Total Oil employees launch 3 day warning strike

Employees of the French oil company Total launched a three-day warning strike in Port Harcourt on 9 February 2009. Approximately 500 Total workers picketed the company's office in Port Harcourt to protest ongoing insecurity in the region, including kidnappings and attacks on local oil facilities and personnel. The Total workers launched the strike despite a resolution from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) to delay the labor action as negotiations with the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) continue. PENGASSAN had earlier issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Rivers state government warning that it would begin its strike on 9 February unless the government took decisive steps to end the violence in the region. Meanwhile, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) claimed responsibility for an attack on a Royal Dutch Shell gas plant in Delta state on 7 February. The militants reportedly attacked the Utorogu plant at 0330 local time (0230 UTC). The Nigerian military's Joint Task Force (JTF) confirmed the attack, and also claimed that it killed three militants during an exchange of gunfire. The attack comes after MEND discontinued its ceasefire with the Nigerian government and warned of a "sweeping assault" on foreign oil installations.