By Erwin Seba
HOUSTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The largest U.S. refinery strikein 35 years entered its fourth week as workers at 12 refineriesaccounting for one-fifth of national production capacity werewalking picket lines as of 12 a.m. CST (0600 GMT) on Sunday,according to union officials.
A total of 6,550 members of the United Steelworkers union(USW) at 15 plants, including the 12 refineries, are involved inthe work stoppage that began on Feb. 1 when talks for a newthree-year contract between the USW and lead oil companynegotiator Shell Oil Co stopped.
Talks were resumed but have halted again after nearlyreaching an agreement on Friday, said sources familiar with thenegotiations.
After the latest breakdown between the two sides,Steelworkers leaders targeted Shell, which is the U.S. arm ofRoyal Dutch Shell Plc, calling workers out at achemical plant and three refineries in the company's MotivaEnterprises joint-venture with Saudi Aramco.
The first work stoppage of the three refineries was at thenation's largest, the 600,250 barrel per day Port Arthur, Texas,refinery, where workers walked out at 12 a.m. on Saturday.
Twenty-four hours later, USW members were also picketing atMotiva's 235,000 bpd Convent, Louisiana, and 238,000 bpd Norco,Louisiana, refineries and the Shell chemical plant in Norco.
In announcing the strikes, USW International union PresidentLeo Gerard said they were the result of the industry'sbargaining tactics.
"The industry's refusal to meaningfully address safetyissues through good faith bargaining gave us no other option butto expand our work stoppage," Gerard said in a statement.
No new talks had been scheduled between the two sides.
Shell and the USW were near an agreement for a new contracton Friday night, but other oil companies were unwilling toaccept the bargain, said sources familiar with the talks.
"As the lead company, Shell has the role to get the oilcompanies to come along," said one of the sources. "The (union)leadership group decided Shell needed to be put on the list oftargeted companies."
Shell spokesman said it was disappointed by the new strikes.
In a letter Shell has sent to striking employees at its DeerPark, Texas, refinery and chemical plant, a copy of which wasseen by Reuters, the company said the key sticking point wasnon-union contractors who perform daily maintenance, which theUSW would like to see replaced with union workers.
The company said it needed flexibility.
"Hiring flexibility is a proven way to protect our coreShell workforce and the long-term economic viability of ourworkforce," the letter said. "This strategy has served us allwell, as we have not had to conduct any layoffs in decades."
The strike that began Feb. 1 was last expanded Feb. 6, whenworkers at BP Plc-operated refineries in Indiana and Ohiowere told to begin a work stoppage the following day.
Workers were already on strike at Shell's 327,000 bpdjoint-venture refinery in Deer Park since the strike began onFeb. 1.
The strike may complicate operations at the Port Arthurrefinery, where two of three crude distillation units, theworkhores of the refinery, are running below capacity andfuel-making units are shut for repairs or refurbishment.
Shell and the union met continously from Wednesday throughFriday following a week-long break for the company to reply toan information request and a counterproposal from the USW.
Union negotiators have rejected seven contract offers fromShell.
The USW's lead negotiator, International Vice President GaryBeevers, has told Reuters that safe staffing levels were a pointof contention in the talks.
The union also wants "no retrogression" language, whichpreserves agreements from previous contracts.
In addition to the BP, Motiva and Shell plants, workers arestriking at ones owned by Lyondell Basell, MarathonPetroleum, and Tesoro in California, Kentucky,Texas and Washington.
Only one refinery has shut down due to the strike -Tesoro's 166,000-bpd plant in Martinez, California, which waspreviously scheduled to undergo maintenance.
The USW wants a three-year pact that would cover 30,000workers at 63 U.S. refineries with two-thirds of domesticcapacity.
Refiners are using trained replacement workers, primarilymanagers and engineers to keep plants running at near normalrates. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Terry Wade, Chizu Nomiyamaand Franklin Paul)
