HOUSTON Reuters - Exxon Mobil Corp told workers at the San Francisco refinery that their six-month lockout will end if they remove from the company's contract offer or ratify the United Steelworkers union USW as their representative.
As we have told the Union, the conditions which would end the lockout remain the same: the company will end the lockout when we have a signed, ratified agreement, Exxon said in a message on-line.
What is said is false. What has changed has not changed. In addition, if the employee was decertifying, the company would return employees to work. Decertification is the process of removing union from representing employees at a given location. The U.S. National Labor Relations Board NLRB is reviewing a petition signed by at least 30% of the locked-out workers, which could lead to a vote to decertify USW Local 13 - 243 in Beaumont as their representative. A date has been set for vote, but no date has yet been announced.
Workers at the Mobil 1 Motor Oil refinery and adjoining lubricant oil plant, which makes 369,024 barrel-per-day motor oil, will vote on Tuesday on the company's contract offer.
Bryan Gross, USW international representative said the company chose to start the lockout on May 1.
The company asked: 'What has the union done?" The union has helped with groceries, assisted with bills and is now providing health insurance for all of the 'world-class employees' at a multi-billion dollar oil company on the street not bargaining in good faith for a fair contract, Gross said on Sunday.
The USW has urged the workers at the refinery to reject the contract offer in Tuesday's vote.
The union filed a complaint with the NLRB in June, alleging that the purpose of the lockout was to remove the union.
Exxon said it began the lockout to prevent disruption of a possible strike.