The United Steelworkers (USW) union represents employees at more than 200 refineries across the country, including terminals, pipelines and chemical plants. Work was stopped at nine sites on February 1 after negotiations on a new three-year contract failed.
The union has turned down five offers since negotiations started on Jan. 21, made by Royal Dutch Shell Plc on behalf of companies that include Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. With that latest contract rejection, Tesoro Corp. in Martinez, California shut down half of its 166,000 barrel a day production.
At the time of the initial work slowdown, about 10 percent of the country’s refining capacity was affected. A full walkout could affect as much as 64 percent of refining capacity. The strike was the first one in 30 years. Now, with additional negotiations having failed to produce a new contract, the addition of the Port Arthur plant, the largest refinery in the country has put an additional 1,350 USW members on the strike lines.
With today’s added plant shutdowns, 16.5 percent of the nation’s refining capacity is now affected by the strike. It the two refineries and chemical plant in Louisiana strike tonight, almost 20 percent of the refining capacity will be stopped. If this happens, the USW union will have plant shutdowns in California, Texas, Louisiana, Ohio and Indiana, says the Associated Press.
At the core of the new three-year contract negotiations are wage, benefits and safety issues at the individual refineries. Safety issues were addressed by USW International President Leo W. Gerard in a statement released today: “The industry’s refusal to meaningfully address safety issues through good faith bargaining gave us no other option but to expand our work stoppage.”
In answer to the USW statement, Shell Corp. said in their own statement: “We believe this move sets the wrong tone for both parties to move forward and reach an agreement. We remain committed to continued and safe operations and productive negotiations.” Other companies owning refining facilities besides Shell include Tesoro Corp., LyondellBasell Industries, Marathon Petroleum Corp., and BP PLC.
While the strike will cause a small decrease in production, the company owners are using managers and other non-union workers who have been trained to keep the plants running. These smaller staffs are being affected by the round-the-clock work, putting a great deal of strain on the workers.
Originally, the contract negotiations centered on a raise that would double hourly salaries. While that aspect of the contract negotiations has been ironed out, the dispute now is centered on health care benefits and staffing issues that present safety concerns, according to the USW.
The USW union points out the need for a commitment that standards to prevent workplace fatigue will be enforced, saying that workers have been forced to work overtime because of inadequate staffing. The USW also wants the companies to stop relying on contract workers for day-to-day plant maintenance, which they say is a safety issue.
Safety issue or not, Shell issued a statement this week saying it has a “fundamental right” to staff operations according to business needs. Shell representatives at this time have not returned calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
