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 The walkouts were the first in support of a nationwide pact since
1980 and targeted plants with a combined 10 percent of U.S. refining
capacity. One of the plants, Tesoro Corp's <TSO.N>
166,000-barrel-per-day Martinez, California, refinery, was being
shut because it was in the midst of planned maintenance work.
The other refineries appeared set to continue running normally as
operators initiated contingency plans, calling on trained managers
as replacement workers. U.S. gasoline and diesel fuel prices rose on
Monday on concerns over supply, as well as a bounce in crude.
Talks broke down against a backdrop of plunging crude prices, down
nearly 60 percent since June, prompting oil companies to cut
spending.
The United Steelworkers union (USW) said Royal Dutch Shell Plc <RDSa.L><RDSa.N>,
the lead industry negotiator, halted negotiations early Sunday after
the union rejected a fifth proposal from the company. Shell said it
would like to restart talks.
Shell activated a strike contingency plan at its joint venture
refinery and chemical plant in Deer Park, Texas, to keep operating
normally.
Tesoro said management was operating its refinery in Carson,
California, and that managers would take over from union workers at
its plant in Anacortes, Washington, in the next 24-48 hours.
Besides Shell and Tesoro, the USW said strikes were called at three
plants belonging to Marathon Petroleum Corp <MPC.N> in Texas and
Kentucky, and LyondellBasell Industries NV's <LYB.N> plant near
Houston. At least two of the plants on the list have a history of
deadly accidents.
The USW said all other refineries it represents, including Exxon
Mobil Corp's <XOM.N> plant in Beaumont, Texas, would operate under
rolling 24-hour contract extensions.
The expiring three-year national contract covers about 30,000 hourly
workers at plants that together have two-thirds of U.S. refining
capacity.
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The latest rejected proposal was the fifth turned down since
negotiations for a new three-year contract began on Jan. 21.
The union is seeking annual pay raises double the size of those in
the last agreement. It also wants work that has been given in the
past to non-union contractors to start going to USW members, a
tighter policy to prevent workplace fatigue, and reductions in
members' out-of-pocket payments for healthcare.
Gene Oliver, president of the union chapter at LyondellBasell, said
the company brought 10 issues to the table and did not want to
discuss all of the 36 points raised by the union.
"They were unwilling to work on the issues," he said.
Independent refiners, such as Valero Energy Corp <VLO.N>, have made
big profits recently by tapping cheap crudes from the U.S. shale
boom, while refining units at integrated companies such as Exxon
have provided a cushion against low prices hurting upstream
operations.
But the drop in oil prices from $100 per barrel last summer has hurt
the union's hand, analysts said.
(Writing by Terry Wade; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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