05/13/2026
Enough!
We’ve again asked British Petroleum to come back to the negotiating table.
They have responded with delay tactics.
Tonight, we notified the media they are being manipulated - as we continue to stand strong! ✊
BRITISH PETROLEUM USING DELAY TACTICS TO AVOID NEGOTIATIONS
Union again asks to resume contract talks, while company misleads the public
United Steelworkers Local 7-1, which represents more than 800 workers illegally locked out of the British Petroleum refinery in Whiting, has again asked the company to return to the bargaining table for meaningful, good-faith negotiations – only to be met with responses that do nothing but further extend that lockout.
British Petroleum locked workers out of their jobs on March 18 and the sides have not met since March 17. The most recent request by the union to resume negotiations came in an email last week, with the subject line “Negotiations,” asking if the company’s bargaining committee was available to meet. British Petroleum responded by asking “what is the agenda for the meeting?”
The company indicated it would not be available to meet for nearly another two weeks.
“They know exactly why we need to meet,” said Eric Schultz, President of USW Local 7-1. “Asking what the agenda is, is not a serious response. It is just another delay tactic.”
Local 7-1 continues to maintain that British Petroleum has bargained in bad faith from the beginning and that this lockout was always the company’s desired result. Throughout the process, the London-based company has repeatedly indicated that each part of its proposals are very important and that they are unwilling to move on any of them.
“That is not good-faith bargaining,” Schultz said. “When 98% of our members voted to reject their demands, they locked out our members because they did not get their way.”
The union is also pushing back against the company’s repeated claims that the company has asked the union to return to the bargaining table and that the union has ignored those requests.
“That is 100% false,” Schultz said. “BP has never asked us to return to the bargaining table – they’ve only said that to cameras. They have told our union only what they are legally required to say and nothing more. There is a huge difference between being willing to bargain and actually making an effort to resume meaningful negotiations.”
Last week’s outreach by the union came despite the company’s conduct, in hopes of resuming
bargaining, moving them off their current position and securing a fair agreement for those who operate and maintain the refinery. It has experienced system “upsets” since replacement workers were hired to do the work of experienced union members. British Petroleum has also failed to inform the community of potential environmental dangers caused by those upsets.
“Our solidarity is our strength,” Schultz said. “BP may believe it can stall, mislead the public, and wait us out, but our members remain united. Our continued resolve will eventually cause the company to bend.”
