Union, refiners reach tentative deal to end US strike

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The United Steelworkers (USW) and Shell Oil reached a tentative agreement on Thursday on a new four-year contract that end a strike that began in February, union officials said.

The deal will serve as a pattern agreement for the rest of the industry and accomplishes the major goals as directed by the USW’s oil conference in October, the union said. It has been approved by union’s lead negotiators and its National Oil Bargaining Policy (NOBP) committee.

The next step is for Shell to put the agreement on all of its bargaining tables as well as those for Motiva, a joint venture it has with Saudi Aramco, the USW said.

The local unions will then review the refiners’ proposals, the USW said. Approved agreements will then be submitted to union members for ratification votes.

“We salute the solidarity exhibited by our membership,” said USW International President Leo Gerard. “There was no way we would have won vast improvements in safety and staffing without it.”

The strike started on 1 February and initially involved nine refineries and petrochemical plants. The total would later rise to 15.

The union cited unsafe staffing levels and work conditions, fires and leaks, and overtime as reasons for the strike.

The union had rejected at least six offers from the companies, the latest on 19 February, saying it included only minor changes from the earlier ones. In addition, it did not address the union’s proposals that it said would improve safety.

During the strike, every refinery except one continued to operate because management had taken over the union positions.

That one refinery is Tesoro’s in Martinez, California. It was taken off line since it was already undergoing maintenance.

The other affected refineries include the LyondellBasell refinery in Houston; Marathon Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City, Texas; Marathon Houston Green Cogeneration facility in Texas City, Texas; the Marathon refinery in Catlettsburg, Kentucky; the Shell Deer Park refinery in Deer Park, Texas; the Shell Deer Park chemical plant in Deer Park, Texas; Tesoro refineries in Anacortes, Washington, and Carson, California; and BP refineries in Whiting, Indiana, and Toledo, Ohio; Motiva’s refineries in Port Arthur, Texas, Norco, Louisiana, and Convent, Louisiana; and a Shell Chemical plant in Norco.