FILE PHOTO: A United Steelworkers flag flies outside the Local 1299 union hall in Ecorse, Michigan, U.S., September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
January 28, 2022
HOUSTON (Reuters) -The United Steelworkers union (USW) rejected a pay increase offered by lead oil company negotiator Marathon Petroleum in talks for a agreement covering U.S. refinery workers, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The offer was for a 4% pay increase over three years for 30,000 refinery and chemical plant workers represented by the union, the three sources said.
Under the current contract, which expires Feb. 1, workers received pay increases of 3.5% in each of the contract’s first two years and 4% in the third and last year.
A Marathon spokesperson was not immediately available on Friday afternoon to discuss the negotiations.
In a message to members on Friday afternoon that was seen by Reuters, the USW said Marathon was ignoring issues the union has raised in the talks that began on Jan. 13.
“Their wage proposals to date are paltry,” the USW message said. “In light of their earnings & dividends to shareholders, they are offensive. It’s time for the companies to quit screwing around, recognize the seriousness of the approaching deadline and move towards a settlement.”
On Wednesday, the USW said in a message to members that Marathon had offered a 3% pay increase over three years, which the union called “ridiculous.”
Going into talks, the union was seeking “significant” pay increases and improvements in health insurance, according to people familiar with deliberations over the summer within the USW who were not authorized to speak publicly.
Refiners and chemical producers began recovering in 2021 from large losses in 2020 when lockdowns and work-from-home policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 drove down motor fuel demand.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)
Source: One America News Network
