Overwork and fatigue of refinery workers and the health and safety of both workers and the surrounding community are the main issues, as they have been for many years (although this is the first national refinery strike in roughly 40 years, according to USW president Leo Gerard). In some cases, the union says, workers have put in more than 12 hours a day for a month or more, despite previous agreements on reducing fatigue and limiting hours. Paying overtime is cheaper.
Likewise, hiring outside maintenance crews for periodic repairs or even massive overhauls is cheaper than keeping an adequate, full-time maintenance staff, even though the union says such a maintenance crew would know the plant better and be more likely to maintain it safely.
Despite the small numbers of workers in many refineries, accidents can kill up to a couple dozen workers and spread toxic chemicals over wide swaths of nearby communities, endangering up to tens of thousands of neighbors.
Consequently, Gerard says, “Our fight is not just a fight for our members but a fight for the communities.”
But the lead negotiator for the industry, Shell, is “one of the worst offenders,” according to Gerard. If workers had more control over the running of the plants, “we’ll keep them as safe as possible,” he says.
Even though safety and fatigue are the paramount issues, “the economics are still an issue.” With crude oil prices low, refineries are even more profitable. But the companies reject union proposals across the board with “a breathtaking level of arrogance,” Gerard says.
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Someone should tell Mr. Gerald that communities have nothing to do with Communism.
David DeGerolamo
I have witnessed this communism first hand. And I am no fan of this type of system. With that said, there exists many systems which replicate the negotiating leverage within an economic system. The American Bar Association, and the American Medical Association work in more sophisticated ways to apply the same leverage that the trade unions employ to secure their piece of the pie. These are the checks and balances that have developed to combat the fallen nature of man. Satan is the corrupter of this world system.