child transmission. We also cover a novel Grandmothers to Grandmothers summit between African and Canadian relatives of children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic, an undertaking by the Stephen Lewis Foundation. 
 
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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Support for G8 Campaign for Universal Access 
 
Initiated by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), click <a href="/en/72-HIV-AIDS/3703-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin-No.-55-April-2010">here</a> for details from last e-bulletin, support for lobbying the G8 Summit has extended beyond Africa. Unions all over the world have now sent petitions. 
 
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, has written to the Canadian Mission in Geneva urging the G8 to put forward an action plan to achieve Universal Access to HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support. The ICEM has also called on its affiliates to join the petition and letter writing campaign from their own countries. 
 
Show your support for Universal Access: 
Follow the links below to sign a petition that will be delivered to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and world leaders attending the G8 meetings in June. 
English: <a href="http://cupe.ca/action/hiv-aids">http://cupe.ca/action/hiv-aids</a>&nbsp; 
Fran&ccedil;ais: <a href="http://scfp.ca/action/sida">http://scfp.ca/action/sida</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;
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New ICEM HIV/AIDS Leaflet 
 
The ICEM has produced a new leaflet, &ldquo;The ICEM responds to HIV/AIDS.&rdquo; The leaflet is available in English and French on the ICEM website <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/2010-AIDSLeaflet.2.pdf">here</a>&nbsp;and <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ICEM%20Leaflet%20FR.b.pdf">here</a>.&nbsp;Hardcopies can also be ordered from the ICEM Head Office, by writing <a href="mailto:info@icem.org">info@icem.org</a>. 
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Shortage of Funding Threatens AIDS Prevention for Pregnant Women 
 
Reports from Kenya and Malawi suggest that new WHO guidelines, which recommend an earlier start of anti-retroviral treatment, cannot be met because of shortages in funding. 
 
The WHO recommended to raise the CD4 count (measure of immunity to ascertain when HIV positive persons should begin treatment) from 200 to 350 and called for HIV-positive mothers to begin treatment at 14 weeks of pregnancy, up from the previous 28 weeks. 
 
In Kenya, rejection of Global Fund Round 9 and 10 proposals means that the country will be seriously short of funds and that around 300,000 people in need of life-saving antiretroviral drugs and pregnant mothers are not sure of continued access to medication. The Global Fund denied approval because of the duplication of roles of the ministries of medical services and public health and because of the huge unjustified and unsustainable workforce in implementing agencies. 
 
In Malawi, services to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) are gaining ground but the country continues to battle drug shortages. Pregnant women and mothers and their infants also often do not turn up for follow-up treatment. 
 
In 2005, only 3% of HIV-positive women in Malawi were using PMTCT services and mother-to-child transmission accounted for 30% of all new infections. Today, 45% of HIV-positive women are accessing PMTCT services. More than 95% of pregnant women opt for an HIV test. 
 
But last year&rsquo;s change from single-dose nevirapine to a combination therapy, which is more effective and less likely to lead to drug resistance, also means that more funds are required and that clinics, especially in rural areas, run out of drugs or can only administer a single-dose therapy. 
 
(Sources: IPS, Nairobi 1 April, and IRIN PlusNews, Lilongwe, 7 May) 
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AIDS Activists Ousted during World Economic Forum 
 
The Tanzanian government has deported several AIDS activists and banned a demonstration to protest decreasing funding for HIV and AIDS at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Africa meeting in Dar es Salaam. 
 
Shortly after a small number of activists from different African countries gave a memorandum to be presented to leaders attending the WEF to South African singer and AIDS activist Yvonne Chaka Chaka, they were arrested. The group had the support of Christoph Benn, director of external affairs of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Among those detained was Michael O&rsquo;Connor also of the Global Fund. 
 
In a statement, the activists condemned the Tanzanian authorities&rsquo; &ldquo;complete disregard for the right of freedom of expression in respect of the conveyance of a message as critical as this.&rdquo; 
 
Activists from several African countries said that their government-run antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programmes were turning patients away because of cuts in both domestic and external funding. They declared that the groundwork for achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care has been laid and now is not the time to backtrack on funding commitments and undermine the gains which have been made. 
 
The past five years have witnessed a ten-fold increase in the number of people on life-saving ARVs; an estimated 3 million Africans were on ARVs at the end of 2008, according to the WHO. But some 3.7 million Africans who need ARVs have still no access to them. 
 
(Sources: IRIN PlusNews, Nairobi, 7 May, and Mail &amp; Guardian, Johannesburg, 6 May) 
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Ethiopia: In Search of made-to-measure HIV Prevention 
 
With more than half of all Ethiopian adults tested for HIV in the past five years and a campaign for behaviour change in place, specialists are now calling for a more targeted approach. 
 
Most-at-risk populations (MARPs) have to be targeted through better understanding of how the epidemic is affecting them and in turn, to develop a more specific response. &quot;The government has launched a vigorous campaign to fight HIV, but now it is important to ... target specific groups among whom the epidemic is raging,&quot; said Desmond Johns, UNAIDS country director for Ethiopia. &quot;High testing numbers mean little unless you are testing people at risk, such as commercial sex workers.&quot; 
 
High-risk groups in Ethiopia include sex workers, uniformed forces and migrant workers, street children, students and discordant couples. Men who have sex with men have, for the first time, been included in the national strategic plan for the next five years, which still is in draft form. 
 
A more focused response means that regional branches of HAPCO, the Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office, will need to draw up specific plans for prevention in their regions, where the risks and prevalence differ widely. 
 
According to HAPCO, the provisional national HIV prevalence in 2010 is 2.3%, but big cities such as Addis Ababa have an average HIV prevalence of about 7%, while rural areas &ndash; home to 85% of the population - have an average prevalence of 0.9%. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Addis Ababa, 3 May) 
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Ukraine: Outcomes of HIV Global Fund Grant 
 
As of 31 March 2008, a recently completed Round 1 Global Fund grant in Ukraine had provided prevention services to 214,103 people who inject drugs. By the end of September 2008, 6,070 people, including 911 children, had received antiretroviral therapy (ART). And, in 2008, 80% of pregnant women living with HIV had received treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission, up from 35% in 2003. The grant exceeded the majority of its targets. 
 
This information was contained in a report released in September 2009 by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. The grant, which cost US$98 million over five years, supported programmes that involved the rapid scale-up of ART, a comprehensive package of care, support and prevention services for most-at-risk populations, and the roll-out of substitution maintenance therapy. 
 
The Global Fund grant formed the major part of the national response to HIV and AIDS in the Ukraine. During the period of the grant, the number of new HIV cases per 100,000 tests decreased from 632.8 in 2006 to 590.2 in 2008; and the AIDS mortality growth rate dropped from 38% to 8% (between 2004 and 2008). 
 
The report, &ldquo;Civil Society Leads National Response &ndash; Final Report: Overcoming the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Ukraine, Funded by the Global Fund (2004-2009),&rdquo; also describes the experiences of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance as principal recipient (PR) of the grant, and outlines the lessons learned from the experience. According to the report, one of the Alliance&rsquo;s major contributions to the grant was to strengthen civil society. 
 
The report is available on the website of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance at <a href="http://www.aidsalliance.org/publication-search.aspx">www.aidsalliance.org/publication-search.aspx</a>. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 120 of 16 April. 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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Opportunity to Re-programme Grants to Improve PMTCT Treatment 
 
The Global Fund Secretariat is working with 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa to assess the possibility of re-programming existing Global Fund grants to allow for a switch from the use of single dose nevirapine to more effective dual or triple ARV therapy for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT). 
 
The countries are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, C&ocirc;te d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. (Other countries may be added later; a similar initiative is already underway in India.) 
 
There are several factors that have to be considered to determine whether re-programming is feasible. These include the ability to free up some money in other parts of the grant budgets (e.g., if a particular area is under spent), and whether there already is a PMTCT-related service delivery area in the existing programmes. 
 
The Global Fund projects that the call for the virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission by 2015 is within reach. This is contained in the <a href="http://data.unaids.org/pub/ExternalDocument/2010/20100308_gf_progressreport_en.pdf">Global Fund 2010 Results Report</a> which was released recently. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 120 of 16 April. 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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Grandmothers Gather for AIDS Summit 
 
This is a remarkable initiative. Grandmothers from all over Africa have joined hands with grandmothers in Canada to call for greater support and recognition of their role in caring for grandchildren orphaned by AIDS. 
 
&quot;We are the backbone of our communities; with our love and commitment we protect and nurture our orphaned children. Africa cannot survive without us,&quot; declared a manifesto released to coincide with the first African Grandmothers' Gathering held in Swaziland. 
 
Eunice Simelane, who has supported and cared for five grandchildren since her son and daughter-in-law succumbed to AIDS-related illnesses, read the manifesto at the meeting attended by 200 grandmothers from Swaziland, 232 from African nations, and 42 Canadian grandmothers, representing 7,000 others who have formed groups in Canada to raise funds and awareness to help elderly African women struggling to raise AIDS orphans. 
 
The first Grandmothers' Gathering took place in Toronto, Canada, in 2006, and was the brainchild of former United Nations Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, whose foundation has been channelling funds to community-led AIDS organizations that support grandmothers in 15 sub-Saharan African countries. 
 
Swaziland's AIDS epidemic is among the worst in the world - around 160,000 children are classified as orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in a population of less than one million - and was a natural choice to host the first Grandmothers' Gathering held in Africa. 
 
The delegates compiled a list of demands to their governments, including financial assistance and sustainable projects, created with their involvement. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Manzinin, 11 May) 

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News from the Swedish Workplace HIV/AIDS Programme (SWHAP) 
 
SWHAP reports that during 2009 companies that have reached the end of their three years of co-funding continued to implement and invest in their HIV/AIDS programmes. This shows the viability of HIV and AIDS workplace programmes. It also indicates the effectiveness of the strategy &ndash; SWHAP supported programmes achieve results and create sustainability. This achievement is even better considering the adverse economic situation in 2009. 
 
(Source: SWHAP Newsletter April 2010, <a href="http://www.swhap.org">www.swhap.org</a>) 

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News from Global Unions 
 
The Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI) reports that BWI affiliates in East Africa are increasingly mainstreaming HIV/AIDS issues in their activities. HIV issues are integrated in study circles, child labour training, para-legal courses, and industrial relations programmes. A sub-regional HIV/AIDS seminar at the end of March also called on the East African Community to include rights for people living with HIV and AIDS in the East African protocols. 
 
The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) reports in its latest HIV/AIDS update on a new navigation tool for truck drivers to help them find healthcare centres along major transport corridors in Africa. Most of these centres also provide HIV/AIDS testing. 

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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. 56, May 2010

Making available a significant number of key statistics, including the ICEM&rsquo;s own, as well as a wide range of &ldquo;best practice examples,&rdquo; the ICEM issued a new comprehensive presentation on &ldquo;CAL and the ICEM CAL campaign.&rdquo; Slide by slide, this education tool provides information on the ICEM&rsquo;s national and international CAL work, highlighting, among many other items, what unions around the world are doing in their daily struggles against precarious work. The presentation can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/2010CAL.ppt">here</a>. 
 
The statistics indicate that the phenomenon of short-term, contract, agency and other precarious work is still growing in almost every part of the world. On the other hand, there also is progress being made. In a lot of countries, for example, laws have been changed for the better. In other cases, unions managed to gain improvements for precarious workers through successful collective bargaining. Trade unions are also increasingly looking towards their own structures and strategies, aiming to better protect and defend often non-affiliated CAL workers.

New CAL Facts and Figures Overview

As part of its strategy to improve working and living conditions for metalworkers in Europe, the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF) has adopted a coordinated collective bargaining policy. 
 
The first coordinated, or common, demand was adopted in 2005 and called for the individual right to training, guaranteed by collective agreements. Last November, at the 6th EMF Collective Bargaining Conference, the 75 unions affiliated to the EMF agreed on a second common demand &quot;for more secure employment - against precarious work.&quot; 
<img alt="" src="" width="135" height="180" />
EMF Deputy General Secretary Bart Samyn
&ldquo;The last years have seen an incredible increase of precarious work and the number of insecure jobs has exploded in all European countries,&rdquo; said EMF Deputy General Secretary Bart Samyn. &ldquo;Everyone agrees that we can no longer deny this very real problem. Hence, the importance of this second common demand of the EMF and the willingness of all EMF affiliates to put the fight against precarious work central in their demands, in their upcoming collective bargaining rounds all over Europe.&rdquo; 
 
EMF affiliates are developing specific demands, relevant to their national situation, on temporary agency workers (TAW), workers employed on fixed term contracts, the bogus self-employed, and those on projects-based and zero-hour contracts, and are including these demands in their collective bargaining. A number of EMF affiliates have also initiated awareness-raising campaigns for more secure employment. 
 
The EMF Second Common Demand brochure is available <a href="http://www.emf-fem.org/Press/Publications/EMF-Second-Common-Demand">here</a>.

European Metalworkers’ Second Common Demand for more secure employment

The annual ICEM Asia-Pacific Regional Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) seminar took place in Singapore on 18-19 April. The seminar, hosted by the ICEM with the assistance of Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), brought together 52 delegates, including representatives of the ICEM, the Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI), International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), Public Services International (PSI), and Union Network International (UNI). 
 
Union leaders and activists from 14 Asian countries, members of the Western European Team of experts from Denmark and Sweden, and representatives of the ICEM Secretariat and the FES attended the meeting, spoke about the impact of precarious employment in their countries, and shared strategies which they had developed to deal with CAL issues. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda had been scheduled to attend the seminar, but was unable to do so because of the disruption to European flights caused by volcanic ash from Iceland. 
<img alt="" src="" width="241" height="181" />
Participants discussed how CAL is being used to undermine the right to freedom of association, by companies who are letting go of permanent staff and hiring temporary workers in their place. Participants also discussed how the global economic crisis is being used by multinational companies as an excuse to reduce their permanent workforce, despite the fact that CEOs are receiving ever increasing pay packages. 
 
The participants proposed a number of next steps, including that unions should make CAL a priority issue and prioritise organising of CAL workers; that they should cooperate in campaigning at a national level for legislation which would make user enterprises responsible for agency workers;, and that collective bargaining should fully include CAL issues. 
 
Participants also proposed that a workshop be arranged to discuss how dialogue can best be arranged with labour-hire agencies to assure that labour rights and standards are upheld.

Global Union Federations Gather in Asia-Pacific Region to Develop CAL Tactics

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ICEM Hungarian affiliate, the Federation of Chemical Workers Union at the MOL B&aacute;ny&aacute;sz Szakszervezet (MOL RT), held its Congress in Budapest, 27 March. 
 
The Congress unanimously elected L&aacute;szl&oacute; Biri as the new President of the union. He replaces the outgoing J&oacute;zsef Kudela, who has retired. In letters between outgoing J&oacute;zsef Kudela and ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, each of the two thanked the other for a long period of friendship and close cooperation, protecting the interests of Hungarian oil and gas workers, and developing international trade unionism in the region. 

<img alt="" src="" width="201" height="151" />
ICEM congratulates L&aacute;szl&oacute; Biri on his election, and looks forward to continuing good relations and successful work together. 
 
The MOL Group is an integrated oil and gas company, also present elsewhere in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. With 34,000 employees in total, MOL is the second largest company in Central and Eastern Europe.

Hungarian Chemical Workers’ Congress Elects New President, József Kudela Retires

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ICEM General Secretary, Manfred Warda, in a letter to the Iraqi Minister of Petroleum, condemned the recent decision of the government-owned Southern Oil Company to transfer four trade union leaders, in an attempt to silent the union. 
 
The key leaders of the Basra-based Refinery Workers&rsquo; Union find themselves out of their jobs, transferred to remote locations, as an apparent punishment for trade union activities. Those targeted are Ibrahim Radhi, President of the Refinery Workers Union and Vice President of the umbrella Iraqi Federaton of Oil Unions (IFOU, an ICEM affiliate); Ala&rsquo; Sabah Miri&rsquo;e, Refinery Workers Union Vice President and President of the Central Council of the IFOU; Faraj Rbat Mizba, Refinery Workers Union media officer and IFOU Central Council member; and Khez&rsquo;al Kadhim. 
 
This is a clear attempt by the company to block the union from continuing their campaign for reforms. Since March 2010, the trade union has been organising peaceful protests, calling for fair pay, payment of overtime owed since 2007, an end to the recruiting of CAL workers into permanent jobs, a transparent recruitment process, modernisation of production equipment, but most importantly the recognition of the union. 

<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="168" />
As Manfred Warda states in the letter to the Oil Minister, these actions by the company constitute a clear breach of the Freedom of Association, recognised in Iraq&rsquo;s Constitution, as well as in the core ILO Convention. 
 
This latest case is yet another example of the urgent need for new labour legislation in Iraq, legislation that is fair and ILO compliant. 
 
ICEM Director Jim Catterson was part the international delegation to hand deliver the ICEM letter to officials at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington D.C. last week. The letter was delivered with a similar letter from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. This followed a rally, last Wednesday, outside the Iraqi Consulate in the American capital, under the slogans &ldquo;Democracy for Iraqi Workers&rdquo; and &ldquo;Labour Rights are Human Rights&rdquo;. 

<img alt="" src="" width="234" height="175" />
Jim Catterson told the rally &ldquo;Workers are being sent into exile to places where their lives are in jeopardy, just because they are unionising for better conditions. It&rsquo;s time now that Iraq accepted freedom of association&rdquo;. 
 
Pressure was placed on the Iraqi Government last week by TUC (UK) General Secretary Brendan Barber, who protested against the latest union busting to the Iraqi Embassy in London. 
 
See the ICEM letter, sent to Dr. Hussain Al-Shahristani, Iraqi Minister of Petroleum, <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/31.ICEM.Letter.Iraq.Oil.12April.pdf">here</a>. 
 
Support the LabourStart campaign for new labour legislation in Iraq <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=669">here</a>. Similar tactics, against Iraqi trade unionists have been reversed in the past, thanks to international solidarity and pressure.

ICEM Condemns Transfer of Iraqi Oil Trade Union Leaders

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RadioLabour, the online news radio service of international trade unionism, interviewed ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, last week, on the ICEM Global Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL). 
 
As companies throughout the world, and in every sector, continue to outsource their workforce in the race to lower costs, the significance of the campaign grows. As directly employed jobs are lost to sub-contracting companies or agencies, workers find themselves with little or no job security, inferior benefits, and with substandard working conditions. This is leading to a two-tier workforce with fewer and fewer directly employed workers, and increasing numbers employed through contracts or agencies. 
 
As Warda stated in the interview with RadioLabour presenter, Marc B&eacute;langer, &ldquo;In some countries, we must unfortunately say that contract and agency labour has almost become the &lsquo;regular&rsquo; employment situation&rdquo;. 

<img alt="" src="" width="101" height="134" />
Marc B&eacute;langer
Use the audio player below to listen to part of Manfred Warda&rsquo;s interview with Marc B&eacute;langer, or click <a href="http://www.radiolabour.net/ICEM/cal-warda.mp3 ">here</a> to find the interview on the RadioLabour website. 
 
RadioLabour reports on events of interest to unionists via &quot;The Solidarity Report&quot;, a half hour audiocast of international union news every Sunday morning. Part of Manfred Warda&rsquo;s interview can be heard on yesterday&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.radiolabour.net/">Solidarity Report</a>. Marc B&eacute;langer also presents &quot;RadioLabour 5&quot;, a five minute global labour news update, every Friday morning. 
 
RadioLabour is an important instrument in the building of international solidarity amongst unionists, also serving as a model and source of expertise for unionists who want to start a service similar to RadioLabour in their country or for their organization. Contact us if you need advice or assistance in developing a labour-based audiocasting service. 
 
Canadian national, Marc B&eacute;langer, producer and host of RadioLabour, is a labour union educator. He worked for the Workers' Activities Programme of the training centre of the ILO in Turin, Italy, from 2000-2008. He was head of the Programme from 2007-2008. The Programme operates the largest international union education school in the world.

RadioLabour Interviews Manfred Warda on CAL

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Each of the three Industrial European Trade Union Federations has given their leaders a mandate to move towards a merger. ICEM&rsquo;s sister organisation, the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF), the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF), and the European Trade Union Federation for Textiles, Clothing and Leather (ETUF:TCL) seek to create a single European industrial trade union federation. 
 
On 25 March 2010, the presidents and general secretaries of the three organisations met in Berlin, to discuss next steps in the merger process. A merged organisation will bring together 8 million workers in the manufacturing industries, and united they will be stronger. Other factors cited include continued integration of countries in Europe, globalisation, the recent financial and economic crisis, and several significant recent mergers at the national level. 

<img alt="" src="" width="201" height="151" />
The three presidents and three general secretaries, present at the Berlin meeting, underlined their belief that the combining of their resources would increase efficiency and strength, in their role of representing and protecting European workers throughout the industrial sectors. 
 
The leaders of the three federations agreed to oversee intensified discussions within their statutory bodies over the creation of a joint EMF-EMCEF-ETUF:TCL organisation. 
 
A joint Working Group for building the new organisation was created, and will now produce a timetable for the process.

Discussions Advance in Building Single European Industrial Trade Union Federation

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="86" />&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="100" height="97" />&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="145" height="69" />
Leaders of mining and metal workers&rsquo; unions from around the world on 13 July condemned the Mexican government&rsquo;s failure to bring justice to the families of the 65 mineworkers who died in an explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine on 19 February 2006. 
 
&ldquo;The Mexican labour authorities are guilty of a triple failure,&rdquo; said Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), in Nueva Rosita, Coahuila. &ldquo;They failed to prevent the disaster at Pasta de Conchos, they have failed to accomplish justice for the families of the victims, and they have failed to take the necessary measures to prevent future disasters.&rdquo; 
 
A special committee of the ILO, in a report issued in April, concluded: &ldquo;the Government of Mexico did not do all that was reasonably expected of it to avoid or minimize the effects of the Accident which had such devastating effects with the loss of life of as many as 65 miners.&rdquo; 

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The union leaders from Argentina, Canada, Peru, South Africa, and the US met with family members of the victims and with the rescue team that is working to recover the 63 bodies that remain entombed in the mine. At the entrance to the mine, they placed wreaths in memory of the workers who died. 
 
&ldquo;Mineworkers around the world are one family,&rdquo; said Tim Baker, an occupational health and safety specialist for ICEM-affiliated United Mineworkers of America (UMWA). &ldquo;We mourn the deaths of our brothers at Pasta de Conchos and we are outraged that Grupo Mexico and the labour authorities who are responsible for their deaths have gone unpunished, while the government continues to attack the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union.&rdquo; 
 
United Steelworkers (USW) District 3 Director Steve Hunt pledged his union&rsquo;s support for the families&rsquo; effort to recover the bodies of the victims, and challenged other unions to commit their resources to the cause. 
 
The delegation was organized by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), the IMF, and the United Steelworkers.&nbsp; This was the last of the six-day series of events, which included a rally over the weekend.
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Joe Drexler, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, who also met with family members, commented, &quot;we believe that the refusal of the government and Grupo Mexico to recover the bodies is an effort to cover up the real causes of the mining disaster and the inadequacy of rescue efforts.&quot;
In addition to the USW and UMWA, the other ICEM affiliates to meet with the widows were the National Union of Mineworkers, South Africa&nbsp;(NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union, South Africa&nbsp;(CEPPWAWU), and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), alongside ICEM affiliate Los Mineros.

Global Union Leaders Demand Justice for Mexican Families at Pasta de Conchos Mine

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