NIGERIA STRIKE TO RESUME NOVEMBER 16, INCLUDE OIL

UNCLAS ABUJA 001837 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV EPET ELAB PINS NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA STRIKE TO RESUME NOVEMBER 16, INCLUDE OIL PRODUCTION AND EXPORTS REF: A. ABUJA 1761 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. LAGOS 2107 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. This is a joint Embassy Abuja - Consulate Lagos Report. ¶2. The Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) and allied civil society organizations met October 31 in Lagos, announcing that the NLC would resume on November 16 its nationwide strike against gasoline price increases, and threatening that this time the strike would include cutting off oil production and oil exports. The first round, October 11-14, saw widespread compliance with the NLC's call for Nigerians to stay home from work, but was not aimed at oil production or exports (reftels). NLC president Adams Oshiomhole told the BBC that the strike would continue this time until the September price rise is reversed. ¶3. Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC),Royal Dutch Shell's joint venture with the GON, filed a motion in the Lagos High Court to prevent the two oil-sector unions NUPENG and PENGASSAN from participating in the strike. Shell argued that the strike is unrelated to workplace issues, and therefore illegal. Hundreds of labor and human rights activists, including Oshiomhole, attended the court session, and the judge adjourned the hearing until November 18. NLC leaders branded Shell "an enemy of the Nigerian people" and called for action against the company, according to the BBC. ¶4. One of the NLC's Central Working Committee members, Ben Upah, told us that the NLC plans to produce a more comprehensive list of demands by November 16, including a possible demand for wage increases of 25 percent. He added that the NLC plans to disrupt oil production and exports, not only Shell's, and was holding consultations with both oil unions and others to ensure maximum impact. "Though I do not want to preempt the outcome of our deliberations, however, I can assure you that we plan to hit this government (the GON) if we finally go on strike." CAMPBELL