BP and United Steelworkers Local 7-1 contract negotiations stalled again after resuming Monday morning, both parties announced.
Negotiations started and ended Monday morning.
The company alleged in a Monday announcement that the union “chose to leave the bargaining table without meaningfully engaging on the issues that remain unresolved.”
The union asked to lift the lockout of about 800 workers at the Whiting refinery, which has gone on for about two months. BP claimed the union was “unwilling to resume meaningful discussions on items critical” to the facility’s future.
“BP Whiting refinery can continue to negotiate during the lockout, and we remain ready to do so,” BP’s Monday statement said. “However, we cannot return to operating under the prior agreement, which presented safety and operational risk.”
According to a union statement on Monday, USW leadership asked BP whether it would end the lockout without requiring acceptance of its March 17 proposal.
The union statement alleged that the company wouldn’t provide a “direct yes-or-no answer,” and instead repeated that it was “here to bargain.” The company said bargaining could continue during the lockout and that a settlement agreement is needed to end the lockout.
With its March 17 proposal, BP claims that it would offer modernized job structures, enhanced training and upskilling, a six-year agreement, a $2,500 lump sum bonus after ratification, additional lump sum payments between $5,000 and $7,500 for “certain classifications,” wage increases, annual cash bonus opportunity, simplified local work rules, and an 150-day notice requirement for intents to strike or lockout.
The union claims BP’s proposal would eliminate more than 100 local jobs, reduce pay, including sweeping management rights language and seniority issues. According to Post-Tribune archives, the company also proposed eliminating maintenance and environmental jobs.
“The company is trying to use mortgage payments, grocery bills, health care worries, and family pressure as bargaining leverage. British Petroleum is trying to win at the kitchen table what it could not win at the bargaining table,” USW Local 7-1 President Eric Schultz said in a statement. “We are ready to bargain, but British Petroleum should stop using this lockout to pressure workers and their families into accepting concessions.”
BP and USW started negotiations for a new agreement on Jan. 5, and its former one expired at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 31. The union operated under a three-year agreement, according to Post-Tribune archives.
Prior to the lockout, both parties agreed to rolling 24-hour extensions of the agreement for refinery workers. According to BP, the company and union have had more than 60 face-to-face discussions.
Monday’s meeting was the first since March 17, and both parties have claimed the other has refused to meet.
“For nearly two months after the lockout began, the USW refused to engage beyond proposing a return to work under the old agreement without resolving outstanding issues,” BP’s statement said. “The Whiting refinery’s highly skilled workforce continues to operate safely, reliably, and compliantly. There are no current impacts to operations.”
Union workers and Northwest Indiana residents have questioned the refinery’s safety since the lockout began, especially after flares went off at the refinery in April following a “brief loss of electric power disrupted operations.” A company spokesperson didn’t comment on if community members and union members picketing outside the refinery were made aware.
Schultz previously told the Post-Tribune that the union and picketers weren’t notified, and workers inside the refinery were told to shelter-in-place. He also said he was worried that replacement workers are more at risk because they “haven’t had to go through training courses” and have “the real-world experience” for those situations.
BP posted letters from April 1 and 10 on its website, addressed to Schultz and USW District 7 and Sub 5 Director Robert Lofton. Its April 1 letter claimed that the union provided no response to a March 17 offer or any further request to bargain.
In an April statement, the union said the company ignored its March 18 letter and several requests by phone, asking to lift the lockout and allow members to return to work while negotiations continue.
In its April 10 letter, BP said the union has “not provided substantive feedback” on its March 17 proposal. The April 10 letter said the union’s communication regarding the offer characterized it “in general terms but not addressed the substance of the proposal or advanced counterproposals for consideration.”
Schultz said in a May 12 statement that BP has never asked the union to return to the bargaining table, and the union believes the lockout “was always the company’s desired result.” USW also claimed BP repeatedly indicated that the company was unwilling to move on any part of its proposals, according to Post-Tribune archives.
“Our solidarity is our strength,” Schultz previously 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.”
