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Four contractors of Royal Dutch Shell, who were kidnapped in Nigeria while enroute to work at a power plant on 12 January, were released early last week. The four, three British nationals and one Colombia national, work for Shell sub-contractor NETCO-Dietsmann NV. The Colombian expatriate, Fabien Sanchez, was hospitalized after winning his freedom with shrapnel wounds. 
 
The four were abducted by despicable thugs between on the northeast border of Rivers State where it junctures with Abia State. A police escort was shot and killed, and the driver was wounded. The criminals reportedly demanded a US$2 million ransom. Police put up a US$16,000 reward for information leading to the crime. It was not clear if ransom money was paid to win the freedom of the expatriate workers or not. 

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The Rivers State branch of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) condemned the crime. Branch Chairman Hyginus Chika Onuegbu called on state police forces in all the oil-rich states surrounding Port Harcourt to beef up road patrols around border junctions, since this is where kidnappings and killings happen. 
 
The kidnapped workers are part of a team of contractors working on the Afam VI power station, managed and 30% owned by Shell. They work for the sub-contractor NETCO-Dietsmann, a 40/60 joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation subsidiary, National Engineering and Technical Co., and Dietsmann, an upstream oil services company based in the Netherlands. Capital improvements are being made on Afam VI in order that higher flows of liquid natural gas will double the power plant&rsquo;s capacity to 650 megawatts. 
 
The names of the British contractors that were kidnapped are John Bennet, Kevin Gray, and Martin Phillip.

Kidnapped Shell Workers in Nigeria Released, One Injured

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The publicity and organising campaign launched in the town of Duzce, Turkey, (see report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3333-Turkey’s-Petrol-Is-Launch-Creative-Organising-Campaign">here</a>), by ICEM affiliate Petrol-İş, Turkey's Oil, Chemical and Rubber Workers Union, in mid-2009, has now been built on in the towns of Bursa and Gebze, both areas that have a high density of workers. 
 
The main aim of the campaign is to strengthen public confidence in unions, and to convey the union's positive message about unionising, not only to unorganised workers at their worksites, but also to families and within the local communities. 
 
The campaign adopted an approach which seeks to break down the negative public prejudices and attitudes towards unions. Petrol-İş plans to expand the drive to cover all Turkey. 

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Petrol-İş President Mustafa Oztaskin launches recruitment drive 
Using campaign materials, including local newspaper ads, billboard posters, local TV and radio spots and adverts, the union calls on workers to exercise their constitutional right to unionise. 
 
The campaign's key slogan, &ldquo;Be unionized,&rdquo; is accompanied by the messages &ldquo;Union is your strength,&rdquo; &ldquo;Union is your right,&rdquo; &ldquo;Union is the future,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Union means solidarity&rdquo;. The campaign website and brochures give specific information about unions, and the importance of &ldquo;being unionized,&rdquo; designed for potential new members. 
 
The Petrol-İş campaign aims to ensure that workers can freely, legitimately, and effectively exercise their right to organise, a basic human right.

Petrol-Iş Continues Aggressive Recruitment Drives in Turkey

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At a factory blockade of a Michelin tire plant in Laem Chabang, Thailand, on 20 March 2009, workers protested against a harsh 35% pay cut. Following the manifestation, 22 union activists were arrested, suspended from their jobs, with management taking out criminal charges against them. (See ICEM news release on that <a href="/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/3132-ICEM-Condemns-Lockout-of-Thai-Workers-by-Michelin ">here</a>.) 
 
Those 22 unionists, members of ICEM-affiliated Petroleum and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Federation (PCFT), were finally reinstated to their jobs on 18 January, after attending a special training session specifically for them. 
 
However, despite this positive but delayed piece of justice, the conflict is far from over. Ten of the 22 are still facing criminal charges, charges the ICEM believes are unjust because they relate to legitimate trade union activity. The president of the Michelin Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union of the PCFT is one of those facing criminal proceedings, scheduled to take place at the Criminal Court of Pattaya by the public prosecutor of the province. The trade unionists have been forced to take bail. 

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Michelin Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union leaders of the PCFT, from left, Thanakorn Somsin, Rangsan Monchaisong, and Samai Koonswat
The cases are expected to be processed in the next month. 
 
Trade union members continue to face discrimination on a daily basis inside the Michelin factory, a workplace that employs 1,500. They receive lower pay than non-union members and have witnessed management take away holiday allowances in 2009. 
 
The March 2009 bargaining dispute was settled through successful tripartite discussions, brought forth by pressure from the ICEM, FCE-CFDT of France, and Michelin&rsquo;s European Works Council. The parties called for immediate intervention by Michelin headquarters then in France. 
 
In other Michelin Asia-Pacific news, the company announced closure of a Japanese factory in Ota, 50 kilometres north of Tokyo. The closure will occur in July 2010 and will see 380 employees sacked from their jobs. The reason given by Michelin is that production costs at the plant are too high. Michelin has entered into talks with the union to relocate workers from the Ota plant into other jobs.

Michelin Unionists at Thai Tyre Factory Still Face Discrimination

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The Guyana Bauxite &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (GB&amp;GWU) is seeking justice against the union-smashing affront by Russian metals company RusAL, the world&rsquo;s second largest aluminum producer. The union has filed a racial discrimination complaint over RusAl&rsquo;s sacking of 57 union activists, a move made necessary when neither the prime minister nor the minister of Labour, Human Services, and Social Security intervened to protect Guyana&rsquo;s labour law. 
 
The dispute started in November 2009, following pay talks between GB&amp;GWU and RusAl, the 90% owner of Bauxite Co. of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) at the Aroaima and Kwakwani mines in central Guyana. RusAl managers submitted three counter-proposals for the workforce of 500 to consider, and after miners voted to accept one, the company rescinded it and announced on 1 December that it no longer recognized GB&amp;GWU, a blatant violation of the Trade Union Recognition Act. 

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Allegedly, the company subsequently said at a workplace meeting that those responsible for promoting the accepted offer would be the first in line for retrenchments. BCGI had hoped to tie a wage increase with some 70 redundancies, a counter-proposal that miners did not accept. 
 
Miners began a lawful strike on 21 November at the Aroaima mine. Three days into the strike, BCGI issued letters of termination to 57 strike leaders, all African descendants. Despite several urgent calls and letters to government officials to press RusAl on the law infractions, very little has been done. The discharge letters judged the workers &ldquo;insubordinate, refusing to obey instructions&rdquo; and guilty of &ldquo;misconduct.&rdquo; 
 
The race charge was heard before the Ethnic Relations Commission on 8 January. The GB&amp;GWU is asking the commission to convene a full public inquiry into the alleged discriminatory sackings because a &ldquo;bilateral initiative &hellip; to engage the union; then engage the company; then engage the Minister &hellip; will not work.&rdquo; 
 
An 8 January letter by the union and the 57 discharged miners to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds expressed frustration at government inaction: &ldquo;We were never charged, never summoned to answer the charges &hellip; never given a hearing yet the company has pronounced us guilty of charges. Today, as we continue to take a stand for our rights, the Minister of Labour has thus far taken the position that we do not have any rights or any recourse for justice.&rdquo; 

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GB&amp;GWU General President Charles Sampson
GB&amp;GWU General President Charles Sampson, in a letter to Labour, Human Services, and Social Security Minister Mansoor Nadir, said he was &ldquo;appalled&rdquo; that you &ldquo;have not seen it fit to intervene &hellip; to immediately put an end to this national insult.&rdquo; Nadir, for his part, publicly stated in December that &ldquo;we should let this festive (holiday) season of goodwill take its course and hopefully both parties will exercise more generosity towards each other.&rdquo; 
 
Six weeks later, there is little generosity shown the 57 mining families who are now impoverished in a poverty-stricken country. Guyana&rsquo;s Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board did hold a 12 January hearing on the unilateral de-authorization pronouncement by RusAl, and it also heard first-hand how BCGI is now coercing workers to sign waivers to abandon the union. 
 
The ICEM is disturbed that Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, himself a former miner and human rights proponent, has not been in the forefront of this dispute, seeking reinstatement for the 57 and prohibiting RusAl from trampling on the country&rsquo;s labour code. The ICEM also cites the Russian mining and metals multinational with yet another glaring example of the company&rsquo;s complete disregard toward international labour and human rights standards.

Guyana Bauxite Workers’ Union Bitter at RusAl, Government

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Negotiations between United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9508 and Brazilian mining company Vale broke off late last night, 24 January, in St. John, Newfoundland, in failed efforts to end the 25-week strike by 250 union members at Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay, Labrador. Three days of steady talks over the weekend, guided by a provincial mediator from Newfoundland/Labrador, failed to bring the two sides any closer to terms. 
 
Meanwhile, 3,100 striking Steelworkers marked six months on picket lines opposite Vale in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, a fortnight ago. The company, on 19 January, upheld its promise to re-start the Copper Cliff nickel smelter using managers and replacement workers to fire one of two furnaces. 
 
In eastern Canada, an announcement a week ago that the first full round of negotiations since February 2009 would begin on 22 January brought hope that copper, nickel, and cobalt mining in Goose Bay, as well as operations at a slurry facility in Voiseys Bay would resume. Vale had submitted the framework of an agreement ten days ago, but this past weekend&rsquo;s bargaining proved Vale is seeking the same set of concessions. 

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Hong Kong flagged ship operators receive Voiseys Bay Petition, 9 October 2009
&ldquo;The company here still insists on removing the nickel bonus and they didn&rsquo;t deal at all with our issues,&rdquo; lead negotiator and USW District 6 Representative Boyd Bussey told the ICEM Sunday evening. &ldquo;If Vale thought they were picking off a weak link in this strike, they were wrong. We&rsquo;ll be on picket lines until we get a good deal.&rdquo; 
 
The key item that separated the two sides in talks remains Vale&rsquo;s insistence on removing the nickel bonus, a wage supplement that is tied to the rise and fall of the market price of nickel. Contract language, monetary issues, and a company demand to give it more latitude on use of temporary workers also separates the two sides. Local 9508 is an amalgamated USW branch union with five units, three &ndash; miners, catering staff, and security &ndash; that have been on strike against Vale since 1 August 2009. Another unit, a Vale sub-contracted group of port workers employed by an Aboriginal-owned company called TSI, has a separate labour agreement expiring early in 2010. 

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The focus will now be on whether or not Vale will restart copper and nickel mining in Goose Bay using replacement workers. The speculation is that Vale needs nickel concentrates to feed its smelting operations in Thompson, Manitoba, as well as nickel for the re-start of Copper Cliff, where USW Local 6500 is on strike. The company might also be expected to capitalize on high copper prices, with the high-grade red metal mined and processed in the maritime province moved to market. In 2008, the company produced 77,500 tonnes of contained nickel and 55,400 tonnes of high-grade copper concentrates from its Vale-Inco Newfoundland and Labrador operations. 
 
The start-up of the Copper Cliff smelter was long advertised by the company. Operation of one of two furnaces at Copper Cliff, however, is not expected to give Vale anywhere near 50% of smelting capacity from the Sudbury-area facility. Vale is getting minimal production from two of six mines in northern Ontario, as well as token output from its Claribelle refining operation. 
 
On 13 January, the six-month mark of the strike in Sudbury and Port Colborne, the USW filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board in Toronto on Vale-Inco&rsquo;s entrenched negotiations stand. Included in that complaint is an internal June 2009 Vale document that the company intends to pare mining jobs in northern Ontario, as well as strategically mine only high-grade ore from the region, thus reducing life expectancy of nickel reserves. The USW believes this indicates Vale is not managing the province&rsquo;s reserves in the long-term best interests of workers and rural communities. 
 
On the six-month anniversary of the Ontario mining strike, over 1,000 miners and their families marched and manifested in Sudbury. The event included an environmentally-friendly balloon release, with each balloon set aloft representing C$4 million of Vale&rsquo;s profits that has fled from Canada. 
 
The ICEM, together with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), will continue ratcheting up pressure on the Brazilian company so that Vale returns to bargaining tables both in Labrador/Newfoundland and Ontario with fair contract offers. The USW Local 6500 strike website can be found here <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">www.fairdealnow.ca</a>.

Talks Prove Futile in Ending Vale’s Eastern Canada Mine Strike

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The ICEM is demanding that the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina intervene on behalf of 1,250 workers in the northern city of Lukavac. The workers have had their pay slashed and are owed wage arrears by India-based Global Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of the Ispat Group, owned by the Mittal steel-making family. 
 
The company is the minority owner but manages a coke-chemicals enterprise called Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), which sells to steel mills throughout Central Europe, Turkey, and in India. The local government of the Canton of Tuzla is majority stakeholder. 
 
In a 21 January letter (see <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/3%20ICEM-IMF.Bosnia.pdf ">here</a>) to Bosnia-Herzegovina Prime Minister Mustafa Mujezinovic and to Canton of Tuzla Prime Minister Enes Mujić, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda &ndash; together with International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina &ndash; called on both the federal government and regional government to ensure that restoration of previous pay levels dating to 2003 are restored, that wage arrears are paid, and that the governments be more vigilant on potentially serious health risks existing inside GIKIL. 

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The ICEM is pursuing justice for Lukavac workers on behalf of one of those affiliates, the Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers of Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM has probed Global Infrastructure Holdings, its parent, the steel-maker Ispat Group, and Pramod Mittal himself.&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;What we find is a history of depraved conduct placed on people in many countries and total disregard for global social standards, as well as statutes enshrined in European law.&rdquo; 
 
In Lukavac, workers have carried out lawful strikes twice in six months, laying claims to salaries owed them. Despite all workers taking membership in the union, GIKIL&rsquo;s Indian managing director, Guttupalli Jagannadham, has bypassed the union in slashing pay to 55% of previous earnings. That level is below the minimum wage standard contained in the national collective agreement for chemistry and non-metals, and amounts to just above &euro;200 per month (400 marka), putting it well under the minimum wage threshold for the sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
Workers staged a strike from 6 January to 14 January after salaries had not been paid in October, November, and December 2009. During the strike, the October and November pay was made, but December salaries are still in remiss. A mediated agreement that ended a three-day strike in July 2009 called on GIKIL management to honour the collective agreement, and pay all wages due by 31 December 2009. 
 
The ICEM and IMF also stated concern for workers&rsquo; health at GIKIL in the letter to the Bosnia-Herzegovina government. The Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers believes a number of workers have acute cases of cancer due to lack of safeguards around coke ovens. 
<img alt="" src="" width="102" height="140" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="99" height="140" />
ICEM and IMF General Secretaries, Manfred Warda, Jyrki Raina
In the joint letter, the combined 45-million-member ICEM and IMF cautioned the government not to lose oversight over labour-management relations at GIKIL. &ldquo;We think this a mistake, considering the recent history of wage arrears, asset stripping, and general social depravation brought by Global Infrastructure Holdings.&rdquo; 
 
In Nigeria in 2008, Kogi state steelworkers, over 500 Indian nationals, and many Ukrainian expatriate workers protested due to ten months of non-payment of wages. The Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN) counted 60 deaths among workers because of the lengthy pay arrears, including 21 suicides. In April 2008, the Nigerian government revoked a privatisation contract it had with Global Infrastructure Holdings to operate the Ajaokuto Steel mills and Nigerian Iron Ore Mining Co., as well as Delta Steel, when it discovered the Indian company was cannibalizing equipment and then exporting it. 
 
Also in 2008 in Libya, where Global Infrastructure Holdings had a contract to manage Libya Iron and Steel Co. Ltd., workers &ndash; including 120 Indian nationals in high-skilled jobs &ndash; went as long as seven months without pay. In Bulgaria, Pramod Mittal and Ispat&rsquo;s Global Steel Holdings bought 71% of the country&rsquo;s largest steel mill, Kremikovtsi Steel, in 2005, renamed it Finmetals Holdings, and the enterprise was declared insolvent in August 2008. Lack of promised investment was the cause. 
 
Mittal, the younger brother of ArcelorMittal Chairman Lakshmi N. Mittal, left a debt trail that included bondholders and huge sums owed Bulgarian state utility NEC, gas company Bulgargaz, and railway operator BDZ. 
 
Some 5,000 Bulgarian steelworkers also were not paid their wages on time throughout the latter half of 2008. 
 
&ldquo;We take the breach of contract, failure to engage the union in social talks, and wage issues very seriously,&rdquo; said Warda of the current Lukavac dispute. &ldquo;Either the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina corrects the wrongs imposed on workers, or we carry this dispute to different levels.&rdquo;

ICEM, IMF Decry Mittal’s Pay Delinquencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina

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A 1 March deadline looms for applicants seeking admission to ILO&rsquo;s coming Global Labour University (GLU) Masters Degree programmes in Germany and India. The year-long course work is through the University of Kassel and Berlin School of Economics and Law in Germany, and Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, India. 
 
In India, course work will be categorized under &ldquo;Globalisation and Labour&rdquo; and will critically evaluate the social, economic, and political processes that influence labour under globalisation. In Germany, where the first semester is at Kassel and the second at Berlin, the programme is called &ldquo;Labour Policies &amp; Globalisation&rdquo; and focuses on global challenges to labour, international labour rights, economics, and processes of globalisation. 

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The application (in six languages) can be found at the bottom of this page <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/ on the left hand side">http://www.global-labour-university.org/ on the left hand side</a>. 
 
Courses are offered in English, women are strongly encouraged to participate, applicants should, as a rule, not be over age 40, and the endorsement of a trade union is a requirement for a scholarship. The scholarship is combined with a &euro;1,500 contribution made by a trade union or other donor. 
 
The nearly six-year-old GLU has trained trade unionists in economics and in social sciences from 49 countries in its short existence. The GLU has also developed and is initiating this year a shorter, six-month programme intended for trade union workers and others around a targeted and specific curriculum. 
 
More on that programme, with the next application deadline coming 1 November 2010, can be found <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/216.html">here</a>.&nbsp;

1 March Deadline for Global Labour University Courses in Germany, India

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The Guyana Bauxite &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (GB&amp;GWU) ramped up protests on the deaf ear its government is giving a pitched labour dispute it has with Russian metals company RusAL by picketing last week the offices of the Minister of Labour, Human Services, and Social Security, as well as the company&rsquo;s offices in Georgetown. 
 
Some 60 union members and supporters staged the manifestations on 4-5 February, and picketing is expected to continue this week. The GB&amp;GWU has broad support across the northern South American country for reinstatement of 57 union activists that were sacked following a spontaneous strike action in late November. The strike was conducted by some 200 of 500 miners employed at the Aroraima bauxite operations in the central portion of the country. 

<img alt="" src="" width="256" height="192" />
GB&amp;GWU picketed the offices of Labour Minister Mansoor Nadir on 4 and 5 February
The strike occurred following an exchange of contract proposals in efforts to reach a renewal collective agreement. 
 
Immediately after the strike and sackings, the Bauxite Co. of Guyana Inc. (BCGI), 90% owned by RusAl, made the unilateral announcement that it no longer recognised the GB&amp;GWU, a violation &ndash; the ICEM believes &ndash; this runs against international labour standards, as well as Guyana&rsquo;s Trade Union Recognition Act. 
 
Despite numerous attempts by the union to involve Guyana Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Labour, Human Services, and Social Security Minister Mansoor Nadir in efforts to resolve or mediate the dispute, those initiatives have gone unheard. 

<img alt="" src="" width="320" height="159" />
On 5 February, union pickets the Georgetown offices of RusAl
Thus lacking a formal avenue to remedy the dispute, the GB&amp;GWU took the matter to the Ethnic Relations Commission, since all 57 discharged miners were of African descent. In an early January hearing, the GB&amp;GWU asked the commission to convene a full public inquiry into the sackings but instead, the commission&rsquo;s chairman went to the worksite to interview bosses and workers without the union present. 
 
The ICEM is concerned that for the past two months BCGI management is coercing and intimidating miners to sign statements abandoning the union, a contradiction to Guyanese law and global freedom of association standards. The ICEM has written to the Russian mining and metals multinational in hopes that it will correct the unfair decisions of its BCGI managers regarding the terminations and abrogation of the collective bargaining relationship and that letter can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/5.rusal.letter.29jan.pdf">here</a>.

Guyana Bauxite Workers’ Union Pickets Government, RusAl Offices in Georgetown

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Miners of Mexico&rsquo;s National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros, have rejected a severance package put forward by Grupo M&eacute;xico at the strike-hit Cananea copper mine. Some 1,200 workers at Cananea in northern Sonora state have been on strike since July 2007, a strike the company and the Mexican government have tried unsuccessfully to end through administrative edict and by formally dissolving the union&rsquo;s collective agreement. 
 
Since last year, Mexico&rsquo;s Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board has declared the strike illegal three times, but each time a court has reversed the rulings. Last month, Grupo M&eacute;xico tried to break miners&rsquo; resolve by offering a US$13,000 payment per worker to sever with the company. Reports indicated that only 20 miners accepted the buy-out. 

<img src="" width="300" height="219" alt="" />
&ldquo;The company is offering workers leftovers and calling it liquidation,&rdquo; stated SNTMMSRM Section 65 leader Mario Garc&iacute;a. Grupo M&eacute;xico is attempting to break the union, and then restructure and re-start Cananea, a mining complex capable of producing 48% of Mexico&rsquo;s copper output. 
 
The company has also lodged lawsuits against striking workers and strike leaders for alleged damage at the mine. The union has asked Grupo M&eacute;xico to withdraw those actions, and instead negotiate a revised collective agreement with Los Mineros that will raise salaries and benefits, and improve safety and hygiene, chief among reasons why miners struck in the first place. 
 
Grupo M&eacute;xico has stated that is has lost US$1.5 billion in sales due to the mine being shut. Cananea has capacity to produce 190,000 tonnes per year of copper, with 70% of that in copper concentrates and the remainder in copper cathode. 
 
The ICEM continue to support and campaign on behalf of Los Mineros in its fight for justice against the Mexican government and the ruthless affront posed by Grupo M&eacute;xico throughout the country.

Cananea Miners Reject Grupo México Severance; Strike Continues

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the new ICEM HIV/AIDS Project, on project work with other sponsors, and on forthcoming events in 2010. 
 
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. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
New SASK/FNV-sponsored HIV/AIDS Project 
 
Agreement was reached with the Solidarity Support Organisations SASK (the Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland) and FNV-Mondiaal of the Netherlands for a new HIV/AIDS project running for three years from 2010 to 2012. 
 
The project will allow the ICEM and its affiliates in sub-Saharan Africa to build on the experience of five years HIV/AIDS project work and intensify activities in a number of countries, as well as continue regional and sub-regional work in Africa. 
 
Special emphasis in the project will be on the training of peer educators/lay counsellors from affiliates to advocate voluntary counselling and testing and counsel on treatment and care, as well as on the conclusion of HIV/AIDS workplace policies and HIV/AIDS clauses in collective bargaining agreements. 
 
The project will be coordinated from the ICEM Johannesburg Project Office with a consultant based in Geneva. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Sponsors Continue ICEM HIV/AIDS Projects 
 
Several other HIV/AIDS projects will continue in 2010. The Women&rsquo;s Department of ICEM&rsquo;s German affiliate, IGBCE, is sponsoring the successful campaigning and advocacy project in Tanzania, in cooperation with ICEM affiliates TAMICO and TUICO. The Humanity Fund of ICEM Canadian affiliate, the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union, is supporting the second phase of the HIV/AIDS programme in Trinidad and Tobago in cooperation with ICEM-affiliated Oilfield Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU). Negotiations are underway to extend the very successful HIV/AIDS project in India, which was sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, and to initiate a new project in Jordan with support from the Norwegian affiliate Industri-Energi (IE). 
 
The HIV/AIDS project sponsored by the Danish Solidarity Support Organisation, LO/FTF Council, in cooperation with the Ethiopian affiliate, the National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical, and Mine Trade Unions (NIFECM), will be running until the end of 2011. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
A Successful Year in Nigeria 
 
The HIV/AIDS project in Nigeria, jointly sponsored by the Humanity Fund of the Canadian CEP Union, the ICEM HIV/AIDS project, and Nigerian affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN, has been particularly successful. 
 
Almost 8,000 workers and members of the community were mobilised for awareness meetings in a six-month period in 2009. Well over 2,000 agreed to be tested. This number would have been much higher if counsellors had not been limited in the number of people they can counsel in a day. The project also demonstrated how far good cooperation with the business sector can go, since the Nigeria Business Coalition against AIDS (NIBUCCA) provided mobile testing units. 
 
Training of project staff was facilitated by USAID and training of union officials and members was sponsored by SMARTWork, which also provided funding for a project office and for the salaries of three staff members. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
HIV/AIDS Events in 2010 
 
Important HIV/AIDS events will take place in 2010. The 18th International AIDS Conference, a major biannual event, will take place in Vienna, Austria, from 18 to 23 July. The theme of the Conference is &ldquo;Right Here, Right Now,&rdquo; and the conference will emphasise the importance of protecting and promoting human rights as a prerequisite to a successful response to HIV and AIDS. 
 
The G8/G20 Meeting in Huntsville, Canada, just outside of Toronto will test the commitment of the world&rsquo;s leaders to universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support which, they had pledged to achieve by this year. 
 
At the 99th Session of the International Labour Conference in June in Geneva, the second reading and likely adoption of a new ILO instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work will take place. 
 
For the Global Fund, 2010 is a key year with the 3rd Replenishment Meeting taking place in the Netherlands in March. The meeting will determine the amount of funding governments will pledge for the years 2011 to 2013. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
US Commits US$1.05 Billion to Global Fund 
 
US President Barack Obama signed a spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year that includes a US$1.05 billion appropriation for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This is the largest sum ever committed by one country to the Global Fund in a single year. 
 
With this amount, the Global Fund is closer to meeting the demand for financing Round 9 grants worth US$2.4 billion over two years. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Press Release of 18 December 2009) 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Asia Close to Winning AIDS Treatment Battle 
 
The departing head of the UNAIDS Programme in the Asia-Pacific Region, Prasada Rao, said that the region is within three years of winning the battle against the AIDS pandemic. Increased treatment coverage and prevention programmes are turning the tide against AIDS. 
 
In Thailand and Cambodia, treatment coverage has reached almost 90%. In India, 50% get treatment, but in China and Burma the number stands at only 30 to 35%. This puts the region on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halting and reversing the epidemic by 2015. 
 
However, access in remote areas in China and India, disrupted AIDS programmes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and sharp rises in prevalence rates in Indonesia&rsquo;s Papua province and neighbouring Papua New Guinea leave millions at risk. 
 
(Source: World AIDS Campaign website, accessed on 7 January) 

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Zambia: HIV Testing Services Missing the Mark 
 
Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services form a critical opportunity to provide risk reduction counselling and HIV prevention information. According to a report by Private Sector Partnerships-One, VCT services in Zambia are squandering this opportunity to reach clients with information about how to reduce their HIV risk. 
 
The study found that although condom use was emphasised only one in three clients received counselling on reducing their number of sexual partners and even fewer were advised on how to disclose their HIV test results to partners. The research also found that VCT services were mainly accessed by the most educated segments of the population and were largely failing to reach those who have no or only primary school education. 
 
Zambia has a prevalence rate of 14.3% but the infection rate is as high as 20% in some urban areas. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, 5 January) 

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Travel Restrictions Based on HIV Status Lifted 
 
The UN, UNAIDS and HIV/AIDS organisations all over the world welcomed the elimination of travel restrictions based on the HIV status of a person by the US and the Republic of Korea. The US policy change was announced by President Barack Obama in October 2009 (see <a href="/en/72-HIV-AIDS/3492-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin-No.-50-November-2009">ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 50</a> of November 2009). 
 
Some 57 countries still have some form of restrictions on entry, stay, and residence based on the HIV status of a person. UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidib&eacute; called for freedom of movement for people living with HIV in 2010, the year when global leaders have committed to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS Press Statement, 4 January) 

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Global Fund Board Addresses Risks of Treatment Disruptions 
 
The Global Fund is taking action to minimise the risk of treatment disruptions arising from interruptions in Global Fund financing and from weaknesses in country-level procurement and supply management systems. 
 
Inadequate stock management and poor state of medical warehouses, non-transparent procurement and late submission of disbursement requests are among the reasons which contribute to the danger of treatment disruptions. 
 
A report of the Portfolio and Implementation Committee to the Global Fund Board contains detailed measures to prevent treatment disruptions, which are a death sentence to people on anti-retroviral drugs. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 113 of 18 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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TAC Receives FES Human Rights Award 
 
On 10 December, Human Rights Day, Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) awarded its Human Rights Prize to the South African Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). TAC has been in the forefront to advocate better HIV/AIDS services and fight for treatment in South Africa. 
 
(Source: News from the FES, 14 December) 

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SWHAP Conference: Business Combating HIV/AIDS 
 
The Swedish Workplace HIV/AIDS Programme (SWHAP) organised a major conference in Stockholm on World AIDS Day, 1 December, on the role of the world of work in combating HIV/AIDS. Close to 100 representatives from business and trade unions in sub-Saharan Africa and from Swedish companies and unions took part in the event. It was co-organised with the ILO. 
 
In this occasion, Atlas Copco South Africa was awarded the SWHAP 2009 Achievement Award for its commitment and support of HIV/AIDS workplace programmes since 2003. 
 
(Source: SWHAP Newsletter December 2009) 

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This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe 
 
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ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 52, January 2010

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