Jan. 31^st, 2012:  U.S. oil refiners, including ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp., have asked contractors to cross picket lines as part of plans to keep plants running if union workers strike, two people familiar with the matter said.

Management at Conoco’s Los Angeles and Ferndale refineries and Exxon’s Torrance, California, refinery requested contractors to help operate their facilities in case the United Steelworkers union, representing more than 30,000 employees nationwide, decide to walk out, said the people, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, negotiating on behalf of refiners, made four contract offers that didn’t include a demand for a safety specialist at each facility sought by the Steelworkers, three union representatives familiar with the negotiations said today. The current agreement expires at midnight, U.S. Central time.

Conoco has “the responsibility to maintain the continuity of our operations and we have contingency plans in place,” Rich Johnson, a spokesman at the company’s headquarters in Houston, said in an e-mailed statement. “All of our refineries that could be affected by a labor action are prepared to operate using personnel who are fully trained.”

Conoco, Exxon

Conoco asked contractors to cross the picket lines in the case of a stoppage, the two people familiar with the company’s preparations said.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon asked contractors to report to the Torrance plant with overnight bags in case a walkout occurs and the plant is forced to lock in workers, the people said.

Daymond Rice, an Exxon spokesman at the Torrance refinery, declined to comment on the company’s plans during talks.

“The negotiation process has been successful in the past and resulted in agreements that were mutually beneficial for both the company and the union,” he said by phone.

 

Valero Energy Corp. received notice that union workers at the 310,000-barrel-a-day Port Arthur refinery in Texas “can strike or will strike” if an agreement isn’t reached, Chief Executive Officer Bill Klesse said on a conference call with investors today. The San Antonio-based company plans to operate the refinery if a strike occurs, he said.

“We continue to negotiate,” Klesse said. “I have the expectation that we will have an agreement.”

Memphis Shutdown

Valero has negotiated an “orderly shutdown” with union workers at the 195,000-barrel-a-day Memphis refinery in Tennessee in the event of a strike, Klesse said.

San Antonio-based Tesoro Corp. distributed procedures to follow in the event of a disruption, such as how to cross a picket line, said a third person, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public.

“We do not believe there are any issues between Tesoro and the USW that would lead to a strike,” Tina Barbee, a Tesoro spokeswoman in San Antonio, said in an e-mail. “However, we have prepared appropriate site contingency plans if they are deemed necessary.”

HollyFrontier Corp., based in Dallas, has lined up contract workers to help run the Cheyenne refinery in Wyoming and Woods Cross plant in Utah in case of a walkout, one person said.

Neale Hickerson, a HollyFrontier spokesman at the company’s headquarters in Dallas, wasn’t immediately aware of contingency plans and said in a telephone interview that he would look into the company’s preparations.

The United Steelworkers said in a statement on the union website Jan. 28 that the lack of a more substantial response from companies during negotiations will “necessitate strike action at one or more locations when the collective bargaining agreements expire.”

By Bloomberg