LOWELL, Ind. — Some 200 oil workers locked out by BP, their family members and supporters made up a lively United Steelworkers Local 7-1 contingent in the Labor Day Parade here Sept. 7. They got an enthusiastic reception — as they have for months from working people all over the region — from those gathered along the route, including people raising their fists and yelling “BP sucks!”
There is broad support for the 800 members of the local, who have been locked out by bosses at BP’s sprawling Whiting, Indiana, refinery since March 19. The company is demanding union-weakening concessions from the operators, maintenance and other workers, which the refinery workers voted down overwhelmingly.
Corporations “are flexing their muscles, and it’s not just BP,” Elisa Levy, an operator with 12 years at the refinery, told the Militant. “They want to get rid of the union.”
“I’m here supporting my brothers and sisters,” said Jim Espinoza. He retired from BP in 2018 after working 40 years in the refinery. “I was part of the safety department, and they’re always trying to do things fast, circumvent the process. We need the union.”
Espinoza said he helps out wherever he can, “at the picket line, the union hall, fundraisers. The community is supporting us. People come and drop things off. It helps keep morale up.”
“A lot of our members did disaster relief” after massive storms tore through northwest Indiana Aug. 11, Luke Hoffman, a power house operator and member of the union board, said.
Response to storm damage
The storms killed seven people, flooded homes and caused hundreds of thousands to lose power for up to two weeks, including at the union hall. The union temporarily suspended picketing and many members joined in helping clear trees and debris. “We volunteered in Highland, Portage, Hobart,” Hoffman said, “helping both our members and other people in need. And we’re still doing some of that.”
“I’m very happy to be picketing again. And I’m grateful we got the time needed to recover” from the storm, Keisha Barajas told this Militant correspondent on the picket line Aug. 27. She showed a video on her phone of union members who came over to help chop up trees that were down all over her driveway and yard. “There were a lot of people helping each other,” she said.
The national media has taken note of the lockout and its cause. Reuters ran an article Sept. 3 noting that Exxon used a similar lockout in 2021 to force through massive concessions at its Beaumont, Texas, facility, and that Marathon “has weathered two prolonged strikes at its plants since 2024,” including the current strike in Martinez, California.
Reuters reports that BP and other energy giants are raking in massive profits from the spike in oil prices, at the same time they’re driving against labor. The news service quotes Robert Bruno, director of the Labor Studies Program at the University of Illinois, who puts his finger on the heart of the matter when he says the fight is over “what share of the profits is going to be distributed to the workforce.”
What Reuters editors studiously avoid is any mention of the locked-out workers’ fighting spirit and solidarity and the support they are winning.
“The longer this goes on, the stronger bond we create,” Hoffman said. “We’re in good spirits.” The union’s slogan has become “one day longer, one day stronger.”
You can help! Bring donations of food and household items to the union hall at 2045 Schrage Ave. in Whiting. To join the picket lines at BP gates, just stop by the union hall to get a ride. Call (219) 659-1181 for more information.