What's Happening

AFL-CIO sends letter to ExxonMobil Board of Directors Urging Them to End Lockout in Beaumont

On Mon., Aug. 30, 2021, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler sent a letter to ExxonMobil's Board of Directors urging them to review the safety risks of continuing the operations in Beaumont with temporary workers during the lockout.

In the letter Shuler says, "We believe that ExxonMobil's decision to continue to operate these facilities with temporary replacement workers creates potential safety risks. I urge you to review ExxonMobil's labor relations practices at the Beaumont complex and seek to resolve the lockout for the mutual benefit of all parties."

ExxonMobil's Lockout of USW Oilworkers Endangers Community

ExxonMobil has chosen to place our community at risk by operating the Beaumont refinery without its highly-trained union workforce when they chose to lockout 650 hourly workers represented by USW Local 13-243.  

Skilled and experienced union workers know the risks at the refinery and blending/packaging plant, and we all remember the explosion and fire at TPC in Port Neches at the end of 2019 – injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, environmental damage and other consequences.

Our Community Pays the Price for ExxonMobil's Greed

ExxonMobil made $2.7 billion in just the first three months of 2021.  Rather than negotiate a fair contract with the women and men who helped make those profits, the company chose on May 1 to lockout 650 families represented by USW Local 13-243 in Beaumont, Texas.

Our skilled and experienced union members worked through hurricanes, floods and freezes to keep the refinery and blending and packaging plant operating.  Now, management has thrown essential workers out on the street.

USW Calls for, Wins Greater Accountability on ExxonMobil Lobbying

PITTSBURGH – The United Steelworkers (USW) said that ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) shareholders yesterday approved a resolution introduced by the USW and seven co-filers calling for the company to disclose which organizations it supports for lobbying efforts, a necessary step in providing greater worker safety and corporate accountability.