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<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/InBrief100.jpg" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	The campaign to free Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, long-time Thai campaigner for labour rights, is growing as the one-year anniversary of his arrest approaches. Somyot is being held in prison only on remand, facing unproven charges of l&egrave;se majest&eacute;, or daring to &ldquo;defame, insult, or threaten&rdquo; the King Bhumipol Adulyadej of Thailand.&rdquo;

	Brother Somyot, a former ICEM Thailand Coordinator, must be freed immediately and unconditionally, states the ICEM.

	The disgraceful detention and persecution of Somyot is based on two articles published in the journal Voice of Thaksin, but Somyot was not the author of either piece in question and, in fact, the articles do not threaten or insult the king. Brother Somyot was the acting editor of the publication, but was not the legal publisher.

	Indisputably, Somyot is incarcerated purely for his trade union and left-leaning political activism. For those reasons, he also is not receiving a fair judicial process with violations that include hearings being relocated to distant provinces so that key defence witnesses cannot participate.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1202-somyot-in-chains.jpg" style="width: 88px;height: 178px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Somyot Pruksakasemsuk

	Brother Somyot has been held in inhumane conditions in jail, where cells are overcrowded to the extreme. Through his transfers to distant judicial hearings, Somyot has been transported standing over 4,000 kilometres in a cage on the back of a truck and bound by heavy chains.

	This unacceptable treatment has moved supporters to push hard for Somyot to be released on bail, but the courts have refused such petitions on eight occasions on the grounds that he would flee Thailand, or interfere with witnesses while on bail. Somyot is 50 and suffers from bad health, reasons why he should be released on humanitarian grounds.&nbsp;

	The ICEM joins the large international coalition in condemning the continuing use of the &ldquo;l&egrave;se majest&eacute; law&rdquo; to crack down on legitimate protest in Thailand. The archaic legislation allows for harsh punishment for freedom of expression, an internationally recognised fundamental human right. Brother Somyot faces up to 15 years in prison for each of the two articles, if found guilty.

	Send your protest to <a href="mailto:somyot.righttobail@gmail.com">somyot.righttobail@gmail.com</a>. Use the <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEM%20Somyot%20Protest%20Letter%20April%202012.docx">model letter</a>&nbsp;found here.

	A new trial of Somyot begins today, with prosecution witness hearings every day until 26 April, and defence witness hearings 1-4 May.

	See more on the <a href="http://www.freesomyot.wordpress.com">Free Somyot campaign</a>&nbsp;website here.

	Another labour and human rights defender is also in detention on non-credible charges. Brother Sirichai Mai-ngam of Thailand also has ICEM&rsquo;s full support.

	The ICEM Asia-Pacific Regional Conference resolved last week for the ICEM to launch campaigns supporting the two activists in Thailand so that they are released with all charges dropped.

Free Somyot NOW!  Unionists Urged to Send Letters Demanding Thai Justice!

<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/InBrief100.jpg" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	French oilfields services&rsquo; giant Schlumberger is continuing to resist attempts by a genuine independent trade union in Egypt to organize workers at its operations.

	ICEM affiliates representing workers throughout the world are continuing to press the company on behalf of workers who were dismissed soon after the founding Congress of the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU), under which a Schlumberger workers&rsquo; branch is affiliated to.

	The pressure has begun to attract the attention of senior management of the company. While Egyptian management ignored a request by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda to meet to resolve the dispute, ICEM has now been informed that the company recently sent a &ldquo;fact-finding committee&rdquo; to Egypt consisting of the legal and recruitment managers of Schlumberger&rsquo;s regional office in Dubai.

	The two company representatives met with the President and the General Secretary of the independent local branch union, both of whom are among the dismissed workers, including some of the workers who were forced to resign from the union.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1204-schlumberger-rally.jpg" style="width: 213px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Schlumberger demonstration in Cairo

	In this meeting, ICEM was informed that the managers did appear to listen carefully to the whole story, but made no promises. However, they hinted at the possibility of giving them financial compensation, claiming that is was too difficult to reinstate them since this would be seen as Schlumberger admitting its behavior was wrong.

	ICEM supports the dismissed workers who reject any financial compensation, and insist on returning to their work and activities inside the union. ICEM will continue the campaign until this issue has been resolved.

	In an earlier escalation of the dispute, Schlumberger Egypt arranged meetings with workers of subcontractors in in the operations. Numbering some 1,500 workers, they account for approximately half of the company&rsquo;s workforce in Egypt. In meetings at the Kattamia base and the head office, company representatives gave instructions to all subcontract workers that Schlumberger intended changing subcontracting companies, so they demanded that workers resign from their current contracts and then would receive new contracts under new subcontractors later.

	The new contracts would not take into account previous working periods, thus allowing companies to dismiss workers during the first three months without compensation, according to Egyptian law.

	But Egyptian Labour Law is presently uncertain and largely unusable. In theory, the old Mubarak era law, remains in force while there are at least three new proposed labour laws, drafted by different political groups, circulating in Parliament. The last trade union elections of 2007 in the former unitary government controlled trade unions, all part of ETUF, have been invalidated for corruption and the former governing structures of these unions dissolved with appointed oversight committees put in place to run the organizations until new elections take place &ndash; under a new law in the future.

	The situation allows companies such as Schlumberger to take advantage of the situation to prevent genuine trade representation of their workforces.

	Prior coverage of the Schlumberger dispute in Egypt can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4946-Schlumberger-Ignores-ICEM-s-Offer-of-Dialogue">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4899-Oil-Services-Giant-Schlumberger-Pressured-over-Egyptian-Union-Busting">here</a>.

Schlumberger Continues Destruction of Independent Egyptian Trade Union

<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/InBrief100.jpg" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	The ICEM-affiliated Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh (PCSS) conducted a two-week tour of activities in Switzerland that concluded this week, educating trade union colleagues on the grave violations of work rights abuses by Holcim Cement of contract workers in India&rsquo;s Chhattisgarh region.

	Causing a stir in the Swiss media, the PCSS together with Swiss union UNIA and Swiss-based human rights organisation <a href="http://www.multiwatch.ch/">MultiWatch</a>, solidarity organisation <a href="http://www.solifonds.ch/node/121">Solifonds</a>, the ICEM and Building and Woodworkers&rsquo; International (BWI) raised increasing awareness through various channels.

	The details of the case are shocking and include the worst examples of workers&rsquo; rights violations around the world, especially in terms of the global trend of outsourcing and engaging precarious employment relationships, which capital sees as a tool to lessen its responsibilities to workers.

	<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1204-holcim-agm.jpg" style="width: 211px;height: 158px" width="390" />

	Holcim AGM Protest

	Holcim invested in the Indian cement industry in 2005 when the Indian government opened up the country&rsquo;s resources to outside investment. Holcim&rsquo;s two subsidiaries, ACC Jamul and Ambuja Cement, had a long history of abusing worker rights, and Holcim has thus far refused to reverse these practices. Instead, the Swiss-based company has overseen an increasing proportion of contract workers that now comprises 80% of the company&rsquo;s total workforce.

	The PCSS represents contract workers at the two plants and Holcim is the largest cement producer in India. Contract workers are protected by Indian law and by a sectoral agreement prohibiting employment in core production work, with all work paid at the same rate that permanent workers receive.

	This stipulation has been flouted at Holcim India, where contract workers work side by side with permanent workers in core production, and they are denied proper protective equipment and paid one-third that of permanent workers. They also do not receive proper benefits and have greatly reduced rights to organise and bargain collectively.

	Contract workers of Holcim India have been punished for attempting to organise into the democratic PCSS union and as well, they have been punished for informing global Holcim management of the abuses. In fact, the majority of the PCSS members at Holcim are now excluded from work in the companies due to their union involvement.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1204-shalini-gera-pcss.jpg" style="width: 130px;height: 98px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Shalini Gera of PCSS with UNIA&#039;s Rolf Beyeler

	Global pressure has forced Holcim to pay attention to these violations in India, but when Holcim Executive Paul Hugentobler visited ACC Jamul recently, contract workers were all moved to a different shift and workers&rsquo; representatives were banned from taking part in meeting with him. Instead, representatives of the sham company union, OP Banchore, were involved.

	The Supreme Court of Chhattisgarh ruled in favour of the PCSS, instructing the company to award permanent employment contracts to those temporary employees, some of whom have remained on rolling temporary contracts for over 20 years. Holcim India even went so far as to reject India&rsquo;s court ruling and instead committed large financial resources to extend the legal process.

	The PCSS, supported by ICEM, met last week with the National Contact Point of the OECD in Switzerland as part of the process of the complaint on breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises at Holcim India.

	PCSS was welcomed at the ILO on 13 April, where explanations of the violations in India were met with serious concern and proposals for possible action.

	Public events in Zurich, Bern, and Geneva spoiled Holcim&rsquo;s 100-year anniversary celebrations. A demonstration outside Holcim&rsquo;s Annual General Shareholders meeting yesterday presented management with a new book documenting the group&rsquo;s abuses around the world, and a manifesto for which signatures are being collected around the world, already signed by global figures such as Noam Chomsky.

Holcim Cement Tainted in Switzerland by Work Rights Abuses in India

<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/InBrief100.jpg" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Mining conglomerate Rio Tinto is destroying the community of Alma, Qu&eacute;bec, by the continued lockout of 780 workers, members of the United Steelworkers (USW). The lockout since 30 December 2011 is an economic move in order to increase profits at an aluminium smelter of subsidiary Alcan in Alma.

	Tomorrow in London, protests will occur outside and in the Annual General Meeting of Rio Tinto by USW Canadian members and their ally in the UK, Unite the Union. The protest will be supported by three Global Union Federations, the ICEM, the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF).

	Shamefully, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has contracted with Rio Tinto to produce gold, silver, and bronze medals for this summer&rsquo;s Olympics and Paralympics Games in London. Active protests are currently underway against IOC, stating that the Games are tainted and achievements of the world&rsquo;s best athletes are flawed by a company with a long track record of economic and environmental destruction on the communities where it operates. (Join the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1365">Labour Start campaign</a> to kick Rio Tinto &ldquo;Off the Podium&rdquo; with a message to the IOC here, and view the USW&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.offthepodium.org/">Off the Podium</a> website.)

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1204-alma-locked-out-art.jpg" style="width: 370px;height: 130px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	At tomorrow&#039;s protest, Unite will distribute replica Olympic medals to be passed out to the public at the shareholders&#039; venue, the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre. Unite also has arranged for union-friendly Members of Parliament to submit an Early Day Motion in the UK Parliament.

	Rio Tinto has posted profits of US$20 billion over the past two years and despite the fact that the Alcan aluminium smelter in Alma is one of the most efficient and profitable in the world, it has used a lockout to reap even more profit. Alcan management of late has refused to engage the USW in meaningful negotiations to end the lock-out, predicated on the company&rsquo;s desire to force mass outsourcing by eliminating and full and direct employment

	Alcan seeks to replace each retiring worker with a subcontract worker that will see 50% less than the current average union wage of C$34-an-hour. USW negotiators in early April submitted a proposal in bargaining to end the lockout, but Alcan management walked from the table still seeking the unlimited right to subcontract.

	Alcan has continued to receive special assistance from the province of Qu&eacute;bec in a generous agreement whereby Hydro-Qu&eacute;bec buys back unused electricity from the company while the lockout is ongoing.

	The lockout by Rio Tinto Alcan in Alma has triggered a global campaign against Rio Tinto that took on further dimensions early this week at a special Mines and Metals Networking meeting in Sydney, Australia, as well as at the 17-19 April ICEM World Mining Conference, also in Sydney. Trade unionists resolved to build a long-term global campaign against the world&rsquo;s second largest resource company.

Global Unions, USW Bring Rio Tinto Alcan Canadian Dispute to Shareholders

<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/image_aids_ribbon.gif" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;

	In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the HIV/AIDS project in India, on Women&rsquo;s Day in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire and on the renewal of mining licences in South Africa being linked to HIV and TB workplace policies. We also address a call to the Canadian government to bring up the HIV/AIDS issue at next month&rsquo;s G8 Summit in the US.

	<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/image_aids_ribbon.gif" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;

	HIV/AIDS Workplace Project in India

	The final report of the HIV/AIDS workplace project in India reveals the enormous impact the project has had. Sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, the project ran from August 2008 to the beginning of 2012.

	Sixty-one master trainers were trained, who in turn organised 28 programmes in which 709 peer educators received skills training. Particular attention was also given to women who received training in courses exclusively for women. Furthermore, sensitization programmes were organised for para-medical staff and teachers and students of company schools.

	In follow-up programmes at grass-root level, almost 20,000 people benefited from awareness and behaviour change messages.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/image_aids_ribbon.gif" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Women&rsquo;s Day Activity in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire

	The HIV/AIDS Coordinator for Francophone West Africa, Charlotte Nguessan, organised a very successful symposium on Violence Against Women for women workers in the petroleum sector of C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire. More than 200 women attended the deliberations; the Human Resources Directors of the companies were also present at the meeting. Sexual violence is a factor in transmitting HIV infections. An appeal was made to stop all forms of violence against women and to introduce effective sanctions when such violations happen.

	In a statement on International Women&rsquo;s Day on 8 March, the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS called on world leaders to provide resources to stop HIV infection of women. Worldwide, women constitute around half of people living with HIV and AIDS. They represent 59% in sub-Saharan Africa and 53% in the Caribbean. In all regions, HIV prevalence in women has increased dramatically throughout the years.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/image_aids_ribbon.gif" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	South Africa: No HIV and TB Workplace Policy, No Mining Licence

	Speaking to hundreds of mine workers and community members in the mining town of Carletonville, South Africa, on World TB Day, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, a former General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), urged the mining industry to improve TB services, upgrading health centres to allow for the treatment of drug-resistant TB and to extend health services to those from surrounding communities and mines that may have limited access to healthcare.

	At the same event, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu announced that mining companies which have HIV, TB and workplace safety policies audited by her ministry will have to submit their policies as a prerequisite for renewing their mining licenses.

	As part of the deputy president&#039;s call for all mine workers to be screened for TB and HIV in the next year, World TB Day celebrations were accompanied by HIV and TB screenings, during which at least 1,220 people were examined for TB and 260 people were tested for HIV.

	As in many countries in Southern and East Africa, South Africa&#039;s high TB incidence is fuelled by a high HIV prevalence. Although many people carry TB, only 10% will ever develop the active disease. But because of their compromised immune systems, people living with HIV are up to 37 times more likely to develop active TB.

	Miners are also at a higher risk of TB due to bad living conditions, often in the poorly ventilated, overcrowded single-sex hostels that have historically characterized mining in South Africa, and have facilitated TB transmission. Miners exposed to high levels of silica dust also often acquire a serious respiratory illness called <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/Report/92240/SOUTH-AFRICA-Glimmer-of-justice-for-sick-gold-miners">silicosis</a>, which increases their risk of developing active TB.

	(Source: IRIN News, Carletonville, 26 March)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/image_aids_ribbon.gif" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	G8 AIDS Campaign

	Trade unions throughout Africa and Canada are calling on the Canadian government to champion a focus on HIV and AIDS at the next G8 Summit at Camp David, Maryland, in the US on 18-19 May 2012 with the theme &ldquo;An AIDS-free Generation by 2015.&rdquo;

	A lobbying campaign delivers messages directly to Prime Minister Stephen Harper within Canada and through Canadian Embassies or Consulates throughout Africa. They are asking Canada to lead in calling on the G8 to implement the 2011 UN Political Declaration on HIV &amp; AIDS and to replenish new resources to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. They also want G8 countries to implement the ILO&rsquo;s Recommendation 200 concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, and strengthen the G8&rsquo;s Accountability Framework.

	Unions contend that the UN Political Declaration&rsquo;s targets on AIDS are a time-bound road map, which are a logical extension of the G8 commitment to reach universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Progress must be monitored through the G8 accountability mechanism. The same approach should be applied to the G8&rsquo;s numerous affirmations of support for a fully-funded Global Fund.

	(Source: CLC and ITUC emails)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/image_aids_ribbon.gif" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The Global Fund Finance Beyond Governments

	Of every US$1 contributed to the Global Fund, more than 95 cents comes from the governments of rich countries. The Global Fund has been trying for years to obtain more revenue from other sources. Despite sizeable donations from foundations like the Gates Foundation (US$750 million donated for the period 2011&ndash;2016) and private sector companies (Chevron pledged US$55 million for the period 2008&ndash;2013) &ndash; and despite product marketing campaigns such as (PRODUCT) REDTMwhich has generated US$180 million for the Global Fund to date &ndash; such contributions still account for only a very small proportion of revenues.

	Governments and activists have been searching for innovative ways to generate additional revenues &ndash; not just for the Global Fund itself, but also for the fight against specific diseases and for health and development more generally. Two of the ideas that have been explored are a tax on airline tickets and a tax on financial transactions.

	The tax on airline tickets is already a reality. Between 2006 and April 2011, the tax raised US$2 billion for UNITAID, an international facility for purchasing drugs for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. The size and scope of the tax vary by country. This is still a sizable amount considering the fact that only nine countries implement the tax of which Chile, France and the Republic of Korea are the most important. The airline tax constitutes 70% of UNITAID&rsquo;s revenues.

	In September 2011, UNITAID commissioned a study on how to implement a financial transactions tax (FTT) on a national basis. Authors of the study estimated that a very small tax on a variety of financial transactions could generate &euro;265 billion annually in the G20 countries. The idea of using an FTT to fund international development has been around for at least a decade but it is unlikely to be implemented universally.

	(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 178 of 13 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>)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/image_aids_ribbon.gif" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	African Sex Workers Top HIV Infection List

	Prostitutes in sub-Saharan Africa have one of the highest rates of HIV infections in the world, an international study has established. The research findings also recommend that prostitution should be legalised to make working conditions for sex workers more tolerable and reduce their rate of HIV infections.

	The study, which was released last Thursday, was funded by the World Bank and the UN and carried out by the US-based John Hopkins School of Public Health. It was published by The Lancet, a medical journal.

	It recommends an urgent scale up of HIV programmes. The researchers sampled about 100,000 prostitutes from 50 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Middle East. They found that of all the prostitutes in the 50 countries, those in sub-Saharan Africa had the highest HIV prevalence. The survey, undertaken between the years 2007 to 2011, ranked prostitutes in Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe as having the highest rates of HIV infections.

	(Source: Africa Review, Nairobi, 19 March)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/image_aids_ribbon.gif" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	ILO at UN Human Rights Council

	At its 19th Session on 20 March 2012, the UN Human Rights Council held a panel discussion on giving a voice to people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. The importance of workplace action was mentioned by the ILO, government of Brazil and government of France.

	Alice Ou&eacute;draogo, Director, ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the world of work (ILO/AIDS), underlined that protection of human rights at work is essential and that 2010 ILO Recommendation on HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, the first human rights standard focusing on HIV/AIDS, should be widely used for improving legal protection of against discrimination. The importance of the workplace in protecting the rights of people living with of affected by HIV/AIDS was highlighted by Brazil and France.

	Moyses Toniolo, National Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Brazil, said there were many forms of discrimination that people living with HIV/AIDS experience in the workplace. It was important to demystify HIV/AIDS, to stress that it could not be disseminated in the workplace through social interactions and to change people&rsquo;s perceptions of people who were infected so that those who lived with HIV/AIDS were no longer stigmatized.

	(Source: ILO/AIDS website)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/image_aids_ribbon.gif" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	News from Global Unions 

	The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org/">www.itfglobal.org</a>), in its latest HIV/AIDS update 120 of March reports on the establishment of the first network of HIV positive transport workers. USAFERI received its registration as a community based organisation from the Kenyan government.

	The April 2012 Newsletter of the Swedish Workplace HIV and AIDS Programme (SWHAP), jointly run by the International Council of Swedish Industry (NIR) and the Swedish Industrial and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (IF Metall), reports on a meeting of its Peer Educator Network. Peer educators are at the heart of most HIV/AIDS programmes. Their work is demanding and stressful and it is thus important for them to meet for debriefing and sharing of experience and strategies to help them cope with their roles.

	<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/image_aids_ribbon.gif" style="width: 40px;height: 40px;cursor: default" width="390" />

	Five Years Ago: From the April 2007 Issue (No. 19)

	The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In current issues, we refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 

	In the April 2007 HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, we reported, among other items, on the G8 campaign and on C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire being on the right track; two topics which also appear in this April 2012 issue.

	The G8 campaign in 2007 was lead by the Global Union AIDS Programme, which regrettably has ceased to exist. We made model letters available which were to be sent to German embassies, as the G8 in that year took place in Heiligendamm, Germany. As Germany also held the EU Presidency in the first six months of 2007, it organised an EU Presidency Conference in Bremen in March choosing HIV/AIDS as the main health policy topic. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, gave the keynote speech.

	Important (and understandable because of the German double presidency) was her repeated reference to the G8 Summit. Germany had put HIV/AIDS on the agenda of the Summit and she promised that progress would be made.

	The outcome document of the Conference in Bremen, the Bremen Declaration, made reference to trade unions: &ldquo;We invite the employers and trade unions to ensure non-discriminatory policies for people living with HIV/AIDS and vulnerable groups in the workplace and to reduce fears of infection, stigma and discrimination among staff by providing objective, evidence-based information, and access to prevention, testing, treatment and care according to the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.&rdquo;

	On the other topic dealt with in the April 2007 issue, it is regrettable that the civil war in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire brought to nought many achievements and disrupted HIV and AIDS services. However, to the extent possible work in the ICEM-sponsored project continued and companies have become more cooperative.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 79, April 2012

<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/InBrief100.jpg" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Join the fast growing online <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1383&amp;src=icem">Labourstart campaign</a>&nbsp;calling for freedom for Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a trade unionist, activist and journalist in Thailand. Somyot has been in jail since April 2011 on charges of l&egrave;se majest&eacute;. The charges allege that he has defamed the King of Thailand by publishing two articles in the magazine he edited, The Voice of Thaksin. Brother Somyot faces up to 15 years in prison for each of the two articles, if found guilty.

	Somyot is innocent of these charges, a position supported by expert witnesses and human rights organisations. An international campaign has been underway for the last 12 months to secure his release, which has included demonstrations across the region and a hunger strike by Somyot&#039;s son, Tai, for 112 hours earlier this year. Somyot is charged under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. The campaign is supported by a number of international and national trade unions and human rights organisations, including the ICEM, IFJ, Article 19, and the National Human Rights Commission in Thailand.

	<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1205-somyot-rally-outside-courthouse.jpg" style="width: 332px;height: 160px" width="390" />

	30 April Protests outside Thai Parliament 

	Brother Somyot, a former ICEM Thailand Coordinator, must be freed immediately and unconditionally, states the ICEM.

	Indisputably, Somyot is incarcerated purely for his trade union and left-leaning political activism. For those reasons, he also is not receiving a fair judicial process with violations that include hearings being relocated to distant provinces so that key defence witnesses cannot participate.

	Somyot is now in the last week of hearings and we are concerned that a fair trial takes place. He has been denied bail nine times and is experiencing extraordinarily harsh conditions. Thai trade unions held a demonstration outside Parliament and the UN delegation in Bangkok on the 30 April.

	The final stage of Somyot&rsquo;s trial began two weeks ago, with prosecution witness hearings ending 26 April, and defence witness hearings 1-4 May.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1205-somyot-protestors.jpg" style="width: 104px;height: 159px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	See more on the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.freesomyot.wordpress.com/">Free Somyot campaign</a>&nbsp;website here.

	Another labour and human rights defender is also in detention on non-credible charges. Brother Sirichai Mai-ngam of Thailand also has ICEM&rsquo;s full support.

	In a significant development today, a verdict to a separate case on l&egrave;se majest&eacute; which was due today for Ms Chiranuch Premchaiporn was delayed by one month. This is likely to be connected to the large international attention on these archaic rulings.

	Somyot is one of the few remaining defendants to refuse to plead guilty. Help maintain the international pressure in these last few days of his trial.

URGENT: Join the Labourstart Campaign, Justice for Somyot!

<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/InBrief100.jpg" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Daniel Aguirre Piedrahita, the General Secretary of SINALCORTEROS, Colombia&rsquo;s Nation Union of Sugar Cane Cutters, was assassinated last Friday night, 27 April, as he accompanied his wife, Helena, to make a telephone call in their Casilda neighbourhood of Florida municipality, Valle del Cauca department in west-central Colombia.

	He was shot twice in the head by a cowardly assassin only 70 metres from his home. In a statement, SINALCORTEROS said the cold-blooded murder occurs in a continued context of violence and intolerance of trade union work in Colombia. It urged members and activists not to let this &ldquo;reprehensibly violent action torpedo our union&rdquo; and derail activities, but rather to &ldquo;reaffirm our actions and our mission.&rdquo;

	The government of Colombia did put out a statement yesterday condemning the killing. Deputy Minister of Labour David Luna Sanchez said the ministry supports the Interior Ministry&rsquo;s Protection Unit director&rsquo;s call for an investigation to determine if the killing was related to union activity.

	Aguirre, 35, was a stalwart leader of sugar cane cutters and their fight to bust the chains of servitude inflicted by sugar mill employers who considered them self-employed independent contractors.

	He was instrumental in 2005 in forming SINALCORTEROS, now an affiliate of the International Food and Agricultural Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF), through strikes. He also led strikes of 18,000 sugar cane cutters in 2008 in both Valle del Cauca and Cauca departments that two years later resulted in collective agreements, labour pacts he instituted that in part made recruitment less cumbersome.

	More recently, he had been advocating revisions to Colombia&rsquo;s labour statutes to bring them up to ILO standards and he was a fierce opponent of the Free Trade Agreement with the US, something he felt would lead to exploitation of workers and the product that they harvested.

	Daniel Aguirre becomes the seventh Colombian trade unionist killed this year, and the 61stsince Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos took office in August 2010. He is survived by his wife and three daughters, ages 14, 10 and 4.

	A <a href="http://www.rel-uita.org/internacional/ddhh/Rel-sinalcorteros_asesinato_daniel_aguirre.htm">letter of condolence</a> (in Spanish) from the IUF to SINALCORTEROS President Alfonso Viafara can be viewed here.

Coward Guns Down Colombian Sugar Cane Cutters’ General Secretary on 27 April

Global Unions Message - May Day 2012 
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				It is more than five years since the financial crisis hit, followed rapidly by a larger economic crisis. This economic earthquake exposed the dangers of financialisation; of having the real economy subservient to finance; and of two decades of growing inequality. The resulting shock added millions to the already teeming ranks of the jobless and threw millions more into precarious work. Many workers have lost good jobs and far too many have also lost the fundamental rights that went with them. 
			
				Global financial markets, opened up by deregulation at national level, have not only produced the current economic crisis, but also the instability that has characterised economic development for the last 30 years, with periodic &ldquo;bubbles&rdquo; and crises. This has made it much more lucrative to make money from money than from the production of goods and services. 
			
				In response to the crisis, governments, together and separately, engaged in an unprecedented flurry of activity, but deeds did not reflect the words of their statements. There was enough action that was rapid and real to keep the Great Recession from becoming a Depression, but the dramatic shift to austerity policies in many countries is pushing the global economy back to the brink of new recession. Moreover they have not recovered the authority that they ceded to markets and their actors; markets that have no political legitimacy. And, because the root causes of the crisis have not been addressed, nothing has been put in place to prevent future financial market disasters. 
			
				The pressure from financial markets and financial actors has also fuelled short-term thinking and behaviour. It has undermined all three pillars of sustainable development: economic, social, and environmental. It has deepened and worsened the plight of working people, whose rights are under attack by many governments and employers, both national and multinational. For millions upon millions of working women and men, work means exploitation and deprivation of their fundamental rights, with poverty wages and appalling conditions. The pattern of exploitation that has been thrust on the world leaves more and more people in insecure or informal work, and means growing inequality. 
			
				Public coffers have been drained for a series of bail-outs of banks leading to cuts in public programmes, increasing inequality and weakening prospects for decent jobs and sustainable recovery. &lsquo;Recovery&rsquo; has come for the handful who caused the crisis, while their victims are subject to further &lsquo;punishment&rsquo;. Too many people, outraged at injustice but unable to touch powerful elites, are turning against their neighbours, including migrants on whom many healthy economies depend. Many lose hope in political solutions and retreat into apathy and isolation.
		</div>
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		Global unions affirm our solidarity in working together with our communities to reverse economic injustice, and to advance progressive social visions that protect and build the common good. 
	
		On this May Day, Global Unions call on governments to assume their responsibilities and join together to end the crisis. They need to create decent, sustainable jobs and stand up for the rights of people at work. 
	
		We call for: 
	<ul style="list-style-type: none">
		<li>
			
				 &nbsp;Global regulation of financial markets to reduce their dominant role in the global economy and restore them as a support for productive investment to meet social needs; 
		</li>
		<li>
			
				 &nbsp;A broad range of urgent actions for jobs and recovery, including a focus on youth unemployment, in order to create good, secure employment; 
		</li>
		<li>
			
				 &nbsp;Employment measures, including enhanced education and training, which will ensure the long- term generation of good, sustainable jobs; a central element of the fight against inequality and poverty; 
		</li>
		<li>
			
				 &nbsp;Responses to the challenges of climate change in a way that has a real, demonstrable impact on carbon emissions, creates green jobs, and strengthens social sustainability; 
		</li>
		<li>
			
				 &nbsp;Fair taxes that raise greater revenue from upper income groups and corporations, fight tax fraud and evasion, close loopholes and crack down on tax havens; 
		</li>
		<li>
			
				 &nbsp;A Financial Transaction Tax to inhibit rapid financial transactions; making financial markets more stable and less dangerous, while generating essential revenue; 
		</li>
		<li>
			
				 &nbsp;Full respect for trade union rights and the promotion of strong systems of collective bargaining and social dialogue to help build fairness and democracy;&nbsp;
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				 &nbsp;More comprehensive social protection, including through the creation of a global social protection floor supported by adequate funding; 
		</li>
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				 &nbsp;Guarantees of rights to such basic needs as food, water, housing, health, and education; 
		</li>
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				 &nbsp;Opposition to austerity measures and the maintenance of government capacity, so that they can govern effectively, deliver effective services, and be relevant and credible - including with&nbsp;respect to measures to influence and affect the direction of the economy; and
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				 &nbsp;Sustained investment in quality public services, and especially in quality education services, as an important means to overcome the crisis, and also as a way to build democratic societies in&nbsp;which people have the opportunity to live healthy, rewarding and satisfying lives.&nbsp;
		</li>
	</ul>
</div>

Global Unions May Day Message: Governments Must Act for a Sustainable and Equitable Recovery

The international commitment to sustainable job creation and a financial transactions tax (FTT) will be the focused of RIO+20. The international labour movement, led by ITUC, could play a strong role at RIO+20 to ensure that international commitments are turned into national legislation.

	The ITUC released a new report &quot;<a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/growing-green-and-decent-jobs,11011.html?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Growing Green and Decent Jobs</a>&quot; that trade union leaders can use in negotiations on green investment and job creation as a part of their national policies. The report, released on April 18, analyses seven industries including manufacturing and energy industries in 12 countries and shows that investing two per cent of GDP in a greener economy could create up to 48 million new jobs over the next five years.

	Since world leaders adopted Agenda 21 in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, governments have been called upon to invest in a greener economy and accelerate the adoption of clean technologies, but actual progress at the global level has fallen short of the expectations expressed in Agenda 21 (1992), the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, 2000, and the 2008 update), the Johannesburg Program of Implementation (JPOI, 2002), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

	<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/120420rio20plus202020lead.jpg" style="width: 112px;height: 161px" width="390" />

	Especially on sustainable job creation, a review by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) secretariat reports &quot;global delivery of the employment and green jobs-related commitments is sobering. While judgment is needed to assess delivery against the not so well defined commitments, there is ample evidence to suggest that progress has been slow and in some cases even contradictory to the stated goal. It is impossible to say whether delivery of commitments specifically relating to &quot;green jobs&quot; has fared better or worse than those generic to employment as a whole.&quot;

	Twenty years after the adoption of Agenda 21 at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit as a roadmap towards a sustainable future, representatives of governments, businesses, and international organizations, including trade unions, NGOs, business leaders, academics, politicians, bureaucrats and journalists, will once again discuss the issues on sustainable development at UNCSD-RIO+20 on June20 to 22, in Rio de Janeiro. The main objective of the Conference is to assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits and to secure renewed political commitment for tackling poverty eradication and sustainable development challenges. The RIO+20 will also highlight <a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/7issues.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seven critical issues</a> which need priority attention; these include decent jobs, energy, sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, water, oceans and disaster readiness.

	As representatives of industrial workers in the metal, chemical, energy, mining, paper, rubber, textiles, materials, and related sectors, the IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF have been jointly promoting common policy demands on sustainable development; including:
<ul>
	<li style="text-align: justify">
		a strong, legally-binding, comprehensive global agreement with an ambitious reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions,</li>
	<li style="text-align: justify">
		creation of sustainable jobs that meet ILO definition of Decent Work while ensuring a Just Transition, and</li>
	<li style="text-align: justify">
		building a strong financial foundation for a sustainable future using instruments such as a financial transactions tax.</li>
	<li style="text-align: justify">
		The IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF fully support following three key demands as articulated by the ITUC:</li>
</ul>

	<a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/greendecentjobs_madesimple.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green&amp;Decent Jobs 
	http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/greendecentjobs_madesimple.pdf</a> 

	<a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/socialprotectionfloor_madesimple.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Social Protection Floors 
	http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/socialprotectionfloor_madesimple.pdf</a>

	<a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/ftt_madesimple.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Financial Transaction Tax 
	http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/ftt_madesimple.pdf</a>

	We hope that all industrial workers who attend RIO+20 as labour delegates will play an active role in supporting the common union demands. The international labour movement could play a strong role at RIO+20 to ensure that international commitments are turned into national legislation.

	For further information on ITUC&#039;s campaign on RIO+20, please go to: 
	<a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/rio-20.html">http://www.ituc-csi.org/rio-20.html</a>

RIO+20 Must Commit to Sustainable Job Creation

As we remember those that have died, been injured or suffered ill health as a result of work, we must also commit to making occupational health and safety one of the highest priorities for IndustriALL Global Union.

	Every year, on April 28, the World Day on Safety and Health at Work, workers take a moment to reflect on the devastating toll taken by workplace fatalities, injuries, and occupational diseases.

	IndustriALL Global Union will soon be created, a new organization speaking for some 50 million workers represented by its affiliates. Here are some statistics that should give us all pause. Of IndustriALL&#039;s 50 million affiliated workers:
<ul>
	<li style="text-align: justify">
		An estimated 16,400 will die in 2012 as a result of their work. That&#039;s about 45 fatalities per day.</li>
	<li style="text-align: justify">
		About 5,000 IndustriALL members will die this year of cancer, alone.</li>
	<li style="text-align: justify">
		1,570,000 will be diagnosed with a non-fatal occupational disease.</li>
	<li style="text-align: justify">
		An enormous number, millions, impossible to estimate with any accuracy, will be injured on the job.</li>
</ul>

	These numbers, shocking as they are, are certainly gross underestimates.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" height="90" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1004.28April.jpg" width="360" />&nbsp;

	Drawn from International Labour Organization&#039;s Bureau of Labour Statistics and estimates of occupational fatalities and diseases produced in 2008, they rely on nationally accepted statistics reported to the ILO by member countries. In most cases, these are taken from the country&#039;s workers&#039; compensation systems, immediately omitting workers whose disease or death was not accepted as &quot;occupational&quot; in origin, or who were not covered by the workers&#039; compensation system. Occupational diseases are chronically under-diagnosed, and occupational injuries are subject to various strategies to suppress reporting or fraudulently misrepresent them.

	In addition, these estimates simply divide world totals by IndustriALL&#039;s fraction of the global labour force. In reality, IndustriALL will represent workers in industries with many more hazards than most. It is worth remembering that even in traditionally dangerous workplaces such as coal mines, an estimated five times as many workers die of occupational diseases, than of sudden accidental causes such as fires, explosions, falls, or encounters with machinery.

	IndustriALL clearly has to make occupational health and safety one of its highest priorities.

	There are a large number of global standard-setting agencies and agencies that engage in different aspects of occupational health and safety. The alphabet soup of their acronyms includes ILO, WHO, OHSAS, ISO, GRI, UNEP, GHS, REACH, SAICM. IndustriALL must watch all of these closely and pressure them to do a better job of protecting workers.

	IndustriALL will inherit a substantial number of Global Framework Agreements with trend-setting multinational companies. Occupational health and safety provisions must become more prominent in most of these.

	Global campaigns on specific issues, such as the ongoing campaign to raise the number of ratifications of ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines, must continue.

	Occupational health and safety is a complex problem. Interconnected systems must be created to identify and control workplace hazards, and protect workers from them. Central to that effort must be the full participation of workers through their representatives, and on Joint Health and Safety Committees.

	There is no simple, magic solution that can be quickly implemented. Instead, occupational health and safety requires hard work and determined campaigning by union activists. Despite the global race for profits, our health is not for sale.&quot;

28 April 2012: A Day of Mourning

Archive

Free Somyot NOW! Unionists Urged to Send Letters Demanding Thai Justice!

Schlumberger Continues Destruction of Independent Egyptian Trade Union

Holcim Cement Tainted in Switzerland by Work Rights Abuses in India

Global Unions, USW Bring Rio Tinto Alcan Canadian Dispute to Shareholders

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 79, April 2012

URGENT: Join the Labourstart Campaign, Justice for Somyot!

Coward Guns Down Colombian Sugar Cane Cutters’ General Secretary on 27 April

Global Unions May Day Message: Governments Must Act for a Sustainable and Equitable Recovery

RIO+20 Must Commit to Sustainable Job Creation

28 April 2012: A Day of Mourning

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