U.S. refinery and chemical plant workers on Friday agreed to focus on pay and health insurance in coming union contract talks, said people familiar with United Steelworkers (USW) union deliberations, setting up a conflict with refiners struggling to throw off losses from weak demand.
Proposals setting an agenda for pay increases, improved health insurance and severance pay were adopted at the union’s national oil bargaining policy conference conducted online. The national agenda must still be approved by local union members.
Three-quarters of the 30,000 oil and chemical plant workers represented by the USW must approve the plan before it can be used in negotiations that begin in January between the union and Marathon Petroleum Corp MPC.N, which is the lead negotiator for oil companies.
The current three-year agreement expires at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2022.
“We had a successful day,” said one USW member, who declined to be identified, after the end of the conference.
The talks with refinery and chemical plant owners will get underway as the Delta variant of the coronavirus is threatening to reduce petroleum demand more than a year after the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 disease forced lockdowns and work-from-home policies.
The pandemic cut gasoline consumption 13% last year, forcing some refiners to shut production lines and take on new debt to finance operations.
This will be the second round of negotiations since a nationwide strike in 2015 saw 7,000 workers from 12 refineries and three chemical plants join picket lines. It was the first nationwide strike in 35 years.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Erwin Seba; editing by Grant McCool)