WHITING, Ind.—Energy giant BP, once known as British Petroleum, locked out 900 United Steelworkers on St. Patrick’s Day at its Whiting, Ind., oil refinery, the largest in the Midwest.
Negotiations have been underway between the workers and management since the union’s contract ended on Feb. 1. USW Local 7-1 President Eric Schultz said the lockout followed a proposal the union made.
“We presented British Petroleum with an offer today that included accepting several of their proposals, only for them to reject that after just four hours and serve us with a lockout notice,” he said.
BP has been seeking a six-year contract and 150-day notice before a strike or lockout, saying that “industrial peace” would bring stability to its operations.
Union leaders have said they will not accept BP’s proposals, including cutting 100 union jobs, eliminating all the union jobs from the environmental department, cutting pay for most job classifications, and stripping away bargaining rights.
“They continue to demand that we cut more than 100 jobs, accept pay cuts to nearly all positions, and give up our bargaining rights, Schultz said. “That’s just unacceptable. We are prepared to keep fighting for a fair agreement that protects local jobs, protects wages, and protects the rights of our members.”
According to one BP worker, the last offer from the company was worse than the previous one.
“The company wants to make all the safety jobs salaried,” he said. “They aren’t following the industry pay raise negotiated and instead gave the raise, changed all the jobs around, and then lowered the wage.”
Management has already hired replacement workers and solicited the services of a union-busting company called Starcon.
BP has made significant profits since the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic–$27.7 billion in 2022, $15.2 billion in 2023, $381 million in 2023, and $7.5 billion in 2025.
The Steelworkers struck BP in 2015, the last time that the company wanted to eliminate the union’s right to strike. That strike lasted 3 1/2 months, ending with the union retaining the right to strike.
A giant spill at the refinery while scabs were running it precipitated the end of that strike. In 1990, there were 1,500 union workers there, and now there are a little less than 900.
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