FROM THE UNION
December Update from the NOBP Chair: We Must Never Forget
Twenty years ago on the day before Thanksgiving—Nov. 25, 1998—an event happened that changed my life forever. While at times this incident seems like yesterday and at other times it seems like a lifetime ago, hardly a week passes that this tragedy has not entered my mind.
Six of my coworkers died in a fire at the Equilon Anacortes, Wash., refinery shortly after lunch. It forever changed the way I looked at my job.
Click here to continue reading the message from NOBP Chair Kim Nibarger.
What Happens Next for National Oil Bargaining?
The International will begin negotiations with Shell Oil Co. in mid-January and address the issues in the National Oil Bargaining Policy to reach a national, pattern agreement.
At the same time, oil units will conduct their local bargaining over issues affecting their own facilities and units. Examples include: refinery work rules, shoe and meal allowances and seniority.
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Thank you for your generosity!
USW oil workers generously helped their USW Local 5114 brothers and sisters engaged in an unfair labor practice strike since March 13, 2017 at Hecla Mining Co.’s Lucky Friday silver mine in Idaho.
USW District 12 Staff Representative Catherine Houston conducted two 50/50 raffles during the National Oil Bargaining Program (NOBP) conference in September. Over $2,100 was donated.
“Our members are so thankful and appreciative to all who purchased raffle tickets to help them financially as they enter into their 21st month on strike,” Houston said.
About 250 USW-represented miners dig deep underground for silver, lead and zinc in the mine. Lucky Friday is one of the deepest silver mines in the U.S. It was organized in the 1950s.
This is the first time in 30 years that miners at the site walked off the job because of alleged unfair labor practices. They are demanding a “Fair Contract Now” from Hecla, which is based in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho.
Helping Locked-Out Members
A 50/50 drawing for the locked-out, USW National Grid workers was also held by Energy News Today (ENT) at its party for NOBP delegates in the evening after the day’s events. In that raffle, ENT collected $1,220 for the locked-out workers, and it included a contribution from ENT as well. ENT also threw in a $100 Lowe’s card.
IN THE NEWS
Click to read more from From Hydrocarbon Processing
French union threatens refinery shutdown as pay strike extended
Hard-left French trade union CGT rejected oil industry federation UFIP’s proposal for a 1.5 percent salary increase, and said that if Total SA refuses the union’s proposal to negotiate bonuses, it will request that striking oil workers shut down three of France’s seven refineries. The fuel companies are also facing protests from the “yellow vest” movement of citizens who oppose higher fuel taxes. They have sporadically blockaded oil depots.
Click to read more from Desmog
‘Time is Running Out,’ American Petroleum Institute Chief Said in 1965 Speech on Climate Change
Before most climate deniers were born or were children, the head of the American Petroleum Institute (API) warned an oil conference in 1965 about climate change. He described the findings from President Lyndon Johnson’s Science Advisory Committee report, “Restoring the Quality of Our Environment.”
The API also funded research in 1954 by a California Institute of Technology geochemist who reported that fossil fuels had already caused carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to rise roughly five percent since 1854.
Nuclear physicist Edward Teller also warned the oil and gas industry in 1959 about global warming and sea level rise in a talk titled “Energy Patterns of the Future.”
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Has your local organized a group of workers, won an award, participated in a community event, won an arbitration, helped achieve a legislative victory, settled a safety issue, etc.?
Please contact Lynne Hancock at lhancock@usw.org, (office) 412-562-2442 or (cell) 615-828-6169.
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