Read our editorial on the significance of strikes here.
The negotiating committee of the United Steelworkers (USW) adopted a contract favorable to monopoly Marathon Petroleum on February 6, averting a nationwide strike of over 30,000 workers.
Marathon represented 26 companies operating crude oil refineries and petrochemical plants, while USW represents over two-thirds of the workforce engaged in the extraction and refining of crude oil.
The contract includes a 15% raise over three years and grants a $2,500 sign-on bonus for USW members—falling short of the 16% raise proposed by the business union leadership and in stark contrast to the 25% raise expected by rank-and-file members, who also sought cost-of-living adjustments if inflation erased any annual raises.
The threat of work stoppages at individual refineries and plants remains a real possibility due to disagreements over the agreed-upon contract.
On February 5, USW Local 7-1 in Whiting, IN, told its members working for BP at the Whiting refinery to prepare for a strike or lockout after 98% of the 800 workers voted to authorize a strike.
According to union officials at the Whiting refinery, BP’s proposed workplace changes include the slashing of 200 union jobs in operations, maintenance and environmental safety, and stripping away some workplace protections.
The Whiting refinery is the largest refinery in the Midwest, producing 440,000 barrels per day of major transportation fuels like gasoline, diesel fuel, and jet fuel.
The last time workers at oil refineries went on strike was in 2015, where a fifth of the workforce walked off the job across 15 plants and refineries in California, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Texas, and Washington.
Maintaining stability in the oil industry and preventing another nationwide strike is favorable to US imperialism, in line with it’s recent attacks against Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran as it aims to expand its global control of oil in collusion and contention with other imperialist powers.
Photo: USW Local 7-1 on strike against BP in Whiting, IN in 2015. Photo retrieved from Teamsters.
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