Royal Dutch Shell Plc and the United Steelworkers’ union will resume talks Monday on a new labor contract after ending discussions today without a resolution to the largest oil worker strike since 1980.
The two sides will meet in Houston, the union said in a statement. The discussions come amid a walkout that’s widened to 12 refineries accounting for almost 20 percent of the capacity in the US Shell is leading the negotiations with the 30,000-strong United Steelworkers on behalf of companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.
The union is trying to limit the use of contractors for routine maintenance and tighten overtime rules in the new pact, which will be good for the next three years.
The walkout of US oil workers is the first national action since 1980, when a stoppage lasted three months. In all, the USW represents workers at sites that together account for 64 percent of US fuel output.
The USW last expanded the strike on Feb. 20 to include a Shell chemical plant in Norco, Louisiana, and Motiva Enterprises LLC’s Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the nation’s largest, along with its refineries in Norco and Convent, Louisiana. Motiva is a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
Workers were already on strike at Shell’s Deer Park complex in Texas; 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; LyondellBasell Industries NV’s Houston plant; and BP Plc’s Whiting, Indiana, and Toledo, Ohio, refineries.
A Shell chemical plant in Deer Park and a Marathon co-generation plant in Galveston Bay are also included in the strike.
The union, which has rejected seven contract offers from Shell, says USW members should handle daily maintenance at plants. Shell has said the union’s demands would take away hiring flexibility.
About 6,550 people have joined the strike, USW statements show.