<article><p>Union workers at nine refinery sites and two associated facilities continued a third day of work stoppages, as talks with lead refining negotiator Shell resumed late today.</p><p>The United Steelworkers (USW) union strike led US independent refiner Tesoro to idle a northern California refinery already under maintenance but has not otherwise disrupted operations, according to companies involved. Refiners use supervisors and contractors to fill in for striking union workers.</p><p>Talks broke down 31 January as the union sought better wages and less reliance on non-union contract workers in the new, three-year contract. Refiner use of contract labor creates safety hazards, the union said. Five offers were made and rejected. Shell has led national negotiations for the refining industry.</p><p>Union and refinery negotiators met last night but made no progress, according to the USW.</p><p>Workers have given strike notifications at the 268,000 b/d LyondellBasell refinery in Houston, Texas; Marathon Petroleum's 475,000 b/d refinery in Texas City, Texas, and 240,000 b/d refinery in Catlettsburg, Kentucky; Shell's 340,000 b/d joint venture refinery in Deer Park, Texas; ExxonMobil's 348,000 b/d refinery in Beaumont, Texas; and at Tesoro's 68,000 b/d Mandan, North Dakota, 120,000 b/d Anacortes, Washington, 260,000 b/d Carson, California, and 168,000 b/d Martinez, California refineries. Tesoro idled the Golden Eagle refinery in Martinez earlier this week.</p><p>Workers have also given strike notifications at Shell's Deer Park chemical facility and at Marathon Petroluem cogeneration plant. ExxonMobil said its last offer at the Beaumont refinery would expire 15 February.</p><p>The USW says it represents workers at 65 refineries representing almost two-thirds of US refining capacity. </p><p>The January and February contract negotiations occured in the early portion of a traditional maintenance season amid lower US fuel demand. Refiners with planned work like the maintenance underway at Golden Eagle will have to weigh whether the absence of skilled staff will make maintenance easier or more difficult.</p><p>Non-union contractors make up most of the staff needed for turnaround work, and supervisors promoted into their positions from working on the refining units can fill in on operations. But refiners may prefer to have daily operators on hand for turnaround work to monitor changes to the unit and assist, Turner, Mason &amp; Company executive vice president John Auers said.</p><p>"Even at an operating refinery, I think there's sufficient knowledge and experience in place to operate the facility," Auers said. </p><p>eb/tdf</p><p><br> Send comments to <a href="mailto:feedback@argusmedia.com" target="_parent"> feedback@argusmedia.com </a></p><p><u><a href="http://www.argusmedia.com/Info/General/News" target="_TOP"> Request more information </a></u> about Argus' energy and commodity news, data and analysis services. </p><p><i> Copyright © 2015 Argus Media Ltd - <a href="http://www.argusmedia.com/" target="_TOP"> www.argusmedia.com </a> - All rights reserved. </i></p></article>
