The United Steelworkers (USW) union, representing workers at about two-thirds of US oil refineries, is issuing strike notices after rejecting a fourth contract proposed by Royal Dutch Shell PLC on behalf of energy companies.
The steelworkers’ national agreement with Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp and other refiners expired yesterday. The union has not called a strike and is notifying local management “so preparations can be made” should one occur, USW spokeswoman Lynne Hancock said on Saturday.
The USW described Shell’s latest proposal in a telephone message as “insulting” and instructed all local units to reject it.
Union leaders and Shell have been meeting since Jan. 21 to reach a new three-year agreement. A nationwide strike would threaten to halt as much as 63 percent of US fuel production and slow operations at more than 200 US refineries, terminals, pipelines and chemical plants.
“Negotiations continue with USW with the intent of reaching a mutually satisfactory agreement prior to contract expiration,” , Shell spokesman Ray Fisher said in an e-mail on Saturday.
Shell’s fourth contract proposal was rejected as the two sides remain far apart, according to two people familiar with the talks, who asked not to be identified because the information is not public.
The union and Shell have the choice of extending negotiations past the current contract’s expiration.
Shell and its Motiva Enterprises LLC joint venture have not received strike notices at their refineries, Fisher said. Exxon, based in Irving, Texas, has received one at its 344,600 barrel per day Beaumont refinery in Texas. Hancock said by telephone from Nashville, Tennessee, that she did not immediately know whether other refineries had received notices.
“This action was initiated by the union, and we do not believe it is in the best interest of our local employees,” Exxon spokesman Todd Spitler said in an e-mail on Saturday.
Spokesmen for Tesoro Corp, a San Antonio-based company with most of the refining capacity in the western US, and Houston-based Phillips 66 Co said their companies have not received strike notices.
Oil explorers and the contractors that help them drill wells, build offshore platforms, lay pipelines and feed rig crews have been whiplashed by the seven-month rout of oil markets that saw the value of a barrel of crude shrink by 57 percent.
Gasoline and diesel prices at the pump have plunged and many refiners are worried about their profit margins, though companies have reported stronger-than-expected fourth quarter profits.
The industry has responded by cutting more than 30,000 jobs, halting exploration projects and deferring investments in everything from gas-export terminals to petrochemical plants.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
RSS