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The latest in a series of Caspian Sea Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Network meetings took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 22-23 February, again with support fro the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES). FES&rsquo;s local representative in Baku, Rashad Huseynli, actively participating in the event. 
 
Lars Myhre, chair of ICEM&rsquo;s Energy Industries Section and a founder of Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi (IE), again headed this year&rsquo;s discussions. IE has played a strong role in the network since its inception and has carried out extensive bilateral programmes and exchanges with the host union, the Oil and Gas Workers Union of Azerbaijan. 

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Some of the participants at the Caspian Workers&rsquo; Network 
Delegates attending came from the Russia Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Union (ROGWU), led by President Lev Mironov, and included representatives from the trade union structures of both Gazprom and Rosneft. The host union delegation, led by President Jahangir Aliev, included a representative from the Lukoil trade union in Azerbaijan, as well as the newly-elected chairman of the trade union branch at the Caspian Shipyard Company. 
 
Workers here had seen the success of oil workers&rsquo; organising at various contract company operations and began organising themselves. The union is the latest branch structure to affiliate to the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of Azerbaijan, which has successfully organised over 400 of the 650 workers at the shipyard. Apologies for absence were received from ICEM affiliates Petrol-Iş of Turkey and the Oil Workers of Kazakhstan, active members of the network. Both unions were unable to attend because of important meetings in their respective countries. 
 
After an opening session and delegate introductions, updates were given on ICEM activities in Eastern Europe/Central Asia by ICEM Regional Coordinator Anatoly Surin. Jim Catterson, ICEM&rsquo;s Energy Industries Officer, gave an overview of the oil and gas sectors globally. Delegates then shared detailed information on the latest situations in their country&rsquo;s energy sectors, covering such issues as organising, terms and conditions of employment, and recent investments by various multinational companies. 

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Front, from left: Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of Azerbaijan Leader Jahangir Aliyev, ICEM&rsquo;s Anatoly Surin, and Lev Mironov, President of ROGWU 
Lars Myhre gave a detailed presentation on the various agreements that IE has covering Statoil in Norway. 
 
The previous meeting of the Network had formulated a declaration of common social standards to aim for in national negotiations, and this meeting focused on the potential for engaging the multinational companies operating in the Caspian region in a regional social dialog forum. Detailed presentations covering their operations in the Caspian were given by management representatives of both Statoil of Norway and SOCAR, the state-owned company of Azerbaijan that is in the process of expanding regionally, having recently purchased a refinery in Turkey. Both presentations led to lively question and answer sessions. 
 
After a general presentation by Jim Catterson on ICEM activities regarding Social Dialog including Global Framework Agreements (GFAs), presentations were made by Myhre and Lev Mironov on the GFAs that ICEM has with Statoil and Lukoil. 
 
In conclusion, delegates emphasized that the meeting had been extremely useful and had led to a considerable exchange of valuable information. It was time, however, to make the work of the Network more comprehensive and to ensure an effective information exchange occurs between network meetings. 
 
With this in mind, ICEM was asked to create a section of the ICEM website which would initially include the background material and presentations made at the meeting, as well as a report on the discussions. ICEM would also circulate a questionnaire asking all network members to detail the companies that operate in their section of the Caspian and give information on workforce numbers, trade union organization, and terms and conditions of employment. 
 
The results of the questionnaire would also be published. The study would also give a basis as to which companies to approach in order to establish routine social dialog at this regional level. Since ROGWU is considering introducing a system of video-conferencing for routine communication with regions across the Russian Federation, ICEM will also explore the use of this technology for more frequent exchanges. 
 
The work of the Caspian Sea Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Network will also form part of the agenda of the forthcoming ICEM World Conference for the Energy Industries, to be held in Stavanger, Norway, from 6-8 September.

Energy Workers’ Network of Caspian Meets in Baku

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The ICEM reported on 22 February in InBrief No. 150 that the affiliated mining union the National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP), the country&rsquo;s largest mining union federation, has taken strike action at three mines of the precious metal producer Buenaventura. Peruvian law stipulates that companies must share a minimum of 8% of its profits with workers. The union claims Buenaventura are hiding financial information of the period 2006-2009 in order to avoid profit payments to the 4,000 workers during a global price boom. 
 
With the Peruvian Ministry of Labour siding with the company, and announcing the strike illegal, workers were forced back to work to avoid losing their jobs. This decision by the government has led FNTMMSP to go on short, rolling strikes. Workers will again down tools this Friday, 26 March, at the Antapite gold mine, and the next day at the Uchucchacua silver and Orcopampa gold mines of Buenaventura. 

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A FNTMMSP local leader at the Orcopampa mine stated that the demands of the strikers include improvements in working conditions, and the rehiring of a miner fired during an earlier strike, as well as a larger share of profit-earning bonuses. 
 
Buenaventura managers have so far refused to negotiate, with Buenaventura CEO Carlos G&aacute;lvez stating that only shareholders have the power to increase workers&rsquo; wages. He said management is powerless to avoid the rolling strikes. 
 
Uchucchacua is located in Lima's Oy&oacute;n province, Orcopampa in Arequipa region, and Antapite in Huancavelica region. Buenaventura operates four other mines and has a controlling interest in mining companies Cedimin and El Brocal. El Brocal workers went on a separate strike 13 March in response to management failing to pay agreed pay raises. 
 
Elsewhere in the Peruvian mining industry, 630 workers at Doe Run&rsquo;s Cobriza copper mine have ended a strike after one day, as company officials immediately began tripartite negotiations with FNTMMSP and the Labour Ministry. 

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FNTMMSP General Secretary, Luis Castillo Carlos
FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo has led the negotiations for the mineworkers of Doe Run. Castillo argues that the collective agreement has not been fulfilled by management, whereas it has been by workers, a year after it was signed. 
 
Doe Run Peru has been hard hit by the financial downturn. The operation, which is a unit of the US-based Renco Group, had its credit line cut six months ago. 
 
The company was expelled from the country&rsquo;s National Association of Mining and Energy for not completing a government-mandated clean-up at the metals processing complex in the central Peruvian city of La Oroya, which environmental organizations say is one of the world&rsquo;s most polluted places. 
 
Earlier this month, Doe Run Peru signed a letter of intent with Swiss mining multinational Glencore. If the agreement on a sale goes through, Glencore will provide Doe Run with a credit of some US$100 million, and will also finance the environmental clean-up demanded by government. 
 
The Peruvian mining industry&rsquo;s US$16.36 billion in foreign sales last year amounted to nearly 61% of the Andean nation&rsquo;s total exports.

Peruvian Miners Struggle for Fair Profit Share Continues

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ICEM&rsquo;s Norwegian affiliated union, Industri Energi (IE), has established a trade union rights award in the name of the late trade unionist, Arthur Svensson. The award, to come with a cash prize, will be given to a person or organization for outstanding contributions for promoting trade union rights and the strengthening of trade unionism on the international and national levels. 
 
Deadline for nominations for this initial Arthur Svensson International Award for Trade Union Rights is 1 May 2010. The announcement of the winner will be made on 11 October 2010. 

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Arthur Svensson
The award comes with a prize of NOK 500,000, equal to &euro;61,016 or US$82,784. ICEM Vice President Liv Undheim (also Vice President of IE) is coordinated the award. Nominations can be sent to her at <a href="mailto:liv.undheim@industrienergi.no">liv.undheim@industrienergi.no</a>, or faxed to +47 23 06 1360. 
 
Arthur Svensson was a long-time leader of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund, the Norwegian Chemical Workers&rsquo; Association, which merged with NOPEF on 4 September 2006 to form IE. Svensson died in 2008, but left a legacy in Norway and beyond as a man who promoted global peace, disarmament, and a nuclear weapons-free world. 
 
He was also a driving force from his leadership positions of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund in Norwegian environment law, and a strong proponent of clean energy to drive clean industries. But first and foremost, he was a dedicated trade unionist, maintaining membership in LO-Norway for 61 years, the final 48 of those years with the Chemical Workers. 
 
Announcement of the award can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/industrienergi_annonse_ENG.pdf">here</a>.

Norway’s IE Union Announces Arthur Svensson Labour Rights Award

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ICEM energy and mining affiliates in West Africa set ambitious priorities and work commitments in Dakar, Senegal, on 7-8 April. In workshops sponsored by the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES) of Germany, unions of the region focused on specific growth strategies, the increasing threat of use of casual labour by multinational enterprises, and the necessity of West African nations to ratify ILO Convention 176, the Health and Safety in Mines Convention. 
 
Representatives from 13 trade unions in 11 countries participated in the two-day forum. The workshops were unique in that individual unions stepped forward and pledged to lead cross-union efforts in specific areas. 
 
&quot;The entire resolve coming from the workshops underpins the commitment by ICEM West African affiliates to build strong and democratic unions in which to challenge multinational companies,&quot; said ICEM Sub-Saharan Representative Fabian Nkomo. &quot;We have committed to challenge the exploitation of workers that leaves both communities and countries very poor. 

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Fabian Nkomo
&quot;It is a commitment to help democratic countries improve the lives of ordinary people, but also a challenge to non-democratic governments to democratise,&quot; added Nkomo. &quot;In short, it is a call for better lives for all citizens in West African countries.&quot; 
 
All ICEM trade union affiliates of the region will consolidate their three- and four-year plans on growth strategies with each other. Those plans will center on leadership accountability to trade union members, and ownership of trade union structures by rank-and-file members. 
 
With West Africa fast becoming a hub of upstream oil and gas production, the Nigerian trade unions, NUPENG and PENGASSAN, took on responsibility to lead a campaign against casualisation, or the growing use of Contract and Agency Labour (CAL). The two unions will lead a mobilisation to build formidable trade unions in oil- and gas-producing nations of West Africa. 

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The Ghana Mine Workers' Union (GMWU) will lead the push for adoption of ILO Convention 176 in West African nations, as well as to develop and mobilise a cross-region campaign toward that end. 
 
A further commitment was made by participating trade unions to propose a Social Charter to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). That charter will specifically include adherence to all core ILO labour standards. ICEM Sub-Saharan African CAL Coordinator Joseph Toe and Ayikoue Teve of CSTT in Togo will head that effort. 
 
Finally, West African trade unions promised to spread training and education activities throughout their unions, and not to limit such opportunities only to individual leaders. 
 
The ICEM is grateful to FES for sponsoring the workshops; a forum that ICEM believes can be a turning point in trade union development in West Africa.

West African ICEM Unions Formulate Specific Goals in FES Workshops

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Negotiations to end a national dispute across Sweden's pulp and paper sector failed last night, 18 April, at midnight when ICEM affiliate Svenska Pappers and the employers' Forest Industry Association (SFIF) adjourned bargaining. 
 
The two sides are to try again today, 19 April, at 18h00. 
 
The union held true to its promise to strike six pulp and paper mills on 16 April. Those six mills, employing 3,000 of Sweden's 18,000 paperworkers, are now facing ongoing strikes. 
 
They include: Billerud Skarblacka; Holmen Braviken; the Holmen Iggesund mill in Korsnas; Stora Enso&rsquo;s Skoghall Mill; SCA Packaging in Munksund; and Sodra Cell's Varo pulp mill. 

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On 15 April, two days following a marathon bargaining session also failed, the Swedish Paperworkers' Union (Svenska Pappers) announced that workers at six more mills would strike at 18h00 on Monday, 26 April, if no agreement is made. 
 
Those mills include: Smurfit-Kappa's mill at Pitea, the SCA Obbola mill, Stora Enso's Fors mill, the Korsnas Frovi mill, Billerud's Gruvon mill, and Sodra's Monsteras pulp mill. Those six mills employ 2,800 Pappers members. 
 
The central issues are pay and ensuring that Swedish paperworkers receive a 2010 salary increase backdated to 1 April, the date of a prior three-year contract expiration; items related to a pension scheme; an adequate increase for the lowest paid workers in the industry; and an assurance on union consultation when temporary workers or labour agencies are used for employment. 
 
For ICEM's solidarity call in support of Swedish paperworkers, click <a href="-Travailleurs-du-secteur-pâte-et">here</a>.

Swedish Paper Strike Continues

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Some 70 protestors from the UK, Netherlands, and Belgium demonstrated with locked-out members of the US International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in London last week. The venue was the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Rio Tinto, the global mining company that maliciously, on 31 January, locked 560 members of ILWU Local 30 off their jobs in Boron, California, before reaching impasse in collective bargaining. 
 
The manifestation at the AGM was organised by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), with support from the ICEM and the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF). Several NGOs, including the London Mining Network, joined the labour rally, bringing with them a host of Rio Tinto's environmental atrocities from Papua New Guinea to Indonesia, to Madagascar, and Mongolia. 

<img alt="" src="" width="360" height="240" />
Dick Blin, Dave Irish, Ray Familathe, Tony Burke
Inside the meeting, Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese fielded questions regarding the company's conduct for nearly two hours. Local 30 bargaining committee member Dave Irish queried why Rio Tinto was willing to take deep revenue drops through lost production brought on by the lockout, while at the same time imposing economic hardships on 560 working families. 
 
Albanese's answer was polite, but succinct in capturing the general philosophy of corporations everywhere: prioritising profits before people. He said Rio Tinto's rollbacks on working terms and conditions at Boron were necessary in order to bring ILWU Local 30's collective agreement more in line with other company enterprises in North America. 
 
That answer was clear. Despite massive profits driven mainly by iron ore, copper, and coal -- and even by the relatively small Rio Tinto Minerals, which controls a 45% market share of the global borates business -- the London/Melbourne-based mining house subscribes to &quot;the race to the bottom&quot; philosophy of suppressing human and social benefits. 

<img alt="" src="" width="163" height="231" />
Dave Irish left, locked out Local 30 worker, and ILWU VP Ray Familathe
Following the meeting, ILWU Vice President Ray Familathe caught up with Albanese in a corner of the Queen Elizabeth II Convention Centre. He told him the company's strong-arm bargaining methods in California will surely backfire, including galvanizing the global trade union movement to pressure the company in any way possible. 
 
The ILWU has already begun that backlash by vigorously lobbying the US government to delay a land swap between the government and Rio Tinto in the state of Arizona in which the company was to gain valuable copper deposits. 
 
For the ILWU, the European trip also meant a strongly worded resolution in support of Local 30 be the European Works Council of Alcan, a Canadian-based metals producer that Rio Tinto acquired in 2007. That effort was spearheaded by the Metalworkers' affiliate of French CGT. 
 
A day after the London AGM of April 15, the American union also did protest actions against Rio Tinto at British consulate offices in the US cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and in Vancouver, Canada. 

<img alt="" src="" width="205" height="154" />
Perhaps not coincidentally within last week's trade union actions, Rio Tinto Minerals and ILWU Local 30 did return to bargaining on 14-15 April, the first set of talks since the lockout began. It was a fact noted by Albanese from the dais of the AGM, but clearly missing was any willingness by Rio Tinto to budge from its concessionary proposals. In California, the two sides adjourned late on 15 April without making any meaningful progress. 
 
This week, on 22 April, Rio Tinto is scheduled to replicate its AGM in Melbourne and the ILWU will be there. Shareholders will hear Secretary-Treasurer Willie Adams and locked-out Local 30 activist Terri Judd tell of the anguish faced by Mojave Desert, California, families. They will have the support of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA). 
 
Again, Albanese will be questioned on why the company he heads needs unprecedented givebacks by workers of their holidays, their seniority rights, their health care protections, and why Rio Tinto needs to infringe on full-time, direct employment in seeking to gain greater latitude to outsource jobs. 
Hear the RadioLabour interview with Dave Irish <a href="http://www.radiolabour.net/ICEM/rio-tinto-180410.mp3">here</a>. 
 
See a short video of the demo in London <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsK2iwccL7k">here</a>.

US ILWU Members Take California Lockout to Rio Tinto AGM

About Rio Tinto 
 
 Rio Tinto is a multi-billion dollar global corporation that mines and processes aluminum, coal, copper, diamonds, gold, iron ore and uranium, as well as industrial minerals including borates, titanium dioxide, salt and talc. 
 
 The company is based in London and Melbourne, Australia and traded on the London, Sydney and New York Stock Exchanges. 
 
 Rio Tinto is the 3rd largest mining company in the world, operating in more than 50 countries on six continents, with the majority of production occurring in Australia and North America. 
 
 In 2009, Rio Tinto reported net earnings of almost $5 billion on revenues of $44 billion. 
 
About Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Borate Business 
 
 Rio Tinto&rsquo;s borate mining and processing business is part of its Diamonds &amp; Minerals product group, which reported net earnings of $800 million in 2009. 
 
 The company&rsquo;s borate business consists primarily of its mine &ndash; the largest borate deposit in the world &ndash; and processing plant in Boron, California, USA. Rio Tinto also operates a small borate mine and processing plant in Argentina, as well as plants and/or distribution facilities in Wilmington, California, France, Spain and the Netherlands. 
 
 Rio Tinto supplies nearly half the world&rsquo;s demand for refined borates. Together with Etimine of Turkey, Rio Tinto enjoys a virtual monopoly on the global borate market. 
 
 Borates are industrial minerals with a wide variety of uses, including glass, ceramics, fertilizer, detergents and wood treatments. 
 
 Although Rio Tinto often tells reporters that it has lost 25% of its share of the borate market in order to garner sympathy and justify its attack on families in Boron, the company&rsquo;s claim has never been independently substantiated. Rio Tinto does not report publicly on the financial performance of its borate business. Like most companies, Rio Tinto has been temporarily impacted by the economic recession, but the outlook for Rio Tinto&rsquo;s future is bright and already improving. In his &ldquo;State of Business&rdquo; address in August 2009, Rio Tinto Vice President Chris Robison said, &ldquo;the financial position of the company is very strong.&rdquo; Independent experts predict demand for borates will increase significantly in 2010, mainly due to the growth in Chinese manufacturing. China is Rio Tinto&rsquo;s largest destination market. 
 
About the Mine in Boron 
 
 Located in the Mojave Desert, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, the Boron mine is the largest open-pit mine in California. 
 
 The mine has been operating since borates were first discovered in Boron in 1925. The facility was acquired by Rio Tinto in 1967. 
 
 The mine serves Rio Tinto&rsquo;s borate customers in almost 100 countries around the world. 
 
 There are about 570 hourly workers at the mine, many of whom have worked their entire lives at the facility. Some employees have more than 40 years of experience there. 
 
About the Lockout 
 
 On January 31, 2010, Rio Tinto locked out about 570 hourly workers from the Borax mine. 
 
 Employees had refused to accept Rio Tinto&rsquo;s concessionary contract ultimatum. Their demands included allowing the company to convert good jobs into temporary, part-time or outsourced positions. 
 
 Since the lockout, Rio Tinto has replaced its experienced, skilled workforce with workers from its other facilities and with contract workers supplied by Gettier Security, a Wilmington, DE-based company that specializes in providing workers to firms engaged in strikes or lockouts. 
 
 The locked out families are relying on unemployment insurance and other forms of public assistance to help feed their children and pay mortgages. 
 
 
For more information about Rio Tinto and the Lockout in Boron, or to learn how you can help the miners and their families, please contact Craig Merrilees, Communications Director, ILWU on +1 (0) 415 775 0533 ext 113.

Facts About Rio Tinto and the Lock Out in Boron, California

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we inform about the union action for universal access in the run-up to the G8/G20 summits in Canada and give an overview of the activities planned in sub-Saharan Africa 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" />
G8/G20: Union Action for Universal Access to HIV/AIDS Services 
 
Trade unions in Africa and all over the world have joined forces to lobby the G8 and G20 for the provision of universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. The lobbying is spearheaded by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the Africa Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
 
National trade union centres in Africa and elsewhere have delivered messages to the Canadian embassies in their country calling on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to play a leading role in convincing his fellow leaders to take quick and decisive action on HIV and AIDS. As the host country, Canada will preside over the G8 Summit in June and will co-host with South Korea the G20 Summit. 
 
The Global Union AIDS Programme has called on its membership to participate in this global campaign. The ICEM has delivered a letter to the Canadian mission in Geneva strongly urging that the G8 put forward an action plan to achieve its promises regarding universal access and calling on the Summits to support the ILO Decent Work Agenda and its Global Jobs Pact. 
 
It may be recalled that 2010 is the target year for the G8 commitment to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support made at the 2005 Summit in Gleneagles. The failure to achieve this is evident; not even half of the ten million people who need treatment are actually on it. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
ICEM HIV/AIDS Project in Sub-Saharan Africa 
 
Planning was completed last month for the HIV/AIDS project in Sub-Saharan Africa with the sponsorship of SASK Finland and FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands. 
 
Activities in 2010 will include two sub-regional workshops to strengthen the workplace response to HIV and AIDS in Anglophone and Francophone West Africa and in Southern Africa in September and October. A further workshop in May will be exclusively for women from the Southern African sub-region. 
 
At the national level, countries have submitted programmes which put emphasis on campaigns for voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and include further training of peer educators and counselors. In Guinea (Conakry) and C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, training will be completed in new target companies and HIV/AIDS workplace policies are expected to be concluded. VCT campaigns will be initiated in Guinea and continue in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire. 
 
Ghana has drawn lessons from the regional workshop in November 2009 and included a VCT campaign and a workshop on collective bargaining in its programme. As a new project country, Mauritius will concentrate its efforts on widespread awareness campaigns at the workplace and address the issue of migrant workers and local and foreign sex workers. 
 
The well-established programme in Nigeria will expand its scope to training women as peer educators. Sierra Leone will draw on trained workers and its collaboration with the National AIDS Secretariat to run VCT campaigns in mining areas. 
 
A well-designed programme in Zambia will deal with peer education, VCT campaigns and collective bargaining issues. Uganda will undertake, among others, a revision of existing collective bargaining agreements to include HIV/AIDS clauses. In Tanzania, workshops will prepare a VCT campaign sponsored by the Women&rsquo;s Department of the German IGBCE. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
AIDS a Key Cause of Female Death 
 
HIV and AIDS have become the leading causes of disease and death among women of reproductive age worldwide, UNAIDS said at the launch of a five-year action plan addressing the gender issues which put women at risk. 
 
Nearly 30 years from the beginning of the epidemic, HIV services still do not respond to the specific needs of women and girls. Up to 70% of women worldwide encounter violence. Experiencing violence hampers their ability to negotiate safe sex. 
 
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidib&eacute; pointed out that &ldquo;by robbing women of their dignity we are losing the opportunity to tap half the potential of mankind to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Women and girls are not victims; they are the driving force that brings about social transformation.&rdquo; 
 
Of the 33.4 million people living with HIV worldwide, 15.7 million &ndash; or almost half &ndash; are women. The proportion of women infected with HIV has risen in many regions; in Sub-Saharan Africa, it has reached 60%. In Southern Africa, HIV prevalence among young women aged 15 to 24 years is almost three times higher than among men of the same age group. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website and BBC News, 3 March) 

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South Africa: Launches Massive HIV Testing Campaign 
 
From 15 April, everyone attending a clinic or hospital in South Africa will be offered an HIV test, regardless of whether they have symptoms of the disease or not. Patients have the option to refuse the test. 
 
Dubbed the HIV Counselling and Testing Campaign, or HCT, this is the most ambitious HIV testing campaign in the world, according to the SA National AIDS Council (SANAC). The target is to have 15 million South Africans tested for HIV by June 2011. 
 
The campaign has four objectives: to increase health-seeking behaviour; to encourage people to know their status; to equip those who test HIV-negative with ways to ensuring that they do not get infected; and to create an entry point to accessing wellness and treatment services for those who test HIV-positive. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.health-e.org.za">www.health-e.org.za</a>, 18 March) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Malawi: Ambitious Plan to Prolong Life 
 
Malawi&rsquo;s government announced plans to more than double the number of people receiving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to half a million by the end of 2010. 
 
The country recently adopted new World Health Organisation guidelines that raise the threshold for starting ARV therapy from a CD4 count (a measure of the immune system strength) of less than 200 to a CD4 count of 350, regardless of whether the patient is displaying symptoms. 
 
Although implementing the changes will be expensive, some experts argue that starting patients on ARVs earlier could actually save money in the long term by reducing the need to treat them for opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis. 
 
Malawi successfully utilised its Global Fund Round 1 grant and was awarded a grant under the rolling continuation channel, which extends funding for six years and which can be used for the expansion of treatment. 
 
(Source: IRIN plusnews, 19 March) 

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Global Funds Seeks $17-20 Billion from Donors for 2011-2013 
 
Mother-to-child HIV transmission may be eliminated by 2015; malaria may be eliminated as a public health problem within a decade; TB prevalence could be halved by 2015. However, these health targets can only be achieved if current rates of scaling up expenditure on the three diseases are maintained and, ideally, further accelerated. And that, in turn, requires donors to give the Global Fund between $17 billion and $20 billion during 2011-2013. 
 
This is what the Global Fund announced in a news release and in several documents released in preparation for upcoming &quot;replenishment&quot; meetings with donors. The Global Fund says that demand for donor support has more than doubled since the last replenishment in 2007 (which raised $10 billion for the period 2008-2010). 
 
An initial replenishment meeting was held on 24-25 March at The Hague, Netherlands. This meeting provided an opportunity for donors to discuss the Fund's financial needs for 2011-2013 and the results achieved by the Global Fund to date. The meeting laid the foundation for the pledging conference that will take place at the UN Headquarters in New York on 4-5 October 2010. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 117 of 18 March. GFO is a free service of Aidspan, <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>; to receive GFO send an email to 
<a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
News from Global Union AIDS Programme 
 
At the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Global Union AIDS Programme (GUAP) in Brussels on 17 March, Jan Eastman was appointed Chair of the Programme. Jan is the Deputy General Secretary of Education International (EI), a Global Union Federation. She took over from Alan Leather who had been the Chair since the inception of the Programme. 
 
The Steering Committee reviewed its activities, received reports from Global Unions, and charted its input for major campaigns and events in 2010, such as ILO&rsquo;s International Labour Conference in June, with the second discussion of a new instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, and the International AIDS Conference in Vienna in July. 
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This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe 
 
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ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 55, April 2010

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Started in 2009 with the support of the Dutch national labour centre FNV, ICEM&rsquo;s Organising and Social Dialogue Project in Turkey continued regional seminars last month in the city of Adana in the Cukurova region, where important trade union representation exists, particularly in ICEM sectors. 
 
Adana is an industrialized city in Turkey&rsquo;s south that has large-scale industries such as textiles, leather, oil and gas, electricity, chemicals, automotive, and food processing. In recent years, Adana&rsquo;s importance has increased due largely to the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil and gas pipeline from the Caspian region in Azerbaijan. Adana claims to be the future &ldquo;Rotterdam&rdquo; of Turkey, particularly since another new pipeline will come on line, this one from the Black Sea port city Samsun, which will move oil from Russia. ICEM&rsquo;s intensive trade union energy activities in the Caspian and the Middle East region are closely connected to Adana and the surrounding Mediterranean area. 

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With the overall objective to build Turkish unions&rsquo; ability to recruit new members, as well as to discuss the establishment of a base to create a functioning industrial relations system, prioritizing human and trade union rights, and to promote healthy social dialogue, this seminar of the FNV project was attended by more than 60 local trade union leaders, shop stewards, and militants from the ICEM affiliated unions. 
 
The seminar also welcomed several international trade union leaders from the Netherlands, France, and Belgium. Celil &Ccedil;oban and Mail &Uuml;rker of FNV Bondgenoten in the Netherlands, Marc Blanc of French FCE-CFDT, and Chris Vanmol of Belgium&rsquo;s CSC-Chimie Energie exchanged experiences and knowledge from their countries. ICEM Energy Officer Jim Catterson, who was on an oil and gas fact-finding mission in southeast Turkey prior to the seminar, shared his experiences from the UK, where he worked in the trade union movement prior to joining the ICEF/ICEM. 
 
The seminar also heard a presentation from the Turkish trade union expert &Uuml;zeyir Ataman, Director of Education and Collective Bargaining of Lastik-İş, on union history and the current labour relations situation in Turkey. Later, the seminar focused on Power and Weak Points, Challenges and Opportunities, and Concrete Organising Targets inside Turkey, with contributions and inputs by participants from the different regions, namely Adana, Mersin, Adiyaman, Batman, and Elazig. 

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&Uuml;zeyir Ataman
&ldquo;This seminar in Adana has given great happiness and hope for the future,&rdquo; said ICEM Rubber and Chemicals Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, who coordinates the two-year project and did a workshop on globalisation and labour relations. &ldquo;The active involvement and enthusiasm of participants clearly shows that Turkish unions have an important role to play in shaping a society moving towards a real democracy based on fundamental human rights, which, of course, includes trade union rights.&rdquo; 
 
The FNV project will continue with further regional seminars in the Thrace region in April, and in Gebze in May. The Adana seminar was held 11-12 March.

ICEM’s Organising and Social Dialogue Project Continues in Turkey

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ICEM affiliates FCE-CFDT of France, FIA-UGT of Spain, and FEMCA-CISL of Italy established a joint entity called Association Pour L&rsquo;Europe Solidaire et Pour la Coop&eacute;ration Mediterranean, or the Association of Solidarity Europe and Mediterranean Cooperation (AESCOOMED). The new organization has an aim to develop a common European vision, and an information exchange between trade unions regarding economic, social issues, environmental matters, collective bargaining, industrial relations, and common social dialogue platforms. 
 
AESCOOMED&rsquo;s vision is to develop common work on European Works Councils, and promote the consultation and participation of workers within the member unions, as well as enhance cooperation with countries in the Mediterranean region. 
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The newly-formed organization held its first conference in Barcelona on 8-9 March 2010 under the banner &ldquo;Energy, Industrial Policy, and Social Dialogue in the Mediterranean Region.&rdquo; Trade unions from seven countries, including Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, and Turkey, together with the presence of the ICEM, debated industrial and energy issues in the region during the initial meetings. 
 
Issues of energy supply security, energy conditions in industrial development, and the environmental impact in Mediterranean countries were discussed. Acknowledging the fact that the environment is fragile and deteriorating, protecting and improving eco-systems has become a key issue in the Euro-Mediterranean region, especially in view of new industrial dynamics. This Euro-Mediterranean cooperation includes issues of water scarcity and water quality, the reform of environmental standards, improving infrastructure, and preserving the environment. 
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The place and role of social dialogue in all countries of the Mediterranean was also highlighted. Common challenges were defined as population growth, aging population, job creation, modernization of labor markets, maintaining high levels of social protection, and dissemination of knowledge and innovation. All participants were convinced of the need to strengthen cooperation between the union organisations from countries bordering the Mediterranean basin. 
 
The ICEM was invited to the two-day conference and was represented by Rubber and Chemicals Kemal &Ouml;zkan. He made a presentation on ICEM&rsquo;s activities regarding social dialogue on the global level and union building and union-support activities in the Middle East/North African Region (MENA). 
In conclusion, all participants welcomed the AESCOOMED initiative and measured the importance of international solidarity between workers.

Trade Unions Form Euro-Mediterranean Cooperative Organisation

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