United Steelworkers Union and Refineries Reach Tentative Deal

Source: WSJ

Agreement to end strike calls for annual wage increases and maintaining current health benefits, union says

By ALISON SIDER

Thousands of striking union workers at U.S. refineries soon are expected to end a walkout.

The United Steelworkers union and the company representing refinery operators reached a tentative agreement on salaries, safety and other issues Thursday, according to a statement from the union.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the oil company leading negotiations on behalf of American refinery operators, was unavailable for immediate comment.

The two sides have been trying to hammer out an agreement that would set a pattern for wages, benefits and safety issues at refineries and petrochemical plants around the country, but until this week progress had been slow. More than 6,500 union members were off the job at the strike’s peak. The six-week walkout is the broadest to hit refineries since 1980, when workers struck for three months.

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The United Steelworkers union and plant operators on Thursday tentatively agreed to a new contract that could end the biggest U.S. refinery strike in 35 years, the union said. Here, workers hold picket signs as they strike outside the Tesoro refinery in Carson, Calif., on March 4. PHOTO: REUTERS


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