US refinery strike: Negotiations failed, says Shell

HOUSTON: Lead US oil company negotiator Shell Oil Co said face-to-face negotiations with United Steelworkers Union (USW) failed to yield an agreement to end the 20-day-old US refinery strike. Workers at refineries and chemical plants were waiting for instructions to join the more than 5,000 workers at 11 plants, including nine refineries accounting for 13% of US production capacity, walking picket lines in the largest national refinery strike since 1980. Rumours about a tentative deal between the USW and Shell Oil were being swapped through text messages, emails and phone calls among oil industry insiders throughout the night. “Discussions with the United Steelworkers concluded for this evening with no agreement in place,” said Shell spokesman Ray Fisher, while the Steelworkers stated that the talks were continuing. Shell and the union have been meeting continuously since talks resumed following a week-long break for the company to reply to an information request and a counterproposal from the USW.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2015.

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