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(Reuters) – A lockout at BP’s 440,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Whiting, Indiana, enters its second month as the British oil major and hundreds of union workers remain at odds.
BP locked out about 800 workers represented by the United Steelworkers union on March 19, after months of negotiations failed to produce a new labor contract.
The Whiting facility is the largest refinery in the Midwest and a major supplier of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. It has continued to operate during the lockout after BP brought in temporary workers.
BP said on Wednesday it had attempted twice since early April to return to negotiations with the union but had not received a formal response.
“We are ready to resume bargaining,” BP Whiting refinery manager Chris DellaFranco said in a video message posted on the company’s website.
DellaFranco disputed the union’s claim that the company’s proposal would eliminate 100 union jobs. The company said approximately 65 positions would be affected and those workers would receive “generous compensation” under the new proposal.
The Steelworkers have previously accused BP of pressuring workers into accepting concessions. The union said they were informed by the company the lockout would not be lifted unless workers accepted BP’s demands, which include job cuts, wage reductions across most classifications and limits on collective bargaining rights.
Eric Schultz, president of USW Local 7-1, was not immediately available for comment. The lockout at Whiting came at a time of elevated gasoline and diesel prices as a major shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz, remained effectively closed during the conflict in the Middle East. Any prolonged operational disruptions could exacerbate an already tight fuel market, sending prices even higher.
Reporting by Nicole Jao in New York, Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Rod Nickel
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