Union slobs want more pay during recession; threaten strike at 11 Houston refineries

Go ahead and strike and demand more pay during the recession, you lazy slobs. I can't wait for your replacement works to permanently backfill your position, like the Northwest Airlines mechanics did 3 years ago. What's funny is that the oil companies will probably benefit from this strike, since refining margins are so low right now. However, there could be some real gasoline and other refined product shortages in the US if this were to happen - which would hurt Main Street.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6235767.html

Workers may strike at 11 Houston-area refineries
By L.M. SIXEL
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Jan. 28, 2009, 11:08PM

Workers at 11 area refineries and chemical plants could go on strike as early as Sunday if ongoing negotiations fail to produce a new contract.

Labor agreements that cover 30,000 energy and chemical workers nationwide, including 4,200 Houston-area employees, expire at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. Key remaining sticking points are wages, medical insurance, and health and safety concerns, said Alan Barnes, treasurer of the United Steelworkers union Local 13-1.

So far, union negotiators have rejected two contract offers. The most recent one called for a 2.5 percent raise the first year and 2 percent raise in each of the second and third years of the contract, Barnes said.

The union, which is meeting in Austin with officials from Shell Oil Co., lead negotiator for the energy industry, have said previously that workers are seeking “substantial” wage increases. Barnes said union officials were waiting for another contract offer to arrive late Wednesday.

Local facilities affected by the contract talks include Shell’s Deer Park refinery, chemical plant and chemical lab; BP’s Texas City refinery and chemical plant; INEOS NOVA chemical in Texas City; Chevron-Phillips Chemical Co.’s plant in Pasadena; LyondellBasell Industries’ refinery in Houston; BP Pipeline; and Pasadena Refining System.

Squeezed margins
While union officials say they’re ready to strike if they must, they’d be doing it at a time of squeezed refining margins — the difference between what a refiner pays for a barrel of crude and what it gets for the products made from it.

If they do walk out, companies could save money in the long run because of “very, very poor” margins in the current market, said Peter Beutel, oil analyst and president of Cameron Hanover in New Canaan, Conn. He pointed out he is not taking a side.

On Tuesday, Valero Energy Corp. said it was shutting down its refinery in Texas City instead of keeping parts of it open while it performs regular maintenance. Typically, a refinery keeps running units that aren’t undergoing work so its owner can keep selling products.

BP told employees and union leaders it would not train replacement workers to operate refineries in the event of a strike. Spokesman Michael Marr said that the company believed that strike training would stop or even reverse its progress on a safety initiative. Marr said the company is optimistic about reaching an agreement.

Backups at LyondellBasell
LyondellBasell’s Houston refinery has trained management personnel to operate its 700-acre plant, spokesman David Harpole said. About 500 refinery workers are represented by the union.

Tom Strifler, vice president of manufacturing for INEOS NOVA, said the chemical plant in Texas City is down and hasn’t been restarted since Hurricane Ike. The company doesn’t plan to restart until market conditions improve. Marathon’s refinery in Texas City and Exxon Mobil’s in Baytown also are part of the bargaining, but their contracts don’t expire until later.

Even if a national deal is agreed upon, workers at individual refineries can strike over local issues. And Barnes said that’s a possibility for the 900 workers at Shell’s Deer Park refinery and chemical plant.

One of the sticking points is a proposal by Shell to limit the amount of overtime each employee can work to 30 percent of their normal annual hours to prevent fatigue. But management reserves the right to waive the rule and requires some employees to work more overtime than the cap permits, said Barnes.

The union also is upset with Shell’s proposal to stop using a seniority system for assignments and to replace more employees with contract workers, said Barnes.

“Shell is committed to providing a safe workplace for our employees, contractors and local communities,” said David McKinney, communications manager at Shell Deer Park. “The changes we propose in the contract with USW regarding overtime and excessive job changes are intended to do just that.”

lm.sixel@chron.com

 

The vast majority of the union members I've worked with have been lazy. They sit back and rely on their seniority system to justify their laziness. Don't ask them to go over and above their job specifications without significant overtime or you'll get a call from their union boss. Now they have the nerve to demand more pay during the recession, and they're willing to strike over it.

pgabs and donnymost - what do you think of their potential strike, which could cause refined product shortages for Main Street?

 

Actually, I do know what I'm talking about, but thanks for the personal insult, anyways.

Seniority systems are an absurdly antiquated way to approach assignments and should not be used. How about using merit to make job assignments? Do you see any value in that?

 

Well I dug up quite an interesting post from back in 2003. This could shed some light on the matter.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=931681&postcount=7