Texas oil refinery workers ratify Exxon contract offer, ending lockout By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: United Steelworkers (USW) union members picket outside Exxon Mobil’s oil refinery amid a contract dispute in Beaumont, Texas, U.S., May 1, 2021. Exxon locked out the plant’s about 650 union-represented employees citing fears of a strike. REUTE

By Erwin Seba

BEAUMONT, Texas (Reuters) – Union workers locked out of their jobs at a Texas oil refinery for nearly 10 months voted on Monday by a nearly two-thirds margin to accept an Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:) contract offer, a union official said.

Exxon has said it would end the lockout only with union members ratifying its offer or their agreement to remove the United Steelworkers (USW) local 13-243 as bargaining agent for the Beaumont, Texas, refinery.

About 600 hourly workers at the 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery and Mobil 1 motor oil plant were locked out May 1 to preclude a wildcat strike, Exxon has said. The facility has continued to run since then with managers and temporary workers. The contract was approved by a vote of 214 to 133, according to USW International representative Bryan Gross.

“It has been a long fight, 10-months,” Gross told Reuters following the vote. “But the members decided to ratify the contract.”

The union intends to continue with an unfair labor practices complaint against the company over the lockout, he said.

The approved contract allows Exxon to make all assignments, an issue that led to a rejection vote in October. A quarter of assignments previously were determined by worker seniority. The contract also adds Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday. Still to be decided is whether the USW will continue to represent the plant’s hourly workers. The U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) oversaw a vote in November and December on removing the USW, a move sought by 30% of union members.

Results of that vote have been withheld while the NLRB reviews USW unfair labor practice charges alleging Exxon began the lockout to force the union’s removal.

Before the Beaumont workers can return to work, the two sides must negotiate an agreement that sets rules for returning employees. Preliminary talks on the agreement began last week.

(This story refiles to fix typo in first sentence)

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*