USW Calls for Work Stoppage at Nine Oil Refineries, Plants

[tammywammy]

Pittsburgh — The United Steelworkers Union (USW) announced that it is calling for a work stoppage at the following US refineries:

LyondellBasell in Houston, TX;

Marathon Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, TX;

Marathon Houston Green Cogeneration facility, Texas City, TX;

Marathon Refinery, Catlettsburg, Ky;

Shell Deer Park Refinery, Deer Park, TX;

Shell Deer Park Chemical Plant, Deer Park, TX;

Tesoro Anacortes Refinery, Anacortes, Wash.;

Tesoro Martinez Refinery, Martinez, Calif.; and

Tesoro Carson Refinery, Carson, Calif.

All these refineries will go on strike at 12:01 am local time.

“Shell refused to provide us with a counter-offer and left the bargaining table,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “We had no choice but to give notice of a work stoppage.”

The remaining USW-represented refineries and oil facilities are operating under a rolling 24-hour contract extension. The USW represents 65 U.S. refineries and over 230 refineries, oil terminals, pipelines and petrochemical facilities in the U.S.

more at link: http://m.usw.org/news/media-center/releases/2015/national-oil-bargaining-talks-break-down-usw-calls-for-work-stoppage-at-nine-oil-refineries-plants

[tammywammy]

1. More info:

This strike is NOT about wages and economics.

It is about the industry’s refusal to address safe staffing issues and its brutal, dangerous scheduling that it frequently manipulates to avoid paying overtime.

It is about the industry refusing to address its unhealthy and unsafe reliance on outside contractors to handle day-to-day maintenance at the refineries.

It is about the industry refusing to offer opportunities for job training so that critical work in our refineries can be done by members who actually know the facility.

It is about the industry refusing to discuss out-of-pocket maximums and the financial strain created by high costs when members’ families have serious health issues.

http://m.usw.org/union/mission/industries/oil/bargaining/strikes-begin-at-several-nob-sites-as-industry-walks-away-from-bargaining-table

[TexasProgresive]

2. Better fill up your tanks

This will give them an excuse to raise the price at the pump.

[Omaha Steve]

3. Solidarity

K&R!