THE OIL STRIKE ISSUE 2 FEB. 19, 2015 As Bargaining Resumes, Industry Continues to Resist Proposals for Lifesaving Safety Improvements USW NOBP Policy Committee Unanimously Rejects Sixth Offer, Locals on 24 Hour Extensions Urged to Be Ready to Join ULP Strike Back at the Bargaining Table Bargaining between the United Steelworkers and the oil industry resumed on Wednesday, February 18th. At the bargaining table the industry provided the USW bargaining committee with the information that the union had requested weeks ago. Union leaders examined the information that was provided and discussed important issues with the industry well into the night on Wednesday and through the day on Thursday. Policy Committee Hits the Picket Lines, Union Meetings While bargaining continued, members of the rank and file Policy Committee traveled to picket lines and union halls around the gulf coast. Policy Committee members visited picketers at Marathon’s Galveston Bay refinery, Shell Deer Park, and LyondellBassel’s Houston Refinery. Members of the rank and file Policy Committee also addressed hundreds of strikers at a unit meeting at USW Local 227 on Wednesday night and hundreds of oil workers from Shell Motiva in Port Arthur and Exxon Mobil in Beaumont on Thursday night. During each of the meetings the members of the Policy Committee discussed making the difficult decision to vote to strike to push back against the industry’s unfair labor practices and its failure to seriously engage our union around our proposals for life saving safety improvements. Three of the members of the rank and file Policy Committee work at units that have been called out on strike—Region A Representative Larry Sinclair, Region D Representative Steve Garey, and Region E Representative Larry Burchfield. Staying Strong, Preparing to Expand the Fight By the end of the day on Thursday, the industry had presented a sixth offer to the NOBP Policy Committee. The new offer included only minor changes from the previous offers and it continues to fail to address our union’s proposals for life saving safety improvements in any sort of meaningful or enforceable way. The bargaining team and the NOBP committee unanimously rejected the proposal and urged the locals on 24-‐hour extensions to prepare to join the strike if called upon. Prepared to Bargain The USW bargaining committee is still at the bargaining site and prepared to continue to bargain with the industry. We will keep you posted as this situation unfolds. Thank you all for your support and solidarity though this challenging time. Stay strong, stay safe. Together we will last one day longer!