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HOUSTON, April 23 (Reuters) - BP Plc said on Thursdaythat talks to end an 11-week strike at its Whiting, Indiana,refinery were at a standstill over the union's bargaining rightswhile a walkout at its joint-venture Toledo, Ohio, plant wouldlikely continue for some time.
In a letter to Whiting employees seen by Reuters, RefineryManager Jorge Lanza said the company and United Steelworkersunion (USW) local 13-1, representing striking workers, havereached agreement on 33 items, including a $6,000 bonus forhourly employees to be paid over the first two years of thepending four-year agreement.
Talks have gone nowhere since the company made a proposal onApril 17 to address the right of the union to bargain overchanges in policies at the refinery during the term of thecontract.
"We believe this offer addresses local union leadership'sconcerns and brings our contract in alignment with otherbusiness units in BP and our competitors," Lanza wrote. "We haveyet to receive a response to this proposal from the USW Local7-1 leadership."
USW spokeswoman Lynne Hancock said the local union wasconsidering the offer.
"Local 7-1 is reviewing BP's latest offer and communicatingit to the membership," Hancock said.
In a letter to employees at the Toledo refinery, which BPco-owns with Husky Energy, Jeff Steigauf, the plant'shuman resources manager, said negotiators for management and USWlocal 1-346 were near agreement on April 16, but since that timethe addition of a new proposal by the union has helped to slowthe progress of negotiations significantly.
"Unfortunately, this additional new proposal, which willtake time to review and discuss, and the retraction of previouscounter-proposals likely means the strike will continue on forsome time," Steigauf wrote.
Hancock said Local 1-346 was committed to bargainingprocess.
"The local union remains committed to bargaining in goodfaith with BP to reach an equitable agreement that will benefitthe union-represented workers, the company and the community,"she said.
Both letters also said workers crossing union picket lineswould be welcomed back to aid in running the refineries, whichhave relied on temporary workers to remain in operation sincethe strikes began on Feb. 8.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
