Royal Dutch Shell Plc and the United Steelworkers, which represents 30,000 US oil workers, are said to be planning to restart talks this week to resolve a labor dispute as more workers joined in the nation’s biggest refinery strike since 1980.
The two sides will meet on Wednesday for the first time since negotiations broke up on Feb. 20 without a deal, according to two people familiar with the talks.
The USW, with members at more than 200 refineries, fuel terminals, pipelines and chemical plants across the US, ordered workers last week at Motiva Enterprises LLC’s Port Arthur refinery in Texas, the nation’s largest, to join a nationwide walkout, and issued notices for three other plants to go on strike.
This brings the work stoppage – which began on February 1 at nine sites from California to Texas and expanded to two BP refineries in the Midwest a week later – to 12 refineries and 3 other facilities.
The union has rejected seven contract offers from Shell, which is representing companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.
An agreement would end a strike at US plants that account for almost 20 percent of the country’s refining capacity.
It’s the first national walkout of US oil workers since 1980, when a work stoppage lasted three months. The USW represents workers at plants that together account for 64% of US fuel output.
“The USW remains available to meet at any moment,” said Lynne Hancock, a spokeswoman. “We are committed to reaching a fair agreement that includes assurances and commitments that our serious issues will be addressed.”
Ray Fisher, a spokesman for Shell in Houston, said that “no date has been set yet; however, we look forward to resuming talks.”
In addition to Port Arthur, Motiva’s refineries in Convent and Norco, Louisiana, and Shell’s chemical facility in Norco also received strike notices. Motiva is a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
The USW has been asking for tougher measures to prevent fatigue and to keep union workers rather than contract employees on the job, statements posted on the group’s website show. The union said last week that Shell’s seventh offer failed to address safety concerns “in any sort of meaningful or enforceable way.”
The USW previously called strikes at: Tesoro Corp.’s plants in Martinez and Carson, California, and Anacortes, Washington; Marathon Petroleum Corp.’s Catlettsburg complex in Kentucky and Galveston Bay site in Texas; Shell’s Deer Park complex; LyondellBasell Industries NV’s Houston facility; and BP Plc’s Whiting and Toledo refineries in the Midwest.
More than 5,200 workers have walked out, USW statements show. United Steelworkers members operate refinery units, perform maintenance and work in labs at the plants.
The USW and Shell began negotiations on Jan. 21 amid the biggest collapse in oil prices since 2008, driven largely by surging output from US shale formations that cut oil prices by 49 percent in the second half of 2014.
West Texas Intermediate for April delivery added 5 cents to $50.86 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:24 p.m. Singapore time.
The national agreement, which addresses wages, benefits and health and safety, serves as the pattern that companies use to negotiate local contracts.
Individual USW units may still decide to strike if the terms they’re offered locally don’t mirror those in the national agreement.
