US strike spreads to 4 refineries, chem plants, brings total to 15

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The United Steelworkers (USW) union have called on four more refineries and chemical plants to join in its nationwide strike, bringing the total to 15 such plants as of Saturday.

Those joining include three plants owned by Motiva Enterprises, a 50:50 joint venture between Shell Oil and Saudi Aramco.

Those are the 600,000 bbl/day refinery in Port Arthur, Texas; the 235,000 bbl/day refinery in Norco, Louisiana; and the 230,000 bbl/day refinery in Convent, Louisiana.

Also joining is a Shell Chemical plant in Norco.

Shell’s Norco plant has a nameplate capacity of 260,000 tonnes/year of butadiene (BD), 1.42m tonnes/year of ethylene and 1.05m tonnes/year of propylene, according to ICIS plants and projects.

Earlier, the USW had urged locals on 24-hour contract extensions to prepare to join the strike if called upon by the union.

The strike started on 1 February and initially involved nine refineries and petrochemical plants.

Two refineries later joined, bringing the total to 11.

The union cited unsafe staffing levels and work conditions, fires and leaks, and overtime as reasons for the strike.

Other affected plants include the LyondellBasell refinery in Houston; Marathon Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City, Texas; Marathon Houston Green Cogeneration facility in Texas City, Texas; the Marathon refinery in Catlettsburg, Kentucky; the Shell Deer Park refinery in Deer Park, Texas; the Shell Deer Park chemical plant in Deer Park, Texas; Tesoro refineries in Anacortes, Washington, and Carson, California; and BP refineries in Whiting, Indiana, and Toledo, Ohio. Those plants are still operating, with management taking over the union workers’ positions for the time being.

USW workers at Tesoro’s refinery in Martinez, California, are part of the original strike order, but the plant was taken off line since it was already undergoing maintenance, the company said during an earnings conference call. Production should resume after the strike ends.

Until then, Martinez will run as a terminal, the company said.