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Some 190 Petrol-İş members in Turkey at the Sanovel İla&ccedil;ları pharmaceutical company, located in Silivri, Istanbul, were sacked after joining the ICEM-affiliated Turkish union. 
 
Petrol-İş started an organising effort at the plant a year ago. Sanovel İla&ccedil;ları, one of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in Turkey, dismissed five union members on 4 April 2007, after all production workers joined the union.
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On the 6 June, the company announced that it had terminated the employment of 190 union members. Management said union status disqualified the workers from being able to continue to perform their jobs. 
 
Protesting the firings, all workers at Sanovel İla&ccedil;ları began a protest in front of the plant. 
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Striking workers at Sanovel
A large majority of the workers are paid only the minimum legal wage at Sanovel. The average wage at the company is YTL 500, the equivalent of &euro; 275. While working under extremely difficult conditions, workers are not paid any social benefits. 
 
Public opinion in Turkey is on the side of the sacked workers, and other trade unions, as well as a number of political parties, are backing efforts to get the 190 workers reinstated. On 27 June, Salih Kilic, President of Turk-Iş, the national centre to which Petrol-İş is affiliated, visited the dismissed workers and offered the federation's support.

190 Petrol-Is members in Turkey Dismissed for Belonging to a Union

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A mid-June conference in Berlin between two of German&rsquo;s most important trade unions, ICEM affiliate IGBCE and IG Metall, put forward an innovative plan for the future of the country&rsquo;s automotive supply industry. 
 
Entitled &ldquo;Future Prospects for the Automotive Support Industry, Innovation, Growth, and Jobs,&rdquo; the blueprint calls on all social partners &ndash; political parties and governmental officials, auto manufacturers and suppliers, banks, all levels of management, as well as works councils and the trade unions &ndash; to overcome the barriers to German-made auto parts, and to develop initiatives that strengthen research, and education and training of staff. 
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The plan lists obstacles such as high energy costs, global competition, run-away capital, restrictive credit policies of banks, and an overall lack of commitment for domestic financing that limits innovation in the automotive industry. 
 
The two unions cite a number of changes that must occur, including: more available financing for research and development; a focus on quality and technology-driven innovations that takes precedence over any cost factors; a systematic modernisation of German factories; and an emphasis on creating qualified and highly motivated staff, which will drive the innovative process. 
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And, just as important, IGBCE and IG Metall claim Germany needs a sound financial policy on investors, such as private equity funds and other risk capital ventures, which will stop the closures and plundering of stable domestic auto-supply enterprises. 
 
Germany&rsquo;s auto manufacturing and auto-supply industries provide a total of 5.3 million jobs, the majority of which find workers represented by either IG Metall or IGBCE. The Berlin conference represents an important cooperative milestone for the country&rsquo;s two largest manufacturing unions. 
 
The conference was co-chaired by Michael Vassiliadis, a member of the IGBCE governing board, and Berthold Huber, IG Metall&rsquo;s vice chairman.

Joint German Forum between IGBCE and IG Metall Shapes Future of Auto Supply Industry

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A month-long strike by 660 chromium miners in Albania escalated eight days ago as 30 of the striking miners began a hunger strike. Last Thursday, 26 June, five of them were hospitalised due to dehydration. Another four were brought to hospital yesterday, Sunday July 1st, with doctors describing their condition as critical. 
 
The strike at the Italian-based Darfo SRL's&nbsp;mine and one of two ferrochrome smelters at Bulqiza, in north-eastern Albania, where a massive protest was also organised yesterday, is backed by ICEM affiliate Trade Union Federation of Industrial Workers of Albania, as well as by the region's citizens and civil society, in particular the NGO Mjaft. 
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Also yesterday, the leader of the strikers&rsquo; committee, Mr. Dilaver Perkoxha, was arrested. According to the latest information, he remains in the Police Commissariat. A meeting on Saturday between the Minister of Economy, Mr. Genc Ruli, and representatives of the miners failed. 
 
The strike is over safety -- two miners were killed deep in a mine shaft on 11 June -- pay, life insurance, and a bettering of general working conditions. The miners and KSSH placed the demands before&nbsp;Darfo a full six years ago, but neither the mine and smelter management nor the Albanian government officials acted on the pay request or on the abhorrent safety conditions. 
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&quot;We are seeking more information on this dispute,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, &quot;but what we have learned is that in tripartite negotiations, both the government and Bulqiza mine management have been indifferent. 
 
The striking miners and the Federation of Industrial Workers deserve and will get our full support and solidarity.&quot; 
 
The ongoing health and safety deficiencies were manifested when two mineworkers, Hysni Lezni and Avni Duri&ccedil;i were killed 1,000 metres underground in Darfo's chromium mine. The pay dispute is over the fact that mine and smelting workers receive sub-standard monthly salaries compared to other industrial workers in the central European country.

Albanian Chrome Miners Strike over Safety, Pay, and Work Conditions

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ICEM Workshop on HIV/AIDS and women workers in Latin America and the Caribbean
A workshop to plan activities on HIV/AIDS with special focus on gender issues was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 30-31 May 2007. The meeting opened by identifying the prejudices in connection with HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS has to be taken out of the private sphere. It is easier to tackle if it is discussed in public and in the unions. Women have to stop being victims. 
 
In the Caribbean, the region which is currently most affected by HIV after Africa, the Oil Workers Trade Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago has been working with the ILO. There is still a stigma about HIV and fear of disclosure and discrimination. The OWTU is currently negotiating a policy with the state-owned oil company Petrotrin. It is more difficult to negotiate with small employers 
 
Two important observations are that deaths have gone down since anti-retroviral drugs have become more affordable and that, still, more women are getting sick than men. 
 
A presentation was made on the correct use of condoms, with special emphasis on the female condom. The suggestion was made that ICEM should campaign with governments and international organisations for female condoms to be made available at more reasonable cost. In addition, Maria Luisa from FEQUIMFAR, Brazil talked about her experiences of being HIV positive in a very moving speech. 
 
The conclusions for unions to take the work forward varied greatly. In Costa Rica, for example, where work has not started, the union proposed creating awareness and called for a conference to be scheduled in October, where men and women should be invited. World AIDS Day, 1 December, should be a good day for union-company campaigns. Similar suggestions came from Uruguay and Colombia. 
 
CNQ-CUT, Brazil, proposed developing new clauses in collective bargaining agreements to eliminate discrimination and victimisation and guarantee medicines for those at work. 
 
HIV/AIDS should be included in health courses and the FORMAQUIMULHER women&rsquo;s training courses. The gender and health committees should work in partnership and &lsquo;train the trainers&rsquo; programs should include collective bargaining on HIV/AIDS. 
 
The SNQ-FS union, Brazil, suggested continuing the Summer Without AIDS program all year. This programme has been successful since 1995. The programme seeks to check where testing is done and includes HIV tests in preventive treatment. The use of the female condom is also encouraged. 
 
In Chile, women want to check all clauses in collective agreements to see if HIV/AIDS is adequate covered. They want to consult the company&rsquo;s medical services to find out what the company has been doing. And the women unionists would also analyse the company&rsquo;s position and propose common platforms on HIV/AIDS. 
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Women&rsquo;s Rights Key to Africa&rsquo;s AIDS Crisis
Improving women&rsquo;s rights could boost the battle against HIV/AIDS in southern African countries, where women are often forced into risky sexual behaviour by male partners or economic desperation. 
 
Physicians for Human Rights said its study of 2,000 women in Botswana and Swaziland showed that inequality and gender discrimination were major factors behind the pandemic in these countries. 
 
The impact of women&rsquo;s lack of power cannot be underestimated. In Africa, women make up almost 60 percent of HIV-positive people; in the age group 15-25 years, this soars to 75 percent. 
 
Economic dependency on men meant that women often lose control of their sexual choices, including whether or not to use a condom. Social inequality meant that men and women are held to different standards of behaviour when it comes to multiple sexual partners. The report can be accessed at 
<a href="http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/documents/reports/botswana-swaziland-report.pdf">http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/documents/ 
reports/botswana-swaziland-report.pdf</a>
(Source: Reuters World Report, 25 May) 
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China: Infection Rate among Women Increases by 43%
In China, more and more women are infected with the HIV virus. Between 2000 and 2006, their proportion increased from 19.4 percent to 27.8 percent of all infected, an increase of 43 percent. 
 
(Source: NZZ, Switzerland, 6 June &ndash; from Xinhua News Agency) 
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G8 Summit: Unions Condemn Backsliding on AIDS
Trade unions joined HIV/AIDS activists in condemning the Summit in Germany for backsliding on its promise for universal access to prevention, treatment and care by 2010. In the final communiqu&eacute;, the G8 had almost halved its goal by targeting only 5 million in Africa with life-saving antiretroviral drugs. 
 
On the other hand, progress was made towards better G8 monitoring. This year, a first-ever monitoring exercise was undertaken. The Global Union AIDS Programme has lobbied for this provision over the last two years. It must now become an enduring and effective working tool for the G8. 
 
The G8 Summit in Gleneagles in 2005 committed to reaching universal access, which is defined by UNAIDS as 80% coverage. Between 10 and 12 million people will need treatment by 2010, yet the same leaders now have only set a target of 5 million in the &ldquo;next few years&rdquo;. 
 
The G8 has vaguely promised to spend USD 60 billion on AIDS, TB, malaria (for all three diseases, not just for AIDS) as well as to strengthen health systems, without clarifying aims or timelines, specifying only that it will be spent &ldquo;over the coming years&rdquo;. UNAIDS estimates show that, by 2010, USD 23 billion will be needed for AIDS alone, each year. The G8 fair share of this figure would be almost USD 16 billion. 
 
&ldquo;Africa will suffer greatly if the commitment is scaled back&rdquo;, said Elizabeth Mataka, the UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa who is also the Executive Director of the Zambia National AIDS Network and the representative for non-governmental organisations from developing countries on the Board of the Global Fund, where she currently serves as Vice-Chair. 
 
(Source: Global Union AIDS Programme Press Release, 8 June; TUAC Press Release, 8 June; World AIDS Campaign Press Release, 7 June and PR Newswire, Lusaka, 5 June)
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Global Fund Releases Report on Participation of Civil Society
Civil society (CS) has played a key role in the design and development of the Global Fund, and in the response to AIDS, TB and malaria, but some challenges remain if the contribution of CS is to be maximised. This is the main message of a new report released by the Global Fund, &ldquo;An Evolving Partnership: The Global Fund and Civil Society in the Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.&rdquo; 
 
The 49-page report describes the participation of CS in four main areas: advocacy and resource mobilisation; the Board and governance of the Fund; CCMs; and the implementation of Global Fund grants. The report also describes how the Global Fund Secretariat works with CS. The report summarizes the history of CS involvement in the response to pandemics, and describes the comparative advantages of CS. 
 
The report says that, throughout the development and evolution of the Global Fund, CS has encouraged governments to commit more resources; that CS representatives have played a valuable role on the Fund&rsquo;s Board, on CCMs and in programme implementation; and that CS has proven effective in targeting and delivering services to hard-to-reach communities. 
 
Supporting this view on CS involvement, a recent statistical analysis published in The Lancet found that Global Fund grants where the Principal Recipient (PR) is not a government entity are somewhat more likely to perform well. Grants in which the PR is from civil society, private sector, or a UN agency were 17% more likely to receive an &quot;A&quot; performance rating than grants for which the PR is from government. 
 
The authors note that this is probably because government agencies often have problems with bureaucracy and capacity. This, in turn, helps validate the GF Board's recent decision that countries should be encouraged to assign non-government PRs to operate alongside government ones. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 76, 15 June 2007. 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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The World Bank&rsquo;s Multi-country HIV/AIDS Programme in Africa
In a report on the activities of the Multi-country HIV/AIDS Programme in Africa (MAP) from 2000 to 2006, released on 14 June, the World Bank notes that &ldquo;mobilisation of empowered grassroots communities, along with delivering condoms and life-saving treatments, are beginning to slow the pace of the continent&rsquo;s epidemic.&rdquo; 
 
At its inception, MAP was the most important source of funds for HIV/AIDS work in Africa, but funding from other sources, notably the Global Fund, has since increased considerably. Almost USD 1.3 billion was invested over six years. 
 
MAP funds were disbursed to around 41,000 different organisations. MAP has also helped to establish 1,512 new Voluntary Counselling and Testing sites in 17 countries. 
 
The full report is available on the World Bank&rsquo;s website <a href="http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21370918~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html">here</a>. 
 
(Source: allAfrica.com News, 18 June) 
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Zimbabwe: HIV/AIDS Policy for the Mining Sector 
The recent launch of an HIV/AIDS policy for the mining sector in Zimbabwe is an important step in the fight against the pandemic, which is wrecking havoc in one of the country&rsquo;s major economic sectors. 
 
The policy, which was formulated after extensive consultations between tripartite partners, aims to guide and direct the process of dealing with HIV and AIDS in the workplace at all levels of the mining sector. 
 
Government departments, the Chamber of Mines and the Associated Mine Workers&rsquo; Union of Zimbabwe, an ICEM affiliate, worked together with the ILO to produce the mining policy. 
 
Key principles of the policy include the recognition that HIV/AIDS is a workplace issue, non-discrimination, non-victimisation and confidentiality. 
 
Implementation strategies require enterprises to put in place their own programmes and allocate time, human and financial resources. Workers must be involved in programme formulation, implantation, monitoring and evaluation. 
 
(Source: The Herald, Harare, 7June 2007) 
 
(Note by the editor of the e-bulletin: The Herald is a newspaper controlled by the Mugabe regime. While the conclusion of an HIV/AIDS policy for the mining sector is very good news, it is difficult to understand how in a country with some 80% unemployment, the collapse of the health system, an ever-increasing inflation rate that has reached more than 4,000% recently and the complete depletion of foreign exchange reserves, effective follow-up measures in prevention, treatment and care can be taken.) 
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News from ILOAIDS 
 
At a meeting in Geneva during the International Labour Conference, Labour ministers from the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) resolved to establish a SAARC Forum on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. 
 
The National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) launched its HIV/AIDS Workplace Programme in collaboration with the Namibia Development Foundation. This programme will encourage and support integrated HIV/AIDS interventions including behaviour change, measures for care, support and treatment and the elimination of stigma and discrimination. 
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News from the Global Union Programme and Global Union Federations
The Global Unions AIDS Programme organised a sub-regional HIV/AIDS workshop for Burkina Faso and C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire in Abidjan, 6-8 June. 27 unionists participated in this workshop; the ICEM was represented by the national HIV/AIDS Coordinator in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, Charlotte Nguessan. 
 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS updates (no. 22 and 23 of 1 and 15 June) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF - <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) reports, among other things, on its workshop on HIV/AIDS in the Arab world; on the HIV/AIDS situation in the Caribbean; on the Jamaican Senate passing a motion to prohibit HIV screening of prospective workers and on the ITF Regional Workshop for the Caribbean in Georgetown, Guyana. 
 
In its most recent newsletter on EFA and HIV/AIDS Prevention at Schools, the Education International (EI) has published, among other, articles on a new television programme in Botswana aired in schools across the country and on the meeting of the Inter Agency Task Team on Education and HIV/AIDS - <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/efaids">www.ei-ie.org/efaids</a>.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 21

Bangkok, 17-18 November 2007 
&ldquo;Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre&rdquo;, Bangkok
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Day 1 
 
9:30&nbsp; Opening
Evgenia Esenina, Chair of ICEM Women&rsquo;s Committee 
Senzeni Zokwana, President of ICEM 
Manfred Warda, General Secretary of ICEM 
 
Greetings from: Elsa Ramos, ILO, Vesna Rodic, FES 
 
THEME ONE: PEACE 
 
Contributions from: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>Burma</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Sintraelecol, Colombia</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians, Iraq</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>General Union of Petroleum, Mining Chemicals and Similar Substances Workers in Palestine</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Zimbabwe Electricity and Energy Workers Union </div>
 </li>
</ul>
11:00 Coffee break 
 
11:30 Conference reconvenes 
 
 
THEME TWO: CONTRACT AND AGENCY LABOUR 
 
Presentations by: Thailand and India 
 
Discussion 
 
13:00 Lunch 
 
14:30 Conference reconvenes 
Two presentations by Government Pharmaceuticals Organisation 
 
 
THEME THREE: HEALTH 
 
Presentations by Brazil and Germany 
 
17:00 Meeting of ICEM women from Central Europe, Northern Europe, Western Europe 
 
18:00 End of Day One 
 
 
Day Two 
 
9:00 Presentation by Japanese Affiliates on work-life balance 
 
9:30 Working Groups on work-life balance 
 
10:30 Report Back from Working Groups 
 
11:00 Coffee break 
 
11:30 Conference reconvenes 
 
13:00 Lunch 
 
14:30 Conference reconvenes 
 
14:30 Working Groups on Motions 
 
16:00 Elections of Chair and Vice-Chair of Women&rsquo;s Committee 
 
17:00 End of Women&rsquo;s Conference

4th ICEM World Congress - Women’s Conference

<a href="#PPT">For a collection of Powerpoint presentations at the meeting, click here</a>
<img height="113" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Draft Agenda 
Chair of the meeting: Sjaiful DP, FSP KEP Indonesia
<ul>
 <li>9.00. Opening by Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary 
 </li>
 <li>9.10 Welcome by Vesna Rodic, Resident Director FES Thailand 
 </li>
 <li>9.15. Aranya Pakapath, ICEM Project coordinator, overview of the contract and agency labour situation in Asia 
 
 9.30. Sergio Novais, ICEM Vice-President, overview of the contract and agency labour situation in Latin America 
 
 9.45. Kenny Mogane, ICEM Project coordinator, overview of the contract and agency labour situation in Sub-Saharan Africa 
 
 10.00. J&oslash;rgen Juul Rasmussen, DEF, Denmark, overview of the contract and agency labour situation in Western and Northern Europe 
 
 </li>
 <li>10.15. - 10.45. Break 
 </li>
 <li>10.45. - 12.30. Additional speakers 
 
 Bambang Surjono, FSPKEP, Indonesia, Indonesian case study 
 Mato Lalic, ICEM Project coordinator, on the situation in Central Europe 
 Tony Burke, UNITE, UK, UK case study * 
 Carol Fraser, CEP Canada, on the situation in North America 
 Lev Mironov, ROGWU, Russia, on the situation in Eastern Europe 
 Olucha Umeh, NUPENG, Nigeria, case study 
 Maria Angelica Vera Horma, FENATRAPECH, Chile, Chilean case study * 
 Hassan J&rsquo;Aama, IFOU, Iraq, on the situation in Middle East * 
 
 </li>
 <li>12.30. - 14.00. Break </li>
</ul>
<img height="202" alt="" src="" width="142" />
<ul>
 <li>14.00. ILO representative* 
 
 14.15. Jim Baker, Council of Global Unions Coordinator, on the impact for organising and bargaining 
 
 14.30. Evgenia Esenina, ICEM Vice-President, ROGWU, Russia, on the gender aspect 
 
 </li>
 <li>14.45. Plenary debate 
 </li>
 <li>15.00. Break 
 </li>
 <li>15.30. Brendan Martin, ICEM Project consultant, past and future of the ICEM contract and agency labour campaign 
 
 15.50. Discussion 
 
 </li>
 <li>16.50. Conclusion 
 </li>
 <li>17.00. End of meeting </li>
</ul>
* to be confirmed
Conference facilitator: Jeannette van Dongen, ICEM Project Officer
<a name="PPT"></a><img height="60" alt="" src="" width="70" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="60" alt="" src="" width="121" align="absMiddle" />
&nbsp;<img height="55" alt="" src="" width="61" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<img height="44" alt="" src="" width="200" align="absMiddle" /><a name="PPT"></a>
Presentations from the Meeting
&nbsp;

ICEM Contract and Agency labour Conference

<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2485&amp;la=EN">ICEM Congress Closes with Strong Motions on Burma, Iraq</a> 
24 November 2007
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2484&amp;la=EN">ICEM elects Senzeni Zokwana, Manfred Warda to lead 20-Million-Member Global Union Federation</a> 
23 November 2007
&nbsp;<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2481&amp;la=EN">ICEM Congress Opens with Cry of Better Mine Safety, Curbs to Capital Markets</a> 
22 November 2007
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2482&amp;la=EN">4th ICEM World Congress 
Opening Speech by ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana</a> 
22 November 2007
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2483&amp;la=EN">4th ICEM World Congress 
Speech by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda</a> 
22 November 2007
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2479&amp;la=EN">Contract and Agency Labour - a Global and Negative Phenomenon</a> 
21 November 2007
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2474&amp;la=EN">ICEM Women Elect New Vice President, Adopt 7-Point Programme</a> 
18 November 2007

4th ICEM World Congress - CONGRESS NEWS

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Following overwhelming rejection of a collective agreement proposal on 28 September, 500 members of New Zealand&rsquo;s Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) have put off industrial action late last week after the plastic employers&rsquo; association promised to improve their offer.
<img height="98" src="" width="100" alt="" />
EPMU National Industry Officer Rachel Mackintosh said the decision to call off the strike was taken reluctantly, but employers pledged in talks late last week to revise the offer to include added leave time and recognition for long-time service. &ldquo;At this stage, we don&rsquo;t know the details of the offer, but the heat is on the employers because they know we&rsquo;re determined to see this through and get a fair deal,&rdquo; said Mackintosh. 
 
She said the union&rsquo;s bargaining committee for plastics thought it was important to give bosses one further opportunity to include added leave time in a new proposal. The EPMU represents plastics manufacturing workers of 13 companies at 16 worksites.
<img height="50" src="" width="100" alt="" />
On 28 September, 81% of the workers voted to reject a prior industry offer based on the failure to address their service leave claim. They also endorsed a resolution to engage in industrial action. In the first two weeks of September, EPMU members in plastics manufacturing had rejected an earlier employers&rsquo; proposal. 
 
EPMU members in metal sector bargaining won an extra week&rsquo;s leave in that set of talks in 2007, and plastics workers of the EPMU are adamant on posting the same gains.

Plastic Manufacturing Strike in New Zealand Averted for Now

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Three US congressional members from the US House of Represents have written to American management of Continental AG, asking that they rescind the deep medical cuts made to a retirees&rsquo; health care plan when the company closed tyre plants in the US. 
 
Linda S&aacute;nchez (California), Stephen Lynch (Massachusetts), and Michael Michaud (Maine), members of the Labor and Working Families Caucus of the US Congress, called on the German company to &ldquo;promptly fulfil Continental&rsquo;s contractual obligations to retired workers.&rdquo;
The letter was on behalf of ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers (USW), which has pressed through court and other actions that Continental&rsquo;s unilateral change to the health care plan was illegal. Effective 1 March 2007, the rubber maker imposed a US$3,000 annual cap on health care payments for each of 2,500 retired Conti workers and dependents. The USW contends that some retirees now must pay up to US$12,000 per year in out-of-pocket money to cover their health care needs. 
<img height="63" alt="" src="" width="120" />
On 31 July 2007, a US federal district judge, in a summary judgement in the state of Ohio, ruled that Continental had illegally reduced the benefit levels for retirees and dependents, stating the company must fulfil its contractual obligations with the USW over health care premiums and funding. Continental Tire of North American, the US subsidiary, immediately filed an appeal to that judgement in another US court. 
 
The decision to appeal and delay rightful health care benefits was a blow to former Continental workers in Charlotte, state of North Carolina; Mayfield, state of Kentucky, and Byron, Ohio, where, in 2006, they had already been victims of Continental plant closings. 
 
The US elected representatives, speaking out for fairness and justice, told Continental that its practices were having a devastating impact on its American retirees. The letter stated that considering the 30-plus years of dedicated service by former Continental employees performed, as well as the extraordinary health hazards inside the tyre industry, it is hard to understand the inadequate health care benefits these retirees now receive.

US Congress Members Urge Continental AG to Rescind Retiree Health Care Cuts

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Strong, last-minute arm-twisting by the US government apparently proved effective, as Costa Ricans went to the polls yesterday, 7 October, in a referendum on ratification of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the US. With over 90% of polling complete early on Monday, the &ldquo;yes&rdquo; vote has gained just over 50%, while those voting against tallied 47.6%. 
 
Some 60% of Costa Rica&rsquo;s 2.6 million voters turned out for Sunday&rsquo;s balloting. A 40% turnout was needed to make the plebiscite legally binding. Costa Rica was the only one of six Latin countries to put ratification of CAFTA before voters. Earlier, the governments of the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua ratified CAFTA, which will open trading markets between the countries and the US. 
 
On Saturday, the Bush administration issued a terse warning to Costa Rica&rsquo;s citizens, stating that if ratification did not occur, it would not extend existing preferential tariffs on certain goods traded between the two countries. The US government also said under no circumstances would it re-negotiate the trade agreement with Costa Rica.
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In polls taken as late as the middle of last week, proponents of a &ldquo;no&rdquo; vote, led by unions and others under the banner &ldquo;Patriotic Movement Against FTA and US,&rdquo; were leading in polls, with upwards of 55% of Costa Ricans saying they would reject the plan. The opponents, including national labour centres Central del Movimiento de Trabajadores Costarricenses (CMTC) and the Confederaci&oacute;n de Trabajadores Rerum Navarum (CTRN), have been deeply suspicious of the US-prescribed trade and privatisation agreement. 
 
Specifically, they expressed concern over a flood of cheap US food products entering the country. Opponents also cited privatisation of Costa Rica&rsquo;s state-run telecommunications company, the country&rsquo;s insurance services, and its agriculture industry. 
 
In the waning days of the campaign, however, besides the campaign interference by the US government, President Oscar Arias &ndash; a proponent &ndash; termed a &ldquo;no&rdquo; vote as &ldquo;collective suicide.&rdquo; Two month&rsquo;s before Sunday&rsquo;s vote, a high-level memorandum from top aides of Arias was leaked that outlined a dirty tricks campaign against the &ldquo;no&rdquo; faction. The memo caused the temporary resignation of Second Vice President and Planning Minister Kevin Casas.

Costa Rica Narrowly Passes Free Trade Pact in 7 October Balloting

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