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The ICEM is using the occasion of April 28, the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers, to announce the renewal of its campaign for the formal ratification of International Labor Organization ILO Convention 176 on Health and Safety in Mines. 
 
The ICEM has been lobbying the ILO to dramatically increase its efforts to promote ratification of the convention to improve health and safety laws in many countries. A recent seminar in Mongolia, the first in a series of proposed seminars, showed a new committment by the ILO to become more actively engaged in a campaign for ratification. (See story on Mongolia seminar in InBrief No. 129 <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3162-ILO-Mongolia-Seminar-Launches-Asia-Campaign-for-Ratification-of-Mine-Safety-Convention-176">here</a>)

ICEM Campaigns for ILO Convention 176

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Son on yılda, &ccedil;okuluslu lastik şirketleri Orta Avrupa'yı yatırım cenneti olarak g&ouml;rd&uuml;ler, &uuml;retimi hızla oraya kaydırdılar ve tesisleri genişlettiler. Son olarak, ABD k&ouml;kenli Goodyear Polonya'nın Debica kentindeki tesislerine 100 milyon dolar yatırdı, Japonya'daki Bridgestone ise yine Polonya'da ikinci bir tesis kurmak &uuml;zere oraya gitti. 
 
G&uuml;ney Kore'den Hankook Macaristan'da bir &uuml;retim birimi kurdu, Bridgestone'un yeni tesisi ise faaliyete ge&ccedil;mek &uuml;zere. Hindistan'dan Apollo Tyre'ın Macaristan'da bir tesisi var. Keza, Romanya'da, Slatina'da, Pirelli &ccedil;elik kord &uuml;retmek &uuml;zere Continental AG ile birlikte kurduğu bir tesisi faaliyete ge&ccedil;irdi. 

<img height="205" alt="" src="" width="283" />
Ne var ki, Orta Avrupa'daki bu b&uuml;y&uuml;me, iş koşulları ve sendikal temsil konusunda bazı sonu&ccedil;lar doğuruyor. Bu b&ouml;lgedeki &uuml;cretler, &ccedil;alışma koşulları, iş sağlığı ve g&uuml;venliği kuralları Batı Avrupa &uuml;lkelerindeki d&uuml;zeyin hayli gerisinde kalıyor. Yeni tesislerin bazılarında sendikal haklar g&ouml;rmezden geliniyor ya da şirketler işyeri ve şirket sendikalarını tercih ediyorlar. 
 
Bu gelişmeler karşısında ICEM, ulusal sendikaların bu koşulların &uuml;stesin gelmesini sağlamak &uuml;zere lastik sendikalarının bir b&ouml;lge ağı kurmasını &ouml;nerdi. Macaristan, Slovakya, Romanya ve Slovenya'dan sendika y&ouml;neticileri ekonomik krizin etkilerinin yanı sıra bu sorunları g&ouml;r&uuml;şmek &uuml;zere 8-9 Nisan'da Budapeşte'de bir araya geldiler. 
ICEM'in Macaristan'dan &uuml;yesi VDSz'nin evsahipliğini yaptığı ve Friedrich Ebert Vakfı'nın desteklediği toplantıya Fransa ve İspanya'dan sendika temsilcileri ve EMCEF katıldı. 
<img height="123" alt="" src="" width="170" />
VDSz Başkanı Gy&ouml;rgy Paszternak 

Sekt&ouml;rdeki k&uuml;resel durum &uuml;zerine ICEM'in yaptığı sunumdan sonra, katılımcılar, &uuml;lkelerindeki durum hakkında raporlar sundular. Macaristan b&ouml;lgedeki lastik end&uuml;strisinin her zaman merkezi olmuştur, ama sendikal &ouml;rg&uuml;tl&uuml;l&uuml;k d&uuml;zeyi son yıllarda d&uuml;şt&uuml;. Hankook ve Bridgestone gibi bazı şirketlerde sendikaların serbest&ccedil;e kurulması ve faaliyet g&ouml;stermesi engelleniyor. 
 
ICEM'den, her iki şirketteki sendikal tanınma m&uuml;cadelesini desteklemeye devam etmesi isteniyor. Slovakya'da, mali kriz &uuml;retimin &ouml;nemli &ouml;l&ccedil;&uuml;de d&uuml;şmesine yol a&ccedil;tı, iş saatleri d&uuml;ş&uuml;r&uuml;ld&uuml; ve genelde iş&ccedil;ilere normal &uuml;cretlerinin y&uuml;zde 60'ı &ouml;deniyor. Slovenya'da iş haftasının kısaltılmasını &ouml;ng&ouml;ren bir yasa &ccedil;ıkarıldı ve sendikalar bu yasayı destekledi. 
 
Slovenya'da kriz otomotiv end&uuml;strisini ve tedarik&ccedil;i firmalardan oluşan sekt&ouml;r&uuml; ağır bir şekilde etkiledi. Başlangı&ccedil;ta, &uuml;cretler kısılmadı, ama iş&ccedil;iler yıllık izinlerini kullanmaya zorlandı. Kriz derinleştik&ccedil;e, &uuml;cretler ve iş saatleri d&uuml;ş&uuml;r&uuml;ld&uuml;. Keza Romanya'da, otomotiv end&uuml;strisinde yaşanan ağır kriz araba lastiği sekt&ouml;r&uuml;n&uuml; ciddi bi&ccedil;imde etkiliyor. Tek olumlu gelişme, sendikanın Slatina'da yeni faaliyete ge&ccedil;en Pirelli fabrikasındaki 1.500 iş&ccedil;iyi &ouml;rg&uuml;tleyerek &uuml;cretlerde y&uuml;zde 10 artış sağlaması. Toplantıda, ayrıca, EMCEF kriz &uuml;zerine bir tebliğ sundu. 
 
&ldquo;Krizin &ouml;nceki kazanımlarımızı yok etmesine izin vermemeliyiz&rdquo; diyen VDSz Başkanı Gy&ouml;rgy Paszternak s&ouml;zlerini ş&ouml;yle s&uuml;rd&uuml;rd&uuml;: &ldquo;İşverenlerin mevcut koşulları k&ouml;t&uuml;ye kullanmasına izin vermemeliyiz. Toplumsal geleceğimiz sendikaların tanınmasına, sendikal temsile, &uuml;cretlerin ve &ccedil;alışma standartlarının y&uuml;kseltilmesine bağlıdır.&rdquo;

Orta Avrupa&#039;daki lastik sendikaları mali kriz konusunda ortak stratejiler oluşturuyorlar

<img height="57" alt="" src="" width="40" />
In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report, among other items, on the new HIV/AIDS project in Ethiopia in cooperation with the LO/FTF and on the HIV/AIDS project in India, sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim.
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The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are already 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. 
 
Editor: Hans J Schwass, ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant 
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HIV/AIDS Workplace Project in India on Track 
 
During his recent visit to India, which was organised by Project Coordinator BK Das who is also the General Secretary of the Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation, the ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant could confirm that the HIV/AIDS project in India, sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, has made excellent progress. 
 
&ldquo;So far we have trained 330 peer educators from ICEM affiliates in the coal mining, chemical, cement and diamond sectors in India&rdquo;, said BK Das. &ldquo;The project is on track&rdquo;, he added. The Consultant participated in a training course for peer educators and attended HIV/AIDS awareness meetings conducted by peer educators in remote mining villages in the region where Eastern Coal Ltd (ECL), around Asansol, some 250 km northwest of Kolkata, operates. 
 
He also had the opportunity to meet with peer educators of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) in Dhanbad. Both companies are subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd. (CIL). The Deputy Chief Medical Officer of BCCL, Dr Anurag Verma, said that there has been a significant increase in the uptake of VCT as reported back by the two Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres in the region. Peer educators have also taken the initiative to campaign among commercial sex workers and they cooperate with organisations of people living with HIV and AIDS. 
 
In Kolkata, the Consultant participated in a master trainers&rsquo; course, which was facilitated by HIV/AIDS specialists SM Afsar and Divya Verma from the ILO Delhi Office. The cooperation with the ILO Delhi Office has been outstanding: two master trainer courses were facilitated; material was made available and contacts with organisations of HIV+ people and state AIDS control societies were made. The ILO has also lobbied CIL, and in a meeting with Board member R Mohan Das, further HIV/AIDS activities to be undertaken by the company at its eight subsidiaries were discussed. 
 
For a continuation of the project when funding from Boehringer Ingelheim ends in December 2009, CIL and its subsidiaries as well as state AIDS control societies have to be targeted. With companies taking the threat of the pandemic more seriously, and with state AIDS control societies recognising the workplace as a major place of HIV/AIDS intervention, the prospects for sustainable HIV/AIDS work among ICEM affiliates in India are good. 
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New HIV/AIDS Project in Ethiopia 
 
As reported in the March issue of the e-bulletin, the LO/FTF Council, the Danish Solidarity Support Organisation, has obtained funding for a three-year HIV/AIDS project in Ethiopia in cooperation with the ICEM-affiliated National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical and Mine Trade Unions (NIFECM). 
 
The main objectives of the project are to reduce HIV/AIDS stigmatisation and discrimination in the high-risk mining sector and to increase the capacity of the Federation and its affiliated unions to deal with HIV/AIDS at the workplace, negotiate agreements with employers, and thus protect workers, their families, and the wider community in remote mining areas. 
 
After a fact finding mission in December 2008, the first project activities took place in March. Two workshops were organised for the leadership and union activists of NIFECM; the first on basic facts about HIV/AIDS and awareness and prevention and the second with the objective to develop an HIV/AIDS policy for the Federation. Both workshops were facilitated by the ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant and could count on the cooperation of the ILO office in Addis Ababa. The draft HIV/AIDS policy is expected to be adopted by the NEFECM Congress in July. 
 
Further activities in 2009 include a study tour to South Africa, the preparation of materials and the development of a negotiation guide and an HIV/AIDS toolbox, which should be validated in a workshop in October. At that time, a meeting of the Project Advisory Committee is also envisaged. 
 
The training of master trainers will lead to workshops for a total of 220 local union leaders and activists who will then be capable of promoting HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention campaigns at the workplace and in mining communities. Parallel to this, the competence of union leaders in negotiations and bargaining for HIV/AIDS issues such as non-discrimination and anti-victimisation as well as reducing stigmatisation will be developed. 
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UNITAID to Raise Funds through Travel Web Sites 
 
Philippe Douste-Blazy, former French foreign minister and head of UNITAID, announced recently that he is in talks with the online travel industry to allow air travellers booking online to make a $2 per-flight donation to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria efforts worldwide. The global financial crisis has placed some governments' foreign aid budgets &quot;under pressure,&quot; and the United Nations is &quot;turning to private industry and individuals to finance the battle against&quot; the three diseases. Several companies are working with UNITAID to develop system for micro-contributions that could also be adopted by other industries. 
 
UNITAID aims to raise more than US$1 billion annually for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria efforts. It has raised US$600 million during the past two years through a tax on airline tickets implemented by 12 participating countries. One flight with 300 passengers could raise enough funds to provide 60 HIV-positive children with treatment for one year. 
 
(Source: Financial Times, 11 March) 
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Haiti Making Progress against HIV/AIDS 
 
Some good news is coming from Haiti, one of the countries hardest hit by the epidemic. Data show that about 2.2% of Haiti's population -- or 120,000 people -- are living with HIV/AIDS and that AIDS-related deaths in the country have decreased in recent years. This compares with an HIV/AIDS prevalence of 6.1% in 2001. The percentage of HIV-positive test results among pregnant women has decreased by 50% over the past 10 years. 
 
Haiti's progress has been particularly significant for a country where 60% of the population lives below the poverty line of US$2 per day. Only four of every 10 Haitians have access to potable water and there is only one doctor for every 10,000 inhabitants. 
 
The progress in fighting HIV/AIDS in Haiti is due in large part to the efforts of dedicated people who work in NGOs founded to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS. More than 400 workers have been trained to administer no-cost antiretroviral drugs within communities. But many challenges remain as the majority of Haitians still lack sufficient sex education. Only 15% of women and 28% of men between ages 15 and 24 know HIV prevention methods, and both boys and girls are becoming sexually active at earlier ages. 
 
(Source: Cesar Chalala in Miami Herald, 12 March) 
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News from the Global Union Federations 
 
The Education International reports in its EI Newsletter &ndash; <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/efaids">www.ei-ie.org/efaids</a> - of 9 April on HIV/AIDS initiatives by its affiliates in Namibia and Swaziland and reviews the recent UNESCO publication &ldquo;Heroes and Villains,&rdquo; which assesses the interaction between the education sector and the AIDS crisis and highlights the important contribution of teacher unions in the fight against the pandemic. 
 
The fortnightly HIV/AIDS update of the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) of 15 March reports on the launch of an HIV/AIDS workplace policy at Mombasa port and on a UNDP report that female migrant workers from Asia have become highly vulnerable to HIV (<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>). 
 
 
This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe or Translate? 
 
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. 
Unfortunately, the e-bulletin can only be published in English. 
For a free automated (non-ICEM) translation of this HIV-AIDS bulletin into other languages, you may want to try <a href="http://www.google.com/language_tools">http://www.google.com/language_tools</a> and insert the following URL into the window &quot;Translate a Web page&quot;: <a href="/index.php?id=72&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3179">/index.php?id=72&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3179</a>
Or click directly on the links below: 
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Cette traduction est faite automatiquement par un logiciel internet gratuit. L&rsquo;ICEM n&rsquo;assume aucune responsabilit&eacute; &agrave; cet &eacute;gard. Elle est approximative, mais peut n&eacute;anmoins vous donner une id&eacute;e g&eacute;n&eacute;rale du contenu de l&rsquo;article. 
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ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 43 April 2009

On the eve of World AIDS Day, 1 December, the ICEM leadership recommitted to fight the battle to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS through awareness, education, and poverty eradication campaigns. The ICEM&rsquo;s 4th World Congress, held 22-24 November in Bangkok, Thailand, affirmed that commitment. 
 
&ldquo;As the newly-elected leaders, we reaffirm ICEM&rsquo;s commitment to fight HIV/AIDS,&rdquo; said ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;Hundreds of union leaders representing 180 affiliates in 75 countries signed the pledge for World AIDS Day at our Congress.&rdquo; 
 
That pledge, signed by not only the 840 trade unions leaders attending the Bangkok Congress, but taken back to national unions for thousands more signatures, commits the trade unionists to take the fight inside the workplace. 
<img height="113" alt="" src="" width="100" />
It commits to outright rejection of all forms of discrimination and victimisation of people living with HIV/AIDS; it recognises that the gender dimension of HIV/AIDS, and promises to fight for equal gender relations and the empowerment of women; and, in maintaining ICEM&rsquo;s continued work in this area, it encourages voluntary counselling and testing of workers and family members, as well as providing support for those who disclose their HIV-positive status. 
 
The pledge also makes demands of employers and governments. It demands that companies negotiate policies with trade union that are in sync with the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work; it calls on employers to implement awareness-raising and prevention programmes jointly with trade unions; it call on firms operating in remote geographic areas with little or no health services to take responsibility for providing care and treatment; and it promises to undertake efforts to obtain affordable drugs from pharmaceutical companies and production of high-quality generics for those afflicted with the virus. 
<img height="133" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Regarding governments, the pledge advocates access for all to public health, including free or affordable antiretroviral treatments; it promises to promote legislation on discrimination and social protection; and it promises to lobby donor countries for accelerated financial resources for the global fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM and its affiliates are strategically positioned in our sectors, and in our thousands of workplaces, to play a direct role in stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS,&rdquo; said Zokwana and Warda. &ldquo;On World AIDS Day 2007, we call on all social partners to intensify campaigns in order to reverse the HIV/AIDS pandemic.&rdquo; 
 
The International Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) is a 20-million-member Global Union Federation based in Brussels, Belgium.

ICEM Reconfirms Commitment to Fight HIV/AIDS Pandemic

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) concluded its 4th World Congress today, 24 November, in Bangkok, Thailand, with sharply worded motions calling for economic sanctions against the military regime in Burma, and on establishment of trade union rights in Iraq. The Iraq resolution also called for the earliest possible withdrawal of occupational military forces from the Middle Eastern country. 
 
A total of 840 trade union leaders from 176 global ICEM affiliates, representing 75 countries, attended the three-day Congress. 
 
The final day was marked by impassioned speeches from the General Secretary of the exiled Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB) and from central leaders of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), a collection of ten oil workers&rsquo; union in southern Iraq, and from the Kurdistan General Workers&rsquo; Syndicate of Unions (KGWSU). 
<img height="285" alt="" src="" width="380" />
FTUB General Secretary Maung Maung at the ICEM Congress
Opening the last day&rsquo;s session was Maung Maung, General Secretary of the FTUB. He said the recent street protests in Burma are not over and Burmese people will carry their struggle for liberation and national democracy to the end. &ldquo;Economic sanctions and international pressure do hurt this regime,&rdquo; Maung said, urging as much international pressure as possible because &ldquo;the regime is cracking.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s motion calls on all global unions to &ldquo;exert their influence&rdquo; and &ldquo;to approach their governments so that the international community can jointly pressurize the military regime to restore democracy.&rdquo; 
 
Two key speakers from the oil and gas sector rose to support the motion. Gary Beevers, a Vice President and Oil Bargaining Chairman for the United Steelworkers in the United States, said his union has taken action against US-based Chevron for its gas dealings with the regime. 
 
And Marc Blanc, of the French trade union FCE-CFDT, announced that his union federation &ndash; together with four other French trade unions &ndash; will host the FTUB in Paris on December 20. The meeting will center on Total&rsquo;s activities in Burma, and will occur in conjunction with the Executive Committee of Total&rsquo;s European Works Council. 
 
On the Iraq motion, Hassan Juma&rsquo;a Awad al Assadi of the IFTU told delegates the US administration of George Bush came to Iraq with a Hydrocarbons Law that &ldquo;would steal our oil reserves.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;The Iraqi people are the only ones who should decide and control their oil wealth,&rdquo; he said. He also called upon the current Iraqi government and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to expedite legislation inside Iraq called the Labour and Social Security Law, which would secure legitimate labour rights for all Iraqi workers. 
 
Siddeeq Ramadhan of the KGWSU told delegates that Kurdistan is a &ldquo;devoted part of Iraq&rdquo; with a desire to live in peace with Iraq&rsquo;s neighbours. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s final session also passed a motion on installing more safety measures in the mining secure, and called for governments to pass ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines. The ICEM also passed a motion support the International Trade Union Confederation&rsquo;s (ITUC) Decent Work Initiative.

ICEM Congress Closes with Strong Motions on Burma, Iraq

The 4th World Congress of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) opened today, 22 November, in Bangkok, Thailand, with a full slate of speakers, as well as pointed discussion on the future course of the 20-million-member Global Union Federation (GUF). Some 840 trade union leaders from 176 national trade unions in 75 countries are attending the three-day Congress at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. 
 
Global union leaders also addressed the risks to workers of asset-stripping private equity firms, and delegates heard recent examples of job losses caused by such speculative financial tools. The quadrennial Congress, gathered under the banner &lsquo;Global Unity &ndash; Global Equality,&rsquo; continues on Friday, 23 November, with an address by Maung Maung, head of the exiled Burmese labour federation FTUB. 
 

<img height="253" alt="" src="" width="380" />
Italo Rodomonti and Manfred Warda signing ICEM-WFIW integration agreement
The Congress will also consider a host of motions, including one on Burma, labour disputes occurring in the host country, Thailand, a location change of the labour federation from Brussels, Belgium, to Geneva, Switzerland, and one on creating closer cooperation with other GUFs. The election of ICEM General Secretary and President will also occur on 23 November. 
 
Following a welcome by Kyoshi Ochiai of Japanese labour federation UI Zensen, chairman of ICEM&rsquo;s Asia-Pacific Region, delegates heard from Rawi Pupaga, head of ICEM&rsquo;s Thai umbrella of labour unions. He delivered news that a negotiated settlement is near at hand with Thailand&rsquo;s Health Ministry to halt the interim government&rsquo;s plan to privatise the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation. 
Today&rsquo;s session included formal integration of the World Federation of Industrial Workers into the ICEM, a Christian-based network of trade unions. 
 
Featured speaker in the opening session was Guy Ryder, General Secretary of the 168-million-member International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Ryder&rsquo;s comments centered on the shifting and real sentiment inside global trade unions of consolidation and closer cooperation. He spoke on the founding in January 2007 of the Global Unions Councils, an action-oriented structure to link the work of the world&rsquo;s 11 GUFs, as well as the ITUC and the Trade Union Advisory Committee of the OECD. 
<img height="285" alt="" src="" width="380" />
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana
&ldquo;This will not be a dead piece of administration bureaucracy,&rdquo; Ryder promised. &ldquo;We now have the opportunity to work together to identify common priorities, and to design and fund work plans which will benefit from our combined talents, expertise, and strength. 
 
In a keynote speech delivered by ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, the president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) of South Africa, he addressed growing trade union concern on the increasing number of deaths occurring in the mining industry. &ldquo;How many more deaths, anguish, and sorrow must be visited upon innocent mineworkers, their families, and the communities in which they live before we can say enough is enough?&rdquo; he asked. 
 
The Congress opened to the sad news that 100 coal miners had perished in a methane gas explosion in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. And Zokwana&rsquo;s own union, the NUM, has now planned a one-day strike for 4 December across the entire mining sector of South Africa to protest the lack of regard for health and safety by mining houses operating in the mineral-rich nation. It will mark the first total shutdown of all mines in South Africa in 20 years. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda presented the GUF&rsquo;s Secretariat Report, and cited several examples on where union action or voter power has changed the agenda for capital markets. &ldquo;We should never agree with any government&rsquo;s argument that they cannot control the so-called invincible forces of globalisation,&rdquo; he said. 
 
Warda highlighted the ICEM&rsquo;s work on helping to stop the spread of the HIV/AIDS around worksites of the extractive industries, as well as giving instances in which engagement with multinational companies on meaningful social dialogue has produced tangible results. 
 
Henk Van Der Kolk, president of the national union FNV Bondgenoten in The Netherlands, addressed the issue of private equity, and how the rapid movement of capital has undermined workers&rsquo; rights and created mass job losses. He challenged the ICEM to examine how private equity funds are violating the code of conduct of the OECD, as well as rules of the WTO. He also suggested the time might be ripe for the ICEM, or the ITUC, to seek Global Framework Agreements with private equity concerns in order to bring a social dimension to such capital funds. 
 
The Bangkok Congress of the ICEM is featuring speeches and appearances by seven Iraqi trade unionists coming from the oil sector as well as the electric power sector.

ICEM Congress Opens with Cry of Better Mine Safety, Curbs to Capital Markets

Throughout a one-day, 21 November, ICEM conference on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL), taking place prior to the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s 4th ICEM World Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, speaker after speaker confirmed that the trend of industry subcontracting is rapidly increasing throughout the world. 
 
Predominant is the continuing trend of subcontracting in developing nations. With few exceptions, the 300 trade unionists attending cited specific problems with agency, temporary, short-term contract, or self-employment labour, relating directly to the lack of a (decent) employment relationship. 
 
For many of the world&rsquo;s workers, affecting most industries, a prior, normal relationship has been reduced to one of much lesser quality. For others, the relationship has changed to a mere commercial one, with workers&rsquo; taking the job security risks, and an erosion of social benefits affecting both workers and society. 
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The ICEM conference produced several examples in which subcontracting is becoming rampant on several continents. In the mining and diamond sector of India, virtually all miners are contract labourers. In Thailand and Korea, examples were cited where CAL work is omnipresent. 
 
Africa was described as globalisation&rsquo;s play ground. In the mining sector of sub-Saharan Africa, many problems are created by investors who think anything in the employment realm is possible. Other examples came from a wide variety of countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, United States, Japan, Tanzania, Peru, and the UK. 
 
A special contribution came from Hassan J&rsquo;Aama, President of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU). 
 
The conference also delivered, however, case studies in which unions and trade unionists have succeeded in rolling back the trend. One such example came from Brazil. At the oil firm Petrobras four years ago, there were three contract workers for each permanent worker. Today, after sound bargaining by trade unions, the ratio is one permanent worker to every one-and-a-half contract worker. 
 
Chile, Uruguay, South Africa, Macedonia, and Croatia were also quoted as countries where progress has been made, both legislatively and at the collective bargaining table. 
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Hassan J&rsquo;Aama, President of Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Given the difficult situation in many countries, and the need by many to hear how others deal with temporary or agency labour, the ICEM was called upon to continue and intensify its three-year-old campaign on this employment issue. 
 
A key ingredient of this work is the need to guarantee that all CAL workers - everywhere - are entitled to the same wages, benefits, and work rights as the permanent workers. 
 
Also stressed was the importance of legislation efforts in regard to contract and agency labour, preferably at nation-wide level. The principles of the ILO Recommendation 198, the Employment Relationship Recommendation, will be an important tool in this. 
 
Finally, it was agreed that unions need to reach out to short-term contract or temporary workers. In too many countries, such workers have faced resentment from trade union members. Setting up unions, or union divisions, for CAL workers, or &ndash; by many, the preferred option &ndash; simply bringing CAL workers into existing union structures, is seen as an important and needed accomplishment.&nbsp;

Contract and Agency Labour - a Global and Negative Phenomenon

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Calling South Africa&rsquo;s mining industry &ldquo;the killing fields within our economy,&rdquo; the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) submitted a report on mine safety 14 November to the National Parliament&rsquo;s Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy. 
 
The NUM listed eight recommendations needed to reduce the number of accidents and deaths occurring in South African mines. They include obtaining better detection technology on seismic geological events; legislation that will provide steeper fines on mining houses, up to imprisonment for executives when tragedies do occur; enabling legislation to nationalise mines when mining companies are found negligent in death-related accidents; and a mandatory review and heightened training of safety representatives by companies and the government, which must include risk assessment criteria enabling miners to detect and report hazardous conditions. 
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The report cited the number of deaths and injuries per million hours worked in South Africa&rsquo;s mines since the year 2000. And it specifically highlighted the fact that, even though the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1996 sets forth a procedure for legal prosecution in mine safety negligence, no such prosecution has occurred dating back to the year 2000. 
 
&ldquo;Given the gravity of this situation and the need to send a clear message to employers that profit maximisation must not be pursued at the cost of our members&rsquo; lives,&rdquo; the NUM report concludes, we have no alternative but &ldquo;to embark on a National Strike.&rdquo; 
 
In mid-October, the NUM filed for certification for such a strike with the Commission on Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA). That governmental agency, along with the NUM and the Chamber of Mines, is currently in the consultation process that is mandatory before any legal strike can occur.

NUM Recommends Broad Mine Safety Changes to South Africa’s Parliament

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New Zealand&rsquo;s Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) is giving support to a Private Member&rsquo;s Bill put forward by an MP that would give labour agency workers the right to be covered by a collective agreement. 
 
Labour MP Darien Fenton has submitted the legislation to New Zealand&rsquo;s Parliament, saying contract labourers and agency workers are often placed in a workplace to do the same job that full-time workers perform. But, he added, they are paid less and have fewer rights. 
 
The proposed legislative change is called the Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Bill. 
<img height="50" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Fenton saw first-hand the unfairness faced by temporary workers. He recently visited a worksite where temporary workers from an agency are employed. &ldquo;Entitlements are few and far between,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There are no entitlements to breaks apart from lunch. There are no shift payments, no overtime rates, no weekend rates or other allowances, even though directly-employed workers receive these things. 
 
&ldquo;Under my bill, workers like these will be able to join the collective agreement in force at the workplace, thus ensuring they have the same pay and rights as directly-employed workers.&rdquo; 
 
Since Fenton&rsquo;s bill is a Private Member&rsquo;s Bill, in New Zealand it means that it will have to wait to be drawn from the ballot before it is brought before Parliament.

Private Member’s Bill Surfaces in New Zealand on Agency Labour

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French rubber workers at the Goodyear-Dunlop twin plants in Amiens rejected a company restructuring plan that would increase work hours. With a 65% vote, the two factories, totalling 2,700 workers, said &lsquo;no&rsquo; to the American company&rsquo;s plan to reduce weekly rotation teams from five to four, and cut weekend pay for each worker by 10%. 
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All the primary French unions at the plants, including ICEM affiliate CFDT, recommended that workers reject the plan, and following the vote, they urged a quick return to dialogue to re-shape the restructuring plan. 
 
Goodyear&rsquo;s plan would also eliminate 450 jobs over three years through attrition. The company is seeking reorganisation of the plants in northern France in order to implement a &euro;52 million modernisation plan to produce high-performance tyres. But the reorganisation would increase work time by rotation of shifts every eight days. Weekend work would also have increased from 28 to 35 hours, had workers accepted the plan.

French Goodyear Workers Reject Reorganisation that would Increase Work Hours

Archive

ICEM Campaigns for ILO Convention 176

Orta Avrupa'daki lastik sendikaları mali kriz konusunda ortak stratejiler oluşturuyorlar

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 43 April 2009

ICEM Reconfirms Commitment to Fight HIV/AIDS Pandemic

ICEM Congress Closes with Strong Motions on Burma, Iraq

ICEM Congress Opens with Cry of Better Mine Safety, Curbs to Capital Markets

Contract and Agency Labour - a Global and Negative Phenomenon

NUM Recommends Broad Mine Safety Changes to South Africa’s Parliament

Private Member’s Bill Surfaces in New Zealand on Agency Labour

French Goodyear Workers Reject Reorganisation that would Increase Work Hours

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