WHITING | The strike at the BP Whiting Refinery entered its fourth week as more than 6,500 United Steelworkers picketed nationwide.
Oil refinery workers, including 1,100 in Whiting, walked off the job over concerns about fatigue, safety and staffing.
No agreement has been reached between the USW and BP locally or between the union and Shell nationally. Shell is negotiating on behalf of all the oil companies to set a framework for new three-year contracts with oil workers at the local level.
So far, the USW has rejected seven offers from Shell, which just unveiled what it has actually put on the table.
"The central issue standing in the way of a settlement is not safety or fatigue, nor is it even about healthcare, wages or 'no retrogression' as the union claims," the company said in a statement. "The central issue is the USW's demand that Shell replace routine maintenance contractors with USW-represented employees."
The union has objected over an increasing use of contractors to perform work historically done by USW members, such as basic maintenance. The USW says that practice jeopardizes safety at refineries that are inherently dangerous by thrusting lesser trained contractors into work on equipment they're not familiar with, and also by encouraging staffing levels where union members can work 12-hour shifts for seven days or more in a row, and clock in as much overtime as they're willing to take.
Shell says the union is making an "unreasonable demand" by asking that maintenance contractors be replaced with USW-represented workers. The company says the flexibility of hiring contractors on an as-needed basis has let it avoid layoffs for decades.
"Our established practice of utilizing contractors supports the need for flexibility in hiring to accommodate economic cycles and maintenance schedules," the company said in a statement. "We're open to a variety of ways to maintain a strong roster of skilled craftsmen available to each of our locations. But hiring flexibility is a proven way to protect our core Shell workforce and the long-term economic viability of our business."
The oil company said it offered to jointly discuss craft employee recruitment and development opportunities, and routine maintenance staffing needs. Shell also says it proposed a workload balance assessment, an annual review of local practices and the protection of any wages lost because of mandatory rest period.
In its last offer, Shell offered its employees — who make an average of $37 per hour — raises of 2 percent in 2015, 2 percent in 2016 and 2.5 percent in 2017. Locally, BP workers make an average of $82,000 a year, not including benefits.
"This proposal is slightly lower than the increase we settled in 2012, when the energy market was stable and much stronger," Shell said in a statement.
Under its most recent proposal, Shell said it offered to renew current contributions to its medical plan, given an employer contribution rate of 80 percent.
The offers are national, and BP and USW Local 7-1 would still have to reach their own agreement to end the strike. BP proposed stripping away bargaining rights in future negotiations, and that's an issue the USW will never concede because it has no interest in being a paper union, President Dave Danko said.
Talks have dragged on because BP has been unwilling to even discuss basic issues like staffing levels, he said last week.