United Steelworkers (USW) extended its oil workers’ strike to two more refineries yesterday, saying that oil ­companies refused to negotiate honestly on health and safety.

Walkouts at the BP plant in Whiting, Indiana, and its joint-venture refinery with Husky Energy in Toledo, Ohio, just after midnight brought the number of plants with striking hourly workers to 11.
They collectively account for 13 per cent of US refining capacity.

USW said that refinery owners led by Royal Dutch Shell had failed to discuss health and safety issues and engaged in “bad-faith bargaining, including the refusal to bargain over mandatory subjects, undue delays in providing information, impeded bargaining and threats issued to workers if they joined the strike.”

USW international president Leo Gerard said: “Management cannot continue to resist allowing workers a stronger voice on issues that could very well make the difference between life and death for too many of them.”

Yesterday marked the eighth day of the strike, which USW called on January 31 after accusing Shell of walking away from the negotiating table.

About 4,000 workers at refineries in California, ­Kentucky, Texas and Washington initially left their jobs when the strike began shortly after midnight on February 1.

Another 1,440 workers joined the picket lines when employees of the BP-operated refineries in Indiana and Ohio walked out yesterday morning.

Oil companies are continuing to operate all but one of the plants with scab labour.

Tesoro Corp elected to shut down production at its Martinez, California, refinery because half the plant’s production had already stopped due to a planned overhaul.

USW began talks with Shell on January 21, initially ­seeking wage rises, tighter policy to prevent worker fatigue and reductions in non-union contractors working in refineries.

Since the start of the strike, the union has stressed the safety and health aspects of its proposals to prevent accidents in refineries.

BP spokesman Scott Dean said that the company remained at the negotiating table and wanted a deal that provided “good wages while giving management the flexibility it needs” to remain competitive in the industry.