Refiners, Union Workers Extend Contract Talks as Strike Looms

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and the abutment apery refinery workers continued talks on a new arrangement for at atomic 24 hours, dabbling a accessible bang that may affect about two-thirds of U.S. capacity.

The groups fabricated “sufficient progress” during talks yesterday, Lynne Baker, a United Steelworkers spokeswoman, said in a blast interview. The rolling 24-hour addendum began at 12:01 a.m. U.S. Central Time today and renews anniversary 24 hours until the two abandon ability an acceding or the abutment terminates the arrangement and gives 24 hour apprehension that it will strike.

“When you go to rolling 24-hour extensions, it appears they wish to ability a settlement, which will accumulate the abutment alive afterwards abolition refinery operations,” said Andy Lipow, admiral of Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston.

The negotiations awning workers at 86 plants apery about 64 percent of U.S. adorning capacity, including operations endemic by Exxon Mobil Corp., Valero Energy Corp., BP Plc and Chevron Corp. as able-bodied as Shell. Gasoline futures prices soared about 10 percent endure anniversary on affair over a walkout.

“The USW has agreed to extend the absolute arrangement accustomed that negotiations abide to be advantageous and advance is getting made,” Stan Mays, a Shell spokesman, said in an e-mail. “Shell is committed to absolute the actual issues at the negotiating table. We are optimistic that a mutually satisfactory acceding can be accomplished with the USW.”

Rejected Offer

The abutment alone on Jan. 30 Shell’s third offer, which included giving workers a three-year arrangement with a $500 signing benefit and 2.5 percent allowance increases in the additional and third years, according to a Jan. 28 announcement broadcast by the union. Advisers would accept a 75 cent-an-hour access in the aboriginal year.

No fourth action was made, Baker said. Associates accustomed a bang in October. The arrangement asleep at 12:01 a.m. today.

Local unions negotiating plant-specific affairs that asleep at 12:01 a.m. were aswell asked to convention 24-hour rolling extensions, Baker said. Lyondell Chemical Co. agreed to such an addendum with its bounded acceding committee, David Harpole, a agent for Lyondell, said in an e-mail.

The endure civic refinery bang happened in 1980 with the exhibit abiding for about three months. Abutment workers accustomed a 23 percent accession in pay and allowances over two years, while declining to get aggregation acceding to armamentarium approaching medical allowance exceptional increases, Business Anniversary appear at the time.

Baker beforehand beneath to say the areas in which advance was fabricated and what issues are still to be resolved. She said the talks focused on assurance and health-care issues. Talks are demography abode in Austin, Texas.

“While our focus is on extensive an agreement, we do accept affairs to cautiously accomplish in the accident of plan stoppages,” Mays said in an beforehand e-mail.

Valero’s Plans

Valero, the better U.S. refiner, has a accident workforce on website at its refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, Bill Day, a aggregation spokesman, said in an interview. It’s fabricated up of non- abutment workers and managers, he said.

“Valero is still negotiating with unions at the bounded level, and we’re hopeful that a plan abeyance can be avoided,” Day said afterwards the abutment appear the extension.

Valero affairs to accumulate Port Arthur accessible if there is a bang and shut its refineries in Delaware City, Delaware, and Memphis.

“We accept agreements with the unions at Memphis and Delaware City that if they alarm for a plan stoppage, advisers will break on the job for 72 hours to advice complete a safe and alike abeyance of the plants,” Day said.

The Memphis refinery can action about 182,000 barrels of oil a day, according to Energy Department data. The Delaware City bulb can action 190,200 barrels a day, while the Port Arthur bulb can action about 294,000 barrels a day.

BP Bulb Closures

BP, Europe’s second-largest oil company, has estimated that a exhibit could affect four of its U.S. refineries processing about 1.3 actor barrels of awkward a day, said Scott Dean, a spokesman. The aggregation affairs to shut plants area there is a strike.

The abutment at BP’s Texas City, Texas, refinery accomplished an acceding on bounded issues with the London-based company, said W.E. Sonny Sanders, the sub-district administrator for the accompaniment of Louisiana.

Lyondell Chemical “continues to arrangement in acceptable acceptance and will abide as continued as we accomplish progress,” David Harpole, a aggregation spokesman, said yesterday. About 500 of the 950 workers at its Houston refinery are abutment members.

Lyondell has been training salaried cadre for the accomplished year to be backup workers “who can cautiously accomplish the refinery” in the accident of a strike, Harpole said. “They are able to yield over if necessary. There would be no appulse to operations.”

Shell, Exxon Mobil

Shell and Exxon Mobil are advancing to accumulate their U.S. plants active in a walkout, application managers and added non-union advisers to accumulate sites operating. Prem Nair, a backer for Exxon Mobil, the world’s better ammunition maker, beneath to animadversion bygone on the cachet of the negotiations.

Chevron, the second-biggest U.S. oil company, may accumulate operating its refineries in the accident of a strike.

A bang could affect 58 percent of the workers amenable for the nation’s ammunition supply, abutment backer Baker said. The accepted arrangement was accomplished in 2002 and was continued in 2005.

The union’s civic acceding action calls for college wages, including a cost-of-living adjustment, as able-bodied as abounding medical, dental and vision-care allowances for workers and retirees. Bounded unions aswell may alarm strikes if they don’t ability acceding on issues such as plan schedules and overtime

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 10:50 am and is filed under Market news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.