NEW YORK -- A national oil workers’ union announced on Friday that it accepted an offer from oil companies, ending the threat of a strike at U.S. oil refineries.
The agreement between the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers (PACE) and Shell will be used to draft contracts with other oil companies, including ChevronTexaco Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc. and Phillips Petroleum Co., said union spokeswoman Lynne Baker.
Now that Shell and PACE have come to agreement, local unions are expected to settle with their respective companies nationwide. The contracts for most oil workers across the country expired Thursday at midnight.
“This will set the pattern for the other agreements, and you will be looking at local agreements over the next couple of days,” Baker said. “There will not be a nationwide strike.”
Union negotiators yesterday rejected offers from ChevronTexaco, Exxon Mobil, BP and Phillips affecting five refineries and a petrochemical plant in California and Texas. The union had rejected Shell’s offer on Wednesday.
The union late yesterday rescinded its threat of a strike, hours before the expiration of the contracts at midnight to allow negotiations to continue.
“Shell was the lead negotiator,” said BP spokeswoman Sarah Howell in New York. “They negotiated on behalf of the industry. The agreement will be used as a template for agreements between the union and other refiners.”
Terms of the four-year contract with Shell included wage increases of 85 cents an hour in the first year and gains of 3.5 percent, 3.7 percent and 4 percent in the following years, the union said in a statement.
The benefit for death resulting from a work accident will be increased to $500,000 from $250,000, the union said.
