Oil Bargaining Basics

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A contract, also known as a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), is a legally binding document between our employer and our union.

Our union contract is negotiated at two levels: national and local.

• National: We elect representatives for national bargaining to set industry standards for wage increases and other items, including health and safety issues. Our existing four-year national pattern agreement expires on January 31, 2026.
• Local: Our local union’s bargaining committee negotiates with our employer issues specific to our site, like scheduling, safety, work rules and job classifications. In some cases, we may coordinate with other local unions at our same employer to negotiate over items that impact all of us.

This gives us more power to bargain major issues by uniting oil workers across the country regardless of employer while ensuring we can address issues specific to our workplace.

Together, these agreements cover the terms and conditions of employment, including wages, hours of work, time off, benefits, safety, job security and protections against unfair treatment or discharge.

Bargaining a contract is the best way to ensure we have protections at work. A contract means that management cannot simply decide, on its own, to make changes such as cutting wages and benefits, firing employees, playing favorites or changing schedules and holidays.

Our contract also provides a procedure to resolve disputes if our employer violates the agreement – called the grievance and arbitration procedure.

Representatives from the union and the employer make and discuss proposals. Both sides caucus (meet separately), make counter proposals, test out ideas and look for ways to bridge differences. Our goal is to reach an agreement that is beneficial to our members.

Our employers are not going to “give” us anything. They never have, and they never will.

We win when we build solidarity and unity, both at our individual facilities and nationally as part of the National Oil Bargaining Program. We win stronger contracts when our employers see us united and determined.

Our power comes from our solidarity – everyone standing together to fight for our goals. Sharing information and taking part in solidarity activities is how we send a message to management that we are strong, united and willing to fight for a fair agreement.

Look for information from your Local Union leaders and sign-up to receive text messages by texting OIL to the phone number 47486.