USW Members Voting on LyondellBasell Contract Today
Pasadena, Texas -- More than two months in, the United Steelworkers oil refinery strike still isn't technically over, but things could wrap up soon for the USW District 227 workers at LyondellBasell in Pasadena.
USW 227 has been on strike from the start. When USW called the strike on February 1, about 450 union workers at LyondellBasell in Pasadena were part of the first wave to actually go out on strike. By the time the action -- the first significant oil refinery strike in 30 years -- got rolling, more than 6,000 union employees at 15 plants, including 12 refineries, across the country were on strike.
After so long without a real strike, it's been a learning experience for many of the union members, USW reps say. At LyondellBasell, the employees walked the picket line and tried to wait it out. Those who come from union families know that strikes can last a long time. (The 1980 strike lasted for three months.) While officials with Royal Dutch Shell, negotiating on behalf of the oil companies, and USW, negotiating on behalf of about 30,000 workers, struggled to agree on a national contract, the striking workers were going without paychecks and health insurance.
It was tough but they managed. Only about 50 of the 450 strikers crossed the picket line and went back to work, according to USW 227. The others lived off of savings or supplements from USW, or they went and got new jobs. The union provided health insurance. The community has been helping out as well. Local restaurants send food over to the union hall about once a week. A couple of local grocery stores have been sending over soon-to-expire goods to help fill in the union food pantry, and church officials have called to remind the union that its members can make use of the church food pantries.
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