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Managers bunk down at U.S. refineries as strike enters third week
Managers bunk down at U.S. refineries as strike enters third week
(Reuters) – U.S. oil refinery managers are going to the mats, literally, during the biggest fight with union workers in 35 years, bedding down for a third strike week that experts and some employees say raises concerns over safety and operations.
At the 135,000 barrel-per-day refinery just outside of Toledo, Ohio, run by BP Plc and Husky Energy Inc, most of the nearly 300-person staff have been calling the refinery home since Feb. 9. For the last week, they have slept on recently purchased mattresses inside rental trailers to rapidly respond to any problems and avoid striking workers, sources say.
On Tuesday, a van full of washing and drying machines gingerly cut through about a dozen United Steelworkers carrying pickets and walking a strike line at the facility’s front gate.
Those efforts underscore how far operators are willing to go to retain normalcy in the face of the largest national U.S. refinery strike since 1980. And as more replacement workers join the ranks here and the other eight refineries where strikes have occurred, more questions are arising about potential safety and production risks from an extended walkout.
While such warnings may seem a self-serving negotiating tactic, even some on the other side of the line are concerned. John Ostberg, a non-union control engineer who works in the main computerized control center at Toledo, quit his job on Monday weeks before he was scheduled to retire.
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Oil Searching For A Bottom As Union Threatens More Walkouts
Oil Searching For A Bottom As Union Threatens More Walkouts
The strike at US refineries got a bit bigger over the weekend – all amid the mostvolatile, and now downward, price swings seen in the last six years. Investors have yet to lose hope in a sustainable rebound, but another prolonged fall may be looming ahead.
The United Steelworkers union (USW) and Royal Dutch Shell – big oil’s lead representative in the matter – failed to reach an agreement on wages, safety measures, and benefits last week. As a result, 1,400 workers at two BP-owned refineries joined the work stoppage on February 8. Since the beginning of the month, USW members have walked out of 11 refineries, leaving approximately 1.82 million barrels per day of refining capacity in the hands of retirees and last-minute, non-union replacement workers.
Still in its early stages, the strike has room to grow. The USW national contract – which expired February 1 – covers nearly 30,000 workers, 65 facilities, and around two-thirds of the nation’s refining capacity. The nature of the negotiations remains unclear, but the sides appear to be far apart. The union has already rejected five offers from Shell and threatened further walkouts if progress is not made.
To date, contingency plans and local bargaining have limited any drop in output – positive pressure on both crude and gasoline prices has been virtually non-existent. Instead, downward pressure caused by the work stoppage has only increased the recent volatility, muddying any understanding of the true bottom. The last strike, in 1980, lasted three months.
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Strikes: The Latest Threat Facing US Oil Industry
Strikes: The Latest Threat Facing US Oil Industry
Workers are on strike at nine oil refineries and chemical plants around the United States in the largest such job action in 35 years.
Members of the United Steelworkers union (USW) who are employed by more than 200 US oil terminals and pipelines as well as refineries and chemical plantsstruck the nine facilities on Feb. 1 after negotiations with several oil companies failed to end in an agreement on wages, safety and benefits. The contract covers 30,000 hourly workers.
The negotiations had begun Jan. 21 with a settlement deadline at midnight, Jan. 31. The USW had rejected five offers by the companies lead negotiator, Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant representing several large oil companies operating in the United States, including Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp.
Related: Chevron Responds To Eight Week Drop In Rig Count By Slashing Jobs
“Shell refused to provide us with a counter-offer and left the bargaining table,”USW International President Leo Gerard said. “We had no choice but to give notice of a work stoppage.”
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