Hundreds of local union leaders from the USW’s oil sector are gathering in Pittsburgh for the National Oil Bargaining Conference, which began Aug. 1.
Though 2013 is an off-year for the sector with no national bargaining scheduled, the members took up the important business of electing new national policy committee members and attending training sessions on issues such as the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and dealing with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
USW international officers also addressed the gathering, emphasizing the need for members to remain active politically and to support candidates who will stand up for oil workers.
“If people think that politics don’t matter, all they have to do is look at what we’ve done,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard, citing the union’s recent efforts in working with political leaders from both parties to save refineries in the Philadelphia area and in Hawaii.
“We are on the cusp of an energy revolution in America,” Gerard said. “We need to make sure that revolution includes our members.”