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11 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 20/1998
US oil, chemical and atomic workers' union the OCAW has stepped up its drive to win the release of Frank Kokori and Milton Dabibi, the Nigerian oil union leaders who have been imprisoned without charge or trial since 1994 and 1996 respectively.
The two Nigerian labour leaders are recognised as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International. Their health is reported to be deteriorating. They have been denied access to adequate medical care and legal assistance.
The OCAW efforts are part of a worldwide campaign to free the jailed labour leaders. The actions are being coordinated by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), to which the OCAW is affiliated.
The US is the largest importer of Nigerian crude oil. OCAW actions are viewed as a "significant first step to let US oil companies and the Nigerian government know that we are preparing for action," said Robert Wages, OCAW President, yesterday. The OCAW represents almost all of the unionised oil refinery workers in the US.
Last October, the ICEM put the Nigerian government on notice of targeted international trade union action against Nigerian oil exports unless Dabibi and Kokori are released. In November, Nigerian Head of State Gen. Sani Abacha announced the imminent release of a number of detainees, and it was understood that Dabibi and Kokori were among those to be freed. However, to date, they have not been released. ICEM unions in a number of key oil-importing countries are therefore preparing for action. In the meantime, direct and indirect representations to secure the two union leaders' release are continuing. Dabibi's and Kokori's names are understood to have been on a list of detainees whose release was requested by the Pope during his visit to Nigeria last week.
OCAW campaigning began yesterday at Philadelphia-area refineries operated by Sun Company. Similar efforts will start next week at Tosco, which operates a refinery in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.
"We will be attempting to persuade the companies to find another source of crude oil," said Roger Bradley, director of OCAW’s Atlantic Region.
Informational handbilling and one-on-one discussions will be occurring throughout this week and next at Sun and Tosco refineries in the Philadelphia area. The actions are aimed at informing and educating union members on the situation in Nigeria. OCAW members will also be signing petitions addressed to each company’s CEO (chief executive officer), calling for an end to the use of Nigerian crude oil and asking that the CEOs use their leverage to seek the trade union leaders’ release.
Postcards from OCAW members at the refineries and other OCAW-represented workplaces on the East Coast, demanding the release of Kokori and Dabibi, are being sent to the Nigerian Ambassador in Washington.
The OCAW will gradually escalate its activities, targeting oil refining companies nationwide, until Dabibi and Kokori are released. Other major oil companies importing Nigerian crude into the US are Mobil, Texaco, Chevron, Shell and Phillips Petroleum.
Letters were sent by OCAW President Wages on Tuesday to the CEOs of oil companies which process Nigerian crude, urging them to find an alternative source of crude oil and to use their influence in seeking the Nigerian union leaders' release.
The two Nigerian labour leaders are recognised as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International. Their health is reported to be deteriorating. They have been denied access to adequate medical care and legal assistance.
The OCAW efforts are part of a worldwide campaign to free the jailed labour leaders. The actions are being coordinated by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), to which the OCAW is affiliated.
The US is the largest importer of Nigerian crude oil. OCAW actions are viewed as a "significant first step to let US oil companies and the Nigerian government know that we are preparing for action," said Robert Wages, OCAW President, yesterday. The OCAW represents almost all of the unionised oil refinery workers in the US.
Last October, the ICEM put the Nigerian government on notice of targeted international trade union action against Nigerian oil exports unless Dabibi and Kokori are released. In November, Nigerian Head of State Gen. Sani Abacha announced the imminent release of a number of detainees, and it was understood that Dabibi and Kokori were among those to be freed. However, to date, they have not been released. ICEM unions in a number of key oil-importing countries are therefore preparing for action. In the meantime, direct and indirect representations to secure the two union leaders' release are continuing. Dabibi's and Kokori's names are understood to have been on a list of detainees whose release was requested by the Pope during his visit to Nigeria last week.
OCAW campaigning began yesterday at Philadelphia-area refineries operated by Sun Company. Similar efforts will start next week at Tosco, which operates a refinery in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.
"We will be attempting to persuade the companies to find another source of crude oil," said Roger Bradley, director of OCAW’s Atlantic Region.
Informational handbilling and one-on-one discussions will be occurring throughout this week and next at Sun and Tosco refineries in the Philadelphia area. The actions are aimed at informing and educating union members on the situation in Nigeria. OCAW members will also be signing petitions addressed to each company’s CEO (chief executive officer), calling for an end to the use of Nigerian crude oil and asking that the CEOs use their leverage to seek the trade union leaders’ release.
Postcards from OCAW members at the refineries and other OCAW-represented workplaces on the East Coast, demanding the release of Kokori and Dabibi, are being sent to the Nigerian Ambassador in Washington.
The OCAW will gradually escalate its activities, targeting oil refining companies nationwide, until Dabibi and Kokori are released. Other major oil companies importing Nigerian crude into the US are Mobil, Texaco, Chevron, Shell and Phillips Petroleum.
Letters were sent by OCAW President Wages on Tuesday to the CEOs of oil companies which process Nigerian crude, urging them to find an alternative source of crude oil and to use their influence in seeking the Nigerian union leaders' release.