The strike at the BP-Husky Toledo Refinery is generating significant debate in northwest Ohio. It’s important that people understand what is causing the strike.
BP-Husky Refining LLC did not want this strike, and we don’t believe our local employees who are represented by the United Steelworkers did either. The strike is not about wages, safety, fatigue, or any of the other issues that national USW leaders are citing.
Rather, it is an attempt to increase the union’s membership by forcing BP and other refiners to replace contractors with USW members. We regret that the national union leadership is taking this approach, because we value our employees and want them back on the job.
The Toledo Refinery has made the safety of all workers — salaried employees, USW-represented workers, and contractors — our highest priority. Since 2012, we have invested several hundred million dollars in safety improvements.
This focus on safety helps explain why, last fall, our work force reached a milestone of 15.9 million man-hours — more than 3½ years — worked without an injury causing someone to miss a day of work.
The other trade unions that support our refinery also have a robust commitment to safety. The skilled craftsmen and women represented by the Northwest Ohio Building Trades, along with other contract professionals, have logged 20 million work-hours at our site without a lost-time injury.
Over the past three years, the refinery’s entire work force — both employees and contractors — has averaged a recorded injury rate of 0.49 injuries per 100 full-time workers a year. That is below the U.S. refining-industry average, and significantly below the averages for other major industries such as construction, agriculture, and air transportation.
Although safety is our top priority, we also seek to compensate our employees fairly. In 2014, our 317 USW-represented employees earned average gross pay of $111,622 in base wages, shift differential, overtime, and annual bonus.
They also received a 7 percent 401(k) match, company-provided pension payments, generous health insurance, and annual paid vacation of as much as six weeks. We have pledged to continue paying the company’s portion of these workers’ medical coverage even while they remain on strike.
In 2010, we sought to improve our employees’ work-life balance by allowing refinery operators to choose a new schedule. They decided on a system of 12-hour shifts, as most other U.S. refineries use.
Our operators are now scheduled to work seven of every 14 days, to be off every other weekend, and to have a seven-day break every month. Last year, these employees worked an average of 12 percent overtime, about five hours a week.
Until the strike is settled, we will continue to operate the Toledo refinery safely, using current and former BP employees who have the same training and qualifications as our regular work force.
But we hope our striking employees will agree to a new local contract soon, so that together we can deliver the fuel that keeps northwest Ohio moving.
Mark Dangler is president of BP-Husky Refining LLC and manager of the company’s Toledo refinery.
First Published March 3, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
