Oil Workers and Refineries to Resume Negotiations

All refineries, except Tesoro Corp in California, have maintained operations at near normal levels using temporary workers. Tesoro was scheduled for a partial maintenance shutdown before the strike so the company decided to close the entire refinery until the overhaul could be completed.

The USW refinery issues include health and safety, fatigue, inadequate staffing levels and the use of non-union contractors for daily maintenance jobs.

In a letter to union members last week the USW highlighted the need for safer working conditions for refinery workers, noting that in recent years 27 oil workers were killed on the job.

A USW website posting, This is What We’re Fight For, commented, “At the bargaining table, in our communities, and on the picket lines we are fighting for safe refineries, for fair contracts and to make sure that at the end of the shift we are able to come home to our families the same way we left.”