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Actions around the world have begun, marking the Global Days of Action for trade union rights in Mexico, 14-19 February. Support the campaign now by writing to the Mexican government through the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=863">LabourStart campaign</a> here.&nbsp; 
 
Today, an international trade union delegation met with the Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Mr. Gomez Camacho, to deliver the demands of the global campaign. Some 60 labour activists turned out. 
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Adriana Rosenzvaig, Manfred Warda, Fernando Lopes
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, Fernando Lopes, Assistant General Secretary of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and Adriana Rosenzvaig, SCORE Director at UNI, met inside with the Ambassador while a demonstration continued outside the Mission. 
Warda said the one-hour-and-twenty-minute meeting proved that Camacho had been briefed on the manifestation's purpose. &quot;The only issue he was not familiar with is protection contracts in Mexico,&quot; said Warda. &quot;We had to explain how these contracts infringe on genuine trade union&nbsp;rights.&quot;
A 50,000 strong march in Mexico City on 31 January saw trade unionists protest shoulder to shoulder against the repressive policies of the Calder&oacute;n regime. The National Union of Miners marched with the Electricians Union, Pilots&rsquo;, Teachers&rsquo;, and farmers&rsquo; organisations, calling for social, political, and economic change. 
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Geneva police question ICEM's Tom Grinter and UNIA's Luis Blanco over rally permit
The Calder&oacute;n government must heed the warnings of this global movement, and end abuses of trade union rights in Mexico. 
 
Rallies and meetings with Mexican Ambassadors will be conducted simultaneously in over 30 countries this week, in a coordinated effort by unions affiliated to the ICEM, IMF, UNI, the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation, and the ITUC. 
Where demonstrations are not possible, unions are sending written protests and demands to the Mexican government from around the world. 
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Mexico City
Australia: The global campaign will hold a launch event with the support of Australian trade unions on 15 February. Co-ordinated by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), with support from the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU), the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), the Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU), and others, a rally and meeting with the Mexican ambassador is planned for 18 February. At the biennial delegates&rsquo; conference of the AWU tomorrow, IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina will address the global campaign on Mexico. 
 
Canada: With coordinating support from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada, the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW), Transport Workers&rsquo; Union (TWU), and the United Steelworkers (USW), leading actions will occur in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. These will include a meeting with the Mexican ambassador in Canada, and demonstrations, depending on the local circumstances. 
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Toronto, Canada
France: Unions in France are organizing for a delegation to visit the Mexican Embassy in Paris. In addition, through their existing relationship with managers, French unions are also contacting French transnationals on situations of companies&rsquo; production plants in Mexico regarding unions, collective bargaining, and wage and working conditions. 
 
Mexico: Unions in Mexico are planning to take action over the entire week, including a press conference in the capital, rallies at embassies of countries where others are taking action, and a march and seminar on 19 February. The Mexican Miners&rsquo; Union is also planning a series of events in Pasta de Conchos, Puebla, and elsewhere where the union has strong presences. 
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Jakarta, Indonesia
The Netherlands: FNV Bondgenoten will continue its trade union freedom campaign during the global week of action, including media work and asking five Dutch multinationals with protection contracts in Mexico to start dialogue with the trade union. Those companies are AkzoNobel, Heineken, ING, Philips, and Unilever. For more go to: <a href="http://tradeunionfreedom.fnvcompanymonitor.nl/">http://tradeunionfreedom.fnvcompanymonitor.nl/</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;
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Brussels, Belgium
Russia: Unions in Russia were awarded the right to protest at the Mexican Embassy and are preparing a letter to give to the Mexican ambassador and articles and press coverage on the issue. 
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Moscow, Russia, -25&deg;C
Turkey: Unions in Turkey will mobilize members to visit the Mexican embassy, present a protest letter, and take picket action in front of the embassy. 
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Geneva, Switzerland
US: AFL-CIO and affiliates, including USW are holding events in 14 cities. The ICEM-affiliated United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) is organising actions also in many cities. The priority is to meet with Mexican embassy/consulate officials, supplemented by demonstrations and press work where appropriate. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usyexGRbDgI&amp;feature=autoplay&amp;list=ULOqVyVe-7Clo&amp;index=2&amp;playnext=2">Washington D.C. picket</a>. 
 
Download the <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP">campaign materials</a> here.

Mexico Days of Action Begin

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS Project in 2010, on why the Global Fund is in the headlines for the wrong reasons, and on the five countries to watch in 2011 on the development of the pandemic. 
 
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
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The ICEM HIV/AIDS Project in 2010: Another Successful Year 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS Project implemented a full programme in 2010, the first year of a new cycle with sponsorship from solidarity support organisations SASK of Finland and FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands. 
 
At sub-regional level, the feminisation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been addressed in a women&rsquo;s workshop that was an overwhelming success. In some countries, activities only for women were organised taking the experience of women who had attended the workshop to the national level. 
 
Two sub-regional workshops for English and French speaking West Africa and for Southern Africa focussed on HIV/AIDS workplace policies and programmes. They also made participants familiar with the new ILO Recommendation No. 200, concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work. The concept of a worker&rsquo;s passport, which gives basic information on HIV and AIDS, as well as information on sites and clinics where support and care are available, was discussed and endorsed by participants. 
 
At national level, programmes were implemented in 11 sub-Saharan African countries. The space in this newsletter is not sufficient to give a full account of activities in all 11 countries, which include C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, the DR Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritius, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 
 
In Zimbabwe, training courses were again organised after an interruption of many years. Good examples in some countries, especially Nigeria and Tanzania, prompted the national coordinator in Ghana to organise the first VCT campaign under the auspices of the HIV/AIDS project in the country. In Mauritius, the national coordinator overcame the difficulty to access workers at their workplace by producing a DVD on HIV/AIDS and distributing it to shop stewards. Excellent results can also be reported from C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire where companies have been cooperating with trade unions on HIV/AIDS. Guinea is a relatively new target country. New foreign investment in the mining sector gives additional significance to the HIV/AIDS project in Guinea. 
 
Gratefully, additional funding from the Humanity Fund of the ICEM affiliate, the Communication, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada enabled us to run additional HIV/AIDS activities in Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago. 
 
In the first six months of 2010, programmes also continued in India with the support from the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, which has agreed to continue its support in 2011. 
 
With a financial contribution from the ICEM affiliated Industri Energi (IE) of Norway, the ICEM broke ground with a first HIV/AIDS workshop in a Middle Eastern country, Jordan. 
 
The second phase of the VCT campaign, sponsored by the Women&rsquo;s Department of the German ICEM affiliate IG BCE, was successfully implemented in Mwasa, Tanzania. 
 
The Danish solidarity support organisation LO/FTF continued support for the HIV/AIDS project in Ethiopia in cooperation with ICEM affiliate, the National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical, and Mine Trade Unions (NIFECM). 
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HIV/AIDS &ndash; Five Countries to Watch in 2011 
 
Things are generally more positive on the global HIV front: the number of new infections is down, treatment figures are up, and headway is being made in the fight to end discrimination against people living with HIV. However, there is still work to be done and progress in the fight against the pandemic has been uneven. IRIN/PlusNews lists five countries that could determine the future of the pandemic this year: 
 
South Africa - The sheer size of the epidemic in South Africa means it cannot be ignored: more than one million people are on treatment &ndash; the biggest antiretroviral programme in the world - and more than five million people are living with HIV. 
 
The country also offers the best-case scenario in terms of HIV/AIDS funding since the government is largely responsible for financing the country's AIDS efforts. South Africa does not rely heavily on external resources as other countries do. After years of dragging its feet, the government has introduced policies and initiatives aimed at strengthening the HIV/AIDS response, including a national HIV counselling and testing campaign, and the decentralization of ARV treatment, from doctors prescribing at hospitals, to nurses providing the drugs at health facilities. This year will provide an idea of how these measures pan out. 
 
Russia - With 37% of the country's estimated 1.8 million intravenous drug users (IDUs) believed to be living with HIV, Russia is dealing with one of Eastern Europe's largest HIV epidemics. The country has been heavily criticized for its refusal to adopt evidence-based, harm-reduction techniques for treatment of drug users. Russia prefers instead to put IDUs in prison, where clean needles are harder to find, thereby raising the HIV threat. Experts say unless the drug policy changes, HIV prevalence is likely to continue increasing. 
 
Uganda - Once hailed as a beacon in the fight against HIV, Uganda&rsquo;s prevalence rate fell from 18% in 1992 to about 6.1% in 2004. The government's aggressive prevention campaigns focused on abstinence, sexual fidelity, and condom use, becoming the foundation of national HIV prevention programmes across sub-Saharan Africa. Today, however, UNAIDS reports that the country's HIV prevalence is between 6.5 to seven percent. 
 
There is also evidence of apparent reversals in preventive sexual behaviour in the general population, reports the Uganda AIDS Commission. The proportion of adults who say they had sex with a person who was not a permanent partner has grown since 1995, from 12% to 16% for women and from 29% to 36% for men. 
 
Haiti - The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the country a year ago damaged its health infrastructure extensively. While most patients who were on life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs before the quake were traced and put back on treatment, the country's HIV programmes remain unstable. 
 
Reports of sexual abuse and transactional sex in Port-au-Prince's tent cities raise the possibility of increased infections, while the threat of tuberculosis in the overcrowded camps is also high. As the country continues to rebuild basic services this year, it will be important for the government, faced with multiple competing interests, to ensure that HIV/AIDS receives the attention it needs. 
 
India - More than 80% of all donor-funded antiretroviral drugs used in developing countries are Indian-manufactured generics. However, an imminent Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union could potentially see the country lose its ability to produce the cheap generic medicines so vital to healthcare in poor nations. 
 
The EU is pushing for data exclusivity, which means Indian generic manufacturers would no longer be able to use existing drug trials to make identical generic drugs. Instead, they would be required to conduct their own clinical trials, delaying access to poor countries for these drugs for several years. EU officials say data exclusivity clauses in the FTA will take into consideration the role India plays in producing generic medicines for the developing world. 
 
With increasing pressure on India and other developing nations to adhere to tighter intellectual property laws, 2011 could be critical to the future of HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions. 
 
(Source: PlusNews, Nairobi, 28 January) 
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Global Fund in the Headlines 
 
On 23 January, the Associated Press (AP) ran a long story about the Global Fund entitled, &quot;Fraud Plagues Global Health Fund.&quot; The story was picked up by nearly 200 media outlets in the U.S. and 50 in other parts of the world. 
 
The story stated that in Mali, the Fund's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that US$4 million in funding was misappropriated. Half of Mali's TB and malaria grant money went to supposed &quot;training events,&quot; for which signatures were forged on receipts for per diem payments and travel expense claims. Mali has arrested 15 people suspected of committing fraud, and its health minister resigned without explanation two days before the audit was made public. 
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The AP story added that in Mauritania, the OIG found &quot;pervasive fraud,&quot; with US$4.1 million &ndash; 67% of an HIV grant &ndash; lost to faked documents and other fraud. And in Djibouti, the OIG found that about 30% of grant funding they examined was lost, unaccounted for, or misused. Much of this money went to buy motor vehicles. Almost US$750,000 was transferred out of one account with no explanation. 
 
In a commentary, GFO Editor Bernard Rivers wrote, &ldquo;When any entity gives multi-million dollar grants, there will always be corruption. The key issue is what is being done to unearth the corruption and minimise losses. The Global Fund is far better at investigating allegations of corruption and at recovering stolen monies than most or all other major aid donors.&rdquo; 
 
Another thing that distinguishes the Global Fund from other donors is its willingness to publish the details of the corruption that it has unearthed. In that sense, the Global Fund has become the victim of its own toughness and transparency. The Global Fund says that it has a &ldquo;zero tolerance&rdquo; policy with respect to corruption. That's the right approach! Every stolen Global Fund dollar is a dollar that can't be spent on saving lives. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 139 of 27 January. 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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Ethiopia: Transport Sector Launches HIV Policy 
 
The Ethiopian government has unveiled an HIV policy for its transport sector, which has grown significantly in recent years alongside the rapidly expanding road network. Various national studies have shown that those working across the transport sector - especially drivers and their assistants - are vulnerable to HIV infection as they spend considerable time away from their families. 
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The country's Federal Transport Authority (FTA) and commercial transporters jointly issued the policy in December (Comment from the editor: no mention of the union having been consulted or involved). It sets up a national taskforce to raise funds from state and non-state actors to finance projects, including condom distribution, and helping transport staff and family members living with the virus. 
 
Transport workers often have sex with local sex workers when on the road for days at a time. According to the latest UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS country progress report on Ethiopia, a 2009 study found that truckers and intercity bus drivers formed 22% of the client base of sex workers. 
 
A 2009 government survey from mobile counselling and testing clinics in 40 towns located on the major transportation corridors that link Addis Ababa to Ethiopia's borders, found that 25.3% of the sex workers were HIV-positive. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, Addis Ababa, 17 January 2011) 
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South Africa: Fighting Back 
 
With only 0.7% of the world&rsquo;s population, South Africa has 17% of its HIV/AIDS sufferers &ndash; some six million in a population of almost 50 million. After a decade of denial by the government, authorities are fighting back. 
 
South Africa has the world&rsquo;s biggest antiretroviral treatment programme, providing ARVs to around one million patients. This means that two-thirds of those in need of ARVs are now getting them. But the target of 80% by the end of 2011 is unlikely to be hit, mainly because of the lack of medical staff. 
 
South Africa has also launched the world&rsquo;s biggest testing campaign aimed at checking 15 million people within 15 months. But although new infections fell by a third between 2002 and 2008, they are still running at more than 400,000 a year. According to research in South Africa, barely four out of ten sexually active men use condoms. Another reason for the continued spread is the exceptionally high rape rate. 
 
(Source: The Economist, 4 December 2010) 
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News from Global Unions 
<img alt="" src="" width="70" height="70" />
The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) in its latest HIV/AIDS update No. 98 of 15 December and 1 January, reports on a seminar organised by the Communication and Transport Workers Union of Tanzania (COTWU-T) on HIV/AIDS workplace policies and collective bargaining. COTWU-T believes that serious and continued HIV/AIDS workplace interventions can minimize or control the transmission of HIV to workers. It is therefore the union&rsquo;s strategy to ensure that there are guidelines for implementation so as to combat the epidemic from the grassroots. As long as the Collective Bargaining Agreement is a tool for improving working conditions, a clause specifically mentioning the fight against HIV/AIDS and its impacts should be openly elaborated. This is why COTWU-T looks for every opportunity to establish and conclude a CBA with a clause on HIV/AIDS. 
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Five Years Ago: From the February 2006 Issue 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In current issues, we refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In the February 2006 issue of the e-bulletin, we reported on the preparations for the 16th International AIDS Conference (IAC), which was to be organised in Toronto in August. In cooperation with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), a Global Labour Forum was planned to be organised during the IAC to underline the impact and effectiveness of HIV/AIDS policies and actions at the workplace to fight the pandemic. Labour has since made sure that its voice be heard at subsequent International AIDS Conferences. 
 
We also gave figures which had been jointly released by China&rsquo;s Ministry of Health, the WHO, and UNAIDS on 25 January 2006 and which estimated the number of people living with HIV at 630,000 in 2005, down from an estimate of 840,000 in 2003. This was not necessarily a success story in prevention but rather due to errors in estimates. 
 
The survey therefore cautioned against complacency, saying the figure was still rising and the virus was spreading from high-risk groups to the general population. Experts have warned that China&rsquo;s increasingly mobile population faces a broader risk as more infections occur through drug injection and sexual contact. 
 
It is interesting to note that now on the UNAIDS website, AIDSinfo, on which country fact sheets can be accessed, information is given in graphs with rather wide brackets. One has to look very closely to determine that about 750,000 people were living with HIV in China in 2009. The band width is an extraordinary 550,000 to one million. Only one fact can be determined with certainty: the number of infected people has gone up constantly. 
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This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="mailto:press@icem.org">press@icem.org</a>. Please put &ldquo;subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin&rdquo; in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 65, February 2011

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A strike by 400 miners of ICEM affiliate Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Trade Union of Georgia ended peacefully yesterday when management of Saknakhshiri, or Geo-Coal, gave recognition to the union and agreed to good-faith negotiations. 
 
Those negotiations will begin Monday, 7 February, and will commence over safety issues and pay for surface transportation workers, the lowest paid workers at Tkibuli-Mindeli, a set of two underground mines in the Imereti region of western Georgia. Saknakhshiri is wholly-owned by the Georgian Investment Group (GIG), a diverse conglomerate controlled by the Georgian political figure, Davit Bezhuashvili. 
 
The agreement yesterday, brokered between the company and the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemicals union and the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC), gives parity to the union regarding social issues and gives the union full status on a commission to revamp safety and health conditions, a major contributing factor to the strike action this week. 
 
Tkibuli-Mindeli employs some 1,050 Georgian workers, including 650 miners, 200 transportation workers, and 250 administrative personnel.
<img alt="" src="" width="220" height="101" />
&nbsp; 
Following a methane gas explosion on 21 January that killed one and seriously injured four others &ndash; the third deadly gas blast in less than a year at Tkibuli-Mindeli &ndash; workers and their new union demanded modern mine safety equipment than the Soviet-era devices in place, and demanded improved work and pay conditions. 
 
The situation was exasperated last week when police arrested two lower-tier managers for safety negligence in the 21 January explosion. In support of the two and as protest to the overall work and safety conditions, miners staged a two-hour warning strike on 31 January and then embarked on an open-ended strike on 1 February. 
 
That strike brought broad public support and generated regional media coverage. Meanwhile, the ICEM affiliate and GTUC were actively engaged with Saknakhshiri in addressing issues. Yesterday&rsquo;s agreement produced a 13-point commitment by the Georgian mining company to address all issues in respectful social dialogue, including new labour agreements that replace non-regular employment, pay and overtime concerns, and a joint safety structure to replace outdated equipment and correct deficiencies. 
 
For the union, it signed a four-point commitment to protect social guarantees of workers, take full part in development, training, and implementation of new safety features, and &ldquo;will popularize and foster social dialogue, between the administration and employees, as a means of civilized resolution&rdquo; of conflicts. 
 
GTUC Vice President Gocha Alexandria said the critical aspect to yesterday&rsquo;s agreement is time deadlines. The union and company have strict time frames to reach accord on different issues. For instance, a joint study and policy directive on mine safety will be completed by 20 February; a wage increase for transportation workers will be readied by 7 February, with implementation on 1 March; and pay and other conditions for miners must be introduced by 10 March and implemented soon afterward. 
 
Talks on Monday will also firmly resolve the issuance of protective wearing apparel for workers, another grievance that led to the dispute. Yesterday&rsquo;s accord also establishes a time frame in which a first collective agreement for Tkibuli-Mindeli miners of the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Trade Union will be achieved. That date is set at 20 March 2011. 
 
Workers began joining the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Trade Union of Georgia following a 27 August 2010 methane gas explosion that killed four and severely injured six other miners. On 3 March, another gas explosion killed four, this time severely burning one miner. 
 
The ICEM salutes the union, the capable leadership at GTUC, and the workers at Tkibuli-Mindeli for taking direct that led to this successful outcome. A report this week can be found here on <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP/4228-ICEM-Supports-Safety-Strike-at-Georgian-Coal-Mine">ICEM support</a> for the Georgian miners.

Strike Ends, Georgian Miners Recognized at Tkibuli-Mindeli Colliery

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="49" />
The ICEM today announced unequivocal support to striking coal miners of the Tkibuli-Mindeli coal mine Imereti region in western Georgia. Trade union members of ICEM affiliate Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers Trade Union of Georgia are justified in their stop-work actions because the owner of the mine, the Saknakshiri company, part of the Georgian Industrial Group (GIG), has neglected to install modern gas detection devices in its underground mine. 
 
The open-ended strike began yesterday, 2 February, and the ICEM supports the demands of 200 miners to remedy unsafe mine conditions and to improve work conditions. The strike yesterday came after a two-hour warning strike on 31 January, and 12 days after a methane gas explosion inside the Tkibuli-Mindel mine killed one worker and severely injured four others. 
 
Those workers knew methane gas levels were high but were told to retreat into the mine or face dismissal. Two days before the 21 January explosion, two other work units complained about high gas levels but were ordered to stay inside shafts.
<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="115" />
&quot;The information we have is the Tkibuli mine operates with inferior and out-dated detection and ventilation equipment,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;Following an August 2010 gas explosion that again killed miners, the company made only minor repairs rather than invest in a new and modern system.&rdquo; 
 
The 27 August 2010 explosion killed four miners and severely injured six others. On 3 March 2010, four miners were again killed and one seriously burned in another methane gas blast at the Tkibuli-Mindeli colliery. 
 
The ICEM backs the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers Trade Union of Georgia&rsquo;s demand that the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC) be given full participation in the special commission to probe the 21 January disaster. The ICEM calls on Saknakshiri to meet workers&rsquo; demands, including establishment of a compensation system for injured workers and the families of miners killed at work, hazardous duty pay, and proper protective clothing attire for work. 
 
Besides a healthy safety environment in which to work, Tkibuli-Mindeli miners also are seeking an end to non-regular employment, an overtime pay system, and wage indexation tagged to inflation, restitution of 2010-2011 outstanding arrears, and holiday pay.

ICEM Supports Safety Strike at Georgian Coal Mine

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ICEM conducted a project on organizing and social dialogue in Turkey in 2009 and 2010 with the support of the Dutch national labour centre, FNV, and its affiliate FNV Bondgenoten. Evaluation of the two-year work was made in a conference held on 29-30 November 2010 in the Turkish capital Ankara. 
 
Attended by more than 80 union representatives, the Conference hosted international delegates, namely Hans Hupkes, Celil &Ccedil;oban, and Mail &Uuml;rker from FNV Bondgenoten of the Netherlands: Mats Svensson from IF Metall of Sweden; Michael Wolters from IGBCE of Germany; Jorgen Juul Rasmussen from Dansk El F&ouml;rbund of Denmark; Jacques Caltot and Christophe Quarez from FCE-CFDT of France; Dimitra Penidis and Isabelle Verhaegen from CSC Batiment, Industri &amp; Energie of Belgium; and ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, who ran the project. 
<img src="" width="230" height="151" alt="" />
The Conference started with the speech of Mustafa Kumlu, President of Turk-İş Confederation and Tes-İş Union, who expressed appreciation for the activities of the project that covered some 600 union activists over the two-year period. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM takes the lead in organizing international solidarity for Turkish workers, and this project is a clear signal of that,&rdquo; said Kumlu, adding that Turkish unions support the creation of new manufacturing and energy workers Global Union Federation. Such an entity, he said, will create a large Turkish grouping of over 20 unions. 
 
Hans Hupkes, on behalf of FNV Bondgenoten, stressed the appreciation and satisfaction of his organization with the activities of the project. &ldquo;A lot has been done &ndash; and won &ndash; in such a short period. We gained spirit and a sense of solidarity without borders,&rdquo; he said. 
 
Warda said organising and social dialogue are two key elements of ICEM policy regarding multinationals. &ldquo;We need the ability to include companies inside Turkey in this process, and the FNV project, we believe, will serve us well to meet this objective.&rdquo; 
<img src="" width="213" height="149" alt="" />
ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan gave a report on project activities carried out in 2009-2010. The conference then listed observations and opinions of the unions supporting the project from Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, France, and Belgium. In a separate session, participating Turkish unions shared their observations and evaluated the set of conference. Trade union rights and freedoms in Turkey was one discussion item. A remarkable contribution was made by Sister M&uuml;zeyyen Acunal who was fired from her workplace in the paper industry because she pioneered an organizing drive there. 
 
For 2011 and beyond, an evaluation on the future of the project with an action plan will be developed. A common point was made that union organizing is very tough in Turkey. Current legislation makes it extremely difficult. In addition to mentioning the obvious difficulties, a consensus was put forward that new opportunities and tools, particularly international ones, need to be used. Organising campaign being conducted by Petrol-İş was mentioned as a good example. 
 
At the end of the discussions, Turkish unions agreed to develop capacity on using international tools in separate sessions for trade union officers. Specific bilateral groups between Turkish unions and unions from countries from where multinational investment to Turkey originates should be created. Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the Nordic nations were mentioned as priorities. 
 
Continuation of the struggle against Contract and Agency Labour, as part of ICEM&rsquo;s global CAL campaign, was defined as one of the priority areas. After the first national conference in 2008, an urgent second conference was identified as important, considering the recent pushes by the Turkish government to modify labour legislation for allowing more workplace flexibility and unlimited use of agency labour. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan commented: &ldquo;Our intensive project programme in 2009 and 2010 gave us a good opportunity to get together with a big portion of local union officers in the regions of Turkey. More than 600 people got a chance to learn and make use of international solidarity in day-to-day union activities. We now will embark on specific projects with concrete targets.&rdquo;

ICEM’s Two-Year Dutch FNV Project for Turkey Evaluated in Ankara

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Trade unions organizing employees at the German-based industrial gas company Linde in ICEM&rsquo;s Asia-Pacific Region creates a workers&rsquo; network at a first-ever meeting, held in Singapore on 13-14 December 2010. The meeting was realized with political and financial support provided by ICEM&rsquo;s long-standing project partner Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (FES) 
 
Union representatives from Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, and Vietnam attended the meeting while Michael Wolters, International Secretary of ICEM German affiliate IGBCE, Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM&rsquo;s Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer, Dr. Stefanie Elies, FES Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia, Andr&eacute; Edelhoff, FES Office Singapore, Yoon Hyo-Won, ICEM Asia-Pacific Project Coordinator, and Indah Saptori, ICEM Indonesian Project Coordinator, also participated. 
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The objective of this regional network meeting was defined as a first exchange of experiences in order to build a foundation for a steady network of unions representing workers at the Linde&rsquo;s regional locations. It was pointed out that it would not be possible to solve individual or local problems by this network meeting. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan presented information on the gas industry in general, while IGBCE&rsquo;s Wolters told of Linde&rsquo;s industrial structure in Germany and Europe. Specifically, Wolters defined the work of the Works Council system in Germany and the work of the European Works Council of the company. 
 
The participating union representatives gave information about the situation in their home countries, which varies from country to country. In Indonesia, labour relations for unions follow a high standard of regulations, and stable situations also exist at Linde plants in Singapore and Vietnam. But in Thailand, there are big problems and conflicts with the management, while the situation of the union in South Korea is extremely difficult. 
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&Ouml;zkan gave a perspective on the issue of Contract and Agency Labour, or &ldquo;precarious work.&rdquo; This was then discussed by participants regarding use of non-regular or short-term contract workers at Linde plants in Asia. At all of the locations have some variations of precarious work, such as broad outsourcing of work, use of temporary agency workers, or non-regular casual workers. In Thailand, logistics will be completely outsourced until 2012 with the effect of a wage reduction for workers affected. Global Framework Agreements and union networks were also discussed at the meeting. 
 
The participants of the meeting agreed to set up a regular e-mail communication system among them. Kelvin Tang from Singapore was given responsibility for forming the communication network. The participants committed to inform their local and national unions about the results of the meeting, and will as well address their local managements. One result of the December meeting is to organise a special meeting regarding the situation in Thailand.

Linde Industrial Gas Workers’ Network Created in Asia-Pacific

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The ICEM&rsquo;s affiliate in Pakistan, the Pakistan Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers (PCEM), is fighting against severe breaches of workers&rsquo; rights to organise and bargain collectively at the Swiss-based agri-chemicals multinational, Syngenta. 
 
On 23 December, members of the Syngenta Employees Union Pakistan, belonging to PCEM, arrived at work to find announcement in the company newspaper that their union&rsquo;s General Secretary had his employment terminated as of 22 December, with no justified reason given. Brother Imran Ali, who is also the President of the national union PCEM, had no warning prior to learning the news in the &ldquo;Daily Jang&rdquo; newspaper. 
 
In a letter to the Chairman and CEO of the global pesticide producer Syngenta, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda condemned the flagrant breach of conduct of local management as a clear attempt to dismantle the union. Warda highlighted the commitments of Sygenta in the company&rsquo;s Code of Conduct, and also in their signatory status to the Global Compact. See the full letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/158%20Letter%20to%20Syngenta%20management.pdf">here</a>. 
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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
Prior to Mr. Imran&rsquo;s sacking, he was summoned to the human resources department, where he was told by Mushir Ahmed Jaffery, personnel manager, Syed Saad Khalil, manager for Information Services, Col. Jalal, head of Security, and Rizwana Mujeeb, head of human resources, to sign a blank paper. When İmran refused, he was threatened with bad consequences if he refused to withdraw from his trade union activities. 
 
Imran, as labor union president, was about to submit a draft collective agreement which would have been effective as of 1 January 2011. 
 
Later in the same day that he was sacked, 23 December, the head of Syngenta&rsquo;s security in Pakistan, Jalal, a retired military officer in Pakistan, met with 50 union members who had worked at the company on temporary contracts and filed cases at the Labour Court for permanent employee status. Jalal threatened and intimidated the workers to withdraw their legal petitions and resign from Syngenta. One of those workers, Muhammad Nadeem, a diabetic and heart patient, suddenly died of a heart attack on 24 December, as a direct result of this pressure from management. 
 
Those workers had received the support of the Labour Court on 18 December, which declared in favour of their grievance petitions, entitling them to permanent employment immediately. Syngenta Pakistan management refused to acknowledge the judgement of the Labour Court. 
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The company management&rsquo;s refusal to consider the collective bargaining agreement, continued on 28 December as Jalal called in paramilitary forces to the Syngenta plant and threatened workers not to support the agreement or the union. Instead, he told them to join a yellow union, otherwise management would outsource the production unit and sack all current employees. The workers refused. 
 
The company responded to ICEM allegations saying that they had acted within the law and without regret. Brother Imran Ali is still awaiting reinstatement in his job, but with no indication from management that this will happen. 
 
The ICEM demands the full reinstatement of Imran, with full back pay and benefits, as well as the lawful recognition of the 50 workers who won their case in the Labour Court for rights to permanent employment at Syngenta.

ICEM Fights for Reinstatement of Union Leader in Pakistan

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Trade union members of IGBCE and Verdi downed tools on 24 January in a four-hour warning strike across Germany against fair-pay salary delays by RWE. The worksite actions came a day before the sixth round of 2010 wage talks in Dortmund, the last chance for RWE to make an equitable salary increase before a full strike ballot occurs. 
 
With worker anger inside RWE boiling over, senior managers of the major European utility provider find themselves at a pivotal point with its 26,000-member German workforce. 
 
The warning strikes last week proved discontent at RWE is wide and loud. Scores of local staffs and thousands of RWE workers held vocal assemblies sponsored by the unions that delivered the same message: workers will contribute to the economic success of the company, but they want fair and full participation to create that success. 
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Spirited demonstrations took place at many RWE gas and electric power stations and other workplaces, including lignite mines of RWE Power at Garzweiler, Hamach, and Inden. Coal-fired power plants at Niederaussem and Weisweiler also registered vocal support for further strike action. RWE&rsquo;s nuclear workers at Biblis, Emsland, and Gundremminger downed tools, and gas workers from Emsland and Gersteinwerk also took part in the stop-work actions. 
 
IGBCE urged RWE in a statement to make an acceptable wage offer. The ICEM affiliate said the warning strike is necessary in order to increase pressure on RWE at the bargaining table. A full and unlimited strike would also ratchet pressure on RWE&rsquo;s major German industrial customers. 
 
RWE had astoundingly withdrawn a 2.9% wage offer, while IGBCE and Verdi were demanding 6.5%. In place, the energy company proposed 2.4%. Salaries, however, are not the only issue. Worker demands for job security and halts to work-time increases also have thus far been unmet by RWE.

German Power Workers Close to Full Dispute with RWE

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In line with the Global Framework Agreement (GFA) signed jointly by the ICEM and the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) with Belgian-based Umicore, a chemicals, metal technology, and catalyst systems company, the parties conducted a mission to Umicore subsidiaries in South Africa from 24-26 January. 
 
It was the third such mission since the GFA was signed in September 2007, with the two previous ones to China in 2009 and to Brazil in 2010. The main objective of the joint missions, as a regular exercise in accordance with the relevant provisions of the agreement, is to monitor compliance. 
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Participants at the Umicore Mission in South Africa
Umicore&rsquo;s South African plants are located in the city of Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape province, and are called UACSA and UCPE. They are part of the company&rsquo;s automotive catalysts business segment, one of four business units of Umicore. The area is a leading producer for automobiles and auto parts. 
 
Umicore was represented by Ignace De Ruijter, Senior Vice President of Human Resources; Guy Ethier, Senior Vice President of Environment, Health and Safety; Mark Dolfyn, Director of Human Resource Development; and Kerry Bryans, Managing Director of Umicore South Africa. From the trade union side, ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industries&rsquo; Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, Belgian trade union officer Luc Triangle of ACV-CSC METEA (representing the IMF), and the Chairman of the Umicore&rsquo;s European Works Council and member of ICEM German affiliate IGBCE, Peter Kamm, attended. 
 
From South Africa, representatives from ICEM-affiliated Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) from both Umicore plants also participated. They included: Skhumbuzo Phakathi, International Relations Officer; Clement Chitja, Head of Collective Bargaining: David Nzanzeka, Regional Secretary; Khaya Mkefe, Regional Organiser; and South African Works Council members Lindelwa Gxavu (Chairperson), Ncedile Boyce (Deputy Chairperson), Sindiswa Silotile (Secretary), Xola Dlova (Deputy Secretary), and Camagu Mzinyati (Organiser.) 
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CEPPWAWU Shop Stewards Lindelwa Gxavu and Siniswa Silotile
The internal trade union meeting also welcomed Vuyo Bikitsha, Regional Secretary, and Mziyanda Twani, Educator, from the ICEM- and IMF-affiliated National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), which had membership at UCPE plant in the past. 
 
Considering recent issues between local management and trade unions in the Port Elisabeth plants, the visit by the ICEM and IMF representatives resulted in positive and constructive evaluations. The plant visits also assisted workers in resolving some outstanding local issues. 
 
The mission resulted in a number of concrete results, including a conclusion that local communication on a number of issues, including recruitment procedures, structure of employment, integration of both plants, and training and education, should be further advanced and would benefit from greater engagement by both parties. By doing this, the results are in line with the objectives of the GFA to create mutually beneficial relations and dialogue between all the partners. 
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Trade Unionists Visit &ldquo;UMICARE,&rdquo; a Social Project by the Belgian Company in South Africa
The ICEM and IMF representatives were impressed by the excellent work of the local trade union representatives, and also recognized that local and corporate managers play a crucial role in creating better social dialogue within the company for the future. This visit will be evaluated in April 2011 at the next GFA Monitoring Committee with management. Both ICEM and IMF are ready for the continuation of the GFA. 
 
As part of the South African mission, the trade union delegation also visited a social project financed by the local company called &ldquo;UMICARE.&rdquo; The programme, while small, enables children to gain valuable opportunities in schooling to improve their chances for a better life. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan commented on the visit: &ldquo;While approaching the four-year mark of the Umicore GFA, I am proud to observe very positive and concrete steps forward. Each joint mission has given us important input and synergy for future activities with positive expectations. I do believe that dialogue between ICEM/IMF and Umicore is an excellent model of global industrial relations tailored for what we need to create as a global union federation.&rdquo;

ICEM, IMF Complete Umicore GFA Mission to South African Plants

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A ten-day mission across three countries of South America by the ICEM President, General Secretary, and Regional Vice President covered much ground and different issues from Chile to Argentina to Brazil. The visits were made from 9-18 January. 
 
In Chile, Senzeni Zokwana, Manfred Warda, and Latin America/Caribbean Contact Person Carol Bruce met with leaders of both ICEM affiliated and non-affiliated unions. The meeting with Chilean chemicals union affiliate, FENATRAPECH, was highly successful, and the ICEM met with different mineworkers&rsquo; federations on recent events and in particular ratification of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
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The ICEM leaders also met with Chile&rsquo;s Minister of Labour Minister and Social Welfare, Camila Merino, who was sacked just days after the 11 January meeting by President Sebasti&aacute;n Pi&ntilde;era in a government shake-up. Despite Pi&ntilde;era&rsquo;s late 2010 pledge to the world after the rescue of 33 miners at the San Jos&eacute; copper mine late Chile would ratify Convention 176 &ldquo;within 90 days,&rdquo; Merino told the ICEM the country&rsquo;s emphasis is on the more general ILO Convention 187, the Promotional Framework for Occupational Health and Safety Convention. 
 
The ICEM reminded the now-ousted minister that on the global stage, Chile is firstly a resource-rich mining country. 
 
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, the ICEM delegation met with Minister of Labour, Employment, and Social Security, Dr. Carlos Tomado, who was briefed to date on arrangements for ICEM&rsquo;s Fifth Statutory Congress in Buenos Aires from 24-26 November 2011. He was also given information on ILO Convention 176, and he pledged his ministry&rsquo;s support for ratification of the convention. 
 
The ICEM also met on the afternoon of 14 January with General Secretary Pedro Wasiejko and leaders of the ICEM affiliate, &Uacute;nico de Trabajadores del Neum&aacute;tico Argentino (SUTNA), as well as with leaders of other Argentine unions. 
 
Finally, the ICEM mission travelled to Rio de Janeiro to further ongoing talks with Brazilian state oil company Petrobr&aacute;s on a Global Framework Agreement.

ICEM South American Mission Covers Mine Safety, Congress, Global Agreement Talks

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