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The global ICEM family last week congratulated the victory by South Africa&rsquo;s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) to block Brazilian mining group Vale&rsquo;s efforts to invest in the country, and to operate elsewhere in the region. Vale&rsquo;s anti-union behaviour throughout the world, most notably against the United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada, led NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni to describe the company as &ldquo;one of the world&rsquo;s leading labour exploiters.&rdquo; 
 
The base-metals mining company Metorex, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, had been a long-term acquisition target for Vale. The South Africa-based miner has extensive copper and cobalt mining operations, and prospective growth projects, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Zambia. 
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Frans Baleni
The announcement that Vale were pulling out of the Metorex bid, due to strong pressure from the union, was welcome news on 12 July. If the mining multinational had continued its pursuit, NUM was set to challenge the takeover in the South African Competition Commission. 
 
The alternative bidder for Metorex, the Chinese company Jinchuan, also has a negative labour relations history and is not being welcomed by the NUM. The defeat of Vale will give a stark warning to Jinchuan of the NUM&rsquo;s strength. Baleni warned Jinchuan that &ldquo;when in South Africa, do as South Africans do.&rdquo; 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda congratulated Baleni on the victory, describing it as &ldquo;another example of the strength of Africa&rsquo;s predominant trade union.&rdquo; 
 
Jinchuan has offered R 9.1 billion (&euro;930 million) for Metorex, and the company&rsquo;s board has recommended that shareholders accept the offer.

NUM Succeeds in Blocking Vale’s Bid for Metorex in Southern Africa

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The two-week strike by 120,000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers&rsquo; of South Africa (NUMSA) ended over the weekend when union members accepted a three-year contract from the Steel and Engineering Federation of South Africa (SEIFSA), the main metal employers&rsquo; federation in South Africa. 
 
NUMSA members will receive a first-year pay rise of 10% effective 1 July 2011. In the second and third years, metalworkers will receive no less than 8% in each year. If the consumer price index (CPI) is less than that percentage, the 8% increases will take hold; if it exceeds 8%, workers will receive 2% above the CPI. 
 
&ldquo;We ran a successful action,&rdquo; NUMSA General Secretary Irvin Jim said of the strike that began 4 July. &ldquo;We applied excellent pressure, workers were firm in their determination, and the timing for settling was good before the country&rsquo;s economy was bruised.&rdquo; 
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NUMSA Manifestation on 12 July
Jim said another fundamental issue resolved concerned labour brokers. Contract language was improved whereby labour brokers are allowed to deploy workers for only a four-month period. If a labour broker is retained for more than that period that broker&rsquo;s workers will win full-time, permanent positions with the primary employer inclusive of all social benefits. Workers will begin returning to jobs today and tomorrow, 19 July. 
 
Meanwhile, talks between the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU) and several employers&rsquo; federations resume today. Some 70,000 CEPPWAWU members have been striking since 11 July against scores of employers in the petroleum, pharmaceutical, glass, plastics, industrial chemicals, fast-moving consumer goods, and pulp, paper, and wood products sectors. 
 
By far the biggest impact of those strikes has been in petroleum distribution businesses. The CEPPWAWU strike there has created panic buying and fuel shortages, with the seven members of the South African Petroleum Industry Association unable to move supplies to market from the country&rsquo;s 130 fuel depots. 
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CEPPWAWU Members March in Johannesburg, 11 July
CEPPWAWU&rsquo;s strikes were joined last week across several sectors by 14,000 members of the South African Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union (SACWU) and 10,000 members of the General Industrial Workers&rsquo; Union of South Africa (GIWUSA). 
 
The unions are seeking wage increases ranging from 11% to 13%, while respective industries are offering only 6.5% to 7%. ICEM-affiliated CEPPWAWU seeks a complete ban on labour brokers, a minimum month wage of R6,000 (&euro;615), six months paid maternity leave, and a 40-hour work-week. 
 
The strike, specifically in regard to fuel shortages and transport, is expected to be exacerbated starting today with the start of the third trimester of school in South Africa. Some of the companies affected are petrol giants BP Southern Africa, Chevron SA, Engen Petroleum, PetroSA, Shell SA, and Total SA; pharmaceutical companies Adcock Ingram, Aspen Pharmaceutical, and Pharmacare; consumer companies Revlon and Colgate; the industrial chemicals company Sasol, as well as Nampak Glass and paper companies Sappi and Mondi. 
 
South African strikes were amplified this winter by a PricewaterhouseCoopers&rsquo; report showing that executive pay trends of the 40 top-listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange saw median pay increases of 23.3%, while executive bonuses rose 56%.

Metal Strike Ends in South Africa with Exemplary 3-Year Contract

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the UN General Assembly Declaration on HIV and AIDS, on a call by unions for more funding for HIV and AIDS, and more workplace activities and on efforts to find a vaccine or a cure to the disease. 
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UN Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS 
 
On 10 June, the High Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly adopted its outcome document, the new United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS. 
 
The Declaration reaffirms the commitment of governments to fight the pandemic with time-bound targets laid down in the Millennium Development Goals, such as halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV by 2015. It commits governments to work toward the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015. Efforts must be accelerated to achieve the goal of universal access to antiretroviral treatment for those eligible based on WHO treatment guidelines by 2015. 
 
Governments also pledge to eliminate gender inequalities, gender-based abuse and violence, and increase the capacity of women and adolescent girls to protect them from the risk of HIV infection. The Declaration calls on young people to help lead global HIV awareness. 
 
Of particular importance to unions and the world of work is Article 85 of the Declaration which says: &ldquo;Commit to mitigate the impact of the epidemic on workers, their families, their dependants, workplaces and economies, including by taking into account all relevant ILO conventions, as well as the guidance provided by the relevant ILO recommendations, including ILO Recommendation No 200, and call on employers, trade and labour unions, employees and volunteers to eliminate stigma and discrimination, protect human rights and facilitate access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.&rdquo; 
 
While the Declaration recognises that funding has increased in the period from 2001 to 2010 over eight-fold to US$16 billion, it expresses concern that the global financial and economic crises have a negative impact on the HIV and AIDS response. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS and ILO/AIDS press releases) 
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Unions Call for Closing Funding Gap; More Workplace Action 
 
Trade unions told a key meeting of UNAIDS, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS that, along with real commitments from governments to fill the US$8 billion funding gap, the potential impact of workplace-based activities in tackling the pandemic is still not being realised. 
 
Unions called on the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, the organisation&rsquo;s governing body, to add its weight to the UN call (see article above) and ensure that work-related activities are a full part of the overall response to HIV and AIDS. 
 
The action plan by the ITUC and its Global Union partners stresses reduction of stigma and discrimination, increase in access to prevention services, scaling up of social protection services and access to treatment, care and support. 
 
(Source: ITUC press release, 24 June) 
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Toward an HIV Cure? 
 
On the 30th anniversary of the first medical reports of a new illness, articles appeared on new efforts to find a cure for the AIDS virus. 
 
The new head of the International AIDS Society (IAS), Bertrand Audoin, said that a cure is the only way to keep ahead of the HIV epidemic in the long term during tough financial times. He admitted, however, that it may take as long as 25 years to find a cure. 
 
IAS has convened a working group of international researchers to develop a strategy that might lead to a cure. The group is co-chaired by Professor Fran&ccedil;oise Barre-Sinoussi, who won the Nobel Prize in 2008 for discovering HIV together with Luc Montagnier. 
 
Barre-Sinoussi writes in the International Herald Tribune that there is now robust evidence that early and highly active antiretroviral therapy can have a major impact on HIV transmission, demonstrating the &ldquo;treatment as prevention&rdquo; concept. AIDS is no longer the death sentence it was, but there now remains extreme uncertainty concerning the long-term sustainability of treatment access, especially in resource-limited settings, she writes. 
 
The Economist devotes its 4 June cover to the epidemic: &ldquo;The end of AIDS? How 5 million lives have been saved, and a plague could be defeated.&rdquo; The lead article gives this stark statistic: since the discovery of AIDS, 25 million people have died and another 34 million are infected. But the death rate is dropping. In 2005 the disease killed 2.1 million; in 2009 the number was down to 1.8 million. Inside, an article gives a detailed account of the present state of research. If a few people&rsquo;s immune system controls the disease naturally, it suggests that a vaccine might be possible. And if antibodies have been discovered that neutralise the virus, that might form the basis of AIDS-clearing drugs. 
 
(Sources: BBC News, 1 June; International Herald Tribune, 4/5 June; and the Economist, 4 June.) 
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South Africa: New Policy Saves Thousands of Babies from HIV 
 
The South African government has slashed the HIV transmission rate from pregnant mothers to their babies to merely 3.5%, potentially sparing some 67 000 babies from HIV infection. The success is due mainly to the Health Department vastly improving its programme for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV infection (PMTCT) from April last year. 
 
&ldquo;It is possible to prevent all HIV-positive mothers from passing the virus on to their babies, but we now have to concentrate on the care of babies after birth,&rdquo; said Precious Robinson, deputy director of government&rsquo;s PMTCT programme, at the release of the new figures at the SA AIDS conference. 
 
Under the old treatment programme, mothers and their newborns were given one dose of the antiretroviral drug nevirapine. At best, this reduced the HIV transmission rate to 8.8%, according to small local surveys. But in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal, one in five HIV-positive mothers were still infecting their babies despite getting nevirapine. 
 
In order to save babies, the PMTCT treatment programme was prioritised. From last April, the Health Department advised that all pregnant women with HIV are given the ARV called AZT from 14 weeks of pregnancy and three ARVs during labour (nevirapine, tenofovir, and 3TC). If a pregnant woman has a CD4 count of less than 350, she should be put onto triple therapy (three ARVs) within two weeks of getting her CD4 test results. Newborn babies are now given nevirapine syrup for as long as their mothers are breastfeeding them, or for six weeks if not they are not breast-fed. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.health-e.org.za">www.health-e.org.za</a>, 9 June) 
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&lsquo;Red Card&rsquo; to Keep Children Free from HIV 
 
Captains of national football teams competing in the FIFA Women&rsquo;s World Cup 2011 soccer championship in Germany are signing up to the Give AIDS the Red Card appeal in support of a global plan to eliminate new HIV infections among children by 2015. The Give AIDS the Red Card appeal, which was launched by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) one year ago at the FIFA 2010 Men&rsquo;s World Cup in South Africa, uses the power and outreach of football to unite the world around stopping new HIV infections in children. 
 
Every day more than 1,000 babies are born with HIV. However, with access to HIV counselling and testing for pregnant women and their partners, and treatment when needed, the risk of transmission can be brought down to less than 5%. 
 
On signing the pledge, team captains appeal to football players and fans across the world to &ldquo;celebrate life and support the global campaign to prevent mothers from dying and babies from becoming infected with HIV.&rdquo; 
 
(Source: UNAIDS press release, Geneva, 24 June) 
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Websites of Global Fund County Coordinating Mechanisms (CCM) 
 
According to research conducted by Aidspan, at least 20 CCMs have established their own websites. Countries with CCM websites where the ICEM cooperates on HIV/AIDS include: 
<a href="http://www.india-ccm.org ">India</a> (Language: English) 
<a href="http://ccm-mauritius.org ">Mauritius</a> (Language: English) 
<a href="http://ccmnigeria.org ">Nigeria</a> (Language: English) 
<a href="http://www.gf.or.tz ">Tanzania</a> (Language: English) 
 
The information available varies considerably from one website to another, with the India site being by far the most comprehensive. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 149 of 8 June. GFO is a free service of Aidspan www.aidspan.org; 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 Unions 
 
The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) published the fifth issue of Agenda, its yearly magazine dedicated to HIV and AIDS. Agenda features, among other articles, case studies from ITF affiliates, strategies to fight HIV and AIDS at the workplace, and a new study on the civil aviation sector which reveals workers&rsquo; exposure to HIV infection, as well as stigma and discrimination. 
 
In the ITF HIV/AIDS updates 108 and 109 of 1 June and 15 June, respectively, articles can be found on peer education for civil aviation workers in Ecuador, a life skill education programme on HIV and AIDS in Indonesia organised by the Indonesia Seafarers&rsquo; Union, and the critical role the Transport and Dock Workers&rsquo; Union at Mumbai Port is playing in the implementation of a workplace policy on HIV and AIDS. 
 
The June 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 range of peer educators and other HIV and AIDS programmes in East and Southern Africa. SWHAP focuses on the response to HIV and AIDS at Swedish related workplaces. 
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Five Years Ago: From the July 2006 Issue (No. 10) 
 
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 July 2006 issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, we reported on the first seminar on HIV and AIDS and the workplace organised by ICEM affiliates in Colombia in cooperation with UNAIDS and the Ministry of Social Protection. 
 
We also reported on the concern the ICEM affiliate in Mongolia expressed about the increase in HIV infections. In a report to the ICEM Asia and Pacific Regional Committee, the Mongolia Mining and Energy Union gave an account of the recent increase in HIV prevalence in the country. Despite the still very low prevalence rate, the potential for a further increase due to unsafe sex, high infection rates among migrant workers and mobile traders, and lack of education among young people is high. It will be recalled that, with the help of the Japanese affiliates, the ICEM later initiated an HIV/AIDS programme in Mongolia. 
 
The article devoted to the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS stated that unlike the 2001 UN General Assembly Session on HIV/AIDS, relatively few world leaders attended this meeting which took place in New York from 29 May to 2 June, 2006. Civil society organisations criticised the final declaration. Difference over prevention strategies, such as abstinence and condom use, intellectual property rights and the naming of vulnerable groups have resulted in a weaker declaration and in serious omissions. In deference to Muslim and conservative Latin and Vatican opposition, the Declaration refers only to &ldquo;vulnerable groups&rdquo; at risk for infection without naming sex workers, homosexuals, or intravenous drug users as in need of particular attention. Civil society also noted an insufficient commitment to women&rsquo;s rights. Most of these deficiencies seem to have been removed from the new Political Declaration (see first article in this issue). 
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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. 70, July 2011

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ICEM-affiliated Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine has successfully launched a <a href="http://npgu.com.ua/">new website</a>.&nbsp; 
 
The mineworkers of Ukraine have been especially important this year, as the union forged ahead with the campaign for ratification of ILO Convention 176, setting the standard for others to follow. The Ukrainian victory was celebrated in February this year, when the union worked together with PRUPU to play a crucial role in the ratification of the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
The Convention spells out responsibilities for government, employers, and workers and their trade unions, and specifically gives miners the right to report hazards, dangerous conditions and accidents, as well as the right to refuse unsafe work. 
 
Ukraine is the first major mining country to ratify Convention 176 since Peru ratified it in June 2007.

Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine Launch Website

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Restructuring at three Colombian plants of the US-based glass packaging manufacturer Owens Illinois has led to a situation for members of ICEM-affiliated Sintravidricol being dangerously over-stretched to sustain the work load. 
 
There are almost no personnel replacements at the plants in Envigado, Cogua and Soacha, resulting in increased overtime, employees working without rest, and overexertion. Sintravidricol presented a study into the problem to management in September-November 2010, but the unsustainable situation has not been rectified. 
<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/cololmbia.sintravidricol.jpg" width="95" height="85" />
Instead of working towards a solution together with Sintravidricol, Owens Illinois local management has moved to fill holes with outsourced contract labour, making repeated unilateral decisions to outsource sections of the manufacturing process. These processes of outsourcing have forced workers at various stages of the production line to be relocated. Moving the work away from the directly employed workers, in areas such as machine repair and moulding, is in breach of the collective bargaining agreement. 
 
While Owens Illinois have continuously avoided the union&rsquo;s pleas for dialogue, Sintravidricol has been forced into lodging a complaint at the Colombian Ministry of Labour. 
 
In further breach of the collective agreement, the company has ended the fixed-term contractual status of workers in the cold area, again causing health and safety concerns for remaining staff who have to cover the gaps, causing severe disruption of the operational process. 
 
Sintravidricol are calling on the international management of Owens Illinois to meet with them on a biannual basis, and are seeking avenues with the Colombian government. Social bargaining and mature systems of industrial relations must be employed by Colombian management at Owens Illinois, to work with Sintravidricol towards solving these dangerous issues for workers.

SINTRAVIDRICOL Faces Problems of Dangerous Overwork, Outsourcing at Owens Illinois, Colombia

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From the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation 
 
Dramatic developments take place in Korea at Hanjin Heavy Industries shipyard and Yuseong Piston Ring. Private security forces and riot police forced out protesters from the shipyard and the police issued arrest warrants for Yuseong Piston Ring union leaders who in sign of protest have started a hunger strike in the Buddhist Jogye Temple in Seoul. 
 
Following IMF's recently reported visit on June 24 to the Korean National Assembly where a strong demand was forwarded to the Korean government to stop labour repression and solve the conflict at Yuseong Piston Ring (YPR) and Hanjin Heavy Industries shipyard new dramatic developments have occurred at both places. 
 
According to the reports of the IMF affiliate Korean Metal Workers&rsquo; Union (KMWU) Hanjin workers were flushed out of the shipyard with the exception of some protesters who tied themselves to Crane 85. Private contractors hired by the Hanjin management cut off electricity and tried to limit KIM Jinsuk's possibilities to communicate with the outer world. Ms. KIM Jinsuk is carrying out an aerial sit-in protest on a company crane. The protest has gone on for 175 days now. 
<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1107.kmwu_.jpg" width="239" height="161" />
The KMWU also informed IMF that the police issued arrest warrants for the YPR union leaders who staged an unlimited hunger strike in the Buddhist Jogye Temple in Seoul to bring their unjust situation to the attention of the general public. 
 
On June 29 mass rallies took place in Seoul and Busan to protest against attacks on workers whose only crime is their wish to work under secure conditions and to have their collective bargaining rights respected. 
 
The IMF urgently calls on all its affiliates to send letters of protest to the President of Korea, Mr. Lee Myung-bak (e-mail <a href="mailto:president@president.go.kr">president@president.go.kr</a>) and to demand: 
&bull; To pull back riot police and private security forces occupying the workplaces at Hanjin Heavy Industries shipyard and Yuseong Piston Ring YPR factories. 
&bull; To start collective bargaining in good faith in order to withdraw unilateral mass dismissals at Hanjin. 
&bull; To lift the illegal lockout of Yuseong Piston Ring workers and to reinstate union members to their original positions in their original plants (Asan and Yeongdong YPR plants). 
&bull; To stop the persecution of Yuseong Piston Ring and Hanjin Heavy Industries union officials, union members and their sympathizers. 
 
Render solidarity support to the striking workers by sending messages of support to the KMWU international department at: <a href="mailto:inter@metal.nodong.org">inter@metal.nodong.org</a>, with copies to IMF at <a href="mailto:info@imfmetal.org">info@imfmetal.org</a>.

KMWU Calls for Urgent Solidarity Support

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The ICEM-affiliated Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) issued an ultimatum on 15 June to the Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board (PEF) over the continuing victimisation of its Branch Chairman and other executive committee members. 
 
The senior staff union warned the PEF management that if victimization of its officials continues, workers would reply through industrial unrest not only in PEF but the entire Nigerian oil industry. 
<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/NigeriaPengassan.JPG" width="143" height="150" />
PENGASSAN union members hold significant leverage in Nigeria; its members are supervisors at each of the petroleum depots, which transport fuel and diesel throughout the country. The depots are under the control of PEF. 
 
The PEF management has been conducting aggressive interference in union affairs since a recently successful PENGASSAN campaign forced PEF management to promote over 70% of its staff who had stagnated at the same grade for upwards of six years. PEF set up a panel to investigate union member activity in terms of their adherence to union rules, clearly not the jurisdiction of management, and a breach of union independence intended to undermine PENGASSAN. 
 
In a letter to the PEF Executive Secretary, PENGASSAN General Secretary Bayo Olowoshile warned that, &ldquo;the management of PEF is given a 14-day ultimatum with effect from the date of our earlier letter of June 15, 2011 to respect the Association&rsquo;s structure, rules, and extant laws on Trade Unions and labour relations or get prepared to face the consequences of full scale national industrial action in the oil and gas industry&rdquo;.

PENGASSAN Threatens Full-Scale Industrial Action in Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry

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A united grouping of six Belgian trade unions, representing all unionised oil workers, picketed at the gates of the Belgian Refining Corporation (BRC) last Thursday, 30 June, in protest of the sacking of three workers, calling for the company to spend their money on better terms in collective bargaining instead of unnecessary severance pay. 
 
A nationwide action is also planned. 
 
Two of the three sacked workers were union representatives of ICEM-affiliated Centrale Generale &ndash; FGTB, making the company even more liable for unfair dismissal. The three are guilty of no misconduct at all, although management have actively spread lies relating to the intimidation of a security guard and his family. 
<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Belgium20ABVV.jpg" width="204" height="69" />
The Swiss management of BRC, under CEO Massenhaurer, has shown itself to be staunchly anti union, but inventing misconduct stories in order to sack union reps is new. 
 
The BRC refinery is located north of the Port of Antwerp at the centre of the ARA region, owned by European refiner Petroplus Holdings. BRC has production capacity of 107,500 barrels per day, and sells primarily inside Benelux. 
 
The ICEM joins calls of the six unions involved, five of which are affiliated, for the immediate reinstatement of all three sacked worker.

Belgium Unions Unite Against Belgian Refining Corp.’s Sackings

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From: International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation. Note: On Friday, 25 March, ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert issued the following statement drawing parallel between New York City&rsquo;s Triangle Shirtwaist fire to the 14 December 2010 Hameem garment factory in the Ashulia industrial zone of Dhaka, Bangladesh. 
 
To mark the hundredth anniversary of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, the global union representing workers in the garment industry is calling on employers, governments and brands sourcing in the global industry to take urgent action to improve worker safety. 
 
Says Patrick Itschert, General Secretary of the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation: &ldquo;One hundred years ago today, at the Triangle shirtwaist factory in New York City, 146 workers died because greedy factory owners violated workers&rsquo; basic rights and ignored health and safety regulations, and the authorities turned a blind eye to these violations. 
 
&ldquo;When a fire broke out on the ninth floor it spread quickly across an overcrowded factory floor. Young women workers scrambled to escape and found only locked or inadequate exits. Fire fighters were powerless to help because their ladders couldn&rsquo;t reach beyond the fifth floor. 
<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1103.garment20factoy20fire20bangladesh.jpg" width="300" height="180" />
&ldquo;Nearly one hundred years later, in December 2010, the exact same scene was repeated at the Hameem factory in Dhaka, leaving 29 workers dead. Nor is Hameem an isolated incident in the Bangladesh garment industry. Over the past five years alone, some 150 workers have died in factory disasters in the garment industry in the country. Similar tragedies have occurred elsewhere throughout the global garment industry, notably in China and Thailand. All of these tragedies are eerily similar and all could have been prevented by safe working practices. 
 
&ldquo;The ITGLWF is calling on employers, governments and brands to protect worker safety and to ensure that where workers are injured or killed, adequate compensation is paid.&rdquo; 
 
Concludes Mr. Itschert: &ldquo;The Triangle factory led to rapid growth of the International Ladies Garment Workers&rsquo; Union and the introduction of tougher new laws. In Bangladesh and elsewhere, workers continue to be denied the right to organise and bargain collectively and are thus being denied the right to play a role in promoting health and safety. We must learn from the legacy of the Triangle factory fire and ensure this changes.&rdquo;

ITGLWF Draws Match: 1911 New York Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and Hameem Fire in Bangladesh

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Co-hosted by two of ICEM&rsquo;s Spanish affiliated trade unions, FIA-UGT and FITEQA-CC.OO, the ICEM World Women&rsquo;s Conference brought together over 230 delegates from 47 countries to Seville on 23-25 March. The theme of the conference was &ldquo;Conquests and Dreams.&rdquo; 
 
The historic conference was the largest ever and women resolved to focus efforts on building and developing structures for improved coordination for the women of the ICEM. Coordinating committees already exist in some countries and this will now be extended to create a women&rsquo;s committee in each country where there is more than one ICEM affiliate. This will then be followed with a women&rsquo;s network in Europe, and several sub-regional networks. 
<img alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/1103.womens20conf20carol20press.JPG" width="317" height="188" />
Women&rsquo;s Officer Carol Bruce talks to Spanish TV
ICEM women look forward to combining strength and resources with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) in the creation of a new international trade union federation. While the three organizations have differing levels of women&rsquo;s membership and activities, the ICEM women&rsquo;s sector will work to combine the best practices. 
 
Two campaigns launched at the conference included: the campaign to put a stop to violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); and campaign for wider use of female condoms to prevent the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Two other major work plans will also receive increased focus: preventing violence against women and creating better self-esteem. 
 
View the full <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/EN%20resolution%20to%20ICEM%20Congress.pdf">conference resolution</a> here.&nbsp; 
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Delegates Respect Victims of Japan&rsquo;s Earthquake/Tsunami
In his opening remarks, ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana called delegates to stand and mark a minute&rsquo;s silence in memory of those affected by the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda then said, &ldquo;Gender will be a major part of the ICEM Action Plan to be discussed at the Executive Committee and then at our Congress. We are proud of the work of the women inside the ICEM, marking this milestone conference.&rdquo; 
 
The conference attracted local- and national-level female politicians. Matilde Fern&aacute;ndez, former Social Affairs Minister, highlighted the importance of the fight for gender equality in Spain, a country where women are paid 15% less than men, meaning that they would have to work 51-52 days per year more than men to achieve wage parity. 
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M&uuml;zeyyen Acunal of Turkish Sel&uuml;loz-İş
&ldquo;Changes to legislation have been necessary, but they still are not sufficient,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;We need to change the attitudes of the society.&rdquo; 
 
The conference unanimously re-elected Russia&rsquo;s Evgenia Esenina as President of ICEM&rsquo;s Women&rsquo;s Committee and Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Angeline Chitambo as Vice-Chair. 
 
In closing the conference, President Senzeni Zokwana built enthusiasm for the future, in terms of gender work, and of the overall hopes heading into a new international. &ldquo;We will be new and strong, let us breed unity, breed oneness. We can achieve more together!&rdquo;

Largest Number Ever Attend ICEM Women’s Conference in Spain

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