WILLBROS AMCITS REMAIN CAPTIVE IN LABOR DISPUTE;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 001365 SIPDIS SIPDIS DOE FOR GPERSON, CGAY TREASURY FOR ASEVERENS, SRENENDER, DFIELDS COMMERCE FOR KBURRESS STATE PASS USTR FOR ASST USTR SLISER STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION FOR MARAD STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN AND MSTUCKART STATE PASS TDA FOR NCABOT STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2016 TAGS: EPET ELAB ASEC PTER NI SUBJECT: WILLBROS AMCITS REMAIN CAPTIVE IN LABOR DISPUTE; BAKER-HUGHES NIGERIAN EMPLOYEE FREED REF: A. LAGOS 1358 ¶B. LAGOS 1276 Classified By: Consul General Brian Browne for Reasons 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (C) Summary: Six Americans remain among the thirty-five employees of Willbros oil services company held up at the company's Choba I facility in Rivers State over a labor dispute. The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) claims the controverted collective bargaining agreement was duly negotiated and the company should honor it. They also claim October salaries were not paid by Willbros. A Nigerian employee of Baker-Hughes, a contractor operating at the Agip Tebidaba flowstation in Bayelsa State, was released along with other hostages on November 19. End Summary. Willbros Amcit Employees Captive in Labor Dispute -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Mario Andrade, Managing Director of Willbros, an oil services company told, Pol/Econ Chief that six Americans, Shawn P. Brokaw, Leonard Wilson, Jr.; Juan A. Paz, William E. Melbern, Eugene L. Kolb and Guillermo Guzman, are among the over thirty Willbros employees who remain de facto captives at the company's Choba I facility in Rivers State. The incident was triggered when the company paid its October payroll a day late, on November 2 rather than November 1. Employees gathered and began to demand to be paid according to the "Bayley agreement." This is the collective bargaining agreement negotiated and signed by former Willbros employee, Bayley, that raised Willbros employees' base salaries by 500 percent and severance benefits by 1,500 percent. The workers closed the gates and have refused to allow anyone in or out until recently, when a grocery truck was allowed to enter the compound to provide the captives with some comestibles. ¶3. (C) The company has futilely explained to the workers and to NUPENG that the former employee was not empowered to sign the collective bargaining agreement (CBA),and that the company is unable to pay the prohibitive increases yet remain in business. The company wants to renegotiate the contract, Andrade said, offering a 40 percent increase over the previous salary schedule. This would make Willbros' workers the highest paid in the industry, Andrade claimed. The workers are still unwilling to accept the proposal, Andrade lamented. ¶4. (C) Nevertheless, perhaps as the result of letters the company has written to President Obasanjo and other officials, the workers' stance may be softening, Andrade said. He believes the captive employees may be released. Theoretically, the captives are free to depart, Andrade said, but are afraid to attempt to leave because they would have to pass through the assembled NUPENG workers outside the gates. Although the compound is accessible by water, the company does not believe it would be advisable to attempt to depart by the creeks, as these are controlled by the community. ¶5. (C) The company's attorney and another employee were at the Choba facility through November 20 attempting to persuade the workers to allow the company free access to the site for its employees, and for food and fuel deliveries. The company does not want the workers to have to leave, but if free access cannot be agreed upon, or if the workers outside the facility escalate their demands, Willbros will remove its employees, both American and Nigerian. The company has been told that the Americans will be allowed to depart the compound if they use a leased vehicle, not a Willbros vehicle. NUPENG Denies Hostages; Willbros Ignores Contract, Salary LAGOS 00001365 002.5 OF 002 Obligations -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Peter Akpatason, President of NUPENG, told Poloff November 14 that NUPENG does not take hostages. According to Akpatason, Willbros has evaded NUPENG's efforts to renegotiate its collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Additionally as of November 14, despite statements that it has paid, the company was still in arrears on October salaries to NUPENG members, Akpatason said. NUPENG is willing to renegotiate the CBA if Willbros will agree to no redundancies, Akpatason advised. If Willbros insists on releasing 1,200 out of the 1,800 union members that had been employed at the facility (Ref B),NUPENG will demand they receive the remittances outlined in the previously negotiated CBA. Akpatason also claimed Willbros corporate counsel, Jeff Faludi, failed to show up for a meeting scheduled November 13 meeting in Lagos to renegotiate the agreement. Baker-Hughes Nigerian Employee Released -------------- ¶7. (C) Phil Vogel, Managing Director of Baker-Hughes in Nigeria told Pol/Econ Chief that the Nigerian Baker-Hughes employee being held hostage along with 35 others at the Agip Tebidaba flowstation in Bayelsa State, was released on November 19. In response to concerns voiced on November 17 by Vogel, Pol/Econ Chief contacted Dr. Godknows Igali, Executive Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government to urge that the government take no precipitous action that could harm the hostages. BROWNE