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إن السعى لمقاومة إجراءات التقشف المفروضة على الخدمات العامة وعمال القطاع العام، فى أعقاب الانهيار المالى إنما هو هدف نبيل ويستحق النضال. إلا أن الإتحادات النقابية الدولية بحاجة أيضا للنظر إلى بعض البلدان التى تشهد هجوما لانظير له على عمال القطاع العام والنقابين الذين خطوا بشجاعة لقيادة هؤلاء العمال. 
 
وأشير هنا تحديدا إلى الوضع النقابى المقلق فى العراق والذى يتعذر تفسيره، حيث باتت عملية إعادة إعمار القطاعات الصناعية الأساسية والمملوكة للقطاع العام تمثل ثمنا باهظا يدفعه العمال العاديين وهؤلاء الرجال والنساء الشجعان الذين يقودون مسيرة العمال نحو بناء مجتمع ديمقراطى حقيقى. 
 
يحظر النشاط النقابى فى القطاع العام العراقى والذى يمثل نحو 80% تقريبا من مجموع الصناعات ، و حتى مع تدفق الاستثمارات الأجنبية وحتمية خصخصة قطاعات صناعية محددة، لم يتغير من الأمر شيئا ولا يزال العمل النقابى نشاطا محظورا. حيث يبقى الإنضمام للنقابات العمالية أمرا مخالفا للقانون، تماما كما كان الحال فى عهد الديكتاتور صدام حسين. هذا بالإضافة إلى أنه فى عام 2005 وبعد مرورعامين على حكم قوات الاحتلال صدر القرار رقم 8750 الذى يقضى بحرمان النقابات العمالية من الإحتفاظ بأى ممتلكات أو فتح أية حسابات مصرفية أو تحصيل رسوم إشتراكات من العمال. 
 
إنه من غير المعقول أن تمر سبع سنوات على سقوط صدام حسين و23 سنة على إصداره القانون العام (سيىء السمعة) والذى يحظر كل الأنشطة النقابية فى القطاع العام، ولا تزال العراق حتى الأن بدون إطار قانونى يحكم العلاقات الصناعية ويتفق مع معايير منظمة العمل الدولية. كما أنه من المؤسف أيضا أن يبقى هذا الحظرالذى ساد فى عهد صدام ضمن أحد القوانين القليلة التى لم تصححها سلطات الاحتلال بعد وصولها للسلطة. 
 
لقد قامت الحكومة العراقية المؤقتة بإعادة صياغة الدستور فى عام 2005. حيث تقضى المادة رقم 22 من هذا الدستور بإصدار قانون عمل جديد للدفاع عن حقوق العمال فى تكوين النقابات والمفاوضة الجماعية. ولكنه نظرا للجمود السياسى وغياب الإرادة لدى السياسين العراقين فى كل الأحزاب السياسية وكذلك عدم إكتراث حكومة الولايات المتحدة ، فإن مجلس النواب العراقى لم يلتفت إلى قانون العمل والضمان الاجتماعى الذى أعدته منظمة العمل الدولية. 
 
وعلى العكس فقد إتجه أعضاء مجلس الوزراء إلى إتخاذ قرارات وزارية بغلق مكاتب النقابات العمالية ومصادرة كافة المواد والمعدات والمستندات. وكان أخر هذة الأوامر ذلك الذى صدر مؤخرا فى شهر يوليو الماضى، ضد كل النقابات التى تسعى إلى العمل فى قطاع الطاقة الكهربائية . ذلك القرار الذى تم تنفيذه فى يوم واحد فقط، الأمر الذى يوحى بجدية الحكومة فى كبح جماح النقابات العمالية وربما أيضا هو إشارة لجذب الإستثمارات الأجنبية. 
 
كما صدر أيضا تهديد إبان غلق مكاتب نقابات الكهرباء، يحذر العمال والقيادات النقابية من التعرض للسجن إذا ما حاولوا الإحتجاج على عمليات الإغلاق هذه، وذلك بموجب القانون العراقى لمكافحة الارهاب لعام 2005. ويأتى هذا بعد مرور شهور قليلة فقط على إصدار حكومة المالكى قرارا بمنع النقابين من السفر إلى الخارج بدون الحصول على &quot;تأشيرة داخلية&quot; من اللجنة الوزارية العليا تسمح لهم بذلك، وهو الأمر الذى يصعب الحصول عليه. 
يأتى هذا بمثابة رد من الحكومة ضد النقابين العراقيين، والذين يمثلون مجموعة كبيرة من النقابات العمالية، بسبب قيامهم بالسفر خلال السنوات الماضية إلى الأردن ولبنان وأوربا وأمريكا للمشاركة فى دورات تدريبية نقابية وبرامج تنموية ترعاها وتدعمها بعض الجهات المانحة والمنظمات النقابية مثل الإتحاد الدولى ICEM ومجلس النقابات العمالية البريطانى ومركز التضامن الأمريكى التابع إلى إتحاد عمال أمريكا. 
 
لقد أقر المؤتمر العالمى للإتحاد الدولى ICEM والذى إنعقد فى بانكوك عام 2007 أن تتضمن خطة العمل أولوية تنمية وتحقيق كامل الحقوق النقابية لكافة النقابات العمالية العراقية. كما تم التأكيد على ذلك خلال إجتماع اللجنة التنفيذية للإتحاد لعام 2010 ، حيث تم إعتماد قرار شديد اللهجة يدين الطرق القمعية التى إنتهجتها الحكومة العراقية مؤخرا. حيث تضمن القرار ما يلى &quot; إننا نطالب بالإلغاء الفورى لكل القيود المفروضة على النشاط النقابى وسن تشريع عمالى عادل فى الحال يتفق تماما مع إتفاقيات منظمة العمل الدولية وينص على الحقوق الأساسية للإنسان والحقوق النقابية الأساسية المنصوص عليها فى الدستور العراقى &quot; للإطلاع على البيان بالكامل. 
 
ولمزيد من التأكيد، فقد قامت الإتحادات النقابية الدولية ومنظمات نقابية أخرى بتناول القضية من أجل تحقيق هذا الهدف. حيث عبرت خمس منظمات عمالية ضمت الإتحاد الدولى ICEM ومجلس النقابات العمالية البريطانى وإتحاد عمال أمريكا AFL-CIO والإتحاد الدولى للخدمات والإتحاد الدولى للتعليم، عن إدانتها للهجوم الشرس ضد النقابات العمالية فى العراق من خلال تنظيم وقفة أمام لجنة المعايير ضمن فعاليات الدورة 97 لمؤتمر العمل الدولى فى يونيو 2008. 
 
ويفخر الاتحاد الدولى ICEM بالعمل الذى أنجزه مع النقابات العمالية العراقية وقادتها، علما بأننا جميعا على يقين أنه ما زال أمامنا المزيد لنقوم به. ونشعر أيضا بمزيد من الفخر تجاه القيادات النقابية العظيمة التى برزت داخل العراق لمواجهة ما قد يبدو أنه نزاعا وأمرا لايمكن التغلب عليه مع البدء فى كفاح نبيل يتسم بالمثابرة والتضحية بالنفس. 
 
تعد السيدة/ هاشمية محسن السعدواى واحدة من تلك القيادات، فهى أول إمرأة تترأس نقابة عمالية فى العالم العربى وأحد القيادات الذين تم ترحليهم بالقوة من مكاتبهم بالبصرة فى يوليو الماضى حينما قامت الحكومة بإغلاق مكاتب النقابات العمالية بقطاع الكهرباء. وبإعتبارها رئيس نقابة عمال ومنتسبى الكهرباء فى البصرة، والمنتسبة لكلا من الاتحاد الدولى ICEM والاتحاد العام لعمال العراق، فقد حصلت السيدة هاشمية على جائزة فبيه اليزابيث فيلاسكيز وهى جائزة مرموقة يمنحها إتحاد عمال هولندا. تمنح هذة الجائزة جنبا الى جنب مع مبلغ مالى، للزعماء النقابيين الذين يتكبدون المخاطر من أجل الدفاع عن حقوق العمال فى البلاد التى تنتهك فيها الحقوق بصورة مستمرة. ورغم أنها تعيش فى بلد يسودها الفقر مثل العراق ، إلا أن ما فعلته بالجائزة المالية كان أكثر مثالية: فقد طورت دليلا تدريبيا لإطلاق حملة الضمان الاجتماعى العراقى من أجل تعزيز العدالة الاجتماعية والمساواة كوسيلة لخلق فرص العمل وتعزيز العمل اللائق والصحة والتعليم وتحسين ظروف المعيشة. ذلك التوجه الذى يؤكد عليه الاتحاد الدولى بإعتباره السبيل الذى يمكن من خلاله بناء الدولة. 
 
وهناك العديد من القادة النقابين الذين وقفوا بشجاعة فى وجه القمع، وهم الذين ندين لهم بتعبئة السخط والغضب الدولى تجاه ما يحدث لهم داخل العراق. فلقد تم إعتقال البعض منهم وكذلك تنفيذ الإبعاد القسرى عن العمل بحق أخرين ونقلهم بعيدا عن زملائهم فى العمل وأسرهم إلى مواقع عمل نائية وذلك لقيامهم بقيادة إحتجاجات ضد تقليص الرواتب أواستقطاع الحصص الغذائية أو حجب المستحقات الإجتماعية العامة. 
 
وسأكون مقصرا إذا لم أذكر عشرات القادة النقاببن العراقيين الذين دفعوا حياتهم ثمنا وبذلوا أقصى التضحيات فى سبيل عملهم النقابي. هؤلاء القادة المتفانيين أمثال هادى صالح (اتحاد نقابات العمال العراقى) وشكرى الشكرى مؤسس إتحاد نقابات العمال العراقى وعلى حسن عبد (نقابة عمال النفط والغاز) و د.عدنان العبد وهو أكاديمى ومستشار الاتحاد العام لعمال العراق والذى قام بإستعراض قانون العمل المقترح من قبل منظمة العمل الدولية، ومؤيد حامد (الاتحاد العام لعمال العراق) وأحمد ادريس عباس (نقابة عمال النقل والاتصالات) وثابت حسين ( النقابة العامة لعمال قطاع الصحة) وناجم عبد الجاسم الأمين العام لنقابة عمال الميكانيكا وحسن حمزة رئيس نقابة عمال السياحة والفنادق ومجيد كريم عضو المجلس التنفيذى بالاتحاد العام لعمال العراق. كان هذا على سبيل المثال لا الحصر لهؤلاء الذين أغتيلوا فى سبيل النشاط النقابى. 
 
إن الإغتيالات التى طالت الصحفيين أيضا قد تسببت وللأسف فى انتكاسة المجتمع المدنى فى العراق. فقد قتل فى غضون الأسابيع الأخيرة رياض السارى فى بغداد وصفاء الخياط فى الموصل وذلك بسبب عدم قدرة القتلة الجبناء على تحمل قيام مجتمع حر ومنفتح. ومن ثم بات إغتيال هذين الصحفيين بمثابة تذكير بأن حياة العامة فى العراق معرضة للخطرالمميت. 
 
أصبح علينا أن نتساءل إلى أين وصلت العراق منذ الاطاحة بنظام صدام حسين؟ هل تدمير الحركة العمالية العراقية هو السبيل لضمان مجتمع مدنى مستقر يمكن أن تذدهر فيه مؤسسات ديمقراطية ؟ إن النقابات العمالية الحرة والديمقراطية تتصدى للإستغلال اللامحدود لموارد البلاد فى عصر الخصخصة الجشعة والليبرالية الجديدة. 
إنه بعد مرور خمسة عقود على حياة القمع الشديد باتت الغالبية العظمى من المواطنين العراقيين ترغب فى حياة أفضل. حيث يسود داخل المجتمع العراقى شعورا وطنيا يعتبر الكهرباء وقطاع النفط وخطوط الغاز الطبيعى والموانىء والنقل وغيرها من الشركات بمثابة الخدمات العامة المتكاملة التى من شأنها أن تمثل ضمانات للسيادة والرفاهية الاقتصادية لجميع المواطنين. 
 
قد يكون هناك جدلا طفيفا حول إعتبار الحرب واقعا يجعل من الخصخصة أكثر سهوله. ففى البداية تقوم بتدمير البنية الأساسية ثم بعد ذلك تعيد البناء من خلال إبرام عقود بدون اجراء مناقصات،على أن تمنح تلك العقود لبعض الشركات المستفيدة بعينها. لقد شهدت النقابات العراقية هذه التجربة على مدار السبع سنوات الماضية. وعلى ذلك فقد شنت النقابات حروبا مشروعة وبطولية ضد قوات الاستعمار الجديدة من أجل الدفاع عن حقوقهم الأصيلة. ومن ثم فإن الاتحادات النقابية الدولية مثل الاتحاد الدولى ICEM تقر بأن هذه التجربة هى مثال واضح وجلى عما تعنيه الحركة النقابية فى القطاع العام. كما نتعهد بمواصلة إتخاذ اللازم من أجل مساعدة النقابات العمالية العراقية للفوز فى المعركة.

بقلم/ مانفرد واردا
الأمين العام للإتحاد الدولى لنقابات الكيماويات والطاقة والمناجم والأنشطة المرتبطة  ICEM


العراق :لابد من وقف القمع ضد النقابات العمالية

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on HIV/AIDS work in southern African countries, on the success of VCT campaigns in Ghana and on the inaugural session of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law. 
 
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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HIV/AIDS Sub-regional Workshop in Gaborone 
 
Some 20 participants, half of them women, from southern African countries met in Gaborone, Botswana, from 27- 29 October for an HIV/AIDS workshop. 
 
Presentations and working groups focussed on workplace policies and to what extent affiliates have succeeded in incorporating ILO principles. Also, a key focus was on mainstreaming HIV/AIDS into union work in negotiations and as an organising tool. 
 
The ICEM and its affiliates have also taken up the challenge to promote and domesticate the new ILO Recommendation No. 200 on HIV and AIDS and the world of work. The recommendation was presented by an ILO representative and it was extensively discussed by participants. 
 
On behalf of SASK, the international Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland, its sub-regional coordinator, Simi&atilde;o Simbine, based in Maputo, participated. The Finnish partner union TEAM was represented by Nina Laine-Tuominen. 
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Boehringer Ingelheim Extends Grant for HIV/AIDS Work in India 
 
The German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim agreed to continue the collaboration with the ICEM by extending its grant for HIV and AIDS work in India. We thank German affiliate IGBCE for their assistance in assuring this. 
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During the first phase, more than 600 peer educators were trained and hundreds of grass-root awareness and prevention campaigns were organised. The second phase will see collaboration with new coal mining companies and an expansion of grass-root level activities. Training for negotiations of workplace policies will also be included in this phase. 
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World AIDS Day 2010: Universal Access and Human Rights 
 
(Parts of this article appeared already in the October e-bulletin) 
 
First observed in 1988, World AIDS Day (WAD) on 1 December annually has served to raise awareness about the epidemic, focus attention on issues that are key to a successful response, and to inspire positive action. The WAD theme for 2009-2010 is &ldquo;Universal Access and Human Rights.&rdquo; 
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In cooperation with the World AIDS Campaign (WAC) and other organisations, this year UNAIDS is organising a global &ldquo;Lights for Rights Commemoration&rdquo; in 100 cities. The &ldquo;Lights for Rights&rdquo; campaign began on 1 December 2009 in the US, when the lights were turned off and later turned back on, illuminating New York City landmarks. The darkness represents how stigma, discrimination, and criminalization forces people to die alone in fear and shame, while switching the lights on symbolizes the human rights of all people, which allows one to walk in the light of information, treatment, care, and health. 
 
The World AIDS Campaign has produced a host of online tools that can be downloaded at <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a> and adapted for World AIDS Day campaigns. Among these are &ldquo;I am living my rights&rdquo; posters and postcards in more than 10 languages. 
 
The ICEM calls on its affiliates to join campaigners and organisations in their country to highlight universal access and human rights. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website <a href="http://www.unaidstoday.org">www.unaidstoday.org</a>&nbsp;and WAC circular of 20 October. UNAIDS has produced a toolkit which can be accessed on this site) 
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Ghana: VCT Campaign by GMWU Makes Headlines 
 
The Ghana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (GMWU) organised two Voluntary Counselling and Testing activities at AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) in Obuasi and at the Ghana Manganese Company (GMC) in Tarkwa in October. 
 
The first campaign in Obuasi targeted wives of mineworkers. It was financed by the union and the company. The second campaign in Tarkwa was for mineworkers and community members. It was sponsored by the ICEM HIV/AIDS project with logistical support from GMC. 
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Some 1,500 people benefited from the exercise which was organised as part of efforts to sensitize workers, their families, and community members on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which continues to claim thousands of lives. 
 
In the words of the senior nurse at the Tarkwa Hospital, Agnes Gertrude Cudjoe, &ldquo;The surest way to contain the pandemic, is to know one&rsquo;s status.&rdquo; According to Vida Brewu, GMWU Training and Development Coordinator, the collaboration between GMWU, ICEM, as well as the two companies, brought to the fore the value all parties place on workers. 
 
(Sources: <a href="http://www.ghanaweb.com">www.ghanaweb.com</a>&nbsp;and Accra Daily Mail, 20 October) 
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Global Commission on HIV and the Law 
 
Distinguished leaders and prominent public figures from diverse backgrounds and regions assembled in S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil, in October for the inaugural meeting of The Global Commission on HIV and the Law. 
 
The Global Commission on HIV and the Law, launched in June 2010 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on behalf of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), is an independent commission created to interrogate and analyse the key legal and human rights dimensions of the global HIV response. The Commission will clarify the ways in which the law and its enforcement shape and continue to influence the HIV epidemic and how legal protections can improve access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support. 
 
The first meeting of the Commissioners marked an important milestone for the process. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the priority of HIV-related legal and human rights issues on which the Commission&rsquo;s work will focus over the next 18 months. 
 
During her introductory remarks to Commissioners at the meeting, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark noted that &ldquo;the HIV response is now at a crossroads. We are challenged with achieving more progress at a time of fiscal constraint in many countries, and in times of multiple crises. We should not therefore turn a blind eye to the moral, social, and legal complexities which continue to impede our efforts to halt and reverse the spread of HIV&rdquo;. 
 
(Source: UNDP Press Release, 7 October) 
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Early HIV Treatment May be Cheaper than Thought 
 
Research by South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Boston University in the US, has found that starting HIV-positive people on anti-retrovirals (ARVs) earlier, and at a higher CD4 count (a measure of immune system strength), may be cheaper than previously thought. 
 
After years of debating the financial feasibility of starting those in need of ARVs at a CD4 count of 350 instead of the current threshold of 200, research has shown that it would only add 13 percent to the cost of South Africa's national ARV programme if improved drug purchasing systems and task-shifting strategies were implemented. 
 
South Africa issued its first revised treatment guidelines in six years in April 2010. The new guidelines feature less toxic ARVs, but access to treatment at a CD4 count of 350 was only extended to a selected group of high-risk patients, such as pregnant women, infants, and tuberculosis patients. 
 
Starting patients on ARVs at lower CD4 counts has been linked to a greater likelihood of opportunistic infections and poorer patient outcomes, but government argued that it could not afford to extend earlier treatment more broadly. 
 
(Source: PlusNews, 13 September) 
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Mozambique: HIV Patients Team up for Cheaper Treatment 
 
For HIV patients in Africa, monthly trips to refill antiretroviral (ARV) prescriptions cost time and money, resources that may be in short supply. But a new strategy being pioneered in Mozambique is easing the burden of monthly refills for patients and the health system. 
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Developed by health workers with the international medical charity <a href="http://www.msf.org.uk/support_donate.aspx?gclid=CKeT-KzrlaUCFRQp3wodEg-XmA">M&eacute;decins Sans Fronti&egrave;res</a> (MSF), the strategy centres on self-formed, community-based groups of ARV patients who work as a team to collect their drugs and monitor each other for treatment adherence and general health. The approach addresses the needs of over-burdened health workers and cash-strapped HIV patients and has had the added benefit of increasing community awareness around HIV and tuberculosis. 
 
Every month, the patient groups pool their money to send a rotating &quot;delegate&quot; member to collect ARVs for the rest of the group. At the clinic, which can sometimes be more than 50 kilometres away, the delegate collects the drugs, is examined by a nurse, and submits the group&rsquo;s paperwork, which includes signed receipts for previous refills, members&rsquo; remaining pill counts to track adherence, and notes on any opportunistic infections. 
 
(Sources: PlusNews, 11 October) 
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Swaziland: ABC Approach not Effective 
 
In a country with the highest HIV infection rate in the world at 26.1%, and the lowest life expectancy, which has dropped to 43 years, experts are still at a loss as to why Swazis have resisted all attempts to change the behaviours that put them at risk from the virus. 
 
The ABC (Abstain, Be Faithful, Condomise) approach has guided Swaziland's HIV prevention efforts for years, but has dismally failed to slow the spread of the virus. 
 
Only about 30% of sexually active men aged 15 to 49 are in committed relationships. The remaining 70% of men are &quot;free agents,&quot; to whom the Be Faithful component of the ABC approach does not apply. 
 
Abstinence &ndash; the A in the ABC approach &ndash; is still valued in Swazi society, but only up to a point. Girls still talk of preserving virginity, but pressures are put on them to engage in sex. Below 15 years of age, HIV prevalence is very low. But as girls become sexually active &ndash; in the 20 to 24 age group &ndash; HIV prevalence is 38%. 
 
Condoms &ndash; the C in ABC &ndash; are the ideal prevention method, but are not being used consistently. 
 
Meanwhile, remarks disparaging programmes to reduce HIV infections, made by Swaziland's second top-ranking traditional leader, have sparked disbelief and anger among AIDS activists. 
 
The threat of HIV and AIDS was being &quot;exaggerated&quot; by profit-hungry pharmaceutical companies and condom makers, and male circumcision was no more effective at preventing HIV infection than a post-coital bath, said Prince Mangaliso, who chairs the Liqoqo, a powerful body of royal councillors that advises King Mswati. 
 
(Source: PlusNews, 16 August) 
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Five Years Ago: From the November 2005 Issue 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In future issues, we will refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In the November 2005 issue, we drew the attention of affiliates to the ICEM website <a href="http://www.icem.org">www.icem.org</a>. The website has been further developed and contains more valuable information than ever before. Especially useful are models for an HIV/AIDS policy for a union and an HIV/AIDS workplace policy. Affiliates can adapt these for their own use. 
 
We also reported on the ICEM-JAF Asia and Pacific HIV/AIDS seminar which laid the foundation for further work in that region. 
 
One highlight in the November 2005 issue was the signing of a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) by the ICEM jointly with the IFBWW (now BWI) with the French-based cement and building materials multinational, Lafarge. The agreement contains a clause on HIV/AIDS committing the signatories to raise awareness and initiate prevention programmes in compliance with the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. 
 
In the view of the editor, such clauses hold an immense opportunity for our affiliates to advance HIV/AIDS work in cooperation with companies and with their financial contributions. More can be done to make the potential of HIV/AIDS clauses in GFAs better known among affiliates. 
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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. 62, November 2010

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The ICEM was shocked and angered by the arrests of labour and political rights advocate, Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, and Associate Professor Suthachai Yimprasert, in Thailand, and will be detained until earliest 6 June.
The pair presented themselves to police on hearing of their arrest warrants.&nbsp;Neither of them were members of the core Red Shirt group, they were following events closely in their capacity as journalist and academic.
Both friends of the international labour movement, Somyot and Suthachi are detained at the Adisorn Army Base in Saraburi, 115km north of capital Bangkok. Suthachai is on hungar strike in protest of his arrest.
ICEM affiliates and supporters around the world are requested to write to your local Thai embassies and call on the release of both men.
Somyot is a former ICEM project coordinator in Thailand. 
The arrest warrants were issued in connection&nbsp;to the incident on 21 May 2010 at 13.00, when Somyot and Suthachai, in the name of the 24th of June Democracy Group, held a press conference in front of the House No. 111 Foundation. This was a completely peaceful event.
The ICEM joins calls for the immediate release&nbsp;of both men.

ICEM Angered by Thai Arrests

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The Workers&rsquo; Network of Bayer meeting, held 6-7 May at the Hotel Terras Altas in Itapecerica da Serra, S&atilde;o Paulo, was supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) of Germany and was attended by workers, members of factory committees, and managers from Bayer plants in Brazil and Argentina. This eighth meeting was also attended by representatives by CNQ/CUT, the National Confederation of Chemical Industry, the Social Observatory Institute, CUT&rsquo;s Multi Action on Multinationals Project from the Brazilian national labour centre&rsquo;s International Relations Secretariat. 
 
The participation of comrades from the pharmacists' union in Argentina stimulated the discussion on the regional expansion of the network and also allowed a better understanding of the reality of Bayer employees in that country. The Argentine trade unionists spoke on collective agreements, benefits, restructuring and acquisitions in the region, and on relations between business, workers, and unions. 
 
According to CNQ International Relations Secretary Antenor Nakamura, the network must engage in regional expansion, but in order to do that it has to consider the differences in trade union structures in the region. According to Eder Correa, manager of labor relations at Bayer in Brazil, the company acknowledges the Brazilian network, but emphasized that the Brazilian structure cannot interfere in Bayer&rsquo;s positions in other countries. &quot;We can&rsquo;t guarantee recognition of the network in other regions, but we can make a strategic disclosure of the dialogue practices,&quot; he said. 
The impact of nanotechnology for workers was another topic discussed during this eighth meeting. The coordinator of the research institute Renanossoma, Dr. Paulo Martins, introduced the theme and spoke about the lack of regulation for products made with nano particles and the lack of research investment and that impact on processes. 

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&quot;Nanotechnology allows the creation of new products, but we still do not know if they are safe. The social, environmental, and ethical concerns should be taken into consideration,&quot; he stated. 
 
During the two-day meeting, workers and Bayer managers covered topics such as fundamental rights at work, moral harassment in the corporate world, control system of working hours, incorporation of benefits, dissemination of social dialogue in all areas of the company, newsletters, and the functioning and structure of the network. The next meeting of workers network at Bayer will be held in April 2011. 
 
At the social dialogue forum, Bayer representatives were present during the whole meeting and discussed all themes proposed by workers. They presented an overview of the business in the country and its prospects for the future. The President of Bayer Brazil, Dr. Horstfried Laepple, stressed the importance of transparency in dialogue with workers, unions, and factory committees. In his institutional presentation, Laepple spoke about the positive results of the company in 2009 in Brazil, with R$3.8 billion in sales, about the possibility of business expansion, and also the positive projections for 2010. That includes investment of R$180 million in technology upgrades and amplification of plants. 
 
The company also presented the project Hamonia, a people management tool that uses the methodology of skills. The tool has recently been installed in its plant in Belford Roxo, in order to align human resource practices between the two businesses in that plant and set career tracks, as well as giving more transparency to the criteria for evaluation, promotion, and remuneration. The theme of &quot;Jobs and Wages,&quot; discussed by the Bayer Workers&rsquo; Network until 2008, was one of the instigators to this project. 
 
The signing of a term that will deal with Bayer's commitment to adopt and respect the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in the restructuring theme should be discussed by company and workers network in the future.

Bayer Workers’ Network Seeks Regional Expansion Across Latin America

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Errol McLeod, the former head of the Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago, was named Minister of Labour on Friday, 28 May, by newly-elected Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the first woman to ever lead the twin island republic in the Caribbean. 
 
McLeod, also a former ICEM Executive Committee member, will head a Cabinet ministry entitled Labour, Small, and Macro Enterprise Development. He retired as President of OWTU a year ago after 21 years as leader of one of the world&rsquo;s most militant trade unions. 
 
The newly-founded Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) political party, which counted McLeod as a candidate for elections to Parliament a week ago, is part of a multi-party coalition&nbsp;called the People&rsquo;s Partnership that elected Persad-Bissessar and won 29 of 41 seats in Parliament on 24 May. 

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Those elections proved a crushing defeat to former Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his People&rsquo;s National Movement party. 
 
McLeod came on the political scene as a strong and charismatic leader of workers in the early 1980s when he founded the Committee for Labour Solidarity in Trinidad and Tobago. Even prior, his confident demeanor and apt leadership were apparent in the 1960s when he first worked at the former Texaco refinery in Pointe-&agrave;-Pierre. That complex is now part of state-owned Petrotrin and sits at the vanguard of workers&rsquo; militancy in Trinidad and Tobago. 
 
McLeod&rsquo;s fearless, honest, and tactful leadership over 30 years won working class gains for tens of thousands not just in his home country, but all across the Caribbean and the Commonwealth nations. 
 
&ldquo;The entire family of ICEM trade unions extends its hearty congratulations to Errol,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;His great number of achievements on behalf of workers bodes well for all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and we truly look forward to working again with him.&rdquo;

Errol McLeod Named Labour Minister in Trinidad and Tobago

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ICEM&rsquo;s Colombia affiliate, the National Oil Workers&rsquo; Union (USO), is seeking continued international solidarity in its conflict with British-based BP in eastern Colombia. As reported in an ICEM briefing that can be seen <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3660-Oil-Workers-in-Colombia-Suffer-Police-Repression">here</a>, USO has waged a hard fought campaign for union rights, improved wages, and a new collective agreement, including conducting strike actions between January and April. 
 
They have suffered through police violence and on 15 February, union members were hospitalised at a BP plant at Tauramena, part of the Cusiana oil fields in Casanare. 
 
Workers at the plant deployed new tactics in their struggle last week, blocking the entrance to the facility and curtailing production of the Centro de Producci&oacute;n de Fluidos (CPF) for five days. The peaceful occupation of the Cusiana CPF was misrepresented by local BP management, through a campaign of misinformation in the local town of Tauramena. Faulty company reports claim union intimidation and obstruction of food deliveries and people through the blockade. 
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Access to the gas processing facility is now jointly controlled by USO and BP&rsquo;s private security firm, as USO is wary of industrial sabotage being carried out that would be blamed on the union and used to undermine the negotiation process. The ICEM demands that BP fully recognise workers&rsquo; right to organise and bargain collectively under the guidance of USO. The oil multinational must also implore its contracting firm, SAR Energy, to respect the union and the negotiating process. 
 
The Colombia Solidarity Campaign is organising another picket of BP at its London headquarters, between 14h00 and 18h00 on Wednesday, 2 June, at 1 St James Square. 
 
Protest messages demanding peaceful negotiations with the workers of Casanare can be sent to BP Chief Executive, Tony Hayward at <a href="mailto:tony.hayward@bp.com">tony.hayward@bp.com</a>. Messages of solidarity and support can be sent to the workers at <a href="mailto:movimientoporcasanare@yahoo.es">movimientoporcasanare@yahoo.es</a>. 
 
BP will invest more than US$300 million in Colombia in 2010 and 2011 as it expands its gas and oil production, BP Exploration Colombia President Alberto Galvis confirmed. Colombia has increased its oil production to nearly 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 500,000 bpd in the last three years. According to Galvis, the Cusiana gas facility will be expanded to process 2.8bn cubic metres (bcm) per annum by September 2010. This is in spite of BP&rsquo;s massive clean-up bill for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Oil multinationals are increasing investment in Colombia following corporate friendly fiscal changes by outgoing President Uribe.

Colombian Oil Workers Block Gas Facility, Protesting BP’s Reversal

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The Guyana Bauxite &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (GB&amp;GWU) is seeking corrective measures by the government of the South American nation in order to continue representing 500 miners of the Bauxite Co. of Guyana Inc. (BCGI), which is 90% controlled by the Russian metals company RusAl. 
 
Following six months of intense struggle, which crested in December 2009 when RusAl unilaterally withdrew recognition of the union at the Aroaima and Kwakwani bauxite mines in contradiction to Guyanese labour law, GB&amp;GWU finally got a hearing last week, on 25 May, before Guyana&rsquo;s Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board. 
 
But that hearing proved inconclusive, with the union seeking remedial action by the Labour Ministry before a ballot is put before miners on whether or not they want to retain the longstanding union. Fifty-seven GB&amp;GWU activists remain sacked after they led a strike on 22 November 2009. 
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GB&amp;GWU picketed the offices of Labour Minister Mansoor Nadir on 4 and 5 February 
The union wants redress for the Labour Minister refusing to act or to conduct an investigation that followed the end of the strike. BCGI prepared a de-authorization petition and coerced workers into signing it, denouncing the GB&amp;GWU. In April, it surfaced that BCGI management at both Aroaima and Kwakwani conspired to organise a workers&rsquo; committee for a rival union, one connected with the ruling People&rsquo;s Progressive Party (PPP) in Guyana. (The GB&amp;GWU has been traditionally aligned with the opposition People&rsquo;s National Congress Reform, PNCR). 
 
&ldquo;What we are asking,&rdquo; said GB&amp;GWU Secretary-General Lincoln Lewis, &ldquo;is that the laws of the country be upheld before any ballot at BCGI is held. That means that BCGI&rsquo;s one-sided de-authorization be addressed, victimization of union leaders be addressed, the illegal firings be heard, and its blatant interference over freedom of association rights be addressed. 
 
&ldquo;Now, that has not happened. We cannot enter a ballot until these complaints are answered. If we do, it opens an unwanted precedent for any union in Guyana &ndash; no matter the political alignment &ndash; for both national laws and international labour standards to be ignored in undermining a legitimate union.&rdquo; 
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GB&amp;GWU Secretary-General Lincoln Lewis 
The dispute is now highly politically charged with PNCR representatives in the National Assembly bringing a no-confidence motion on Labour, Human Services, and Social Security Minister Mansoor Nadir inside the Legislature. The Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy has called for his resignation. 
 
The labour dispute initially started in wage negotiations last November. BCGI submitted three proposals and asked miners to vote and accept one. When they accepted the one least desirable to BCGI, managers began meeting with groups of workers to convince them to change their position. For those who stood by the democratic vote, management made it known they would be the first terminated. 
 
Management&rsquo;s bullishness, thus, caused the strike, a strike in which BCGI terminated union leaders, withdrew recognition, and subsequently has tried to introduce another union. The ICEM did intervene with the Guyanese government, but received only a curt reply that all laws and procedures are being adhered to. The ICEM will continue to stand by the GB&amp;GWU until full justice prevails.

Guyana Bauxite Union Still Seeking Justice from RusAl, Government

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Dutch-Irish pulp and paper company SmurfitKappa withdrew a signed social agreement with ICEM affiliate FGTB on a redundancy package, after claiming managers at the Mettet paper converter in the Walloon region of Belgium were coerced into signing it. The company announced in February that is was closing the Cartomill plant near Namur, thus terminating 69 workers. 
 
Late on 30 April and early 1 May, FGTB representatives and plant managers were negotiating the social package in the plant&rsquo;s offices when, after several hours into the night, an agreement was reached on transition and education terms, as well a &euro;30,000 per worker redundancy settlement. The company had originally offered only the Belgian minimum, &euro;28,000. 
 
But following the signing, plant managers conferred with corporate management and the decision was taken to invalidate the agreement, with Cartomills managers stating they were held against their will throughout the evening and forced to sign. Pascal Vivone of FGTB denies the assertion. &ldquo;I do not understand how they can come up with that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;At no point did they indicate they were being held against their will.&rdquo; 
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The two parties, nonetheless, are now continuing the dialogue to reach a fair and equitable settlement. Both sides have agreed to conduct the negotiations off site. 
 
In another recent European paper dispute, the French unions &ndash; CGT-Filpac and CFE-CGC &ndash; won favourable wage terms through industrial action against French paper producer ArgoWiggins. The pay package covers some 2,000 workers at six French mills. The settlement came after several two-hour work stoppages dating back to mid-April. Workers won 2% average pay increases that includes bonus entitlements. ArjoWiggins is owned by the private equity group Sequana Capital.

SmurfitKappa Reneges on Signed Redundancy Package at Belgian Paper Plant

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Some 60,000 trade union members of five Romanian union confederations manifested in Bucharest&rsquo;s Victoriei Square on 19 May, demanding that the government not implement its planned cuts on public-sector wages, pensions, and social services. 
 
Trade unions, civil society groups, and doctors, teachers, and ordinary citizens promise a general strike that could begin tomorrow, 31 May, if the center-right government of Prime Minister Emil Boc moves ahead with its plan to cut public-sector pay by 25%, pensions and unemployment benefits by 15%, and public services by 15% on 1 June. 
 
The cuts were made in a letter of intent to the US-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a US$20 billion loan from the IMF and the EU in order to balance the country&rsquo;s budget. Prior to the 19 May manifestation, the IMF made public its concern against such drastic cuts, expressing a preference for a balance between public curtailments and new revenue sources such as taxes. 
<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="188" />
19 May Manifestation in Victoriei Square
Trade unions are calling for a system of progressive taxation, with the right to retain a decent job, the right to education opportunities, and the right to retire in dignity without fear of dire poverty. The trade union confederations propose that Romanian government ministries cut their bureaucracies. 
 
The government&rsquo;s austerity programme includes a 15% cut in child and child-rearing allowances. Currently, women workers receive 85% of their pre-maternity average pay after childbirth. The government&rsquo;s proposed cuts would slash that to 60%. In an already understaffed national medical system in which doctors earn average monthly pay of only &euro;350, the cuts would mean another 10% of doctors would leave Romania for countries that have higher salaries. Education has already been affected. Some 15,000 teachers will be sacked this year because of the austerity plan. 
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For ICEM affiliated trade unions in the public sector, including FSLI-Petrom at the state oil company, Chimie-Petrochimie Lazar Edeleanu, Chimie-Petrochimie CSI, and Centrala Nationala Minera Federation, the cuts could be devastating since some 80,000 public-sector jobs would be lost, and there is sure to be a spin-off effect into private sector employment. 
 
The five labour confederations resisting the government&rsquo;s wide-ranging social cuts comprise unions in the mining, metallurgical, chemicals, agriculture, textile, transportation, and education sectors. They include the Fratia National Confederation of Free Trade Unions (CNSLR-Fratia), the Cartel Alfa National Trade Union Confederation (CNS Cartel Alfa), the National Trade Union Bloc (BNS), the Meridian National Trade union Confederation, and the Democratic Trade Union Confederation of Romania (CSDR). 
 
The trade union confederations have already declared 19 May as a historic day of national solidarity against injustice in the central European country, and vow that any attempt by the government to impose its terms will bring the nation to its biggest social crisis of the past 20 years.

Proposed Austerity Cuts Bring Mass Protests Inside Romania

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The ICEM is coordinating with other Global Union Federations, the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation, and UNI, as well as with North American affiliates Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada and the United Steelworkers (USW), and the Solidarity Centre in Mexico, to conduct a teach-in event in Toronto, aimed at raising solidarity with and understanding of the struggle by democratic trade unions in Mexico. The event will be held on 20 June, as part of the Peoples&rsquo; Forum events around the G8 and G20 summits. It is an open event. View the agenda <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Mexico%20Forum%20-%20Agenda%20-%20Public%20_EN_.pdf">here</a>. 
 
Entitled the &ldquo;Conference on Building Solidarity with the Democratic Labour Movement in Mexico,&rdquo; the forum is targeted at making an impact in both Mexico and Canada, following Mexican President Felipe Calder&oacute;n&rsquo;s recent visit to the Canadian Parliament, and the continued anti-union strategy of the Mexican government. 
 
The ICEM Executive Committee last week issued a resolution against mining giant Grupo M&eacute;xico and the Calder&oacute;n government following unprovoked violence by federal police against workers in the city of L&aacute;zaro C&aacute;rdenas in the Michoac&aacute;n region. Read the complete resolution <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3795">here</a>. 
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This latest attack is an attack on the autonomy of the National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), also known as Los Mineros. The violence follows the arrest of Mario Garc&iacute;a Ort&iacute;z, Los Mineros&rsquo; special delegate for the State of Michoac&aacute;n, also the Alternative General Secretary of the union and President of the recent Convention of the union. When a delegation of Section 271 went to the police station to ask the reason for the arrest, they found Ort&iacute;z in the process of being released. Without provocation, the police ordered the mineworkers to lie on the street, and then brutally beat the union members. 
 
Mario Ort&iacute;z was seriously injured in the attack and hospitalised. Following the attack, the Section 271 members were detained by police, only being released when their 3,000 fellow Section 271 members stopped work at the ArcelorMittal steel facility in protest. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s governing body last week demanded that the Calder&oacute;n government respect the democratic decision of the recent Los Mineros Congress, which re-elected Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez as General Secretary. G&oacute;mez is forced to lead the union from exile in Canada, as the Mexican government and Grupo M&eacute;xico continue sham legal processes against him. The treatment of Los Mineros official Juan Linares acts as stark reminder of what Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez risks facing if he returns to his country. Juan Linares was arrested in September 2008 at an airport on his return from Canada, where he was a guest at a Canadian labour conference. 
 
&ldquo;ICEM affiliates in Canada and the US have put fourth extraordinary efforts assisting our sisters and brothers in Mexico to stand up against a repressive government and some ruthless employers,&rdquo; stated Joe Drexler, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs and Coordinator for the ICEM North American Region. 
<img alt="" src="" width="220" height="148" />
(Photo: International Metalworkers Federation)
Mexican union leaders from different sectors will share experiences of repression and their fight for decent work, under the four following agenda items: Legal &amp; Political Framework of the Labour Movement Crisis; The Mexican Labour Movement in Crisis; Organizing Strategies in Response to the Crisis; Solidarity Strategies in Response to the Crisis. 
 
The event will take place at 89 Chestnut St., Chestnut Residence Hotel, University of Toronto, 2nd floor. Registration is at 08h30am. For more information, write to <a href="mailto:mbeauregard@cep.ca">mbeauregard@cep.ca</a>. 
 
There was positive news at Johnson Controls in the Mexican state of Puebla this weekend, when a long-fought struggle came to fruition. Johnson Controls officially recognizing the SNTMMSRM as the representative trade union of its employees, ending its relationship with a yellow union. 
 
Management was brought to the table just three days after a work stoppage, as the union timed a strike to stop production just before shipments to key customers including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Chrysler, Nissan, and Volkswagen. Johnson Controls was at risk of large fines if supplier contracts were not met. The settlement also sees 80 contract and agency workers given full employment by the American-based company. The US Solidarity Centre in Mexico reports that international pressure was vitally important in reaching this settlement, serving as a clear indication of the need to continue the overall campaign.

Mexico ‘Teach-In’ Organised to Build Trade Union Solidarity

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