By Erwin Seba
HOUSTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) – The United Steelworkers union and Marathon Petroleum began negotiating on Friday a new multi-year contract for U.S. refinery and chemical plant workers with only a week to go before the current contract expires.
Failure to reach an agreement between the union and Marathon, which is the lead negotiator for U.S. petrochemical companies, could lead thousands of workers to walk off their jobs once the contract expires shortly after 12 a.m. on February 1.
The last nationwide strike 11 years ago ended after six weeks, but strikes at individual plants continued into the summer. A total of 7,000 workers went on strike.
“As the lead company in national pattern negotiations, Marathon is committed to engaging in productive negotiations with the USW and working toward a mutually beneficial agreement,” said Marathon spokesperson Jamal Kheiry.
A USW representative did not reply to a request for comment.
At a meeting in August, 300 representatives of USW oil worker local unions set goals for the negotiations including “significant” wage increases, limits on health care costs and rules governing the use of artificial intelligence in plant operations.
Currently, inside refinery operators make about $50 an hour.
The USW represents 30,000 workers at plants producing motor fuels and plastics from crude oil.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; editing by Nathan Crooks and Edward Tobin)
