Posted on 03/13/2015 5:51:51 AM PDT by thackney
Four-year deal includes modest pay raises but addresses union concerns over contracted labor and worker fatigue.
The United Steelworkers union and oil companies have reached a tentative deal to end the largest U.S. refinery strike in 35 years, the labor group and people familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday.
The new agreement for about 30,000 workers would last four years, a year longer than previous agreements. The deal, which still needs to be ratified, may not end strikes right away at all refineries that have suffered walkouts as local union chapters could still need to work out pending issues.
“We salute the solidarity exhibited by our membership,” said USW International President Leo Gerard. “There was no way we would have won vast improvements in safety and staffing without it.”
Lead industry negotiator Royal Dutch Shell Plc RDSA said union members are set to vote on the agreement in coming days.
Tesoro Corp TSO told employees in a letter seen by Reuters it was “supportive of the agreement” and would try to quickly settle local issues “to enable our employees return to work.”
The tentative contract contains language that addresses worker fatigue, which is tied to accidents, and the use of contractors versus unionized labor. It also safeguards gains made in previous contracts, the union and sources said.
(Excerpt) Read more at fortune.com ...
UPDATE: Steelworkers, Shell reach tentative deal to end refinery strikes
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/03/12/steelworkers-shell-strike-deal-to-end-refinery-strikes/
...Sticking points included safety concerns, which the union called “central to the negotiations.” It said the proposal includes an “immediate review of staffing and workload assessments, with USW safety personnel involved at every facility.”
The union had also raised concerns over contracting out of maintenance and repair work.
“The new agreement calls for joint review on the local level of future, craft worker staffing- needs,” USW International Vice President Tom Conway said in the news release. “Included are hiring plans to be developed in conjunction with recruitment and training programs.”
The workers also would get annual pay raises and the oil companies would maintain existing funding ratios for health care packages.
The union and Shell, which is representing the industry in the talks, had been in continuous negotiations since Monday.
The deal still requires approval of the union’s international policy committee and the local union representing workers at Shell’s Deer Park refinery before it goes to a vote of union members nationwide, said Jimmy Easter, secretary treasurer of USW local 13-227 in Pasadena.
Even if members approve the national deal, strikes could continue at individual refineries if issues specific to them remain unresolved.
“Our expectation is that other employers will offer the same terms at their local bargaining tables,” the union news release said....
Specifically, the proposed agreement sets terms for a 4-year period lasting from Feb. 1, 2015, through Jan. 31, 2019, Shell said.
Terms of the deal include the following:
• Wages. Shell has proposed an annual wage increases of 2.5%, 3%, 3%, and 3.5%, respectively, during the 4-period, which will take effect on Apr. 1 in 2015 and on Feb. 1 in 2016-19.
• Healthcare. Shell has offered to renew its current contributions toward premiums for the Shell medical plan, based on an employer-employee contribution rate of 80%-20%.
• Maintenance contractors. The parties have agreed to jointly review on a local level the future need, supply, and development of craft workers.
• Fatigue management. The parties have agreed to immediately review staffing and workload assessments, with USW safety personnel involved at every plant, as well as to meet semiannually to review site practices related to fatigue.
• No retrogression. The parties have agreed to preserve contract language that would require Shell to renew previous agreements reached with USW members in prior rounds of NOB negotiations with respect to layoff notices, plant closures, rate retention, health and safety, successorship, and job security.
So did the strike work or not?
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