The United Steelworkers today said that workers at BP’s Whiting, Indiana and Toledo, Ohio refineries are joining the union’s unfair labor practice strike against the oil industry that began on Feb. 1, after the companies failed to address serious concerns regarding the health and safety of workers and their communities.
The union gave BP management notice on Friday, Feb. 6 that about 1,100 members of USW Local 7-1 at the Whiting refinery and some 340 members of Local 346-3 on Saturday would join nearly 3,800 USW oil workers already on a ULP strike at nine refineries in California, Kentucky, Texas and Washington.
In addition to health and safety issues, contracting out and health care, the USW unfair labor practice strike claims bad faith bargaining, including the refusal to bargain over mandatory subjects; undue delays in providing information; impeded bargaining; and threats issued to workers if they joined the ULP strike.
USW International President Leo W. Gerard said that the oil industry is long overdue to address many of the issues the union brought to the table that directly impact workers’ health and safety.
“We are absolutely committed to negotiating a fair contract that improves safety conditions throughout the industry,” Gerard said. “Management cannot continue to resist allowing workers a stronger voice on issues that could very well make the difference between life and death for too many of them.”
USW negotiators are determined to resolve the members’ central issues.
“After long days of discussions with the industry’s lead company, Shell Oil, little progress has been made on our members’ central issues concerning health and safety, fatigue, inadequate staffing levels that differ from what is shown on paper, contracting out of daily maintenance jobs, high out-of-pocket and health care costs,” said USW International Vice President Gary Beevers [no relation to FMN publisher Gary Beavers], who heads the union’s National Oil Bargaining Program.
“In addition, Shell has failed to accept the “no-retrogression” language that refers to acceptance of previous agreements with the industry,” Beevers added. “We will not relinquish 50 years of progress in NOBP bargaining.”
Added USW International Vice President of Administration Tom Conway: “Our workers need enforceable contract language on their issues that holds the industry accountable.
“It is amazing that an industry—which has such a potential for danger both in the workplace and within the surrounding communities of their facilities—is refusing to engage in any serious dialogue with their work force about issues which are central to their mission and the development of a qualified, well-trained work force to meet future needs.
“Accordingly, the USW has been compelled to expand the ULP strike to now include 11 refineries around the nation,” Conway added. “The USW urges the industry to begin to engage in a more serious dialogue.”
Workers at the BP facilities in Whiting, Ind., and Toledo, Ohio, will join the ULP strike at 12:01 a.m. Sunday morning.
Negotiations between the USW and oil industry representatives are on a temporary hiatus, while the USW waits for the companies to comply with a long pending information request.
In similar news, a delegation of striking refinery workers from the United Steelworkers (USW) will bring their campaign for a safer oil industry to Europe this week, meeting with allies from labor unions in the Netherlands and Great Britain.
The group, led by USW District 11 Director Emil Ramirez, includes striking workers from refineries owned by Shell, Marathon and Tesoro. Shell, which as noted has taken the lead on bargaining for the companies, has its headquarters in the Netherlands.
The USW members will meet with leaders from the FNV oil workers union at Shell and LyondellBasell in the Netherlands today through Wednesday and then travel to London on Thursday to meet with leaders from Unite the Union, the largest industrial union in Great Britain and Ireland.
“The USW deeply appreciates the support of the FNV, UNITE and other unions in the oil industry worldwide in our fight to ensure that U.S. refineries are safe for our members who work in them and for the communities that surround them,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.
The group will update the European unions on the status of bargaining and also carry a message of the importance of safety in an industry that in just the past eight years has seen at least 349 reported fires, many of which have led to fatalities, explosions and catastrophic injuries.
