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Global Fund Launches Round 8 
The special issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, issued on 17 March, gives details of the Round 8 announcement by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Please contact <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a> or <a href="mailto:schwass@bluewin.ch">schwass@bluewin.ch</a> to receive a copy of that e-bulletin. 
 
The application form and support documentation are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. Proposals have to reach the Global Fund by 1 July 2008. Access the website <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides">www.aidspan.org/guides</a>, on which a guide to Round 8 applications is available. 
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Colombia: Affiliates and Companies Renew Commitment to Fight HIV/AIDS
Representatives of affiliates and companies met with ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and General Secretary Manfred Warda in Bogot&aacute;, Colombia, on 11 March for the National Conference on the Social Dialogue. 
 
HIV/AIDS is one of the topics in the Social Dialogue Project in Colombia. Delegates expressed the view that concrete action should be developed on HIV/AIDS, and that progress should be reported back to the next meeting. 
 
The ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator, who took part in the meeting, also visited the coal mining region in the north of the country. Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, which is owned in equal parts by Anglo American, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata, runs one of the world&rsquo;s largest set of open-pit coal mines in the world with some 5,000 direct employees and an almost equal number of contract workers. 
 
The company has co-financed a number of hospitals in the communities surrounding Cerrej&oacute;n and local management works with a foundation which runs awareness and prevention campaigns. A new healthy lifestyle programme for employees and their families includes HIV/AIDS. The programme is administered by COPASO, the joint committee for occupational health, on which ICEM&rsquo;s affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n is represented. 
 
With a national prevalence rate of 0.6% and 160,000 adults aged 15 to 49 living with HIV (of a total population of 45 million), treatment is not a major problem. The challenge is to keep the infection rate low and the solution is prevention. 
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AIDS is Top Killer of 15-to-44 year-olds in Asia 
AIDS is the most likely cause of death for Asians aged 15-44, and could kill almost 500,000 people per year across the continent by 2020. The UN-backed Independent Commission on AIDS in Asia warned that in addition to the nearly five million people across Asia who are currently living with the HIV virus, another eight million could become infected if governments do not take drastic action to curb the epidemic. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.earthtimes.org">www.earthtimes.org</a>, posted on 26 March) 
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COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi Speaks to Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa 
In his address to the 4th National Congress of the South African Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi deplored the many years wasted in courts and on the streets fighting denial and inaction by the government. 
 
Vavi acknowledged the role of the TAC in transforming the national response to HIV/AIDS, from denial and foot-dragging, to a united national strategic programme to drive back the pandemic. Thanks to the TAC, thousands of people now get the treatment they need to stay alive, and thousands of babies are born free of the virus. 
 
He pledged COSATU&rsquo;s support for the national strategic programme by setting up support systems at workplaces, and strengthening education and treatment components of the campaign. The aim is to train 20,000 peer educators a year. In his words, peer education remains central to any successful struggle to support people with HIV and AIDS and to reduce infection rates. 
 
(Source: COSATU website) 
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Annie Lennox and Amnesty International Highlight Fate of Rural Women 
Rural women living with HIV in circumstances of poverty in South Africa face discrimination in relationships and in communities because of their gender, HIV status, and economic marginalisation. 
 
This is the main conclusion of a report released on 18 March by Amnesty International. Many women interviewed by Amnesty said that they were often unable to protect themselves against HIV infection because they felt at risk of violence when they suggested condom use. Male partners refused to be tested for HIV. 
 
Effective treatment for HIV and AIDS requires regular visits to accredited clinics and adequate nutrition. Even if medication is free, rural women living in abject poverty can often not afford transportation. 
 
Singer Annie Lennox is highlighting the issue with her new charity song &ldquo;Sing&rdquo;. 
 
The report can be downloaded from the Amnesty International website, <a href="http://www.amnesty.org">www.amnesty.org</a>. 
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Product Red: Contributions to the Global Fund 
Product Red was created by rock singer Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006 to engage the private sector in the fight against AIDS and to deliver a sustainable flow of funds to the Global Fund. 
 
Recently Dell and Microsoft joined Product Red, Bono&rsquo;s enterprise, by supplying Dell computers powered by Windows Vista. Companies, which are partners of Product Red, are committed to channel a percentage of profits to the Global Fund. 
 
On Valentine&rsquo;s Day 2008, an auction of donated and specially created art works at Sotheby&rsquo;s in New York raised US$42.6 million. The auction brought the total amount raised by Product Red to more than US$100 million since its launch. 
 
Lesotho became the fourth country to receive funds from Product Red through the Global Fund, joining Rwanda, Swaziland, and Ghana. 
 
(Source: Global Fund website) 
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News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS Update (No. 38, 1 March) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) (<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) reports, among other items, on the HIV/AIDS awareness and support programme implemented by the Forward Seamen Union of India, and the increasing risk of infection of Indonesian fishermen.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

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Some 30,000 trade unionists took to the streets of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Saturday, 5 April, as European Union finance ministers met in the Balkan country. The unionists, marching behind a call by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), were protesting record-high inflation and declining purchasing power at a time when EU officials were calling for wage restraint. 
 
The EU ministers were meeting in nearby Brdo in talks to reform social welfare programmes. 
 
ETUC General Secretary John Monks told the assembled in the capital city&rsquo;s Congress Square that &ldquo;we cannot accept lectures that workers should be modest&rdquo; in pay deals. &ldquo;Getting a fairer deal for workers across Europe is a top ETUC priority.&rdquo; The trade union federation has produced evidence that wage moderation does not create more jobs, as some claim, but leads instead to stagnating domestic demand and weakened employment rates.
Since 1995, while wages have dropped as a share of Gross Domestic Product across the EU, corporate profits have risen. Top managers earn up to 300 times more than workers, leaving over 30 million people earning poverty-level wages. 
 
EU unionists that converged in Slovenia over the weekend demanded a rise in real salaries and purchasing power; efforts to create more and better jobs; creation of decent minimum wages to combat poverty; equal pay for men and women; stronger collective bargaining systems, and an end to social dumping; decent work and fair wages for public sector, temporary, and mobile workers; better opportunities for lifelong learning; and a limit to the income of top earners.

ETUC Call Brings 30,000 to Slovenia to Protest Wage Restraint

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A strike by energy workers against Shell-Gabon that stopped nearly one-half of all oil production and exports in the west African nation ended last week, 1 April, after direct mediation by Gabonese President Omar Bongo. The strike by 800 workers, which began in the early hours of 20 March by the National Organisation of Petroleum Workers (ONEP), ended a day after the union threatened a broader national strike. 
 
ONEP reported its demands had been met. The strike occurred due to non-compliance by Shell-Gabon&rsquo;s managing director over new work-time regulations, rules that had been set in place by an earlier government decree. The union was demanding the ouster of the managing director. Workers had been denied holiday leave.
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Shell-Gabon is 75% owned by Royal Dutch Shell and 25% by the government. The 11-day strike halted 60,000 barrels-per-day of crude production in the Gamba-Ivinga-Totous oil fields, as well as production from the Toucan and Rabi fields. Shipments of crude were also halted at an oil terminal in Gamba, stoppages which cost Shell US$11 million per day. 
 
The terminal was also shut to crude exports of Total-Gabon and Perenco, the latter a privately-held French oil and gas exploration and production company. The companies share the terminal with Shell-Gabon. Those amounts were estimated at 30,000 barrels-per-day. Gabon is the fifth largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa.

Oil Strike Against Shell in Gabon Ends

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In Russia&rsquo;s Sverdlovsk Region, a ten-day sit-in strike by 96 bauxite miners 800 metres below ground ended on Friday, 4 April, as the world&rsquo;s largest aluminium producer &ndash; United Company RusAl &ndash; agreed to dialogue and serious attention to strikers&rsquo; demands. Those strikers, members of one of four mining unions at RusAl&rsquo;s Sevuralboksitruda subsidiary, the Independent Miners&rsquo; Union of Russia, began the strike at the Krasnaya Shapochka (Little Red Riding Hood) Mine on 26 March. Their resolve was furthered on 1 April when they undertook a hunger strike on 1 April.
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The company, privately-owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, shut five other bauxite mines in the North Ural Mountains on 28 March, curtailing wages for 5,000 other miners in an effort to divide miners and pressure the striking union. That failed, with members of the other unions signing pledges of support for the strikers, as well as sending food and other supplies to them, until they started the hunger strike. 
 
An annual pay increase put in place late last year for all the unionised miners of the region by RusAl paled next to the company&rsquo;s vast profits and the 15% inflation rate of the region. The strikers of the Independent Miners&rsquo; Union sent a list of ten demands to the surface on 27 March. Those demands included a 50% pay increase on top of the average salary of US$760 per month, an end to weekend work, resumption of a company halted social welfare programme that took effect 1 January, and investment in other mines of the region.
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On 3 April, RusAl went to court to get the strike declared illegal. However, a pledge to meet their demands, and a promise of amnesty to the strikers, brought an end to the strike on Friday morning. The mine, located near the central Russian town of Severuralsk, is a former operation of Russian aluminium producer SUAL International, which together with Glencore of Switzerland&rsquo;s alumina assets merged with RusAl a year ago.

Russian Bauxite Strike Ends With Pledge of Higher Pay, Better Work Conditions

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In the strongest terms possible, the 20-million-member ICEM has condemned the vile and ruthless murder of trade union leader Adolfo Gonz&aacute;lez Montes of mining affiliate Sindicato Nacional de los Trabajores de la Industria del Carbon (Sintracarb&oacute;n) in Colombia. Comrade Montes was tortured and killed early in the morning of 22 March at his home in Riohacha, La Guajira state, northern Colombia. 
 
&ldquo;We denounce this vile and atrocious murder before the international community and the people and government of Colombia,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We demand that the government of Colombia capture, charge, and convict the cowardly persons responsible for this crime against humanity and affront to democratic trade unionism.
&ldquo;We also call on the multinationals AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata, the shareholders of Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, to heighten security for workers and trade unionists in the wake of this heinous act.&rdquo; Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n is one of world&rsquo;s largest coal producers. Managers of the enterprise and 4,000-member Sintracarb&oacute;n are engaged in a model Social Dialogue exchange for Colombia, a programme fostered by the ICEM.
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Miners of Sintracarb&oacute;n mourned the killing of fellow worker Adolfo Gonz&aacute;lez Montes 
Comrade Adolfo Gonz&aacute;lez Montes was a committeeman of the Barrancas Section. At 6h00 on 22 March, while he was finishing his rest prior to a work turn, the assailants entered his home. He was tortured and then murder in front of his four young children. Following the murder, other leaders of Sintracarb&oacute;n received telephone threats. 
 
He becomes the 13th trade unionist in Colombia reported to be assassinated so far this year. In March alone, when the eyes of the world had been focused on trade union killings in the South American nation over the stalled free trade agreement with the US, six unionists were murdered. Besides Montes, Hospital Workers&rsquo; Union leader Carlos Burbano was killed on 11 March; ADIDA unionist Gildario Antonio Gomez Alzate on 7 March; Rafael Boada of Union Nacional de Empleados Bancarios on 7 March; Leonidas Gomez Rozo of CUT on 5 March; and Carmen Cecilia Carvajal Ramirez of ASINORT on 4 March.

ICEM Condemns the Assassination of Colombian Sintracarbón Leader, Adolfo González Montes

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The ICEM Global Framework Agreement with French specialty chemicals producer Rhodia took a major forward step with inclusion of specific neutrality language. The two parties formally signed the renewal agreement in Paris on 25 March. 
 
The Global Agreement, originally signed on 31 January 2005, also includes stronger language regarding responsible behaviour by the company&rsquo;s suppliers and subcontractors, as well as integration of the agreement with the &ldquo;Rhodia Way,&rdquo; a set of principles aimed at continuous progress on social and environmental responsibility.
<img height="186" alt="" src="" width="280" />
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Rhodia CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu at the 25 March signing&nbsp; 
 

The renewal agreement is supported by ICEM French affiliates Fedechemie CGT-FO and Federation Chimie Energie CFDT. It follows a favourable assessment of the terms of the agreement carried out over that past two years that included a joint trip to China last fall to observe work conditions at Rhodia&rsquo;s operations there. 
 
&ldquo;We feel we have taken the agreement with Rhodia to a new level,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;The commitment for trust and earnest dialogue is genuine.&rdquo; 
 
The agreement did contain, and still does, adherence to ILO Core Labour Conventions 87 and 98 regarding freedom of association, and the right of representation and collective bargaining, but it now goes further. Under a section entitled Labour-Management Dialogue, a clause now states: &ldquo;Rhodia respects the right of employees to be collectively organised and shall remain strictly neutral concerning their choices in this matter.&rdquo; 
 
Further to that section, &ldquo;Rhodia pledges to not practice any discrimination due to unionisation either when hiring or when managing employees&rsquo; careers.&rdquo; 
 
Rhodia also pledges to take a hands-on approach in assuring that suppliers and subcontractors adhere to the framework of the Global Agreement, as well as all laws and human rights standards. 
 
In addition, the renewal agreement sets formal ICEM involvement in tracking &ldquo;Rhodia Way&rdquo; performance; it creates a joint safety issues discussion group; allows the agreement&rsquo;s application to be audited by an outside expert jointly chosen by the two parties; and, following the successful Chinese mission, sets up an annual mission to a country to assess terms of the accord. The next such visit will be to Brazil.
The English and French versions of the agreement can be found <a href="/en/?id=98&amp;la=EN">here</a>.
Rhodia, which generated sales of &euro;5.1 billion in 2007, supplies chemicals for the automotive, tyre, electronics, perfume, and health, beauty, and home care markets. It employs 15,500 workers worldwide.

Renewal Rhodia Global Pact Has Specific Neutrality Language

Global Fund Calls for Round 8 Proposals 

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has issued its Eighth Call for Proposals. The application form and support documentation are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. 
 
Proposals have to reach the Global Fund by 1 July 2008. 
 
All proposals submitted by the closing date of 1 July 2008 will be reviewed by the Secretariat to ensure that they meet the eligibility criteria. Eligible proposals will then be forwarded to the Technical Review Panel (TRP) for consideration. The TRP will make recommendations on the basis of which the Global Fund Board will decide.
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How does the Global Fund work? 
The Global Fund, itself a public/private partnership, is a funding mechanism. Since it was registered in January 2002, and up to December 2007, the Global Fund has approved grants with a total commitment of US$14.5 billion, more than half of it targeted for HIV/AIDS projects. 
 
The Global Fund is based in Geneva. It does not have any country representation. The proposal process and the implementation of grants are devolved to the national level. The Global Fund gives the policy framework and issues guidelines on various aspects of its operations. It raises money, spends it, and proves it &ndash; the Global Fund is performance based. 
 
All proposals have to go through the Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCM). The composition of the CCMs is supposed to be representative of all stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including civil society, the private sector, and organisations of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).
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How can unions get involved? 
The role of the workplace in the fight against HIV/AIDS is recognised. The workplace is an important entry point for HIV/AIDS services and no workplace activities can be efficiently implemented without unions. The role of national unions and their international bodies, the Global Unions, is acknowledged by international organisations such as the ILO, the WHO, and UNAIDS. 
 
The Global Fund is supportive of public/private partnerships, or co-investment arrangements. Without the involvement of the private sector universal access to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), and to anti-retroviral treatment (ART), it is not possible to qualify, or projects will be further delayed. The private sector is business and trade unions, as the workers&rsquo; representatives. For the first time, the Guidelines for Round 8 proposals mention unions under eligible organisations of the private sector. 
 
The manpower capacities of unions are limited. Unions must tend to other day-to-day business. Unions are not single-issue NGOs. They have to look for partners and build alliances with companies and NGOs. 
 
Very few CCMs include unionists. While we continue to call for union representation on CCMs, in the short term, it is vital that unions work through members of the CCMs who are sympathetic to their cause. It is important that unions find cooperating partners who can develop their project ideas into proposals for the CCM. 
 
The German Organisation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) operates the BACKUP Initiative (Building Alliances &ndash; Creating Knowledge &ndash; Updating Partners), which provides support. GTZ is represented in more than 130 countries. A lot of USAID offices have HIV/AIDS Coordinators and certain embassies, notably of Nordic countries, The Netherlands, the UK, and the European Union may be able to give assistance. Global Unions and the WHO have agreed to use the potential of unions in up-scaling and accelerating access to VCT and ART. The ILO and its workplace programme, ILOAIDS, has focal points on HIV/AIDS in a number of offices. 
 
The most significant new feature in Round 8 is that the Global Fund is recommending that applicants specify one (or more) Principal Recipients (PRs) from the government sector and one (or more) from the various non-government sectors, including the private sector which includes unions (dual-track financing).
<img height="35" src="" width="25" alt="" />
What are your next steps? 
&bull; Put down your ideas about a workplace programme on one page and prepare a draft budget. 
&bull; Get to know the members of your country&rsquo;s CCM and lobby those potentially sympathetic to union causes for the inclusion of workplace programmes in Round 8 proposals. Country-specific information is accessible at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. 
&bull; Contact GTZ, USAID, the ILO, UNAIDS, and WHO offices in your country. 
&bull; Build alliances with companies; remind them of their social responsibility. 
&bull; Cooperate with NGOs and organisations of PLWHA. 
&bull; Access the website <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides">www.aidspan.org/guides</a> on which a guide to Round 8 applications is available.
<img height="35" src="" width="25" alt="" />
How can the ICEM help? 
The ICEM Global Coordinator has good working relations with all the organisations mentioned. He can help you with contacts and links to materials. Send your ideas about a workplace programme and inquiries to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. The ICEM has Global Agreements with 13 multinational companies. These companies should be engaged in the fight against the pandemic.
Above all 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>Start today if you want to do something.&nbsp;</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Remember that the private sector includes business and unions as the workers&rsquo; representatives.&nbsp;</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Remember that you have allies who can be mobilized and who can give assistance.&nbsp;</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Write to the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator at <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a> for further information and help. </div>
 </li>
</ul>

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin: Special Issue, 20 March 2008

ICEM&rsquo;s North American Regional Coordinating Committee, chaired by PACE Vice President Don Langham, elected one trade unionist to the GUF&rsquo;s Presidium and another to the Executive at a meeting in the US 10 November. Ken Neumann, National Canadian Director of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), replaces the retiring Lawrence McBrearty of the USWA on the Presidium while Terence O&rsquo;Sullivan, General President of the Laborers&rsquo; International Union of North America (LIUNA), takes a seat on the Executive Committee.

ICEM’s North American Region Elects New Presidium Member

China&rsquo;s coal mines have come under global scrutiny due to weekly disasters that claim the lives of thousands of miners each year. But yet another mine disaster this past weekend has gained headlines. On 20 November, a mass fire spreading across five iron ore mines in Shahe city, Hebei province, claimed the lives of 57 miners with another three still missing. The fire in the privately-run mine was caused by an electric cable that ignited and then spread when flames engulfed wood pillars.

Chinese Iron Ore Operations Latest to Face Safety Deaths

Swedish affiliate Sif held its Congress in G&ouml;teberg on 15-18 November and used a novel working method to discuss issues that replaced lengthy plenary sessions common to many congresses. The 180 delegates attending participated in 11 detailed consultative sessions that were aided by networked computers. The system, first introduced at the 2000 Congress but further refined at last week&rsquo;s event, facilitated much greater delegate participation in producing consultative documents and summaries of spontaneous discussions. These were then put to a final plenary for approval. Delegates also re-elected President Mari-Ann Krantz and elected two new Vice Presidents, Peter Hellberg and Stefan Carlsson.

Sif of Sweden Holds Congress

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