WHITING, Ind. — The 800 oil refinery workers locked out by BP in March, after they overwhelmingly rejected the company’s “last, best, and final” offer, have been picketing the refinery for more than six months. Their slogan is “One day longer, one day stronger.” And they mean it.
“We got through the crisis caused by the recent storm and its destruction. Now we’re back on the picket line,” Keisha Barajas, an outside operator in the refinery, told the Militant Sept. 29.
United Steelworkers Local 7-1 members took a two-week break from picketing to clean up and make repairs after this damaging storm. Many helped each other and their neighbors clear fallen trees, repair roofs, clean out flooded basements and more.
“BP has a new negotiating team,” said Barajas. “They reopened talks. But it’s just for show. They have a bad reputation in the whole community, not just among those that they locked out. The bottom line is they just don’t want to meet the union’s demands.”
“The statements BP puts out are disingenuous,” another locked-out worker said. “They never mention the pay cuts and job cuts they’re demanding, but brag about the 13% increase they’re offering. They ‘forget’ to say that increase comes after the pay cuts they want. Overall, we’ll take a pay cut.”
“In 2020, they tried to get us to agree to a 120-day strike notice,” Local 7-1 member Kevin Scarbrough told the Militant at the Lowell Labor Day parade. “This time they upped the demand to 150 days. We’re not going to do that.
“They’re also trying to get rid of the in-house craft workers and contract out those 60-100 jobs.”
Scarbrough works as a chief operator. “They want to get rid of that position and put me back to operator, with a $6 an hour pay cut. The chief operator can vet tasks the managers give us and can decide we won’t do something unsafe,” he said. “Eliminating that job means getting rid of a layer of safety protection.”
At the same time, the company has filed a challenge against Indiana’s decision to grant the locked-out workers unemployment benefits. “If the company’s appeal is granted,” the union said, “United Steelworkers Local 7-1 members will lose the roughly $310 a week in unemployment benefits they are now taking home. Worse, they could be required to pay back unemployment benefits they’ve already received.”
The Steelworkers called on Indiana Gov. Mike Braun to reject the company’s move. “British Petroleum’s latest attempt to hurt Northwest Indiana families is unconscionable,” Eric Schultz, president of USW Local 7-1, told the press. “Locking us out of our jobs and taking paychecks away from hundreds of local families was always part of their negotiating strategy.”
A hearing is set for Oct. 16.
“Whiting is the last union refinery in the U.S. for British Petroleum, which has already delivered nearly $6 Billion in profits to its shareholders this year,” the union said. “Still, their CEO vowed to deliver even more profits this year.”
The unionists are well aware that they are not alone. They’ve seen and talked with Steelworkers from other locals in this heavily industrialized part of northwest Indiana, as well as auto and construction workers, teachers and many others who’ve joined their picket lines.
“Workers at Marathon in California are on strike for the same reasons we rejected BP’s contract,” said Barajas. They walked off the job April 27 after the company refused to agree to the same four-year contract fellow refinery workers who are covered by the USW’s National Oil Bargaining Program got. They also demanded an end to forced overtime, which can extend from four to six hours after a 12-hour shift.
Workers on the picket lines often speak about how they organize to help out their co-workers. Liz Piña told me how she organizes three volunteers to pick up food at pantries and bring it to the union hall. “This helps a lot of families who don’t have transportation.” Piña is co-chair of the USW Local 7-1 Women of Steel chapter.
“It seems all along their intent is to eliminate the union,” Schultz told a news conference on the picket line the first day of the lockout. “The union’s biggest leverage is our ability to withhold work.”
To join the picket lines at BP gates, stop by the union hall at 2045 Schrage Ave. in Whiting to get a ride.