(Newswire.net — February 2, 2015) — US oil refineries workers are demanding a salary raise and more concern for safety at work, however, the union and their employers haven’t yet reached an agreement. Workers at nine US oil refineries and chemical plants across four states, producing some 10 percent of the country’s fuel, went on strike on Sunday, while the remaining USW refineries are operating under a rolling 24-hour contract extension.
This is the first mass walkout of refinery workers since 1980. According to a press release, workers rejected the fifth offer by the industry’s main negotiator, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which in turn halted negotiations. The union, however, claims that the industrials offered nothing.
“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.”
According to the Bloomberg Business report, the negotiating parties have been seeking to secure a successor to a three-year collective-bargaining agreement since January 21. The agreement expired this weekend.
“We told Shell that we were willing to continue bargaining for a fair agreement that would benefit the workers and the industry, but they just refused to return to the table,” said USW International Vice President Gary Beevers, who heads the union’s National Oil Bargaining Program.
The USW said in a statement that there are daily occurrences of fires, emissions, leaks, and explosions that threaten both, workers and the local communities. In addition, workers complain of working overtime with unsafe staffing levels and under dangerous work environments.
Tom Conway , USW International Vice President of Administration said, “The oil companies do not want to work with us to improve the workplace and safety at oil refineries and facilities.” He emphasized that the oil industry is the richest in the world and can afford to make the changes workers requested in the bargaining.
The USW is the largest private sector union in North America, representing 850,000 people working in a spectrum of sectors including metals, mining, energy, and healthcare.