CHICAGO — Roxanne Brown, international president of the United Steelworkers union, speaking above, led several hundred locked-out workers from the BP oil refinery and their supporters in a spirited picket and rally outside the company’s headquarters in downtown Chicago June 26. The 800 USW Local 7-1 members voted down a union-busting concession contract March 19. They have been picketing outside the refinery in Whiting, Indiana, ever since.
The union is building a contingent to march in Whiting’s July 4 parade, then holding a barbecue at the union headquarters.
The company refuses to negotiate. They say if the workers want to return to work, they have to accept the rotten contract they rejected by more than 98%.
Locked-out BP worker Carly Jones was at the rally with her toddler son Andrew. “This is real life,” she told the Militant. “We are real people and our families are suffering. It’s tough but it’s worth it.”
“They’re trying to gut the union,” said Latrell Hudson, who is locked out along with his father, “and we aren’t going to let them.”
“The support we have gotten is phenomenal,” Local 7-1 President Eric Schultz said. “They picked the wrong battle against the wrong union.”
To join the picket line, go to the Local 7-1 union hall, 2045 Schrage Ave. in Whiting. Send a contribution or a message of solidarity to that address.