Nigerian Oil Workers Threaten Walkout
尼日利亞石油工會威脅發(fā)動大罷工

Nigeria's senior oil workers union is threatening a nationwide strike to protest the firing of some of its members by ExxonMobil. Members are to meet later Tuesday, following the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum issued by the union to the oil company to desist from what the union termed "unfriendly" labor practices.

尼日利亞石油和天然氣資深工人工會威脅說，他們將舉行一次全國性罷工，抗議埃克森美孚公司解雇他們的一些成員。該工會的成員們將在星期二晚些時(shí)候開會。此前，該工會向石油公司提出的讓他們不要從事不友好的勞工行為的21天的最后期限已經(jīng)超過。

Officials of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association have been meeting top government officials in Abuja to avert the planned strike.

石油和天然氣資深工人工會的官員已經(jīng)在阿布賈同高層政府官員會面，避免計(jì)劃中的罷工發(fā)生。

Union President Peter Esele denied reports the walkout is to begin Wednesday. He says his group, one of Nigeria's two biggest oil unions, will attend a meeting Wednesday called by the government .

工會主席伊塞里否認(rèn)罷工將在星期三開始的報(bào)導(dǎo)。他說，該工會是尼日利亞兩家最大的石油工會之一。這個工會將在星期三參加政府召集的一次會議。

"I had a meeting with NSA [national security advisor] yesterday, and DG [Director General], SSS [State Security Service]. So what the government is doing is to call parties for a meeting for Wednesday 4:00 PM," he said. "But sincerely speaking, I do not know where the press got Wednesday for strike. One thing we said was that there was a looming strike. We have not, the Central Working Committee, taken a date for a strike."

伊塞里說：“昨天我同國家安全顧問、總經(jīng)理和國家安全局舉行了會談。政府目前在做的是讓各方在星期三4點(diǎn)鐘召開一次會議。但是說真的，我不知道媒體在哪里得到星期三要罷工的消息。我們說的是，有罷工的可能，但是作為中央工作委員會，我們沒有為罷工設(shè)定日期。”

The union is protesting ExxonMobil job cuts that affected about 60 workers, mostly union officials working at the company.

工會抗議埃克森美孚公司裁員影響到60多名員工，他們中的大多數(shù)是在該公司工作的工會工作人員。

Nigeria's main trades union, the Nigeria Labor Congress has endorsed the strike call and urged the government to intervene without delay.

尼日利亞主要的工會尼日利亞勞工大會支持罷工的呼吁，并且敦促政府立即介入。

ExxonMobil has rejected accusations of unfair treatment of the affected employees, insisting the workers fired under a reorganization plan received generous payouts.

埃克森美孚公司否認(rèn)指責(zé)他們不公平對待受影響的雇員，公司堅(jiān)持說，被解雇的工人將根據(jù)公司重組計(jì)劃得到豐厚的補(bǔ)貼。

The union says an indefinite strike could blight Nigeria's oil production and petroleum distribution. Analysts say a walkout may have limited success in the short-term, because a skeleton staff may be engaged at production facilities to limit the impact on output. But it could prove effective in the long run if other powerful unions join in solidarity.

工會說，一次不確定的罷工可能會影響石油生產(chǎn)和石油銷售。分析人士說，一次罷工從短期看可能只會取得有限的成功，因?yàn)榛蛟S資方會讓一小批臨時(shí)工參與生產(chǎn)來減少對石油產(chǎn)量的影響。但是，如果有其他強(qiáng)大的工會聯(lián)合罷工的話，罷工從長期看可能會是有效的。

But even a looming strike could increase pressure on international oil prices. Supply worries are stoking up concerns in Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, where production has been crippled by unrest.

但是，就算是一次可能出現(xiàn)的罷工也會為國際石油價(jià)格增加壓力。對非洲最大石油生產(chǎn)國尼日利亞的石油供應(yīng)的擔(dān)憂不斷增加，尼日利亞的石油生產(chǎn)因動亂而被削弱。