About two months after its lockout began, BP announced Wednesday that the company and United Steelworkers Local 7-1 will meet on May 18 for continued labor negotiations.
“We look forward to returning to the negotiating table to work toward an agreement that preserves strong jobs by improving refinery performance, strengthening safety, and keeping the site competitive in a range of economic conditions over the long term,” the BP Whiting Refinery statement said. “We have negotiated in good faith from the start and will keep doing so.”
The union responded to BP’s announcement in a Wednesday morning statement.
“Our members have been illegally locked out of their jobs for almost two months, so we’re pleased British Petroleum responded to our request to resume negotiating,” the union statement said. “We will again ask them to lift their lockout and to move away from their demands to cut more than 100 local jobs, make sweeping pay cuts and that we give up our bargaining and seniority rights.”
BP merged with Amoco in 1998 and changed its name from British Petroleum, and most of its business is done in the U.S., according to the company’s website.
More than 800 union workers have been locked out of the refinery since March 18, and the two parties haven’t met since March 17. Both the union and company have made conflicting statements since then, saying the other has refused to meet.
BP previously said USW hadn’t responded to a March 17 offer or requested to meet since their last meeting. The company also claimed that a letter was sent to union leadership on April 1, asking about their plans to respond to the March 17 offer and resume negotiations.
The union responded on April 8, according to previous BP information, but allegedly didn’t address the proposals, agree to meet or offer dates to resume discussion. USW denied BP’s claims, according to Post-Tribune archives, previously saying they sent a letter to the company on March 18, expressing the intent to continue negotiations, to lift the lockout and allow members to return to work.
In a Tuesday news release, union leadership responded to BP claims that the union has refused to meet.
“That is 100% false,” USW Local 7-1 President Eric Schultz said in a statement. “BP has never asked us to return to the bargaining table — they’ve only said that to cameras. They have told our union only what they are legally required to say and nothing more. There is a huge difference between being willing to bargain and actually making an effort to resume meaningful negotiations.”
BP’s Wednesday announcement came about 15 hours after the union sent out a news release, alleging that the company used delay tactics to avoid negotiations.
The union alleged it sent a request to resume negotiations last week, in an email with the subject line, “Negotiations.” According to USW, BP allegedly responded by asking, “What is the agenda for the meeting?”
“They know exactly why we need to meet,” Schultz said. “Asking what the agenda is, is not a serious response. It is just another delay tactic.”
USW Local 7-1, in its news release, said BP has bargained in bad faith since the beginning, and they believe the lockout “was always the company’s desired result.” The union also claims that BP repeatedly indicated that the company was unwilling to move on any part of its proposals.
“That is not good-faith bargaining,” Schultz said. “When 98% of our members voted to reject their demands, they locked out our members because they did not get their way.”
The union also said its outreach came “despite the company’s conduct,” in hopes of resuming bargaining. USW also alleged that the refinery has experienced system “upsets” since replacement workers were hired to do union work, and BP has failed to inform the community of potential environmental dangers, according to the news release.
“Our solidarity is our strength,” Schultz said. “BP may believe it can stall, mislead the public, and wait us out, but our members remain united. Our continued resolve will eventually cause the company to bend.”
