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Tonight at 18h00 European time, the Swedish Paperworkers Union (Svenska Pappers) begins job actions at 62 pulp and paper mills over a national collective agreement in Sweden still not in place. 
 
The union needs your support and messages of solidarity and they need it now. Please send, in your own words, a note of encouragement, in your own language, to Mikke Sterbeck at <a href="mailto:mikke.sterbeck.fk@pappers.se">mikke.sterbeck.fk@pappers.se</a>. 
 
The union has told the ICEM that all messages will get to the local branch unions. Not only that, but Pappers tells the ICEM that such messages already received to date have greatly buoyed the rank-and-file, 18,000 union members at some ten pulp and paper companies. 
 
The industrial actions that begin tonight, 12 April, include a ban on all overtime and a plant blockade on contract and agency workers from coming into any mill to perform work. If no resolution comes by this Friday, 16 April, the union will begin selective strikes at six mills: Billerud Skarblacka (a kraft sulphate pulp mill that makes packaging and kraft papers, including flute papers); Holmen Braviken (a mechanical pulp mill that makes newsprint, and printing and writing papers); the Holmen Iggesund mill in Korsnas (a kraft sulphate pulp mill that produces boxbard/cartonboard); Stora Enso&rsquo;s Skoghall Mill (a kraft, sulphate pulp mill making containerboard, boxboard, and white-top, mottled paperboard; SCA Packaging in Munksund (a kraft sulphate pulp mill making containerboard and kraft linerboard; and Sodra Cell Varo (a pulp mill). 
 
The bargaining situation is this: the union and Employers&rsquo; Industry Association (SFIF) met until 20h on Saturday night, 10 April. A three-panel paper industry mediation board submitted a proposal, but Pappers rejected it, while employers approved it. The proposal fell short of the union&rsquo;s wage demands. It was for 22 months, with a 0.9% increase proposed for 1 June 2010, and 2.1% effective June 1, 2011. The contract expiration was 31 March 2010, and Pappers is insistent that a wage increase above Swedish cost-of-living take effect on 1 April 2010. The cost-of-living in Sweden for first quarter 2010 exceeds 1%, and Swedish paperworkers should not have to accept anything less. Other issues unresolved are aspects to retiree pension scheme, and the fact that employers are not willing to adjust upward the salaries of the lowest paid workers. Employers are also unwilling to give Pappers the same language regarding use of short-term contract workers and workers coming through labour agencies that other employers in other Swedish work sectors have given unions. 
 
Representatives of the employers&rsquo; association were to meet today amongst themselves, with the strategy to impose lockouts on Pappers members at certain mills. That meeting was postponed, perhaps because public opinion in Sweden is clearly on the side of the union. The union will now go ahead with the overtime ban and the blockade on contract and agency workers. They have also written to the employers&rsquo; today and requested that bargaining resume on Tuesday, 13 April, in the offices of Pappers, an unprecedented venue. 
 
It is very clear that the momentum in this contract dispute is with the union. But please write a short message to Svenska Pappers c/o <a href="mailto:mikke.sterbeck.fk@pappers.se">mikke.sterbeck.fk@pappers.se</a> and express that notion, and that your union is with them in this critical week. Again, these messages will get to local branches and make them even stronger than they are today!

Urgent Action Needed: Swedish Paperworkers/Appel à l&#039;aide d&#039;urgence: Travailleurs du secteur pâte et

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we inform about the union action for universal access in the run-up to the G8/G20 summits in Canada and give an overview of the activities planned in sub-Saharan Africa in 2010. 
 
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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G8/G20: Union Action for Universal Access to HIV/AIDS Services 
 
Trade unions in Africa and all over the world have joined forces to lobby the G8 and G20 for the provision of universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. The lobbying is spearheaded by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the Africa Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
 
National trade union centres in Africa and elsewhere have delivered messages to the Canadian embassies in their country calling on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to play a leading role in convincing his fellow leaders to take quick and decisive action on HIV and AIDS. As the host country, Canada will preside over the G8 Summit in June and will co-host with South Korea the G20 Summit. 
 
The Global Union AIDS Programme has called on its membership to participate in this global campaign. The ICEM has delivered a letter to the Canadian mission in Geneva strongly urging that the G8 put forward an action plan to achieve its promises regarding universal access and calling on the Summits to support the ILO Decent Work Agenda and its Global Jobs Pact. 
 
It may be recalled that 2010 is the target year for the G8 commitment to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support made at the 2005 Summit in Gleneagles. The failure to achieve this is evident; not even half of the ten million people who need treatment are actually on it. 

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ICEM HIV/AIDS Project in Sub-Saharan Africa 
 
Planning was completed last month for the HIV/AIDS project in Sub-Saharan Africa with the sponsorship of SASK Finland and FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands. 
 
Activities in 2010 will include two sub-regional workshops to strengthen the workplace response to HIV and AIDS in Anglophone and Francophone West Africa and in Southern Africa in September and October. A further workshop in May will be exclusively for women from the Southern African sub-region. 
 
At the national level, countries have submitted programmes which put emphasis on campaigns for voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and include further training of peer educators and counselors. In Guinea (Conakry) and C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, training will be completed in new target companies and HIV/AIDS workplace policies are expected to be concluded. VCT campaigns will be initiated in Guinea and continue in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire. 
 
Ghana has drawn lessons from the regional workshop in November 2009 and included a VCT campaign and a workshop on collective bargaining in its programme. As a new project country, Mauritius will concentrate its efforts on widespread awareness campaigns at the workplace and address the issue of migrant workers and local and foreign sex workers. 
 
The well-established programme in Nigeria will expand its scope to training women as peer educators. Sierra Leone will draw on trained workers and its collaboration with the National AIDS Secretariat to run VCT campaigns in mining areas. 
 
A well-designed programme in Zambia will deal with peer education, VCT campaigns and collective bargaining issues. Uganda will undertake, among others, a revision of existing collective bargaining agreements to include HIV/AIDS clauses. In Tanzania, workshops will prepare a VCT campaign sponsored by the Women&rsquo;s Department of the German IGBCE. 

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AIDS a Key Cause of Female Death 
 
HIV and AIDS have become the leading causes of disease and death among women of reproductive age worldwide, UNAIDS said at the launch of a five-year action plan addressing the gender issues which put women at risk. 
 
Nearly 30 years from the beginning of the epidemic, HIV services still do not respond to the specific needs of women and girls. Up to 70% of women worldwide encounter violence. Experiencing violence hampers their ability to negotiate safe sex. 
 
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidib&eacute; pointed out that &ldquo;by robbing women of their dignity we are losing the opportunity to tap half the potential of mankind to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Women and girls are not victims; they are the driving force that brings about social transformation.&rdquo; 
 
Of the 33.4 million people living with HIV worldwide, 15.7 million &ndash; or almost half &ndash; are women. The proportion of women infected with HIV has risen in many regions; in Sub-Saharan Africa, it has reached 60%. In Southern Africa, HIV prevalence among young women aged 15 to 24 years is almost three times higher than among men of the same age group. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website and BBC News, 3 March) 

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South Africa: Launches Massive HIV Testing Campaign 
 
From 15 April, everyone attending a clinic or hospital in South Africa will be offered an HIV test, regardless of whether they have symptoms of the disease or not. Patients have the option to refuse the test. 
 
Dubbed the HIV Counselling and Testing Campaign, or HCT, this is the most ambitious HIV testing campaign in the world, according to the SA National AIDS Council (SANAC). The target is to have 15 million South Africans tested for HIV by June 2011. 
 
The campaign has four objectives: to increase health-seeking behaviour; to encourage people to know their status; to equip those who test HIV-negative with ways to ensuring that they do not get infected; and to create an entry point to accessing wellness and treatment services for those who test HIV-positive. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.health-e.org.za">www.health-e.org.za</a>, 18 March) 
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Malawi: Ambitious Plan to Prolong Life 
 
Malawi&rsquo;s government announced plans to more than double the number of people receiving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to half a million by the end of 2010. 
 
The country recently adopted new World Health Organisation guidelines that raise the threshold for starting ARV therapy from a CD4 count (a measure of the immune system strength) of less than 200 to a CD4 count of 350, regardless of whether the patient is displaying symptoms. 
 
Although implementing the changes will be expensive, some experts argue that starting patients on ARVs earlier could actually save money in the long term by reducing the need to treat them for opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis. 
 
Malawi successfully utilised its Global Fund Round 1 grant and was awarded a grant under the rolling continuation channel, which extends funding for six years and which can be used for the expansion of treatment. 
 
(Source: IRIN plusnews, 19 March) 

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Global Funds Seeks $17-20 Billion from Donors for 2011-2013 
 
Mother-to-child HIV transmission may be eliminated by 2015; malaria may be eliminated as a public health problem within a decade; TB prevalence could be halved by 2015. However, these health targets can only be achieved if current rates of scaling up expenditure on the three diseases are maintained and, ideally, further accelerated. And that, in turn, requires donors to give the Global Fund between $17 billion and $20 billion during 2011-2013. 
 
This is what the Global Fund announced in a news release and in several documents released in preparation for upcoming &quot;replenishment&quot; meetings with donors. The Global Fund says that demand for donor support has more than doubled since the last replenishment in 2007 (which raised $10 billion for the period 2008-2010). 
 
An initial replenishment meeting was held on 24-25 March at The Hague, Netherlands. This meeting provided an opportunity for donors to discuss the Fund's financial needs for 2011-2013 and the results achieved by the Global Fund to date. The meeting laid the foundation for the pledging conference that will take place at the UN Headquarters in New York on 4-5 October 2010. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 117 of 18 March. GFO is a free service of Aidspan, <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>; to receive GFO send an email to 
<a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
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News from Global Union AIDS Programme 
 
At the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Global Union AIDS Programme (GUAP) in Brussels on 17 March, Jan Eastman was appointed Chair of the Programme. Jan is the Deputy General Secretary of Education International (EI), a Global Union Federation. She took over from Alan Leather who had been the Chair since the inception of the Programme. 
 
The Steering Committee reviewed its activities, received reports from Global Unions, and charted its input for major campaigns and events in 2010, such as ILO&rsquo;s International Labour Conference in June, with the second discussion of a new instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, and the International AIDS Conference in Vienna in July. 
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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. 55, April 2010

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The Global Unions AIDS Programme (GUAP) and the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) launched a month of action between 21 March and 28 April. The effort leads up to a meeting of the G8 Development Ministers in Halifax, Canada, on 26-28 April, and the G8 and G20 Summits in June. 
 
The action calls for universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support. 
 
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is central in initiating the action to convince the upcoming G8/G20 Summits, together with its affiliate unions, for universal access. The month of action also targets Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who will preside over both summits. The G8 will take place near Huntsville, Ontario, 25-25 June, and the G20 will be in Toronto, 26-27 June. 

<img src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Canada.png" width="250" height="115" alt="" />
Alan Leather, Chair of the GUAP, has called on trade unions around the world to come together and deliver a united message calling for universal access to core treatment for HIV/AIDS. 
 
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to bear the brunt of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, accounting for 67% of all people living with HIV globally and 72% of deaths due to AIDS. While African countries remain the focus of the international HIV/AIDS agenda, burgeoning epidemics in the Caribbean, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia need also to be addressed. Access to treatment, especially for working people, is not 100% anywhere. 
 
GUAP will combine its call for universal access on HIV/AIDS with a demand that governments support the ILO Decent Work Agenda and its Global Jobs Pact, saying this is the only means through which the cycle of HIV/AIDS and poverty can be broken. 
 
See the ICEM letter to the Canadian embassy on the issue <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/28.ICEM.Canadian.Amb.HIV.AIDS.2April.pdf">here</a>. 
 
Sign an electronic petition targeting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper <a href="http://cupe.ca/action/hiv-aids ">here</a>. 
 
Find a model letter to send to the Canadian Embassy in your country and to your Head of State <a href="http://documents.clc-ctc.ca/international/HIV-G8-ModelLetters-EN.pdf ">here</a>.

HIV/AIDS Prevention Takes Aim at Canada and G8/G20

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Started in 2009 with the support of the Dutch national labour centre FNV, ICEM&rsquo;s Organising and Social Dialogue Project in Turkey continued regional seminars last month in the city of Adana in the Cukurova region, where important trade union representation exists, particularly in ICEM sectors. 
 
Adana is an industrialized city in Turkey&rsquo;s south that has large-scale industries such as textiles, leather, oil and gas, electricity, chemicals, automotive, and food processing. In recent years, Adana&rsquo;s importance has increased due largely to the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil and gas pipeline from the Caspian region in Azerbaijan. Adana claims to be the future &ldquo;Rotterdam&rdquo; of Turkey, particularly since another new pipeline will come on line, this one from the Black Sea port city Samsun, which will move oil from Russia. ICEM&rsquo;s intensive trade union energy activities in the Caspian and the Middle East region are closely connected to Adana and the surrounding Mediterranean area. 

<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1004.adana_.group_.jpg" width="365" height="215" />
With the overall objective to build Turkish unions&rsquo; ability to recruit new members, as well as to discuss the establishment of a base to create a functioning industrial relations system, prioritizing human and trade union rights, and to promote healthy social dialogue, this seminar of the FNV project was attended by more than 60 local trade union leaders, shop stewards, and militants from the ICEM affiliated unions. 
 
The seminar also welcomed several international trade union leaders from the Netherlands, France, and Belgium. Celil &Ccedil;oban and Mail &Uuml;rker of FNV Bondgenoten in the Netherlands, Marc Blanc of French FCE-CFDT, and Chris Vanmol of Belgium&rsquo;s CSC-Chimie Energie exchanged experiences and knowledge from their countries. ICEM Energy Officer Jim Catterson, who was on an oil and gas fact-finding mission in southeast Turkey prior to the seminar, shared his experiences from the UK, where he worked in the trade union movement prior to joining the ICEF/ICEM. 
 
The seminar also heard a presentation from the Turkish trade union expert &Uuml;zeyir Ataman, Director of Education and Collective Bargaining of Lastik-İş, on union history and the current labour relations situation in Turkey. Later, the seminar focused on Power and Weak Points, Challenges and Opportunities, and Concrete Organising Targets inside Turkey, with contributions and inputs by participants from the different regions, namely Adana, Mersin, Adiyaman, Batman, and Elazig. 

<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1004.adana_.jpg" width="153" height="204" />
&Uuml;zeyir Ataman
&ldquo;This seminar in Adana has given great happiness and hope for the future,&rdquo; said ICEM Rubber and Chemicals Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, who coordinates the two-year project and did a workshop on globalisation and labour relations. &ldquo;The active involvement and enthusiasm of participants clearly shows that Turkish unions have an important role to play in shaping a society moving towards a real democracy based on fundamental human rights, which, of course, includes trade union rights.&rdquo; 
 
The FNV project will continue with further regional seminars in the Thrace region in April, and in Gebze in May. The Adana seminar was held 11-12 March.

ICEM’s Organising and Social Dialogue Project Continues in Turkey

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ICEM affiliates FCE-CFDT of France, FIA-UGT of Spain, and FEMCA-CISL of Italy established a joint entity called Association Pour L&rsquo;Europe Solidaire et Pour la Coop&eacute;ration Mediterranean, or the Association of Solidarity Europe and Mediterranean Cooperation (AESCOOMED). The new organization has an aim to develop a common European vision, and an information exchange between trade unions regarding economic, social issues, environmental matters, collective bargaining, industrial relations, and common social dialogue platforms. 
 
AESCOOMED&rsquo;s vision is to develop common work on European Works Councils, and promote the consultation and participation of workers within the member unions, as well as enhance cooperation with countries in the Mediterranean region. 
<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/FranceFCE-CFDT-NEW100.jpg" width="100" height="93" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Italy.FEMCA_.CISL_.jpg" width="100" height="85" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/SpainFIAUGT.jpg" width="90" height="90" />
The newly-formed organization held its first conference in Barcelona on 8-9 March 2010 under the banner &ldquo;Energy, Industrial Policy, and Social Dialogue in the Mediterranean Region.&rdquo; Trade unions from seven countries, including Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, and Turkey, together with the presence of the ICEM, debated industrial and energy issues in the region during the initial meetings. 
 
Issues of energy supply security, energy conditions in industrial development, and the environmental impact in Mediterranean countries were discussed. Acknowledging the fact that the environment is fragile and deteriorating, protecting and improving eco-systems has become a key issue in the Euro-Mediterranean region, especially in view of new industrial dynamics. This Euro-Mediterranean cooperation includes issues of water scarcity and water quality, the reform of environmental standards, improving infrastructure, and preserving the environment. 
<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1004.aescoomed.png" width="226" height="79" />
The place and role of social dialogue in all countries of the Mediterranean was also highlighted. Common challenges were defined as population growth, aging population, job creation, modernization of labor markets, maintaining high levels of social protection, and dissemination of knowledge and innovation. All participants were convinced of the need to strengthen cooperation between the union organisations from countries bordering the Mediterranean basin. 
 
The ICEM was invited to the two-day conference and was represented by Rubber and Chemicals Kemal &Ouml;zkan. He made a presentation on ICEM&rsquo;s activities regarding social dialogue on the global level and union building and union-support activities in the Middle East/North African Region (MENA). 
In conclusion, all participants welcomed the AESCOOMED initiative and measured the importance of international solidarity between workers.

Trade Unions Form Euro-Mediterranean Cooperative Organisation

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The Belgian-Flemish ICEM affiliate, LBC-NVK, held its Congress from 24-26 March 2010 in Mol, Limburg Province, bringing together 600 trade unionists for three days of workshops, discussions, and decision-making. 
 
Ferre Wyckmans, General Secretary of the LBC-NVK, was re-elected, and he is assisted by incumbent Deputy General Secretary, Marijke Persoone. The union&rsquo;s President remains Robert Schuermans. 
 
Working on a number of themes, including &ldquo;decent work,&rdquo; &ldquo;how to take action,&rdquo; a &ldquo;fair economy,&rdquo; and an &ldquo;active government,&rdquo; delegates adopted, on the final Congress day, a wide range of principles dedicated to future work. Among them included priorities on decent salaries (as well as excessive bonuses), good fiscal regulations, the need for high-quality training and education, &ldquo;how to deal with flexibility,&rdquo; and the need for a &ldquo;green economy.&rdquo; 

<img src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1004.lbc_.nvk_.congress.2.jpg" width="195" height="192" alt="" />
LBC-NVK Gen. Sec. Ferre Wyckmanns
On the flexibility issue, LBC-NVK calls for action against the omnipresent &ldquo;increasing flexibility demands.&rdquo; The union, while also calling for temporary and agency labour contracts to be made permanent and direct with a primary employer after six months, seeks to ensure that the already existing Belgian laws on agency and temporary work are better applied, monitored, and sanctioned. Open-ended and direct permanent contracts are &ndash; and need to remain &ndash; the benchmark. 
 
At the international level, the union stated it seeks to increase involvement in global and European activities, including through a more active participation in the Global Union Federations. Specifically highlighted was the need to make the international trade union movement stronger as a countervailing power to match that of multinational enterprises. Framework agreements with multinationals are seen as one of the possible ways forward in this respect. 
 
The LBC-NVK (Landelijke Bedienden Centrale - Nationaal Verbond voor Kaderpersoneel) is a trade union for white collar, professional, and managerial employees in Flanders, Belgium, that is affiliated to the Belgian national labour centre ACV-CSC. It had 315,000 members at the end of 2009, an increase of 6,000 members since 2008. Of all members, 188,000 are women and 127,000 are men.

Belgian-Flemish Affiliate LBC-NVK Conducts Congress in Limburg

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&ldquo;Expanding borders from Brazil to other Mercosur countries&rdquo; was the central decision taken at the Fifth Meeting of the Solvay Trade Union Network in Curitiba, Paran&aacute;, Brazil, from 29-31 March. 
 
During the first day of the network meetings, the Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Bah&iacute;a Blanca of Argentina formally joined the multi-union network, which is now to be called the Solvay Mercosur Trade Union Network. 
 
Solvay is a Belgian-based chemicals company, and the network already had participation from workers at a number of Brazilian locations of the company. 
 
&quot;The principles guiding the network are the same principles guiding our own union work,&rdquo; said Oscar Strutenberg from the Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Bah&iacute;a Blanca. &ldquo;We are committed to be together, so we will officially work within the group to boost the network.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1004.solvay.network.png" width="235" height="197" />
In fact, representatives from the Argentine union already had participated in two meetings of the network, but now membership is official, a move viewed very positively by the other unions present. 
 
&ldquo;I believe this formal new entry shows the growth and maturity of our network,&rdquo; stated Network Coordinator Juvenil Nunes da Costa from Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC, a CUT-affiliated regional chemical workers&rsquo; union of S&atilde;o Paulo state. &ldquo;It is an important step in our process, because unions organising workers at the same company in different countries enhances our global alliance.&rdquo; 
 
With the arrival of the Argentine union, the Network is composed of Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC, Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Ind&uacute;stria Qu&iacute;mica, Petroqu&iacute;mica (the Chemicals and Plastics Union of S&atilde;o Paulo), the Oil and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Osasco, and the Paran&aacute; Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union. 
 
The next steps for the network will be to create a logo, exchange further information, and schedule common actions of the workers&rsquo; representatives, including a possible trip to ICEM headquarters in Geneva later this year to discuss issues related to effective social dialogue.

Solvay Brazil Union Network Expands to Include Other Mercosur Countries

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Peruvian mineworkers at the US-owned Doe Run mine operations at Cobriza have settled a strike dispute by accepting a deal that gives all workers at the copper mine a one-time productivity bonus of 3,500 soles (US$1,232). The bonus will be paid to workers in two installments; the first 1,500 soles will be paid on 9 April, with the remainder paid on 20 August. 
 
The work stoppage was started on 23 March by the ICEM-affiliated National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP), the country&rsquo;s largest mining union federation. FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo has personally led the negotiations for the miners of Doe Run. Castillo argued that the collective agreement had not been fulfilled by management a year into the five-year agreement in 2008. 

<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/0910PeruFNTMMSPLuis20Castillo.jpg" width="160" height="120" />
FNTMMSP General Secretary, Luis Castillo Carlos
It took a strike by the 890 workers at Doe Run&rsquo;s Cobriza copper mine to bring management to the bargaining table. Company officials immediately began tripartite negotiations with FNTMMSP and the Labour Ministry, following a two-day stoppage that initially started on 28 February. 
 
As repeatedly reported recently by ICEM, the Peruvian Ministry of Labour typically sides with the company and declares mineworkers&rsquo; strikes &ldquo;inadmissible,&rdquo; moving trade unions to respond with short, rolling strikes to avoid losing their jobs. 
 
Production at the Cobriza copper mine in the Huancavelica Province affects operations at Doe Run Per&uacute;&rsquo;s polymetallic smelter in La Oroya, in Jun&iacute;n Province. The Cobriza mine produces around 30% of the copper concentrates processed by the smelter, which has been operating sporadically since creditors halted their support in March 2009. Doe Run Per&uacute;, a unit of the US-based Renco Group, has been hard hit by the recession. Cobriza was Peru's sixth largest copper mine last year, producing 18,519 metric tonnes. 

<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Peru.png" width="250" height="116" />
Elsewhere in Peru, 1,500 workers at the Marcona mine, owned by China's Shougang state steel company, went on strike on 29 March, seeking better wages and conditions. &quot;The strike is total and of indefinite length,&quot; said Julio Ortiz of FNTMMSP. &quot;The factory has already cut salaries and has proposed a ridiculously low offer after already having cut workers' pay by 8% across the board.&rdquo; 
 
The mine, located in the city of Marcona, 350 kilometers south of Lima, has a history of poor industrial relations. ICEM sided with Shougang workers&rsquo; and backed their strikes last July and September, also in protest to low wages and poor labour conditions. Shougang Hierro Peru SAA is Peru's only iron producer. Iron production at Shougang, reached 4.4 million tons in 2009. 
 
A national strike in Peru&rsquo;s mining sector involving 50,000 unionized workers at 18 mines is taking shape for 30 June 30. The FNTMMSP took that decision on 27 March during the union's annual meeting. 
 
The FNTMMSP is demanding that Peru's government implement two laws. A pension law, which was approved by Peru&rsquo;s Congress on 27 October 2009, has yet to be implemented, and a second law, which increases profit-sharing at mining companies, also has not gone into effect.

Peru’s Doe Run Miners Reach Agreement, Ending Strike

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The ICEM has issued stern rebuke to the cowardly perpetrators of an assassination attempt on two union officers of the National Oil Workers&rsquo; Union (USO) of Colombia, and calls on the government of President &Aacute;lvaro Uribe to apprehend and prosecute those responsible. On 27 March, in the city of Villavicencio, in Meta Department south of Bogot&aacute;, hired killers on a motorcycle fired automatic weapons at Fernando Navarro and Yesid Prieto, two USO subcommittee officers of Bogot&aacute;. 
 
Although both escaped unharmed, their bodyguard, Antonio Pedro Carre&ntilde;o, was shot and killed. 
 
The attack comes days after USO marked the eight-year anniversary of the assassination of the union&rsquo;s Director, Rafael Jaimes Torra, by paramilitaries. Rafael Jaimes&rsquo; nephew, the only witness to the attack, was also murdered shortly after. 

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ICEM-affiliated USO reported the attack to the Attorney General&rsquo;s office, as well as to national and regional government officials and to the government&rsquo;s ombudsman. USO and the ICEM call on Colombian authorities to investigate this attack as a matter or urgency and to bring those responsible to justice. The union wants assurances from the government, as well as from the state oil company Ecopetrol, that their right to life and right to conduct trade union activities are protected. 
 
Paramilitary groups, such as Cuchillo (Knife) and El Loco Barrera (the Crazy Barrera), intimidate workers and trade unionists in the oil fields without reprimand. Recent public statements by paramilitaries that they receive regular payment from oil companies, has added weight to USO&rsquo;s claim that complicity at many levels is involved in the trade union murder-for-hire racket. 
 
One recently example was the 13 March killing of the teachers&rsquo; union ADIDA activist, Duvian Dario Rojo Cadavid, who was gunned down together with his wife a day after speaking to media about armed groups who extort money from teachers. 

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Manfred Warda
&ldquo;The ongoing deaths, assassination attempts, and common forms of threats and intimidation by telephone and other means against trade unionists have got to stop,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;If the Colombian government continues not to take action, then it is up to the world community to take sharp measures against the government of Colombia and its denial that violence impedes free, democratic trade unionism.&rdquo;

Assassination Attempt on USO Leaders in Colombia Kills Bodyguard

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from International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation website 
The ILO is urging the Mexican government to resolve its dispute with the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM) and considers the government has acted in a way that is incompatible with ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association. 
 
The ILO released on 26 March the interim recommendations of its Committee of Freedom of Association to the Mexican government in response to a complaint on interference in union autonomy lodged by the SNTMMSRM and the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) in March 2006, ILO Case No. 2478. 

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The complaint documents how Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia, the democratically elected general secretary of SNTMMSRM, was forcefully removed from his position after speaking out against the Mexican government and mining company in response to a tragic mine accident in Pasta de Conchos that left 65 miners dead, many of them members of the union. The complaint also documents how the government illegally intervened in independent union activities, forced the dismissal of union leadership, seized union assets, and made government appointments to union elected positions. 
 
In subsequent submissions on Case No. 2478, the union and IMF has also documented ongoing interference and acts of violence by Grupo M&eacute;xico and the Mexican government, including using the national army and federal police to break strikes, kill workers, and arrest union leaders fighting for safer working conditions in Grupo M&eacute;xico-owned mines. 
 
In its recommendations to the ILO Governing Body, the Committee on Freedom of Association states that it &ldquo;considers that the labour authorities engaged in conduct that is incompatible with Article 3 of Convention No. 87, which established the right of workers to elect their representatives in full freedom.&rdquo; 
&ldquo;The Committee deplores the excessive length of the judicial procedures relating to various aspects of the case and the grave prejudice that this has caused to the complainant union&rdquo; and &ldquo;urges for a rapid conclusion of the judicial procedures.&rdquo; 

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The committee requests addition information from the government on several points and in particular on the question of the death of worker Reynaldo Hern&aacute;ndez Gonz&aacute;lez, the use of force by public security forces at the Cananea mine, continuing arrest warrants, freezing of union accounts, threats and acts of violence, including the death and injury of trade unionists. 
 
The Committee calls on all the parties concerned to continue to make efforts within the existing round of negotiations to resolve the collective dispute to which this case results. 
 
A copy of the report is published on the ILO website under Mexico, Freedom of Association Cases, and can be found <a href="http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/newcountryframeE.htm ">here</a>.

ILO Backs Los Mineros, Cites Mexican Government with Convention 87 Interference

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Peru’s Doe Run Miners Reach Agreement, Ending Strike

Assassination Attempt on USO Leaders in Colombia Kills Bodyguard

ILO Backs Los Mineros, Cites Mexican Government with Convention 87 Interference

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