PONCA CITY
Friday, December 4, 2009 - Update
Agreement in Principle
Your committee would like to announce to you that we have a tentative agreement with ConocoPhillips for a 3 year contract effective April 1st, 2009. We are close to having a contract pending these next steps:
1) Your committee will be proofreading the written language on Monday December 7th, 2009, line by line, to ensure the integrity of the agreement.
2) Thursday, December 10th, 2009, we will be having an informational meeting starting at 4:15 p.m. to present the tentative agreement to you, the membership.
3) Monday, December 14th, 2009, we will be having a 13 hour ratification vote as long as there are no unforeseen problems with the proofreading of the written language.
We are also cancelling the informational picket scheduled for next week.
We would like to also acknowledge the support and good vibes we received from our fellow Council Groups, Billings Refinery, Trainer Refinery, Ferndale Refinery, Lake Charles Refinery, Bayway Refinery, Los Angeles Refinery, Santa Maria Refinery, Rodeo Refinery, Borger Refinery and Alliance Refinery. Your support for us was greatly appreciated and vital to our struggle.
Signed,
The Bargaining Committee, Ponca City
United Steelworkers
Local 534
Santa Maria, California
Together... Part of Something Great
Letters of Support
Ponca City.....
International Vice President Gary Beevers and District 13 Assistant to the Director John Patrick joined our COP bargaining committee at the negotiation table on December 3rd (our 246th day working under the 24 hour rolling contract extension).
(Pictured Above)
Jason Smith, Chris Choney, John Patrick, Gary Beevers, Mark Carel, Ernie Anderson, Tom Jones and Tamara Engle
Ponca City
The USW represented workers of Local 13-857 are in a protracted fight to maintain our basic rights that were attained over many years here at the Ponca City Refinery. ConocoPhillips has decided to make this site, their target for the 2009 Contract Negotiations. Many people ask us, Why Ponca City? We do not have an answer for that. Our well-trained work force continues to keep Ponca City safe and our volunteer Fire and Rescue teams protect the refinery and respond to community emergency calls.
As of this writing, November 11th, it has been 225 days since we were due a new contract. We have continued to supply ConocoPhillips with our talent and hard work, on a 24-hour rolling extension agreement. An agreement the company changed later on. That change was to inform us that we werent eligible for back pay and bonuses, although our contract had not expired due to the extension.
The company also demanded that we accept placing our Operations personnel on standby. Basically it boiled down to their being by the telephone on their days off from 4:30 a.m. until 6:30 a.m. and again at 4:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. We asked about compensation and the company refused. They did, however, point out that the Operations personnel would be subject to discipline if they didnt respond to the phone call. Our members found this unacceptable.
The company also decided to attempt to eliminate the maintenance bid rights that have existed here for scores of years. In other words, they want to place the operators on standby, and then lock them into those jobs, without chance for advancement.
The company then passed out a last, best and final offer to our membership and campaigned for it to pass. Our committee was bypassed, as the company attempted to deal directly with the membership. We decided to place their last, best and final handout to a vote of the membership, and it was defeated by over a 90% vote, with over 90% participation. Our memberships voices were heard, all the way down in Houston, Texas. The company has sent the head of ConocoPhillips Human Resources here to Ponca City to attempt to strike a deal with our membership.
We believe that we are fighting a battle that will affect all of the USW represented workers of ConocoPhillips for years to come. We ask that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we endeavor to reach a fair contract.
Sincerely,
USW Local 13-857 Bargaining Committee, Ponca City, Oklahoma
Contact Us: United Steelworkers Local 534
P.O. Box 65, Arroyo Grande, CA 93421. At the Hall (805) 489-3590.
usw534_gmail.com
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