Vol. 79/No. 14      April 20, 2015

Some 3,800 USW oil refinery workers struck Feb. 1 after they failed to reach a contract agreement with oil bosses’ lead negotiator Shell.

By Feb. 21 the strike had expanded to 12 oil refineries and three chemical plants involving almost 7,000 workers. It was the first national oil strike in 35 years. The main issue was the serious safety question of being forced to work long hours with few days off.

They were fighting for more hiring, shorter hours, increased rest time and safer working conditions; to bring more daily maintenance and other contract workers into the union; and to keep the “retrogression clause,” which guarantees gains won in previous contracts would continue.

Steelworkers at 10 of the 15 refineries and chemical plants on strike approved both national and local contracts and have returned to work.

The remaining oil bosses are determined to go after concessions in their local agreements.

“We’ve held the line now for over two months,” Juan Lerma, a process operator, told the Militant on the picket line at LyondellBasell here April 4. “And I for one am ready for two more if that’s what it takes. They’ve backed us like cats into a corner. Earlier contracts included concessions like higher health care costs and reduced pensions. But we’re determined to make improvements this time.”

“We’re looking to hang onto what we got,” said process operator Michael Belz, who was picketing with Lerma and machinist Reuben Mendoza. “We’re tired of giving stuff up. We’re not asking for outrageous pay raises and vacation. I’ll be here till it’s done.”

Mendoza, who has worked at the refinery for a year, said the strike has been a learning experience. “You get paid for what you fight for. Solidarity. That’s what the union is all about.”

A sticking point for the 450 union workers at LyondellBasell is the company’s insistence that premium pay be eliminated for workers required to work their scheduled days off when they haven’t yet worked 40 hours. The refineries are notorious for forcing workers to work 12-hour shifts for weeks in a row.

LyondellBasell Executive Vice President Kevin Brown sent a letter to employees April 1 blaming the union negotiating committee for “not giving a clear picture of what the Company has offered.” Brown said the company had offered to hire some new operators and maintenance workers, but wanted to maintain a “balance” of union members and contractors as a “good long-term investment.”

“The fight over premium pay for overtime is really about forcing them to hire more people,” said Lerma. “To them it’s all about production; to us it’s about safety. We need more workers to help make this and other refineries safer places to work.”

“I’m back to work now,” Clint Clark, who works at Shell’s nearby Deer Park refinery, told the Militant. “But I also help out with the local on strike at LyondellBasell.”

Members of Steelworkers Local 8-719 in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, voted 226 to 153 April 3 to approve a contract agreement with Marathon. “We will start the process of returning to work Monday and take the operations over on Saturday, April 11,” Dave Martin, local vice president, told the Militant in a text message April 3. Martin said Marathon had finally dropped its effort to overturn the “no layoff” clause from the previous contract and one other concession. The executive board made no recommendation to the membership on how to vote.

“We have mixed emotions,” Susan Evans, an outside operator and member of Local 8-719 and co-chair of the local’s Women of Steel committee, told the Militant. “Some union members didn’t like the contract. Others did. The contract has 12-hour shifts, but the company removed a proposal to contract out our jobs during a layoff. Our local officers and members fought the fight, and we are stronger because of it.”

Marathon’s Texas City refinery is still on strike. In addition to organizing the 1,100 workers into round-the-clock picketing, the union continues to organize regular activities involving strikers, their families and supporters. One entire wall of the union hall is stocked with canned goods, cereal, beans, baby diapers and formula.

On March 31 union members from USW Local 750 in Louisiana brought a trailer full of groceries and cooked homemade jambalaya, a popular bayou country Cajun dish, for the strikers’ supper. The union sponsored an Easter egg hunt for strikers’ children April 3.

Members of Steelworkers Local 7-1 on strike against BP in Whiting, Indiana, continue to hold strong. Only seven of the more than 1,000 members have crossed the picket line. Unionists organize weekly spaghetti dinners in Masonic lodges in towns near the refinery to raise funds for strikers and their families.

Mitchel Rosenberg, a member of USW Local 10-1 in Philadelphia, and Anne Parker in Chicago contributed to this article.
 
 
Related articles:
All out April 15 for $15 and a union!
National actions grow, win support
On the Picket Line
Join protests for $15 and a union!
 
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home