650 union workers locked out by the company, fires, injuries, tired EM employees. Why are you all not speaking up? Why do you let the company treat you like this ?
23 replies (most recent on top)
Unions initially were to protect the workforce.
Modern unions have evolved into legalized extortionists at the expense of both the members and the Companies.
Herd the lockout will end soon as all salaried persons are quitting, same as Baytown and Baton Rouge cept they still has operators. Contract operators is dropping like flys to. People is quitting cause to bad mangent and toxic culture. Exxon has to give in to union real soon. Winning.
ExxonMobil outlines 5-step process to ending the lockout with United Steelworkers union
ExxonMobil said it’s continuing to bargain in good faith with the union, yet both sides remain far apart.
Author: Kierra Sam (12News)
Published: 8:02 AM CDT September 10, 2021
BEAUMONT, Texas — ExxonMobil Beaumont is releasing more information about the process they say is needed to end the lockout with members of the United Steelworkers Local 13-243 union.
Contract negotiations started on January 11, 2021. On April 23, ExxonMobil gave written notice of their intentions to lock out workers starting May 1, unless the union accepted a proposal that included major changes impacting members' safety, security and seniority.
Union workers and ExxonMobil were unable to reach an agreement, and the lockout was initiated on May 1. The energy giant said they have met with union workers more than 40 times since negotiations began in January.
“We’ve presented a six-year offer to the union, which includes guaranteed pay increases for the majority of workers, defined job security, wider paths to career advancement, and zero pay cuts,” the ExxonMobil statement released Thursday says.
The union wants seniority prioritized, however, Exxon said their deal puts more of an emphasis on qualification over seniority, a practice in place and ratified at other facilities.
"Our greatest concern is making sure our lives and our jobs are safe and secure. Safety in our workplaces also protects our families and community," the union said in an April 2021 statement.
Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, representatives from the USW Local 13-243 Tuesday joined locked-out workers at Jefferson County Commissioner's Court, where they asked county officials for help reaching an agreement with ExxonMobil.
"Every day, that highly trained, skilled steelworkers are off the job puts our community at risk," said Meekie Moseley with the local United Steelworker’s union.
The union's 650 members have been locked out of the Beaumont plant since May 1 after talks between them and the company stalled. Four months after the initial lockout of ExxonMobil workers and negotiations remain at a standstill.
ExxonMobil said it’s continuing to bargain in good faith with the union, yet both sides remain far apart.
On Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, ExxonMobil outlined the five-step process of reaching a deal to end the months-long lockout.
(1) The offer must be taken for a ratification vote.
(2) Represented employees vote to accept or decline the offer.
(3) If accepted, the offer is ratified. If declined, the lockout continues until an agreement is reached.
(4) Once the offer is ratified a return to work agreement is negotiated.
(5) The lockout ends. We begin the process to bring employees back to work.
Once the strike pay is over - Beaumont will completely hollow out as all the staff find better jobs.
Actually the plant has run pretty dang well since EMCO- record utilization, folks finding lots of stuff broke for ages in the field and fixing it permanently, and more efficiently. Going to be a whole new world when the operators and technicians come back, the bar will be way higher. Turns out engineers and supervisors have more ownership and competency than your average wage employee, who'd have thought....Mother Exxon will drag this one as long as they need to until the union caves and accepts the offer or decertifies.
Union workers - get to work and stop this nonsense. If you dont like it, then its Exxons loss and you go look for better work elsewhere. Whats the problem?
Outsourcing for cheap labor
Some of these comments are so d-mb.
EM is actually shooting to be nationalized, not unionized.
The highest bidder right now is San Marino followed by Tonga.
The main issue is the packing plant staff is paid the same as the refinery and plant operators. The Baytown packing plant has a different contract at have the Beaumont rate.
Not going to argue one way or another but this is the main issue.
@OP I thought all of you right-leaning O&G types were anti-union? You know, “right to work” and all of that BS. Maybe one of you can explain how/why you’ve suddenly become an advocate for organized labor.
Coming to a manufacturing site near you! More games to go along with fake pips
The Beaumont Refinery 4-month old lockout has continually been in the news. Latest press release from Reuters attached.
https://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/news/2021/09/leader-calls-on-exxon-to-end-texas-refinery-lockout
Leader calls on Exxon to end Texas refinery lockout
9/3/2021
AFL-CIO President Elizabeth Shuler called on ExxonMobil Corp to end a four-month lockout of workers at its Beaumont, Texas, refinery because of "potential safety risks," according to a copy of a letter seen by Reuters.
Exxon locked out the plant's hourly employees on May 1, saying it feared a strike following the expiration of a labor contract.
Shuler said Exxon's use of temporary workers to run the refinery created the risk of an industrial accident. Temporary workers lack the experience and training of permanent employees, she wrote.
"We believe that the risk of an industrial accident at the Beaumont complex can best be mitigated by negotiating a mutually agreeable end to the lockout."
Exxon spokeswoman Julie King rejected the concerns. "We continue to operate Beaumont safely and reliably with a highly competent staff of supervisors and engineers," she said in an email.
Shuler's letter to director Susan Avery, chair of the board's public issues and contributions committee, was dated Aug. 30, the day Exxon rejected the last of three proposals made by United Steelworkers union (USW) local 12-243 last month to end the lockout.
"The USW has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that Exxon Mobil illegally made unilateral changes to the continuing terms and conditions of employment and supported a union decertification campaign," Shuler said.
The USW has said the company's proposal would require its members give up long-standing seniority and would create a separate contract for workers in the lube oil plant from that of workers in the refinery.
Exxon has said the proposal would give it flexibility to be profitable in low-margin environments. (Reporting by Erwin Seba Editing by Chris Reese and Grant McCool)
Central South East Texas
As opposed to the current method of management selecting their pets, most of whom are just "mini-mes", to staff plum jobs? The union might be right on this based on my experience at EM!
I guess I need more background. Start from the beginning. What is happening at Beaumont?
Beaumont is Southeast Texas, not South Texas. Feel free to look at a map. Or the internet.
The main issue is they have a project for a new large crude unit. Under the current contract anyone who requests assignment to a new unit is based on seniority. The company wants to be able to choose who works at the new flagship unit (similar to other refineries) instead of having it based only on seniority (let's face it, anyone with a lot of seniority who hasn't been promoted out of the union to a first line position is probably not all that).
The union has not allowed the membership to vote on the company's proposal. XOM has been hiring contract personnel to fill these jobs until they get the union people back. So it is not a 100% salaried people working themselves into the ground situation.
Fires / bad operation / whatever - that is known in Beaumont as a day that ends in a "y". Management that is so afraid to make a mistake that they are always screwing up. Not really specific to the lockout situation.
I agree with most people here that the current management is destroying the company. But I think they are approaching this situation correctly. Don't give into allowing your new crude unit to be staffed solely by the self selected least effective people in the company.
Since the merger Beaumont has gone downhill. It's unfortunate, used to be flagship under Mobil now its so far behind
I guess because none of us who work for XOM are even mildly surprised how low our management can go. Best of luck to all the hard working woman and man at Beaumont. We really do feel for you trying to stand up to these snakes!
There are couple of managers in Beaumont that keep posting rosy pics and messages saying how good of a job they are doing to hide all bad deeds by their masters.
Because the worker bees are slaves and concerned about speaking up, rightfully so to keep their jobs and mgmt has no spine to say anything as we all know it.
South Texas
Texas