Press Release, ILRF

[editor at burmanet.org]

PRESS RELEASE

Jan 20, International Labor Rights Fund

The closing argument in Unocal Phase I will be Wed, Jan 21, at 8:30 am in
LA County Superior Court, Central Civil West, 600 Commonwealth Ave, Dept
324, 17th Floor, Hon Judge Chaney Presiding.

ILRF Executive Director Terry Collingsworth who will make the closing
argument on behalf of the Roe Plaintiffs, commented:

“There is no dispute that some people were forced to perform work on
Unocal's pipeline in Burma. Two federal courts have already found that
Unocal knowingly benefited from forced labor. Unable to defend itself for
using salve labor, Unocal has resorted to the most basic corporate caper
-- it is seeking to blame someone else. In this case, the party Unocal
claims is responsible for the pipeline is none other than Unocal's
wholly-owned subsidiary.  Thus, the issue at trial is whether Unocal can
make all of the material decisions related to the pipeline in Burma, can
put up all of the money, and now, can reap the profits, all without
responsibility for what happened because it set up a series of paper
companies to hold its interest in the project. If this is permissible,
then the global economy will become even more lawless than it already is. 
It will become paradise for the morally challenged, a place where you can
have profit without responsibility.

Plaintiffs expect to prevail based on their strong showing at trial that
Unocal's subsidiaries are noting but paper entities. The so-called
officers of these subsidiaries do not even know they are listed as
officers. This was all a ruse to put some distance between Unocal and its
project in Burma. Plaintiffs note that even if Unocal is able to prevail
in arguing that these paper subsidiaries must be given legal recognition
as separate companies, a second phase of this trial will focus on whether
Unocal used these subsidiaries as agents for the parent company, which
would establish a separate basis for liability. Plaintiffs are committed
to litigating this case for as long as it takes to bring the real culprits
of the slave labor in Burma to justice. And there is no question that this
is Unocal Corporation and its officers and directors, not some paper
subsidiary that has had no active role in creating the pipeline project.”

[for more information please either visit the ILRF website -
http://www.laborrights.org or contact them by mail or phone directly--Ed]