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A meeting between representatives of ICEM, Swedish paperworkers&rsquo; union Pappers, and corporate officers of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) was held in Stockholm on 26 January to review and update a Global Framework Agreement between the three parties. The SCA agreement was signed by the three on 15 April 2004. 
 
The company informed the union representatives of progress it was making in meeting social requirements with supply-chain companies, and spoke of its corporate code of conduct in relation to compliance with human rights assessments, and health and safety issues.
 
ICEM and Pappers proposed that the company agree to a clause into the agreement that it will comply with the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, which SCA readily accepted. A second union proposal was tabled calling for language on contract and agency work inside SCA. Such language would include consultations with trade unions before contracts are signed with contractors or agencies. SCA took the matter under advisement, and both sides resolved to continue discussions on this issue in future meetings. 
<img height="90" alt="" src="" width="73" />
Agreement was made that clarifies text in the Global Agreement stating that minimum labour and other standards are not to be predicated on the relevant national legislation in a particular country. The ICEM also invited the Swedish-based global pulp/paper firm to join a unique social dialogue programme in Colombia that was launched by the Global Union Federation in 2004. SCA is a joint-venture partner in a paper mill in the South American country. 
 
One disturbing issue raised in the meeting was the company&rsquo;s sacking of the SCA European Works Council (EWC) chairman. The individual, a leader from Skogstrafacket, the Swedish Forest and Woodworkers&rsquo; Union, was fired for &ldquo;disloyalty&rdquo; because he checked licenses and permits of contractors coming into a Swedish saw mill after a round of redundancies. SCA charged him personally with this legitimate action, rather than challenging his role as a union officer. The case is now before a Swedish labour court. 
 
The review meeting was attended by ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda and Pulp and Paper Sector Officer Eugene Kuprin; Pappers President Jan Hennrick Sandberg and International and Research Officer Christer Larsson; and SCA&rsquo;s Karin Eliasson, senior vice president for Human Resources, Bo Rhodiner, vice president for Industrial relations, Yogi Pillay, corporate social responsibility manager, and Clive Bell, the company&rsquo;s senior EWC mill representative.

Review Meeting on SCA Global Agreement Held in Stockholm

COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE JOINT NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (NEC) MEETING OF THE PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS SENIOR STAFF ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (PENGASSAN) AND THE NATIONAL UNION OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS WORKERS (NUPENG) AT ROYAL MARBLE HOTEL BENIN CITY AUGUST 30, 2006. 
The Joint National Executive Council (NEC) of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) met on Wednesday August 30, 2006 in Royal Marble Hotel, Benin City. After an exhaustive deliberation on major national, industry, labour and industrial relations issues, the Joint NEC-in-Session resolves as follows: 
<img height="173" alt="" src="" width="167" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img height="162" alt="" src="" width="154" />
VIOLENT DIMENSION TO THE NIGER DELTA CRISIS 
 
The Joint NEC-in-Session frowns at the heightening and unabating spate of abduction, hostage-taking and violent attacks in the Niger Delta by restive youths under banner of continued deprivation and neglects of the area by successive governments. 
 
The Joint NEC notes with dismay and apprehension that the genuine agitation of the Niger Delta people has been criminalised, and made an avenue for ransom seeking activities, and disruption of economic life and welfare of the people in the region. 
 
The Joint NEC-in-Session notes with concern the incessant abduction of expatriate workers even from night-clubs in the center of the township which has now resulted in most firms threatening to pull out of the Niger Delta &ndash; a situation that will compound employment problems, increase crime rate and compromise the much sought investment drive to the Niger Delta in particular and Nigeria in general. 
 
The Joint Meeting regrets that government&rsquo;s poor response has not helped matters leading to deepening insecurity in the region as the nation continues to witness more abduction of oil workers, hostage-taking and overrunning of oil installations and pollution of the environment in the region. 
 
The Meeting notes the hypocritical and non-challant attitude of the Niger Delta State Governments and their apparatus in the deteriorating state of insecurity and criminality which now pervades the entire region. 
 
The Joint NEC-in-Session views in very strong terms and with heavy heart that apathy on the part of government in dealing decisively with the Niger Delta agitations which has resulted in the killing of Comrade Nelson Ujeya &ndash; a grievous fratricidal sacrifice that arose from applying a negative approach to a genuine cause and concerted vanguard for justice in Niger Delta Region. 
 
The Joint NEC-in-Session is appalled that our communities in the Niger Delta known for hospitality and communal discipline have now lent their once peaceful domains for criminal activities and lawlessness 
 
 
VIOLATION OF DUE PROCES ON THE SALE OF ELEME PETROCHEMICAL COMPANY LIMITED (EPCL) 
 
The Joint NEC-in-Session expresses shock on the flagrant abuse and manipulation of the Memorandum of Understanding reached with the stakeholders on the sale and equity participation of Core Investor and Government at 51% : 49% which without consultation was reversed to 75% : 25% respectively. 
 
The Meeting noted that due diligence was not conducted on the Core Investor &ndash; Indorama Company which was why a Company that was registered in Thailand in 2003 was allowed to bid for a company of the magnitude of EPCL for a ridiculous offer of $225 million for an asset of $1.8 billion. 
 
Consequently, Joint NEC-in-Session demands that the sale of EPCL should be repudiated and Indorama should be made to forfeit all payments fraudulently made in this regard. 
 
 
STATE OF REFINERIES/PIPELINE VANDALISATION 
 
The Joint NEC-in-Session notes with regrets the adverse effect of pipeline vandalisation on the flow of crude and petroleum products to our Refineries and depots all over the Federation which had affected supply and distribution of petroleum products. 
 
The Meeting expresses displeasure on Government&rsquo;s reluctance to secure and maintain the pipelines, thereby abdicating its responsibility to other stakeholders in the industry. 
 
The Meeting believes that the current posture of Government in this respect negates the essence of Deregulation Policy to localise the production of petroleum products. 
 
The Meeting vehemently condemns the massive importation of refined petroleum products instead of emphasizing on local refining. 
 
The Meeting notes that the Refineries now serve as conduit for transportation and sale of imported petroleum products. 
 
 
PURPORTED CONVERSION OF PETROLEUM TRAINING INSTITUTE (PTI) TO A CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN 
 
The Joint NEC-in-Session frowns at the violation of the Extant Act that established the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) to provide middle level manpower to the Oil and Gas Industry. 
 
The Meeting notes the current move to rather affiliate the Institute to UNIBEN instead of providing it with adequate funding, staffing, and equipment to meet the manpower demand of the Industry. 
 
The Meeting calls on Government to retain the current status of PTI as an autonomous specialised Institute and should upgrade it to International Standard as enshrined in the Act that established it. 
 
 
ENABLING ACT FOR DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES (DPR) AS AN AUTONOMOUS PETROLEUM INSPECTORATE COMMISSION 
 
The Joint NEC-in-Session hereby calls on Government to urgently grant autonomy to the Department of Petroleum Resources to enable it play its role effectively as Oil and Gas Industry Regulator. 
 
 
RESOLUTION: 
 
From the foregoing therefore, the Joint NEC-in-Session hereby resolves that it can no longer fold its hands and watch the viable industry in Nigeria slide into a state of anomie. 
 
Consequently, the Joint NEC-in-Session henceforth agrees to undertake the following measures to protect its members&rsquo; interest as follows: 
 
1. The Joint NEC-in-Session directs that with effect from Wednesday 13th September 2006, all members of NUPENG and PENGASSAN should embark on a 3-day Warning Strike. 
 
2. The Joint NEC-in-Session agrees that if after the 3-day Warning Strike, Government fails to address the issues raised in this Communique and provide a peaceful and safe environment in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country for Oil Workers in particular and Nigerians in general to go about their lawful duties, NUPENG and PENGASSAN will have no other option but to withdraw their services indefinitely.

NUPENGASSAN Communiqué

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At a parliamentary session of South Korea&rsquo;s National Assembly last week, the government, along with the ruling Uri Party, vowed that approval of the so-called irregular workers&rsquo; bill will be a priority. The measure was temporarily stopped in the Assembly by procedural manoeuvres last April by the Democratic Labor Party and the Grand National Party. 
 
The legislation, on the government&rsquo;s agenda now for two years, would grant all temporary workers permanent status after two years. But the bill is opposed by South Korea&rsquo;s two labour federations because the necessary safeguards and protections do not exist in the proposed legislation. The bill would create a massive pool of temporary workers for the benefit of businesses. Both the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) say the bill does nothing to defend the basic rights of contract and agency workers and, as it now stands, threatens permanent jobs with a flood of two-year temporary jobs. 
 
The KCTU withdrew from South Korea&rsquo;s Tripartite Commission over workplace governance issues last April because of the irregular workers&rsquo; bill. The federation has since re-joined the official state commission, which has conducted social discussions lately on the legislation. The Tripartite Commission also has on its agenda some 40 other labour reform measures, including a single negotiations vehicle for multi-union workplaces and cutting company salaries to trade union leaders. 
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The government and Uri Party leaders say they will push ahead with the reform measures even if agreement is not reached in the Tripartite Commission. 
 
Leaders of both KCTU and FKTU met with ILO Director-General Juan Somavia on 26 August in Seoul on the irregular workers&rsquo; bill and other contentious labour problems. The federations are seeking ILO support to help resolve the issues fairly. The occasion for the meeting with Somavia was the ILO&rsquo;s Asian Regional Meeting, which was held last week in Busan, South Korea&rsquo;s largest port city.

South Korea’s Irregular Workers’ Bill Again Before Parliament

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In New Zealand, protest and resistance became the formula to beat back a piece of proposed legislation that would have made it easy for employers to hire and then sack temporary workers during their first 90 days of employment. Last week, on 23 August, just as 5,000 trade unionists assembled in Auckland&rsquo;s Aotea Square to protest the National Party&rsquo;s anti-worker bill, Members of Parliament from the Maori Party announced they were shifting course and would not support the measure. 
 
For the past three months, trade unionists of ICEM affiliates Engineering, Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and the National Distribution Union (NDU), have been leading the opposition against the business-friendly proposal under the banner &ldquo;Work Rights &hellip;Our Right!&rdquo; The campaign generated mass support among New Zealanders. 
<img height="193" alt="" src="" width="290" />
The bill had cleared a first reading in Parliament earlier this year with a 63-58 vote, with three of the four Maori MPs supporting the measure. With those four votes now opposing the measure, the ruling Labour Party, Green Party and Maoris now have the leverage to stop the anti-worker bill during a second reading. 
 
Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples said the minority Maori people, with an 18% jobless rate, have too many low-end jobs on the employment ladder. &ldquo;So, it&rsquo;s really important that, one, Maori get employed, and two, that Maori are protected,&rdquo; Sharples said. &ldquo;The bill was solely to encourage employers to employ like hell in the knowledge that they could get rid of their workers if it didn&rsquo;t work out.&rdquo; 
<img height="193" alt="" src="" width="290" />
EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little rejoiced with the workers&rsquo; victory. &ldquo;This bill has been beaten by workers acting together through their unions. It just goes to show the power of collective action.&rdquo; 
 
Little added, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve done more than just defeat this vicious piece of legislation. We&rsquo;ve demonstrated our strength as a movement and we&rsquo;ve made it clear to the National Party that &lsquo;Work Rights are Our Rights,&rsquo; and that they are not up for negotiation.&rdquo; Trade unions will now ask MPs of the NZ First and United Future Parties to examine their working-class priorities in order to stop any future reappearance of the National party bill. 
 
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions estimates that, had the bill gone into law, a class of disposable workers numbering 300,000 would have been at risk of losing their jobs in each 90-day period.

New Zealand’s Trade Unions Block 90-day Temporary Workers Bill

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The Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) of Canada, an ICEM affiliate, is seeking immediate intervention from both the province of Ontario and the federal government to protect the jobs of Dow Chemical workers in Sarnia, Ontario. US-based Dow announced last week that it would close factories in Canada and Italy by 2008, eliminating 750 jobs. 
 
The CEP is asking Ontario&rsquo;s premier to attend a meeting with workers and municipal leaders of Sarnia to explore all options to keep the plant open. The jobs of 340 workers are at stake. Dow has complained that high energy costs have affected earnings. 
<img height="83" alt="" src="" width="100" />
On the national level, CEP President Brian Payne called for federal level intervention. &ldquo;Dow Chemical&rsquo;s announcement is a clear indication of what we have told the government &ndash; Canada&rsquo;s petrochemical industry is suffering because of our mad rush to export raw product from Alberta&rsquo;s oil patch, thus cutting off needed natural gas and other feed stock to the domestic market,&rdquo; said Payne. 
 
&ldquo;This has to stop and we intend to do our utmost to protect our domestic industry and our jobs,&rdquo; continued Payne. &ldquo;We need to step back, slow the tar sands development down and create a national strategy which would see value added production and jobs created in Alberta and across Canada.&rdquo; 
 
In Italy, Dow workers, members of ICEM affiliate FILCEM-CGIL, staged a 24-hour strike on 22 August at Porto Marghere near Venice, as it became apparent that Dow would violate a signed agreement and not re-start the plant after a maintenance shutdown. 
<img height="122" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The Dow operation in Porto Marghere produces toluene diisocyanate (TDI), a product for making polyurethanes. Closure of the plant could have a ripple effect, possibly leading to the loss of up to 5,000 petrochemical jobs. Managers at other chemical plants in Italy, dependent on TDI from Dow, have expressed their concerns over the immediate Porto Marghere closure. 
 
FILCEM-CGIL has distributed handbills to workers of other petrochemical companies. The union also organised a mass meeting of all workers to tell of Dow&rsquo;s unwillingness to engage with workers&rsquo; representatives. &ldquo;They know the effects of a definitive closure of the Marghera plant for the Italian chemical industry,&rdquo; said FILCEM-CGIL&rsquo;s Franco Baldan. 
 
At Sarnia in Canada, Dow will shut four chemical processing plants. The company&rsquo;s announcement said production of low-density polystyrene plastic will cease in the coming weeks, while a full shutdown of all polystyrene plastic will occur by the end of this year. Production of latex and derivatives of propylene oxide will cease during 2008. Dow&rsquo;s announcement also said the company will close two of seven plants in the Canadian city of Fort Saskatchewan, province of Alberta, which manufacture chlorine, caustic soda, and ethylene dichloride.

Canadian, Italian Unions Want Answers to Dow Chemical’s Closures

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Conflicting information has reached the ICEM about a recent strike in southern Iraq&rsquo;s oil fields. What does seem clear is that industrial actions, including strikes, occurred at the Basra-based Southern Oil Company on 22 and 23 August. The strike action was also clearly successful and effective. 
 
The two-day strike, which, as news agency Reuters reported, closed the main pipeline supplying Baghdad with refined products, was ended when Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani agreed to issue a document assuring immediate pay raises. The Labour Ministry also committed to meet with the union to discuss all demands. 
<img height="100" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Reports quote Hassan Al-Asadi, the head of the union group representing over 700 employees from the General Company for Oil Lines and Pipes in the southern cities of Basra and Nassiriya. He said, &quot;We received a document from the ministry of oil. It is a document to increase our salaries and to pay us (a) share in seasonal profits.&quot; 
 
The strike action took place after both government and company had failed to respond to workers&rsquo; demands over recent months. Those demands include receiving pay in a timely fashion, making good on unpaid overtime worked, compensating for unused annual leave, compensation to workers for their profit-sharing incentives, raising minimum salaries, creating equal opportunity for advancement of all workers, and converting contract workers into full-time, permanent staff. 
 
Workers and unions of the various divisions of Southern Oil are said to be poised for further industrial actions if these and other demands are not met.

Strike Hits Southern Iraq’s Oil Sector

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It was two years ago when bitter mining fights broke out between ICEM affiliate Botswana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (BMWU) and the managements of two companies. The prolonged fights spilled into courtrooms, led to splits in the BMWU, and were stained by overt interference by mining companies Debswana and Bamangwato Concession Ltd. (BCL) in branch and national union affairs. 
 
Perhaps worst of all, Debswana, a rich diamond operation shared between DeBeers and the government of Botswana, displayed despicable social behaviour by ruthlessly retaliating against some 450 strikers and their families. History will tell how a set of labour disputes led to internal trade union discord. However, it will also tell how profiteering by one of the companies &ndash; Debswana &ndash; created a climate during which the company took savage and unconscionable actions. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Debswana sacked the professional staff for striking, and then inflicted harsh retaliatory measures on them throughout lengthy court battles. Debswana forcefully evicted workers from company housing and closed educational opportunities to children of the workers. Both Debswana and BCL, a copper, nickel and cobalt mining concern based in Botswana, interceded into internal BMWU affairs by pitting branch leaders against the national leadership. The interference was obvious and flagrant. 
 
At BCL in August 2004, BMWU Selebi-Phikwe branch leaders were negotiating salaries with the company. After a 7% increase was offered and BCL miners were about to approve it, the company suddenly rescinded the increase and fired the branch leaders. BCL charged the union leaders with being in possession of internal financial data, information commonly shared in most collective bargaining relationships. 
 
That dispute, like the one at Debswana, still lingers. In early August 2006, some workers at BCL downed tools because aspects of the 2004 pay increase still has not been realised. In Botswana, mining investment continues at an unabated pace, making the country an African leader in resource output and production. 
 
A commemoration of both struggles was held over the weekend of 26-27 August in the mining areas of Orapa, Letlhakane, and Jwaneng. Sponsored by the BMWU, the programmes included demonstrations, speeches, and general reconciliation, as well as recognition that trade union unity brings strength to the working masses. Standing together with BMWU were the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU), ICEM-affiliated Power Corporation Workers&rsquo; Union (BPCWU), the Manual Workers&rsquo; Union, and several white-collar workers&rsquo; unions. 
 
Speakers included ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, President of South Africa&rsquo;s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), BPCWU Organising Secretary Boitlhetswe Lentswe, BMWU General Secretary Jack Tlhagale, and BMWU National Chairman Chimidzani Chimidza. 
 
Zokwana delivered a message that building strong unions is not easy, but essential in order to gain equal footing with global companies. In encouraging all of Botswana&rsquo;s unions to stand together, Zokwana said, &ldquo;The challenge is to link class struggles together, then you become bigger and the voice gets stronger.&rdquo; 
<img height="148" src="" width="120" alt="" /> 
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana
Lentse brought a message of reconciliation and resilience. &ldquo;Make peace and know that these are the deeds of employers and the government to dive us so they can rule,&rdquo; he said, according to published newspaper reports in Botswana. &ldquo;The fight against capital needs very strong unions with informed and militant membership,&rdquo; said Lentse. He echoed the main theme of the commemoration &ndash; justice, dignity, and reinstatement for the 450 Debswana workers, as well as for the branch officers who were also fired by BCL. 
 
Lentse cautioned Botswana&rsquo;s labour leaders not to align themselves inside the country&rsquo;s political parties, but rather to join global labour organisations for solidarity and skills development. 
 
Tlhagale reminded all in Botswana, including Debswana&rsquo;s 7,000 miners, that the 450 health care and other professional staff fired by the company had merely been protesting for a share of the lucrative bonuses given to Debswana&rsquo;s top managers only months before the August 2004 strike. 
 
He said that the sacked workers are victims of the bad-faith bargaining in wage negotiations by Debswana toward BMWU. &ldquo;It is unfortunate that government continues to take great interest in investors under the pretext that there is a stable labour market guaranteed by impoverishing docility,&rdquo; Tlhagale said, reported the Mmegi Reporter.

Companies Apply Divide-and-Conquer Tactics on Botswana’s Mining Union

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Nigerian oil workers&rsquo; unions, steadfastly acting as NUPENGASSAN, met in a Joint National Executive Council (NEC) on 30 August and issued a mandate to both government and energy companies that violence must stop and that the unions&rsquo; longstanding demands must be seriously implemented. ICEM affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN plans a three-day warning strike, starting 13 September across all oil and gas installations of the region if immediate action is not undertaken. 
 
If the government fails to provide a peaceful and safe working environment for oil and gas workers in the region following the warning strike, the unions would call an indefinite strike. 
<img height="114" alt="" src="" width="110" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="105" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Following the day-long meeting in Benin City, a communiqu&eacute; was issued containing harsh words for both the Nigerian national government&rsquo;s &ldquo;poor response&rdquo; to the rash of kidnappings along the Niger Delta as well as to state governments, which have displayed a &ldquo;hypocritical and non-chalant attitude &hellip; in the deteriorating state of insecurity and criminality which now pervades the entire region.&rdquo; 
 
The statement says that the recent federal policy by President Olusegun Obasanjo to meet force-with-force has only created &ldquo;deepening insecurity&rdquo; in the region. NUPENGASSAN&rsquo;s complete NEC communiqu&eacute; can be read <a href="/index.php?id=25&amp;doc=1943&amp;la=EN">here</a>.
The two unions also condemned governmental handling in the release of a kidnapped PENGASSAN member last month. Comrade Nelson Ujeye was killed on 20 August when joint military and police troops ambushed a militant youth group on Niger Delta waters as he was about to be released. The communiqu&eacute; called it &ldquo;a grievous fratricidal sacrifice that arose from applying a negative approach.&rdquo; The story of Comrade Nelson Ujeye&rsquo;s abduction and subsequent death, including the ICEM&rsquo;s statement on the incident, can be found in a recent InBrief Alert <a href="/?id=77&amp;doc=1927&amp;la=EN">here</a>. 
 
The NEC also took note of the increasing number of cases of expatriate quota abuse inside the employment ranks of energy companies doing business in Nigeria. 
 
NUPENGASSAN, also at the meeting, reiterated its incriminations against the government&rsquo;s privatisation authority in the sale of state-owned Eleme Petro Chemical Ltd. Due diligence was not done in investigating the buyer of the Port Harcourt olefins refinery, the three-year-old Thai company Indorama. The enterprise is vastly under-valued, according to the two unions. 
<img height="101" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The NEC also condemned pipeline vandalism, as well as the fact that the government allowed the nation&rsquo;s five refineries to become mere transport &ldquo;conduits&rdquo; of imported petroleum products, rather than emphasizing local refining of such products to meet Nigeria&rsquo;s domestic needs. 
 
And finally, the unions&rsquo; grievances include strong objection to merging the Petroleum Training Institute, established by law to provide mid-level Nigerian staff to the oil and gas industries, into the University of Benin, and calls on the government to grant full autonomy to the Department of Petroleum Resources, so that it can effectively serve as the oil and gas regulator. 
 
The ICEM strongly supports the unions&rsquo; warning strike next week, as well as their other demands. The ICEM also calls on oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria to apply the same efforts and resources in securing a safe work and living environment for Nigerian oil workers, and their families, as they do for foreign national employees.

Violence-Plagued Niger Delta Must Heed Oil Workers’ Unions Call

The ICEM has expressed disgust and dismay over the circumstances in which a Nigerian trade unionist was killed earlier this week in the Niger Delta. Nelson Ujeya, a member of white-collar oil workers&rsquo; union PENGASSAN, was apparently murdered as he was about to be released by a militant youth group in Bayelsa State. 
 
Reports say that Brother Ujeya was killed when troops of Nigeria&rsquo;s Joint Military Task Force ambushed the militants at a time when he was about to be released. In all, 11 people were killed in the ambush that took place on 20 August. 
<img height="50" alt="" src="" width="100" />
On 8 August, Nelson Ujeya, the Community Liaison Officer for Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd., was abducted on an official visit to Letugbene community while he was accompanied by senior Bayelsa State government officials to inspect community projects. 
The ICEM denounces the Bayelsa State government and the federal government of Nigeria for failing to provide timely and relevant information on the abduction and subsequent killing of Nelson Ujeya to his family and to the leadership of PENGASSAN. 
Further, in a <a href="/index.php?id=25&amp;doc=1926&amp;la=EN">letter to PENGASSAN President Peter Esele</a> that was also sent to Nigerian government entities and other organisations, the Brussels-based trade union federation said: 
 
&ldquo;The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation for oil and gas workers, finds it reprehensible that such indiscriminate use of force by Nigerian government militia be used in such a situation. The ICEM stands firmly behind PENGASSAN in holding both the government of Bayelsa State initially responsible for the abduction of Brother Ujeya while in the presence of state officials, and the federal government for its new policy of &lsquo;force by force&rsquo; in dealing with kidnappings that occur in the Niger Delta.
<img height="105" alt="" src="" width="100" />
&ldquo;The ICEM calls on all energy companies operating in Nigeria to apply the same effort and resources in securing the release of kidnapped Nigerian workers as they do for their foreign national employees.&rdquo; 
 
PENGASSAN and the blue-collar Nigerian oil workers&rsquo; union, NUPENG, will hold a joint National Executive Council meeting in Benin City, Nigeria, on 30 August to take up the matter of security for oil workers&rsquo; employed in the Niger Delta. The ICEM notes that the combined voice of the two unions, operating under the aegis of NUPENGASSAN, has been one of reason and soundness in efforts to curb the kidnappings and violence of the area. 
 
That voice has called for both the government of Nigeria and the oil companies operating in the region to provide greater and better employment opportunities to the youth and indigenous of the region through skills training and other social development initiatives.&nbsp;

Abhorrent Circumstances Surround the Killing of PENGASSAN Member in Nigeria

25 August 2006 
 
Comrade Peter Esele 
President 
PENGASSAN 
NIGERIA 
 
 
Dear Comrade Peter, 
 
The ICEM has learned of the tragic and senseless death of one of PENGASSAN&rsquo;s members, Nelson Ujeya, earlier this week in the vicinity of Brass Creek or Biobou Creek, Bayelsa State. We understand that Brother Ujeya had been kidnapped on 8 August 2006 in Letugbene while performing his employment duties for Shell Petroleum Development Corporation. 
 
We also have unconfirmed reports that he died in a violent gun fight between Nigeria&rsquo;s Joint Military Task Force and militant youth groups on 20 August 2006 as he was about to be released after negotiations. 
 
The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation for oil and gas workers, finds it reprehensible that such indiscriminate use of force by Nigerian government militia be used in such a situation. The ICEM stands firmly behind PENGASSAN in holding both the government of Bayelsa State initially responsible for the abduction of Brother Ujeya while in the presence of state officials, and the federal government for its new policy of &ldquo;force by force&rdquo; in dealing with kidnappings that occur in the Niger Delta. 
 
The ICEM calls on all energy companies operating in Nigeria to apply the same effort and resources in securing the release of kidnapped Nigerian workers as they do for their foreign national employees. 
 
Next week, on 30 August 2006, PENGASSAN and NUPENG will conduct a joint National Executive Council (NEC) in Benin City to discuss this and other security matters in the Niger Delta. The ICEM recognises that the combined voice of NUPENGASSAN in Nigeria has been one of reason and soundness in stemming the social instability occurring along the Niger Delta. We know that this combined voice has stood for education, skills training and other social development initiatives that will increase employment opportunities in the oil and gas sectors for Nigerians. We commend and fully endorse that stand. 
 
We would look forward to having a report from the NEC&rsquo;s deliberations as soon after 30 August as possible in order to publicise your sensible positions on the global level. 
 
In conclusion, please convey sincere condolences from the ICEM and its family of global trade unions to the family of Wilson Ujeya. We are very distraught on the circumstances of his horrific death. Also, please express our deep concern to all trade union members of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, who are forced to work in such a difficult and terrifying environment. 
 
Fraternally, 
 
 
Fred Higgs 
General Secretary

ICEM letter to Pengassan

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