Union workers at Exxon Mobil Corp.’s refinery in Baytown, Texas, are threatening to strike over safety concerns, the United Steelworkers said Monday.
About 850 union employees could halt work on June 15 at the 500,000 barrel-a-day refinery–the second-largest in the U.S.–unless Exxon management agrees to contract language that the union says would improve health and safety at the sprawling fuels and chemical plant. The USW has raised concerns about safety at the plant since June 2011, after a worker suffered burns on 25% of his body because of a problem with a steam vent valve.
The union said it proposed health and safety language from the 2012 National Oil Bargaining agreement but Exxon management refused to accept it in its final offer given April 15. The two sides will meet again on May 3, with a strike and management lockout planned if no agreement is reached, the union said in a statement.
Published April 29, 2013
Dow Jones Newswires