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<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief%201.gif" width="100"/>
After a full day devoted to the global pharmaceutical industry, ICEM delegates ended a week of trade union meetings in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on 1 December. The first part of the week, 27-29 November, was taken up with the ICEM’s World Conference for the Energy Industries, followed by the ICEM World Conference for the Chemical Industries, Wednesday through Friday, 29 November to 1 December. 
<img height="67" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/TrnidadFlag.gif" width="100"/>
Hundreds of national energy and chemical trade union representatives, from all parts of the world, united at the two ICEM conferences, which are held every four years. In addition to listening to presentations on several topics, by both global and national trade unionists, as well as by individuals from business and institutional sectors, delegates had, and passionately took, the opportunity to discuss developments and challenges to their respective industries. 
 
An action plan was adopted at the end of both conferences, setting a broad scope of priorities for the coming four years. One such priority is the call to increase the effort to sign Global Framework Agreements with multinational companies. Other shared priorities include the fight against precarious employment, specifically contract and agency labour, and the struggle to improve the workplace environment for women. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0611ICEMenergyConf.jpg" width="100"/>
The energy action plan also calls for, among other things, more solidarity and dialogue between unions of energy export and import countries, and for expanding contacts between Mining Sector unions and the Energy Sector. The action plan also calls for more education, training and skills development. It also endorsed the creation of the ICEM Nuclear Workers’ Unions Network (INWUN). 
 
The conference further decided to set up an ICEM-ITF Working Group on health and safety in the oil and gas transportation sector, with specific attention going to remote and hostile environments. This decision was confirmed during a subsequent meeting of the Strategy and Organising Standing Committee (SOSC) of the ICEM-ITF Global Oil and Gas Industry Trade Union Alliance. 
 
The energy conference was attended by 200 representatives from 64 ICEM affiliated trade unions, who travelled from 47 countries to attend the conference in Trinidad and Tobago. The conference unanimously re-elected ICEM Energy Sector Chairman Lars Myhre of Norway’s IndustriEnergi, the newly-formed union created with the merger of NOPEF and Norsk Kjemisk. 
<img height="99" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMsectorlogos/ICEMchemical.jpg" width="100"/>
The Chemicals Sector action plan called on trade unions to actively promote the 1990 ILO Safety in the Use of Chemicals at Work Convention 170. Other areas in which specific work is targeted for include the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), the Globally Harmonized System of Chemical Classification and Labelling (GHS), and Responsible Care. 
 
Of particular interest at this conference was a lively and challenging debate on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), which included the development of a proposal on how to get better involve trade unions in M&A processes. The chemicals action plan also calls for Global Framework Agreements discussions to begin with international employers’ organisations, such as CropLife and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA). 
 
Some 120 national trade unionists participated in the chemical conferences, representing 43 different national unions from 33 countries. IGBCE’s Tomas Nieber, who took over from IGBCE’s Michael Meirsman as Chair of the ICEM chemical section halfway through the previous four-year period, was unanimously elected to continue this role. 
 
Various documents and presentations from the conferences are available online through the ICEM web-site. 
<a href="/en/166-ICEM-World-Conference-for-the-Energy-Industries" type="internal">Click here to access various documents from the ICEM World Conference for the Energy Industries</a> 
 
<a href="/en/165-ICEM-World-Conference-for-the-Chemical-Industries" type="internal">Click here to access various documents from the ICEM World Conference for the Chemical Industries.</a>

ICEM’s World Conferences on Energy and Chemicals End in Trinidad and Tobago

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Nigeria’s two oil workers’ unions, ICEM affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN, last week condemned the management of state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) for the unilateral and irregular dismissal of 3,000 staff, the majority of whom are members of the blue-collar and white-collar unions. 
 
In a statement, PENGASSAN General Secretary Bago Olowoshile blasted senior management of the company for failing to engage in a dialogue with the unions and breaching proper protocol by excluding members of the unions’ NNPC Group Executive Council in redundancy deliberations. 
<img height="119" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaNupeng.gif" width="115"/>        <img height="105" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaPengassan.JPG" width="100"/>
The two unions called the sackings “premature and ill-timed”, forcing “unplanned severance” on to the affected workers and their dependents. The sudden downsizing appears to be a furthering of reforms to NNPC and part of an overall privatisation process. NUPENGASSAN, the cooperative and effective aegis of the two labour unions, is insistent that management of NNPC and all Nigerian officials, especially those inside the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), be made to “put a human face” on all privatisation matters. 
 
But the voice of public reason in Nigeria was critical and forthright on NNPC’s latest closed-door decision making. 
 
“The failure of NNPC to involve the National Secretariat of the two Unions as the situation demands is nothing but a flagrant violation of our grievance and Trade Dispute processes and a serious attempt to provoke and incite the members of both NUPENG and PENGASSAN on this damning posture and its ripple effects on the entire oil and gas industry,” read the statement. 
<img height="92" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Nigeria.png" width="200"/>
The two unions called for NNPC to live up to the specific language contained in the Disengagement Package as outlined in the 13 October 2005 collective agreement, which was signed by all parties. 
 
In August, the two unions heavily criticised DPE and NNPC for failing to abide by transparent and common good practices in selling state asset Eleme Petro Chemical Ltd., a subsidiary of NNPC. The Nigerian state seriously undervalued the olefins refinery in Port Harcourt when it sold the polyethylene and polypropylene refinery to a Thailand-based investment start-up called Indorama.

NUPENGASSAN Condemns Sacking of 3,000 NNPC Workers

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The International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) has marked today, 11 December, as an international Day of Action in support of Napoleon Gómez Urrutia, the trade union official from the Mexican National Miners and Metalworkers’ Union (SNTMMSRM) who has been removed by the federal government. 
The IMF’s “Call for Justice” campaign includes demonstrations and actions at Mexican embassies and consulates throughout the world, backing up a mass march in Mexico City and industrial actions around the country. 
<img height="63" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0612IMF1.jpg" width="300"/>
Gómez, who was elected General Secretary of SNTMMSRM in 2002, was unpopular with a large part of the ruling elite as he organised a free and democratic union. 
On 19 February 2006, an explosion occurred at the Grupo México’s Pasta de Conchos coal mine in the northern Mexican State of Coahuilla. Information on the cause of the explosion, which killed 65 miners, including 40 contract workers, was scarce and inconsistent. Gómez then termed the disaster an “industrial homicide” and charged both company and government safety officials with neglect for Mexico’s worst mine tragedy this year. 
 
Just two days before the explosion, the Mexican government had “withdrawn recognition” of Gómez as General Secretary of the union, after it received an unauthenticated request from supposed members of the union’s Vigilance and Justice Committee to remove him. 
 
Gómez was accused of corruption in relation to a trust fund, and removed from his post by the Labour Ministry. He was replaced by Elias Morales, a person close not only to officials inside the Labour Ministry, but also to officials of Grupo México. Many members of SNTMMSRM refuse to accept the allegations against Gómez, and numerous strikes broke out in support of him. During a police intervention in one such strike in April, two miners were killed. 
<img height="179" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0612IMF2.jpg" width="150"/>
The facts behind the fraud and corruption case appear to be inconsistent. For example, one of the suspicious and alleged unauthorised transfers of money abroad was the payment of affiliation fees to the IMF. The IMF is calling for “efforts to be made to inform the public about the use of the trust fund.” 
 
The removal of Napoleon Gómez from his post is clearly a breach of the union’s autonomy and needs to be seen as a violation of the ILO Convention No. 87 on freedom of association, which has been ratified by Mexico. Any decision to remove the trade union leader from duty is up to the SNTMMSRM and its democratic structures. 
<img height="61" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/MexicoFlag.gif" width="100"/>
Napoleon Gómez has the active support of ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW). In a press communication last month, the USW stated, “The government of Mexico violated the NAFTA labour side agreement when it removed the leader of the National Mineworkers’ Union from office.” The USW has had a solidarity pact with the Mexican Mineworkers since 2004, and solidly supports the return of Gómez to his rightful union leadership position. 
 
More information, including a report of a fact-finding mission to Mexico, can be found on the IMF’s website at this link: <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/main/index.cfm?n=47&l=2&c=14233">http://www.imfmetal.org/main/index.cfm?n=47&l=2&c=14233</a>.

IMF Supports Mexican Mining Leader Napoleon Gómez in ‘Day of Action’

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief%201.gif" width="100"/>
Some 600 members of ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South African struck gold acquisition and producing company Centurion Gold Holdings Inc. in Germiston, near Johannesburg, on 7 December. Several hundred miners at the company’s Primrose mine and ore processing plant went on strike because management reneged on a pledge to keep all standing agreements intact from a previous employer, according to the South African Press Association. 
 
Miners are also seeking a doubling of their salaries. Miners at the Primrose mine are some of the lowest paid in the Central Rand gold belt, with monthly salaries totalling only R1,000 per month. Since Johannesburg-based Centurion bought the mine and processing plant from privately-held Glencairn Mining Co. in February 2004, the company has doubled production and has begun processing ore at Primrose from two other gold mines it owns in South Africa. 

<img height="103" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SouthafricaNUM.gif" width="100"/>
The company has refused to bargain with the NUM branch union over conditions, and a union spokesman said the NUM has taken the matter to South Africa’s labour courts. Miners have seen a rollback in the number of annual leave days that they received under Glencairn, as well as a death benefit, and other working conditions have worsened as well. 
 
Centurion has indicated it would evict strikers from company-owned hostels, and the NUM is petitioning the courts to prevent that. The NUM national Executive Committee, meeting on Friday, 8 December, gave the strike and Centurion’s callous behaviour over union recognition and inferior work conditions its full attention.  
 
<img height="92" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SouthAfrica.png" width="200"/>
Centurion was formed in 2003 to acquire and operate mine properties in South Africa and elsewhere. The company boosts that it was formed to “exploit” South African legislation passed in 2004 that cedes mining claims back to the public trust if they go undeveloped within a designated time frame. 
The company, publicly traded in the US, carries out prospecting and development of mining lands. Besides Primrose, it operates the Omaruru gold mine in Mpumulanga, the Sellies gold mine near Johannesburg, as well as a chrome-bearing mining operation. It is also currently involved in development of the Naboom platinum project in South Africa.

South African Miners Strike Gold Mine to Retain Work Standards

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
November, and to date December, have been two of the cruellest months in Chinese coal mines regarding tragedies and deaths. Disasters occurred in such frequency over the last weekend of November – 102 deaths in five separate coal mine mishaps – that the director of China’s State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), Li Yizhong, lashed out at operators, provincial regulators and local authorities during a teleconference of safety officials on 28 November. 
 
Li called the month of November “unprecedented” in terms of death and family loss in the country’s collieries. In a rare departure from the customary Chinese norm by top officials of reserve and calm, Li expressed outrage during his animated and angry teleconference. In some provinces, he told of corrupt practices in which closed mines are reopened, unlicensed mines are allowed to operate, and local and provincial officials, upon getting orders to shut a certain mine, intentionally close a smaller, less profitable one in the area in order that a higher producing mine stays open. 
 
“How many lives do we have to lose before they learn from the lesson?” Li asked. “Don’t let unscrupulous mine owners kill more people in their final frenzy to make a profit.” In November, the accident rate was nearly 22% over that of October, with some 440 miners dying in a total of some 150 accidents. In Shanxi province alone, a methane gas explosion at an unlicensed mine which killed 24 on 25 November drove the death toll for the month in the province to over 100. 
<img height="67" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ChinaFLAG.gif" width="100"/>
The rash of mine accidents of late stems from extremely high demand as the winter peak season approaches. Operators and mine regulators have ignored orders to close unsafe mines, and are flouting safety rules in order to meet current demand. 
 
Over the final weekend of November, besides the gas blast at the unlicensed mine in Shanxi province, two other mine tragedies on 25 November killed a total of 56 miners, while the next day at the Linaying coal mine near Leding city, Jiangxi province, nine were killed and seven others injured in yet another explosion. The 25 November tragedies occurred at the privately-owned Chanyuan mine in Yunnan province where 32 miners perished, and at the Yuanhua mine in Heilongjiang province in which 26 died. 
 
At the Chanyuan mine, local authorities had been under orders to close the two-year-old mine that contains over six million tonnes of coal reserves because of inadequate safety equipment, but had changed those orders and closed a smaller mine instead. 
 
On 27 November, a coal supply tower collapsed at a mine in Guizhou province, killing four workers. And then a day after Li’s tirade, on 29 November, 11 died near Wuwei city, Gansu province, when the vice-director of an illegal mine opened a closed shaft for further production. He was one of the 11 killed from the sudden gas explosion.
<img height="88" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Maps/China.png" width="200"/>
December began with the same death wave inside China’s mines. On 1 December, the privately-owned and properly licensed Chengjin coal mine near Jixi city, Heilongjiang province, witnessed a gas blast that killed eight. Two days later, a roof collapsed at the Guanyin mine in Lianyaun city, Hunan province, killing 12. SAWS had revoked the safety license of the mine at the time of the accident. Interestingly, after the mine owner fled to avoid arrest, a relative of his stepped forward and sent 300,000 Yuan (US$38,000) to the local government to offset the cost of the rescue. 
 
Last week, on 7 December, walls burst and flooding occurred at the Ping’an coal mine in Fuxin, Liaoning province. The tragedy killed eight, with the bodies of two missing miners only recovered yesterday. A day after the Liaoning flood, on 8 December, another flood, only this time at a gold mine in Shaanxi province, drowned six miners. That occurred when officials of Tongma Mining Co., which administers the mine, illegally set off underground explosives in order to open an abandoned mine shaft. The shaft had filled with water. 
 
These human errors were similar to one exactly a month earlier, which began this latest death wave inside China’s mines. On 8 November, 13 miners died inside the Xinpo coal mine near Leiyang city, Hunan province, when a boss, seeking higher production, ordered electric drills into a shaft despite high readings of methane gas levels.

China Sees Rash of Mine Tragedies in November and December

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
Seventeen contract workers in Bangkok won a mixed decision on 30 November in a central labour court case dating back nearly three years. Goodyear Thailand Ltd. was ordered to pay more than one year’s backpay to the 17, who were sacked by the US-based company in October 2005 for exerting their legitimate right to collective bargaining. 
Despite several of the 17 contract employees working at Goodyear’s tyre-making plant back to 1996, the court ruled that backpay awards only be granted them from the effective date of the collective agreement inside the factory, August 2004, to their dismissal dates. The union representing the workers, the Tyre Makers’ Union of ICEM affiliate Petroleum and Chemical Workers’ Federation (PCFT), is studying an appeal to the decision, while Goodyear has appealed the ruling. 
<img height="92" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Thailand.png" width="200"/>
The 17 contract workers had previously won an Industrial Court Commission ruling, calling for reinstatement. But when they turned up at the factory for work on 3 May 2006, management refused entry. 
On 31 October 2006, another contract employee, Chalom Kongnok, won backpay totalling one year of work service, plus 50,000 baht for his dismissal. Chalom’s dismissal came in December 2005, when he refused to sign a one-year renewal of his temporary work contract.
The workers were all long-term contract workers employed in the warehouse and rubber stock department of Goodyear’s Bangkok tyre factory. 
<img height="82" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/USAUSW.jpg" width="150"/>
Goodyear Newsletter
The United Steelworkers, currently on strike against Goodyear in the US and Canada published the global newsletter, called ‘Global Solidarity. The 'Newsletter for Unionised Goodyear Workers Worldwide’, is available on the ICEM web-site in <a href="/en/111-Goodyear/2052-Global-Solidarity-a-Newsletter-for-Unionised-Goodyear-Workers-Worldwide" type="internal">English</a> and <a href="/es/?id=111&doc=2052" type="internal">Spanish</a>.

17 Goodyear Contract Workers Win Year’s Backpay at Thai Tyre Factory

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
At a kick-off rally on 21 February in New Plymouth, New Zealand, ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) launched its “FairShare ‘07” campaign, aimed at mobilising the union’s 50,000 members for 5% wage increases in this year’s round of collective bargaining. 
 
“We’re telling employers that this year, we expect pay rises of 5% and we’re prepared to do what’s necessary to get it,” EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little told 1,000 EPMU members at the rally. Little said that with increased business confidence and a strengthening economy, there is no excuse for working New Zealanders to miss out on the economic good times.
<img height="50" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NewZealandFlag.gif" width="100"/>
  
The 2007 campaign is a repeat of the EPMU’s “FairShare ‘05” campaign, in which the union negotiated a total of 269 labour agreements – 85% of the total collective agreements negotiated then – with 5% wage gains. 
 
As part of this year’s 5% drive, the union will be making claims for employer contributions into a workers’ savings plan. “One of the major changes to the employment landscape this year is the introduction of KiwiSaver and we’ll be taking employer contributions into account during our negotiations,” said Little. 
 
KiwiSaver will become effective on 1 July, and the EPMU will bargain for a minimum 2% employer contribution to an individual worker’s account. The supplemental savings scheme allows workers to make either a 4% or 8% personal contribution of their gross taxable earnings, but currently there is no statutory requirement for employers to match a contribution. 
 
Little also said superannuation will also be a key issue in this year’s bargaining.
<img height="92" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Maps/NewZealand.png" width="200"/>
EPMU, New Zealand’s largest union, again has the full support of the country’s Council of Trade Unions (CTU) in this year’s drive. “We need to see wages increased every year if we are to address both our significant social deficit and also the structural problem in our economy of low wages,” stated CTU President Ross Wilson, adding that on average, New Zealand wages lag 30% behind those in Australia.

EPMU Renews ‘FairShare’ Wage Campaign for 2007 in New Zealand

The ICEM, the Global Union Federation for oil workers, is calling for “strong condemnation” of the two recent US and Iraqi military raids on union offices in Baghdad. The raids, during which one worker was arrested, and computers and fax machines at the central office of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) confiscated, occurred on 23 and 25 February. 
 
The ICEM, with affiliates in 125 countries, is calling on trade unions worldwide to directly protest this unprovoked attack on a trade union federation that stands for nation building and bettering the living conditions inside Iraq. 
 
ICEM is calling on trade unions and others to write to Iraqi embassies in their home countries, as well as to send messages of solidarity to GFIW leaders that their efforts to build strong trade unions in Iraq will succeed and with it, fair and just reconstruction for all Iraqi people. 
 
Trade unions are asked to register a protest with the Iraqi embassy or consulate in their country by visiting: <a href="http://www.mofa.gov.iq/index.aspx">http://www.mofa.gov.iq/index.aspx</a>. They are also being strongly urged to write GFIW leaders in Baghdad to tell them they protest these forceful and menacing acts.
Messages can be sent to these principal addresses: 
<a href="mailto:abdullahmuhsin@iraqitradeunions.org">abdullahmuhsin@iraqitradeunions.org</a> 
<a href="mailto:adnalsaffar@yahoo.com">adnalsaffar@yahoo.com</a> 
<img height="115" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Iraq.png" width="250"/>
The ICEM notes that the pair of raids on the GFIW offices represents disturbing and counter-productive acts inside Iraq. On 19 February, a raid also occurred at the offices of the Iraq Syndicate of Journalists, and American troops confiscated computers and membership records. 
 
“These attacks are a clear violation of fundamental human and trade union rights,” wrote ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda to Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. “They are also a cynical attempt to not only harass the trade union movement of your country, but to limit their ability to communicate with both their members and their international contacts. 
 
“This is appalling, particularly at the present time. Genuine and democratic trade unions are a cornerstone of democracy and at the same time are a force for reconciliation, peace and stability in a society,” said Warda. 
To read the ICEM letter to the Iraqi Prime Minister, <a href="/index.php?id=24&doc=2160&la=EN" type="internal">click here</a>.

Military Raids, Arrest at Iraqi Union Office Demands Action

8 March 2007 
 
Brother Mustafa Oztaskin 
President 
Petrol-Is Union 
Altunizade Mah. 
Kusbakisi Sok. No. 25 
81180 Altunizade Uskadar 
Turkey 
 
Via e-mail <a href="mailto:merkez@petrol-is.org.tr">merkez@petrol-is.org.tr</a> 
or Fax Number +90 216 4749870 
 
Dear Brother Oztaskin, 
We understand through our mutual affiliation with the ICEM that workers in the Antalya Free Trade Zone at Novamed GmbH, a subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care, have been on strike since late September 2006. 
 
We also know from the ICEM that of 84 workers on strike, 82% of them are women. They are rightfully seeking dignity on the job, and their full trade union rights to collective bargaining. We applaud them in their very heroic efforts to defend these rights and their very basic fight for dignity. 
 
On this day, 8 March, International Women’s Day, our Union commends Petrol-Is for standing strong with these women workers. We also ask you to pass our Solidarity and Unity to them in this most important fight against Fresenius Medical Care. Please convey to them that our Union stands firmly with them. 
 
Fraternally,

Model letter for International Women’s Day on Turkey

Global Fund Calls for Round 7 Proposals 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has issued its Seventh 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 4 July 2007. 
 
All proposals submitted by the closing date of 4 July 2007 will be reviewed by the Global Fund’s 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 to the Global Fund Board, which will make its decisions at its November board meeting. 
 
 
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 2006, the Global Fund has approved 450 programmes in 136 countries with a total commitment of US$7 billion. 
 
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 – 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). In reality, most CCMs are dominated by the public sector. 
 
 
How can unions get involved? 
The role of the workplace in the fight against HIV/AIDS is recognised. No workplace activities can be efficiently implemented without unions. The role of national unions and their international bodies, the Global Union Federations, is acknowledged by international organisations such as the ILO, the WHO and UNAIDS. 
 
The Global Fund is keen to build public/private partnerships and to implement co-investment projects. Without the involvement of the private sector, universal access to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), and to anti-retroviral treatment (ART), is not possible or will be further delayed. The private sector is business and trade unions as workers’ representatives. The ICEM has worked with the Global Fund to establish this principle in public/private co-investment projects. 
 
The manpower capacities of unions are limited. They have to attend 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 – Creating Knowledge – 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 the 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. 
 
Grants are allocated to a Principal Recipient in a country – in the majority of cases to a ministry. For a more efficient implementation sub-recipients may be nominated, and it is here where specific workplace programmes can receive funding. 
 
 
What are your next steps? 
 
• Put down your ideas about a workplace programme on one page and prepare a draft budget. 
 
• Get to know the members of your country’s CCM and lobby those potentially sympathetic to union causes for the inclusion of workplace programmes in Round 6 proposals. Country-specific information is accessible at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. 
 
• Contact GTZ, USAID, the ILO, UNAIDS and WHO offices. 
 
• Build alliances with companies; remind them of their social responsibility. 
 
• Cooperate with NGOs and organisations of PLWHA. 
 
• Access the website <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides">www.aidspan.org/guides</a> on which a guide to Round 7 applications is available. 
 
 
How can the ICEM help? 
 
The ICEM’s 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 Framework Agreements with a dozen multinational companies which should be engaged in the fight against the pandemic.
 
Above all 
 
• Start today if you want to do something. 
 
• Remember that the private sector includes business and unions as the workers’ representatives. 
 
• Remember that you have allies who can be mobilized and who can give assistance. 
 
• 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.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - Special Issue

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