LONDON (Alliance News) - Striking members of the United Steelworkers union in the US expanded their industrial action over the weekend, hitting BP PLC refineries, amid continuing talks between the union and energy companies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
The strike is now encompassing more than 5,000 workers at 11 plants in the US, making it the largest industrial action taken by refinery workers since 1980. The plants account for around 13% of US refinery capacity, WSJ said.
The latest two refineries hit by the strikes are BP's Whiting refinery in Indiana and a plant BP joint-owns outside Toledo, Ohio with Canada's Husky Energy Inc. Plants owned by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, LyondellBasell Industries, Marathon Petroleum Corp and Tesoro Corp have already been hit by the strikes.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/steelworkers-union-expands-walk-outs-to-two-bp-refineries-1423422451
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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