Texas oil refinery workers ratify Exxon labor contract offer – Reuters

Texas oil refinery workers ratify Exxon labor contract offer – Reuters

BEAUMONT, Texas, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Union workers locked out of their jobs at a Texas oil refinery for nearly 10 months voted on Monday to accept an Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) contract offer, ceding to a key company demand that it have the right to determine plant assignments.

About 600 United Steelworkers union members at the 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery and Mobil 1 motor oil plant were locked out May 1 to preclude a wildcat strike, Exxon has said. The Beaumont, Texas, facility has continued to run since with managers and temporary workers.

The contract allows Exxon to decide all assignments, an issue that led to a rejection vote in October. A quarter of assignments previously were determined by worker seniority. The contract also adds Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday.