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Industrianst&auml;llda I Norden, or Nordic IN, is the new name of a merged labour union federation covering five Nordic countries&mdash;Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Two federations&mdash;Nordic Metal and NIF, representing workers in chemicals, paper and textile industries&mdash;merged 1 January in a move bringing 22 national unions into a single Nordic industrial federation.
Nordic IN intends to safeguard the Nordic social model, characterized by modern and efficient social security systems, equality, democratic influence, and bargaining structures at both the local and national levels. Former ICEM Officer Jyrki Raina is the general secretary of the new federation.
&nbsp;

Five-Country Nordic Industrial Trade Union Federation Forms

&nbsp;&nbsp;<img height="67" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Belgiumaccgimage.jpg" width="60" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; <img height="58" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/NetherlandsFNVBondgenoten.gif" width="100" />
Trade unions from Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, and UK, representing the industrial gases sector, met in Blankenberge, Belgium, last month to discuss economic aspects of the industry, as well as the companies comprising the sector.
The conference was jointly sponsored by ICEM affiliates CG-FGTB of Belgium and Dutch FNV Bondgenoten. ICEM provided research and a presentation on the sector, available at <a href="/?id=4&amp;doc=1576&amp;la=EN">/?id=4&amp;doc=1576&amp;la=EN</a>.
The forum, attended by 35 trade unionists, pledged to develop further trade union cooperation, as well as to open the next conference to global trade unionists in the sector, as start to a world network for industrial gases. Companies that came under discussion included Air Liquide, Air Products, BOC, Linde and Praxair.

Unionists Meet in Belgium over Industrial Gases Sector

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Contract workers in Azerbaijan&rsquo;s oil and gas construction industry continue to unionise, following the successful lead by Azeri workers, employed by US contractor McDermott International, late in November 2005.
Some 2,000 workers at McDermott, BP and state-run SOCAR&rsquo;s largest contractor, engaged in strike actions to win 30% wage gains, medical care, and union recognition with ICEM affiliate Oil and Gas Industry Workers&rsquo; Trade Union of Azerbaijan (OGWU). Union Chairman Jahangir Aliyev now estimates 5,000 to 7,000 contract workers are seeking unionisation, as Azeri workers employed by western oil service companies seek equivalent pay to that of foreign nationals employed on Caspian energy projects.
On 19 December 2005, 1,600 workers employed at the offshore BosShelf site, a French-Azeri construction project partially owned by Bouygues, officially organised with OGWU following a strike.
Responding to the rush of workers to organise, BP Azerbaijan President David Woodward conceded, &ldquo;This is their right and no one can stop them from doing this. If they wish, we see the right for employees to take collective action.&rdquo;
In a related Caspian labour development, OGWU and another ICEM affiliate, ROGWU, Russia&rsquo;s powerful oil and gas workers&rsquo; union, agreed at ROGWU&rsquo;s Congress in Moscow 21-22 December 2005 to begin joint union-building activities in 2006 intended to lead to a protocol agreement between the two unions.

Contract Workers Organising in Caspian Oil/Gas Fields

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International Coal Group (ICG), the US-based company responsible for 12 mining deaths last week in the state of West Virginia, operates 21 US coal mines in America, all non-union. Yet, three emergency-response teams from nearby United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) staffed mines, plus the ICEM affiliate&rsquo;s Health and Safety director were involved in rescue efforts at ICG&rsquo;s Sago mine on 2 January after 13 miners became trapped following a gas explosion.
ICG has become a major eastern US coal supplier to utility companies at a time of high demand and high prices. The company is a creation of Wilbur L. Ross, a bankruptcy buyout opportunist who has a two-decade-long record in steel, textile and now coal bankruptcies. Ross uses US court bankruptcy proceedings to gain tax deferrals and cancel workers&rsquo; bargaining rights, pension benefits and retiree health care.
<img height="48" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/USAUMWA.jpg" width="150" />
ICG bought bankrupt Horizon Natural Resources, Anker Coal Group and CoalQuest Development, among others over the past few years. ICG gained a stake in Anker, the former owner of Sago, in the early 2000s and increased his holding as the company weakened and entered bankruptcy in 2002.
He only recently finalised buyout of the company for US$173 million, adding some eight coal mines and loading facilities to ICG. Also in late 2005, Ross took ICG&mdash;founded only in 2004&mdash;public, infusing US$250 million cash into the firm, and causing Ross to state: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all new money for the company. Neither my firm nor the founding shareholders are selling any stock on the offering at all.&rdquo; Ross&rsquo;s controlling stake increased from 9.2% to 13.7% on the initial public offering. 
 
It is evident Ross&rsquo;s &ldquo;new money&rdquo; and current coal revenue profit-taking are not intended for miners&rsquo; social welfare, whether it be retirement benefits or job safety. On 30 August 2004, 17 UMWA members were arrested by police when they and 800 others protested before a US bankruptcy court in Louisville, Kentucky. Some 3,000 UMWA members, both active and retired, were about to lose job security, and health care coverage as Ross and IGC took control of Horizon at a discount value in the bankruptcy court.
Early last week, the UMWA was actively involved in saving lives at the Sago mine. In a statement by the union expressing deep sadness to miners&rsquo; families, and reflecting on the &ldquo;inexplicable confusion&rdquo; over initial reports that the miners were alive, President Cecil Roberts said, &ldquo;Though not members of UMWA, the miners who work in the Sago mine include neighbors and relatives of UMWA members.&rdquo; The efforts of rescuers, he added, &ldquo;demonstrate once again that we are all brothers and sisters in the coal fields, and we pull together to help each other in times like these.&rdquo;
Roberts had another message last week, published in a West Virginia newspaper. It concerned the effect that energy demand and high coal prices have on marginal properties with inferior safety records when pressed into service: &ldquo;We hope we don&rsquo;t lose the focus on how dangerous this business is,&rdquo; stated Roberts.

Sago Mine Disaster: Safety, Workers’ Rights Victimized by Bankruptcies

World AIDS Day 2005 - Keep the Promise 
 
The global theme of World AIDS Day, 1 December 2005, was Stop AIDS &ndash; Keep the Promise. This refers in particular to the commitments made by Heads of State at the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS) in June 2001. 
Global unions appealed to their affiliates and the millions of members organised by them to take &ldquo;3 Minutes of Their Time&rdquo; to make their promise. Governments and political leaders must be reminded of their forgotten promises and efforts must be reinvigorated to keep them.
At UNGASS, four years ago, 189 countries made the most significant AIDS promises and agreed, among other things, to stop mother-to-child transmission and to provide treatment to all those who need it. In most countries the targets will not be met. 
At Gleneagles, in July 2005, the G8 leaders pledged &ldquo;to develop and implement a package of HIV prevention, treatment and care, with the aim of as close as possible to universal access to treatment for all those who need it by 2010.&rdquo; This must not remain a rhetorical statement. Action must follow so that the promise is not broken. 
 
Organisations and individuals are urged to make their own promise at <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a>&nbsp;or <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.net/community">www.worldaidscampaign.net/community</a>. Make your promise now! 
 
At the main ILO event in Geneva, which the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator attended and at which the ICEM leaflet was distributed, the ILO Director General, Juan Somavia, said that the workplace must play a strategic role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. &ldquo;It is a fight not only against the ravages of the disease but also against discrimination, intolerance, misconception and fear&rdquo;. 
 
 
C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire Workers and Management Fight the HIV/AIDS Epidemic 
 
Charlotte Nguessan, the President of the Shell C.I. HIV/AIDS committee and the ICEM National HIV/AIDS Coordinator, reports on initiatives within this company. Most of the people infected with HIV virus are between 15 and 49 &ndash; the economically active population. As a response Shell set up a joint committee with the union to fight HIV/AIDS by heightening awareness among workers, their families and the communities. 
 
This takes place at all levels of the company and reaches out into the community. Examples include campaigns for the families of Shell employees, campaigns for petrol attendants and Shell shops throughout the country, for other partners such as fuel and gas contractors, campaigns for religious communities and the establishment of the Yamoussoukro Shell Institute to promote awareness primarily among youth. Recognising the specific vulnerability of women, a conference for Shell&rsquo;s Women Workers was organised with the theme &ldquo;Women and HIV: we are more vulnerable&rdquo;. 
 
The campaign consistently targets its constituencies through posters, leaflets, and flyers in canteen trays. It utilises mail message and video screening. Condoms are distributed in pay-slips and public toilets. The message is reinforced through bags and tee shirts distributed at the annual party. 
 
 
Global Unions&rsquo; Action Against HIV/AIDS in 2006 
 
On World AIDS Day, the global trade union movement announced a series of initiatives for 2006 in the fight against HIV/AIDS, ranging from campaigns and mobilisation action to activities in workplaces and lobbying of governments to get them to implement pledges they have made. Trade unions will focus on a series of global gatherings in 2006, including the G8, WHO, UN Commission on Sustainable Development and the UN General Assembly. 
 
2006 will see the rollout of a series of workplace initiatives in countries, which are severely hit by the pandemic, following agreements with the International Employers&rsquo; Organisation and the WHO. A new leaflet &ldquo;HIV/AIDS is a Human Rights Issue, Human Rights are Trade Union Issues&rdquo; was launched on World AIDS Day and is available at <a href="http://www.global-unions.org">www.global-unions.org</a>. 
 
 
UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Calls on Companies to Contribute 
 
In a statement issued on World AIDS Day, Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa and former Canadian Ambassador to the UN, called on companies to contribute 0.7% of pre-tax profits annually to the Global Fund. He said that big multinational companies that have exacted such huge wealth from Africa&rsquo;s mineral, diamond, gold, oil and other resources over decades and the pharmaceutical industry, which resisted the lowering of drug prices for an unconscionable length of time, should be targeted first.
He also addressed his call to the more than 200 companies that are members of the Global Business Coalition. Many of these companies provide antiretroviral drugs and make in-kind contributions or investments in research and training centres but the true expression of corporate social responsibility would be a 0.7% contribution to the Global Fund. 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 53, 11 December 2005 &ndash; <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/gfo">www.aidspan.org/gfo</a>) 
Stephen Lewis is also the author of the book Race Against Time. 
 
 
Global Fund &ndash; Continuation of Services 
 
In its December meeting the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria decided to develop a policy to ensure continued funding for treatment-based grants when they are denied Phase 2 funding or they are approaching the end of their term. (Global Fund grants are approved for five years but can be suspended on the basis of a review after two years). 
Concern had earlier been raised over the fate of the people on treatment when a grant is suspended. Comment: While this is an overdue commitment it has to be seen whether funds are available to implement such a policy. 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 54, 18 December 2005 &ndash; <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/gfo">www.aidspan.org/gfo</a>) 
 
 
COSATU Joins TAC to Push for Treatment 
 
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) joined activist group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) to push for a new approach to AIDS in the country worst hit by the worldwide pandemic. In a joint statement with TAC and the South African Council of Churches COSATU said, &ldquo;We lament the continued refusal of our national government to declare the seriousness of the epidemic and to mobilise a response on the scale that is needed&rdquo;.
The new campaign, which was launched on World AIDS Day, is designed to more deeply involve unions, employers and churches in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The organisations demand that by the end of 2006 at least 200,000 AIDS patients are enrolled for anti-retroviral treatment &ndash; currently the figure is just over 70,000 people who receive treatment at government health facilities. 
 
 
News from other Global Union Federations 
 
The Education International (EI) marked World AIDS Day with an information session for the staff at its Brussels Head Office. EI affiliates all over the world organised events on issues of education and HIV/AIDS. Demands included a greater commitment of governments to distribute antiretrovirals. 
(Source: EI AIDS Newsletter &ndash; <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/aids">www.ei-ie.org/aids</a>) 
 
The UNI Global Union graphical sector in southern and East Africa will use collective bargaining to tackle HIV/AIDS. Unions agreed to include a clause in future negotiations to establish a joint worker-employer response to improve education and prevention, to end discrimination and to upscale access to treatment. Access to treatment at work has also been negotiated by unions with employers in several other sectors in Burkina Faso, Guinea and C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire. 
(Source: UNI Global Union &ndash; <a href="http://www.uniglobalunion.org">www.uniglobalunion.org</a>&nbsp;- eBulletin December 2005) 
 
 
Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Stories &ndash; Faces of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic 
 
In collaboration with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and Christian AID, the WHO has released on its HIV/AIDS website <a href="http://www.who.int/hiv">www.who.int/hiv</a>&nbsp;&ldquo;Voices of Hope&rdquo; - photo stories of communities affected by HIV/AIDS. The photo stories of people living with HIV and AIDS in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America represent some of the real faces of the epidemic that, by the end of 2005, had infected an estimated 40.3 million people. 
 
 
Update from ILOAIDS 
 
There are two new titles (the last two) in the series of workplace action menus that the ILO has produced with UNAIDS and the World Economic Forum's Global Health Initiative. To complement Africa (in English and French) and Asia <a href="http://www.unaids.org/en/about+unaids/partnerships/partnership+menus.asp">http://www.unaids.org/en/about+unaids/ 
partnerships/partnership+menus.asp</a>), ILOAIDS now has Action against AIDS in the workplace for Latin America and the Caribbean (shortly also in Spanish), and a final global version with an overview of all regions, including North America and Europe. 
 
 
This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe or Translate? 
 
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. 
 
Unfortunately, the e-bulletin can only be published in English. For a free automated (non-ICEM) translation of this HIV-AIDS bulletin into other languages, you may want to try <a href="http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr">http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr</a>&nbsp;or <a href="http://www.google.com/language_tools">http://www.google.com/language_tools</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;and insert the following URL into the window &ldquo;Translate a Web page&ldquo;: 
<a href="/index.php?id=72&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=1578">/index.php?id=72&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=1578</a>.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 4

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Things are definitely changing in the industrial gases sector. Mergers and acquisitions are decreasing the number of global players. In addition, there is a rising demand in industrial gases for the steel and petrochemical sector, with the biggest investments in new plants taking place in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. 
 
At the conference on industrial gases, organised by ICEM affiliates Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale (Belgium) and FNV Bondgenoten (Netherlands), in Blankenberge, Belgium, on 14-15 December 2005, the ICEM presented an overview of the economic situation in the sector, as well as of the big 5 global players. The presentation also includes a brief forecast for the next years. 
 
The continuous growth in the industrial gases sector and the many new applications for industrial gases, for example in the medical sector, are good news for employees. The shift from manufacturing plants to so-called low-cost countries, however, is a real challenge for the workers and their unions. 
 
The presentation explains how workers in the sector from different countries can cooperate and how a communication network can be built between the workers&rsquo; representatives in the different European countries. Another important question that is touched upon is how the different systems of industrial relations work in each country of the EU. 
 
Click <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0512michaelindgases.ppt">here</a> for the complete presentation.

ICEM Powerpoint Presentation on Industrial Gases

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Senzeni Zokwana won re-election as president of South Africa&rsquo;s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), while Frans Baleni was elected general secretary. Those and other elections were part of a spirited 12th National Congress of the NUM, held 24-27 May in Midrand, near Johannesburg. 
 
Over 1,000 delegates to the NUM&rsquo;s triennial Congress passed resolutions prioritising the issue of wage compensation, and convene a special summit to deal with the issue; to openly engage employers to reopen mines to enhance employment; and for leadership of the 300,000-member NUM to develop a discussion document on its important role inside COSATU related to labour&rsquo;s strained relationship as part of the African National Congress (ANC) Alliance. 
<img height="60" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/SouthAfricaFlag.gif" width="100" />
The Congress also vowed to maintain NUM&rsquo;s bank as a workers&rsquo; asset, set in motion an aid and support plan for striking security guards in conjunction with the Transport &amp; Allied Workers&rsquo; Union, and commemorated the 1946 strike by the Black Mineworkers Union, with events leading up to the 60-year anniversary of the strike in the Witwatersran on 12 August of this year. 
The Congress closed by paying a rousing tribute to Gwede Mantashe, NUM&rsquo;s general secretary since 1998 who retired at this Congress. 
In opening the Congress, Zokwana, ICEM president, now in his third term as a NUM national office bearer, demanded of ANC leadership, including President Thabo Mbeki, that more anti-retroviral medicines be made available to workers in the fight against HIV/AIDS. &ldquo;This human culling must stop,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;South Africa has the resources to assist us and it must do so.&rdquo; 
 
Baleni, a miner who rose through NUM leadership ranks as a national organiser and then national education coordinator, has been the union&rsquo;s chief negotiator prior to his 27 May election. He headed the Production Pillar of the NUM. Zokwana joined NUM in 1983 as a shaft steward in a Free State gold mine, and rose through the ranks to regional chairman in 1993 and national vice president in 1994. 
 
Other national office bearers elected at the 12th Congress: Crosbi Moni, deputy president; Oupa Komane, deputy general secretary; Derick Elbrecht, treasurer general; Helen Diatile, chairperson of Education; Zwelitsha Tantsa, secretary of Education; Peter Bailey, chairperson of Health and Safety; and Eric Gcilitshana, secretary of Health and Safety.

NUM Elects Leaders at Energised South African Congress

Nepalese King Gyanendra&rsquo;s statement over the weekend that he has invited political parties for dialogue on democracy will be a hollow promise unless the monarchy frees all trade union and political prisoners. The king yesterday, 19 February, used a new twist to deflect mounting international pressure and growing pro-democracy protests at home, with an offer to the seven-party political coalition &ldquo;to come forth to fully activate, at the earliest, the stalled democratic process.&rdquo;
<img height="201" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/0602Nepalfree.jpg" width="380" />
The king&rsquo;s first public statement in his now year-long absolute rule that suspended basic rights, came in a state-run newspaper just before 3,000 demonstrators took to the streets in another set of peaceful protests challenging the monarchy. 
Gyanendra&rsquo;s rhetoric is meaningless, the ICEM believes, until all trade union leaders of GEFONT and NTUC are released, as well as other human rights activists who have been imprisoned without cause. Several trade unionists were released last week after weeks of detention, but some leaders of the two labour federations&mdash;plus several leaders of education unions&mdash;remain incarcerated.
<img height="151" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/NepalGefont1.jpg" width="160" />
GEFONT, NTUC and another labour federation, DECONT, on 13 February, gave the government a 35-day deadline to act on its and the ILO Actrav&rsquo;s Charter of Demands for both formal and informal work. The Charter calls on the government to strengthen the labour code on wage increments, adopt an integrated social security fund, formalise basic labour rights commitments, and implement non-discrimination practices, particularly regarding women workers.

King’s Rhetoric in Nepal on Democracy Belies Trade Union Arrests

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The ICEM is fully supportive of French affiliates Filpac-CGT and FCE-CFDT, and the French paper workers, in their manifestation Saturday, 17 December, in Lille, France. The unions are protesting against the actions of several multinational paper companies, who are firing workers and closing mill and paper converters, or have plans to do so, in the Nord/Pas-de-Calais area of northern France. 
<img height="67" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/FranceFlag.gif" width="100" />
According to Filpac-CGT, paper companies are creating &ldquo;a genuine social earthquake&rdquo; with job losses and closures in the region. 
Paper companies Stora Enso of Sweden and Finland, International Paper of the US, Cascades of Canada and Smurfit-Kappa of Ireland and The Netherlands have all announced harmful restructurings in the Nord/Pas-de-Calais area. Over 1,000 jobs might be lost in total. 
Companies are ignoring their social responsibilities and cite external causes, such as surplus capacity, the overall economic situation or global energy costs. 
 
According to the unions, however, the real reasons lie elsewhere. Stora Enso is pursuing its Profit 2007 initiative aimed at adding another &euro;300 million to its annual pre-tax profit in 2007. FCE-CFDT reminds us that Stora Enso, as part of this initiative,&nbsp;intends to&nbsp;get rid of 2,500 work places world-wide, with 500 of them in France,&nbsp;for the sole purpose of making more profit.&nbsp;
Cascades is equally seeking improved profitability of its boxboard unit, while pointing to capacity build-up in China and the pressures of Asian exports as the reason for the possible closure. 
International Paper (IP) first refused to sell its Maresquel mill to a potential buyer earlier in the year and then gave local managers just two months to find investors, demonstrating that it is more interested in closing this operation than having to live with a potential competitor. Lastly, the closure of a paper converter in Gravelines, along with another converting plant in Cevennes, was announced by a Smurfit subsidiary immediately after the merger between Smurfit and Kappa Packaging. 

The manifestation on 17 December begins at 9h00. For more information, visit Filpac-CGT&rsquo;s website at <a href="http://www.filpac.cgt.fr">http://www.filpac.cgt.fr</a>&nbsp;or FCE-CFDT's site: <a href="http://www.fce.cfdt.fr/n1/2005/12/bra%5Fpacart%5F97.doc">http://www.fce.cfdt.fr/n1/2005/12/bra%5Fpacart%5F97.doc</a>.

Paper Multinationals plan to eliminate jobs in France

The ICEM expresses sadness and grief on news of the death of PENGASSAN President Uche Okoro in an airline crash Saturday, 10 December, in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Comrade Okoro was one of the 108 passengers killed when a commercial airliner crashed on approach to the Port Harcourt airport. 
 
Having the distinction of serving as president of both Nigeria&rsquo;s white-collar oil and gas workers&rsquo; union, PENGASSAN, and the blue-collar union, NUPENG, Okora was a grass-roots organizer and activist who stood for free and democratic trade unions in Nigeria. His life-long dedication to democratic principles and fairness to workers, particularly during the Abacha military regime, proved invaluable in building Nigeria&rsquo;s oil unions, as well as today&rsquo;s Nigerian labour movement.
<img width="120" height="126" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/NigeriaPengassan.JPG" alt="" />
He became president of PENGASSAN in 2005. He left the blue-collar ranks of NUPENG when he was promoted to senior staff of the oil company employing him. He was seen as a unifying force between PENGASSAN and NUPENG, as well as all of labour in Nigeria. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs, in a letter to PENGASSAN, called Okora a &ldquo;fierce defender of workers&rsquo; interests in Nigeria and all of Africa. I am sure that both (PENGASSAN and NUPENG), and civil society as a whole in Nigeria, will miss Comrade Okora&rsquo;s presence.&rdquo;

ICEM Mourns Tragic Death of PENGASSAN Leader in Nigeria

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