Locked out ExxonMobil workers fight for jobs and safety at Texas refinery
More than 650 oil workers remain locked out of ExxonMobil’s Beaumont, Texas refinery and packaging plant. The company escorted the workers out of the plant on the morning of May 1, the day after ExxonMobil rejected a comprehensive contract proposal from the United Steelworkers union, which included an offer by the USW to freeze its members’ wages. Negotiations have not resumed since then.
Striking Workers (Credit: WSWS Media)
The workers’ last contract, signed in 2015, with the oil and gas giant expired in January this year. During the 2015 strike of some 6,500 Shell, BP, Tesoro and other oil workers, the USW International leadership forced ExxonMobil workers to remain on the job, angering Beaumont workers. The USW International then signed a deal with ExxonMobil separating Beaumont workers from the industry-wide pattern agreement and imposing a different contract expiration date on Beaumont workers. T
ExxonMobil begins lockout of hundreds of Texas oil workers
Oil giant ExxonMobil initiated a lockout of more than 650 workers at its Beaumont, Texas refinery and blending and packaging plant on Saturday morning after negotiations broke down between the company and the United Steelworkers (USW) union. USW officials agreed to the “orderly transfer” of the workers off of ExxonMobil’s property and have not called an official strike.
USW Local 13-243 and ExxonMobil met Friday night and Saturday morning, attempting to come to an agreement before the lockout began. By 1 p.m. Saturday, union representatives said more than 200 workers on their regular shift had been escorted out of the facility, two at a time. Some workers reported they had been forced to leave the property as early as the night before.
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