Union Reaches Tentative Pact With Amoco

Union negotiators for oil industry workers reached a tentative agreement late Thursday with Amoco Corp. on labor contracts that would boost wages by an average of 15.5%, or $2.36 an hour, over three years.

The deal came on the same day that 300 contracts expired covering roughly 40,000 members of the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union. Although the tentative pact directly applies only to a small number of those workers, it could set the pattern for the entire industry.

Union officials had threatened selective strikes against major oil companies, including several West Coast refiners, if negotiations dragged on unsuccessfully. But Rodney Rogers, a spokesman for the union, said workers would stay on their jobs as they voted over the next two days on the tentative agreement.

Although several initiatives proposed by the union were rejected by Amoco, Rogers said “there’s general agreement that it’s a good contract.”

Michael E. Thompson, a spokesman for Chicago-based Amoco, said the company was “pleased that several of our facilities were able quickly reach an agreement.” Thompson said the initial settlements were for refineries in Yorktown, Va., and Casper, Wyo., but that he believes the underlying agreements will be adopted for all of the 4,200 Amoco workers whose contracts have expired.

According to the union, the deal would immediately raise wages for all affected workers by 80 cents an hour, an increase of 5.3% on the average pay of $15.18 an hour. Additional raises in each of the next two years would lift the average pay to $17.54.

Among other things, the agreement would increase the company’s contributions for health-care insurance premiums by $150 a month for each worker over three years. Even with that increase, Rogers said, workers will continue to pay more for health care due to rising costs.