Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

ExxonMobil response to impounding of ballots in USW decertification vote
by KFDM/FOX 4
Wednesday, December 29th 2021

https://kfdm.com/news/local/exxonmobil-response-to-impounding-of-ballots-in-usw-decertification-vote

BEAUMONT — From ExxonMobil To: All Represented BMRF/B&P Employees

The USW has, once again, silenced your voice and stopped your vote. Through their baseless legal charges, the Union has prevented your vote from being counted in the election. This morning, the Company was informed by the NLRB that effective today, December 29, 2021, the mail-in votes will be impounded – and won’t be counted – until further notice.

While the USW’s actions may have resulted in your votes being impounded, the Company remains confident that it has acted in accordance with the law at all times, and the NLRB will dismiss these charges once they have completed their investigation.

As we have said numerous times, the Company will end the lockout when the Company and the Union reach a signed, ratified agreement or employees have removed the Union through decertification or withdrawal of recognition. Today, the USW’s action not only prevented your voice from being heard but also denied you an opportunity to end the lockout.

Does this mean the NLRB has found fault or that the decertification has failed? Why haven’t they decided?

No. The NLRB has impounded the votes while they continue to assess the merits of the charges and determine whether any unfair labor practice has occurred. The NLRB is reviewing an increased number of cases, causing a backlog in their reviews. As such, we have no way of knowing how long it will take for the NLRB to complete its investigation.

The NLRB has not found that the Company violated the law in any capacity; however, the Union continues to suggest that the charges being referred to the NLRB’s Division of Advice is somehow a “win” for the Union. To be clear, a referral is not indicative of a ruling against the Company. We are confident that the Company acted lawfully at all times and that these charges will eventually be dismissed.

What else can you do to remove the USW from the Beaumont Refinery and Lubes Plant?

In addition to voting “no” in the NLRB’s election, you may also consider signing the decertification petition.

If the majority of employees sign the decertification petition, the law allows the Company to withdraw recognition from the USW immediately without an election even if ballots are impounded. Following withdrawal of recognition, employees would no longer be represented by the USW, and the Company could return employees to work. This means that the withdrawal of recognition is still a viable option provided the majority of employees signed the decertification petition.

Please note, signing the decertification petition is separate from voting “no” in the NLRB’s election. If you have already voted “no” in the election and still want to decertify the USW, you should sign the employee decertification petition.

Any questions related to the employee led decertification effort can be submitted to Beaumont Area HR Department at Beaumont.Area.HR@exxonmobil.com.

Update. Beaumont is still running just fine without the union.

Union offered Exxon six-year deal with no raise first year - sources
Erwin Seba · Posted: a day ago | Updated: a day ago | 2 Min Read

https://www.saltwire.com/cape-breton/business/union-offered-exxon-six-year-deal-with-no-raise-first-year-sources-100585471/

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON (Reuters) - United Steelworkers union negotiators bargaining for a new contract at an Exxon Mobil Texas refinery offered a six-year deal with no pay raise in the first year, people familiar with the talks said, shortly before 650 workers were locked out of their jobs.

The Local 13-243 proposal would match raises in the second through sixth years to those set by national labor negotiations that have yet to be held, the people said. The two sides have not swapped new proposals since the May 1 lockout, the people said.

The Beaumont plant's union workers were ushered out after Local 13-243 officials refused Exxon's call for a vote on the company's April 20 labor proposal, details of which have not been disclosed.

The 2,700-acre Beaumont complex is Exxon's third-largest U.S. refinery and produces gasoline and Mobil 1 motor oil. It continues to operate with managers and replacement workers on site.

"The provisions being sought by the company are not new or unique to the industry or ExxonMobil. Many provisions sought by the union are not part of other existing contracts we have with the USW," said Exxon spokeswoman Julie King.

The two sides "remain far apart on many important items," she added.

The USW local wants to maintain four 10-hour work days, job bidding, grievance and arbitration procedures. Its proposal offered to extend a probationary period for new workers to 18 months from six, the people said.

Hoot Landry, a staff representative for the USW, declined to discuss the union proposal.

Exxon told union negotiators it expected no layoffs of hourly workers at the site, they said. The firm is in the midst of an expansion program that would double the plant's processing capacity.

The two sides have not met since April 30, but another meeting has been discussed, one of the people said.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by David Gregorio)

@6gmb+1ayzjZXc

Lol. And? It's been less than a day and there still is no significant impact.

@6zoy+1ayzjZXc

It’s been less than a day. Good job scab. Woods is proud of you.

@5fjd+1ayzjZXc

From the inside. Very little impact thus far. It also isn't engineers and managers "running" the plant. Still have very experienced CSS's around.

Would be funny to hear some insight from the inside. I know when Shell went on strike in 2015 we were at reduced feed rates big time because a lot of our id--t chemical engineers and management couldn’t properly run the units reliably. Maintenance halts and so do unit feed rates. These scabs are used to being lazy working from home and complaining about having to go back to the office; what makes you think they wanna work shift work? I’m sure Union workers will bend Exxon over the barrel and get what they want.

If we could replace a bunch of whiny air traffic controllers, we can sure replace steel workers wondering around an oil refinery

Exxon Mobil begins lockout of workers from Texas plant -USW official
By Erwin Seba 10 hrs ago
Source: Reuters

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/exxon-mobil-begins-escorting-workers-from-texas-plant-usw-official/ar-BB1gfkq2

BEAUMONT, Texas (Reuters) -Exxon Mobil Corp began escorting United Steelworkers (USW) union members from its Beaumont, Texas, complex, a Reuters witness said, as a deadline passed without a new labor contract.

The oil company had set a 10 a.m. (1500 GMT) May 1 deadline to lock out and replace union-represented workers with managers and temporary staff if there were no vote on a company proposal. No vote was taken.

Plant manager Rozena Dendy said in a Facebook post Exxon initiated the lockout because of the "real risk of a strike." Union workers will remain off the job until a contract is reached, she said.

Union officials submitted a last-ditch contract proposal Friday evening that was rejected by the company. The union proposal "would significantly increase costs and limit the company's ability to safely and efficiently operate," the company said on its website.

About 30 workers were ushered off the premises by their replacements late Friday. Another 100 began exiting the refinery on Saturday, according to a USW official.

"After they gave us a lockout date and time, they could not give up control of the timeline. They had to go early," Hoot Landry, a USW staff representative, said of the overnight departures. The two sides had given each other a 75-day notice of a strike or lockout, a period ending May 1.

Exxon said on its website it had offered to negotiate through the night to reach an agreement, but the union wanted to resume talks on Monday.

"We are disappointed negotiations broke down," Exxon said. "The lockout will continue until the union accepts the company’s current offer or the parties otherwise reach agreement."

The company's April 20 offer "remains on the table," Exxon said on its website.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba in Beaumont, Texas; Editing by Richard Pullin and Steve Orlofsky)

Exxon, USW union agree on steps for Texas refinery lockout handover
by Erwin Seba - Contributor
Source: Reuters
PUBLISHED
APR 28, 2021 10:56PM EDT

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/exxon-usw-union-agree-on-steps-for-texas-refinery-lockout-handover-2021-04-28-0

HOUSTON, April 28 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N and the United Steelworkers union (USW) have agreed to an orderly transfer of the company's Beaumont, Texas, refinery to temporary workers if a threatened lockout begins on Saturday, according to people familiar with the talks.

The two sides have been in negotiations since January but have been unable to agree on a new union labor contract for the plant, Exxon's third-largest U.S. refinery by capacity.

If Exxon locks out the union workers, it would be the first time since 1988 that the Beaumont plant workers have gone off the job in a labour dispute.

Exxon told refinery workers in an email that it wants the union to hold a vote on its latest offer, according to an email viewed by Reuters. It has declined to hold further talks without the vote, the people said.

@2hcn+1ayzjZXc

The reason they don't go public with it is because their demands are horse sh-t and unreasonable.

Why doesn’t the union make their request public....let social pressure decide

If a big company is really in the wrong social pressure works much more than a strike...especially when there are so many refinery hands waiting for new jobs these days....

Engineers need strike pay, too.

Exxon seeking temporary workers for Beaumont, Texas, refinery during lockout -sources
Reuters
April 26, 2021
8:25 PM CDT

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exxon-seeking-temporary-workers-beaumont-texas-refinery-during-lockout-sources-2021-04-27/

Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) is looking for temporary workers for its Beaumont, Texas, refinery beginning in May when it has threatened to lock out 650 workers at the plant, sources familiar with the search said on Monday.

Exxon told the United Steelworkers union (USW) last week that hourly employees - employees paid by the hour who are entitled to overtime - will be locked out of their jobs at the refinery if there is not a new contract agreement by Saturday.

An Exxon spokeswoman was not immediately available to discuss the company's plans to operate the refinery after a lockout is in place.

Exxon has circulated a notice for at least 40 process operators with two years' experience to work at the Beaumont refinery for three months, the sources said.

"The roles are only initially short term and will require individuals to start on May 10th until August," according to a copy of the notice seen by Reuters.

Process operators manage major units and key processes in a refinery.

Exxon said on Friday it issued the lockout notice after three-and-a-half months of talks with USW Local 13-243 "to ensure our facilities continue to operate safely," said company spokeswoman Julie King.

The lockout notice was issued after the Steelworkers offered a one-year extension to a six-year pact agreed to in 2015, said Darrell Kyle, president of Local 13-243.

"These negotiations are not about wages," Kyle said in a statement on Monday. "Our greatest concern is making sure our lives and our jobs are safe and secure."

The lock-out would bar 650 workers from entering the 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont refinery and adjoining blending and packaging plant.

In addition to seeking temporary workers, Exxon has also been training managers and engineers from around the United States to take over operating the refinery.

Companies can legally employ temporary workers during a strike or lockout.

@1kse+1ayzjZXc

Engineers aren't running the plant. Site has salaried operators operating the board for this reason. .

Let the engineers operate the plant. Or are you scared to see all the efficiencies that will be gained?

Managers and engineers being trained to scab some steel–working.
At least they'll be doing something for a change.
Watch those sparks, pards.

Funny. Another article that I was just reading was saying that USW is refusing to allow its members to take up the vote.

Whoever keeps posting these articles and posts is the OP of all OP. Give it a rest or at least mix up your posting strategy!