Oil workers are poised to strike if talks falter

About 24,000 unionized refinery and pipeline workers across the United States are prepared to walk off the job at midnight Saturday if negotiations with major oil companies don’t result in a new contract.

A strike by members of the United Steelworkers union would affect more than half of the nation’s refining capacity. Strike jitters helped drive wholesale gasoline prices up by more than 4 cents a gallon Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

A nasty labor dispute is likely to spook oil markets and sock consumers at the pump, where the average national price of $1.843 a gallon tracked by AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report is already up more than 20 cents over the last month.

However, the union is in a much weaker position than it was just six months ago, when crude prices were riding high and major oil companies were posting record earnings. Now the economy is slumping. So are refining profits. And the U.S. is swimming in gasoline, thanks to weak demand.

Union representatives and company officials expressed hope Thursday that a new deal or contract extension could be reached before the deadline.

“Talks are going slowly,” USW spokeswoman Lynn Baker said. “But we are optimistic that we can get a fair and equitable contract.”

Baker said the biggest sticking points were healthcare and health and safety issues.

The USW represents about 30,000 petroleum industry workers in refineries, petrochemical plants, oil terminals, fields and pipelines. The expiring three-year contract covers 26,000 of them -- employees of dozens of companies. Some of the best-known companies include Chevron Corp, BP America Inc., Shell Oil Co., ConocoPhillips and Valero Energy Corp. Shell is the lead negotiator on a national agreement that will serve as a pattern for the others.

Carson-based USW Local 675 has more than 2,500 members working at refineries and other oil facilities around Southern California.

The union has organized the two Golden State refineries owned by Chevron of San Ramon, Calif. Located in El Segundo and Richmond, these facilities have a combined capacity of more than 500,000 barrels a day. But only the Richmond facility would be affected by any labor impasse resulting from the current contract talks. Unionized El Segundo workers are covered by a different contract that doesn’t expire until mid-March.

Chevron spokesman Sean Comey said talks were progressing well enough that the firm “is looking forward to being able to reach a mutually acceptable agreement with our employees.” He would not elaborate on the firm’s strike preparations but said the refinery would not be shut by a labor stoppage.

“Chevron anticipates no issues in maintaining a reliable supply of our products to the markets,” Comey said.

BP said Thursday that it would shut its Carson refinery and three other U.S. plants if workers strike.

Oil analyst Phil Flynn said the employers appeared to have the upper hand. Refining profits have plunged along with the U.S. economy -- a startling turnaround from last year, when crude oil and gasoline set price records.

“The timing for workers is not very good,” said Flynn, senior market analyst for Alaron Trading Corp.

Dave Campbell, secretary-treasurer of USW Local 675, said the oil giants who made huge profits last year “are now poor-mouthing us” in contract talks. “These oil companies are big, major companies,” he said, “with lots of wealth that could be shared.”

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marla.dickerson@latimes.com