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Mar 19, 2007 9:44 pm US/Pacific
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Anti-War Protesters Rally At Chevron San Ramon HQ
SAN RAMON (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
On the fourth anniversary of the start of the military conflict in Iraq, around 100 mostly younger demonstrators gathered outside the Chevron world headquarters in San Ramon Monday to voice their opposition to what they claim is the oil giant's role in driving the war.
According to the organization Global Exchange, Chevron will emerge a "big winner" if a proposed law that would virtually privatize Iraq's oil system passes the country's legislature.
The proposal, opposed by Iraq's five trade union organizations, is set to go before the Iraqi parliament within days, Global Exchange said in a statement issued today.
Under the law, foreign companies investing in oil in Iraq would not have to invest in the Iraqi economy, partner with Iraqi companies, hire Iraqi workers or share new technologies, according to Global Exchange.
Contra Costa County sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said the protesters were peaceful and sat on the driveway leading into the Chevron campus at 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road, singing, chanting and holding signs.
A cluster of demonstrators near the campus entrance also shackled themselves together, their hands interlocked in pipes that were chained to large barrels featuring anti-war slogans, he said.
No law enforcement action was required to quell the protest, Lee said. Instead, the protesters packed up and left the
area without incident by late morning and headed into San Francisco for further anti-war demonstrations in the afternoon.
During their morning protest at Chevron headquarters, traffic on northbound Bollinger Canyon Road was stop-and-go and backed up to the northbound exit from Interstate Highway 680, Lee said.
He indicated that some drivers passing by the protesters appeared frustrated while others honked in apparent support of the demonstrators' anti-war message.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)