United Steelworkers (USW) Vice President Gary Beevers, who heads the union’s oil sector, sent a request to the oil industry to re-open the National Oil Bargaining pattern agreement and negotiate health and safety provisions.

“I’ve asked the industry to sit down and have an honest discussion about handling safety effectively,” said Beevers. “Let’s conduct a thorough analysis, then negotiate a signed agreement that addresses the alarming deterioration in safety throughout the oil industry.”

This spring was tragic in the oil sector. During the months of April and May there were 13 fires, 19 deaths and 25 injuries. This year refineries have averaged one fire per week. These figures reflect only reported incidents. There could be more because refineries have no legal obligation to report every incident ... more