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posted by martyb on Monday February 16 2015, @04:12AM   Printer-friendly
from the you-made-your-bed... dept.

Reuters reports that managers at US oil refineries are going to the mats, sleeping on recently purchased mattresses inside rental trailers, as refinery workers enter the third week of their strike at nine US oil refineries that experts and some employees say raises concerns over safety and operations. For months, retired refinery worker John Ostberg from BP's Toledo Refinery has been warning his bosses in emails about their plans to run the refineries with replacement workers and supervisors if a strike occurred. He fears that replacement workers are not properly trained, or too far removed from the frontlines, to respond to unit upsets and other problems that can escalate quickly without experienced intervention. “Management says it’s safe. I disagree,” says Ostberg.

At least three of the nine US oil refineries targeted by a nationwide strike of USW members have reported upsets and unplanned repairs since their workers walked out on February 1 and one of the refineries has shut down completely. Criff Reyes, who has worked Tesoro's Martinez Refinery alkylation unit for 16 years, says he believes that Tesoro opted to shut down the plant — rather than restart it following maintenance — because managers are not qualified or experienced enough to run it after about 400 USW members walked out. Meanwhile Ostberg, who helped run the refinery operating center (ROC) — the heart of the plant — warns that if there is a problem with one unit at the refinery, it can quickly grow to other units and often takes more manpower to put under control. “I sit behind a blast-proof wall, so I’m not worried about my safety," says Ostberg. "But I fear for everyone else.”

 
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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 17 2015, @02:27AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 17 2015, @02:27AM (#145957) Journal
    I note that here, our freedom loving labor union is attempting to bully the entire refinery industry into a three year industry-wide contract.
  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday February 17 2015, @04:15AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Tuesday February 17 2015, @04:15AM (#145979) Journal

    And the entire refining industry is fighting back against it! This is called negotiations, and is the essence of a free market. Why are you in favor of slave labor? That is what a "take it or leave it" job market is, and as is being pointed out in this case, you really do not want the lowest bidder running a potentially explosive plant. Or do you?

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 17 2015, @04:39AM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 17 2015, @04:39AM (#145991) Journal

      This is called negotiations, and is the essence of a free market.

      It's not a free market. It's not even the essence of one. There's only one labor union because of legal protections of labor unions, including an exclusion from anti-trust law. And similarly, there are large obstacles to building new refineries.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Tuesday February 17 2015, @06:53AM

        by aristarchus (2645) on Tuesday February 17 2015, @06:53AM (#146024) Journal

        Khallow, I feel like I should take you under my wing, show you the panorama of the history of class stuggle. As you may not know, I am a philosopher from the 3rd Century B.C. I actually came up with the Helio-centric model of the universe, but that is not what we are talking about here. When Alexander the Macedonian first rose to power I supported him. They said he would make the trains run on time! I had no idea what trains were back then, but what the hey! When he took over Persia, he declared himself a god. Pfft! Fortunately, he died young. Then the Romans came. Republican principles, in the old school sense of the word, so I went with them. And finally I supported this Julius guy. Brought order to Gaul, and at least he was not one of the Brothers Gracci! Julius had some problems, and his nephew took over, but in the end I had to admit that my support for the Imperiatum over the Populorum was a mistake. Then the damn Germans came. All kinds of them! Visigoths, Ostrogoths (as if they were fooling anyone, still Goths!), Franks, Lombards, Vandals, Saxons. I went with the Franks because they seemed to have a good head on their shoulders, or at least to still have a head on their shoulders. Charlemange was great. But it was a poor reflection of the glory that was Rome. And then we get into the modern period. I am skipping a lot, especially the Black Death, I lost three wives to that. I chalk it up to poor centralized government and not having an affordable health care program.

        Things are hard to remember after that. I think the Turks took Constantinople at some point, but the people there were probably better off. I ended up in Germany following this guy named Martin. He had really good ideas about how people should be able to read and think for themselves. But when the did and attempted to throw off their masters, he apparently switched sides. So then to England, and from there to America, a new place (for Europeans) that showed promise. Yes, then ended up upholding the principles of freedom and threw off the chains of monarchy, but for some reason saw no problem in retaining the chains of slavery. So back to Europe,

        After America finally rid itself of slavery by means of the bloodiest war yet fought, the ideas of universal freedom grew. It became apparent that the aristocracy that had been overthrown in the bourgeois revolutions had been merely replaced by the tyranny of capital. I would suggest you read economics, by which I mean "Das Kapital" by Karl Marx. The analysis is rather subtle, but it suggests that all history has been a history of class struggle! No having "been there" for much of that history, I have to concur. Slaves versus masters in the Greek and Roman (and Persian!) world, Lordeous revolutions had been merely replaced by the tyranny of capital. I would suggest you read economics, by which I mean "Das Kapital" by Karl Marx. The analysis is raths vs. serfs in the Medieval world, and now property owners vs. workers in the modern period of capitalism. This is where I started to realize that I had been backing the wrong horse throughout history! Hear me out as I explain why.

        Communism is only the extention of the democracy of the bourgeois revolutions to the economic realm. It used to be that the ruling class made all political decisions, and these were often economic decisions in their favor. Revolutions such as the American and the French, and the Russian, took that out of their hands. But in the case of the Capitalist nations, economic decisions were still made, for the most part, by a small minority or capital owners. Not quite "taxation without representation", but worse, since it involved the entire economy. Now do you see how the organization of the masses, the majority, to force the majority to abide by policies that benefit the society as a whole is far from "bullying"? Perhaps you do not.

        So there I was in Russia, the Csar had fallen, the Mensheviks were kind of whosses, so I backed Lenin. I still think it was the right decision. But the whole thing was wonky. Remember how I said that communism was the extension of democracy? Lenin tried, but the Russian people were still peasants, and ultimately, under pressure from counter-revolutionaries funded by the Capitalist West, he gave up. And when Lenin dies, Stalin took over. I left, as did Trotsky and many others. We had a new Czar. So that is what the Cold War was about. A totalitarian Capitalism, and a totalitarian Socialism, neither being what they claimed to be. Made me and others disgusted, and the whole Thermonuclear Global War just added to our alienation.

        OK, but here we are! And this is where I want to give to you, Khallow, the benefit of my 2300 years of existence. No, I do not really exist, but I do exist as a user name on Soylent News, and the history is real if anyone cares to look it up. I have backed many losers because I thought that it took a strong hand to rule. After millenia, I realize that it is only by the concerted effort of a people that anything good gets done. And this usually is not the will of an emperor, king, lord, or captain of industry. We have to trust the rank and file, and they only have a voice again the powers that be if they form a united voice, a union. Imagine if the slaves of Athens or Rome managed to organize! Spartacus almost pulled it off. What if Martin Luther had sided with the peasants? And what if, in the modern period, capitalists were to realize that they are vastly out numbered, and that they have to negotiate with the rest of us, on our terms, instead of pretending our society is still a class driven oligarchy? Yes, the possibilities are endless.

        And, my dear Khallow, since I surmise that you hail from the great state of Montana, I would remind you of your own recent heritage. Surely you know about Governor Meagher? No? Jeanette Rankin? The only member of congress to vote against two wars! Hurrah! Or Mike Mansfield, a great statesman and diplomat! Do not be mislead by all these apolegetists for the capitalist world order who come from California (resist the Californification of Montana!) or Colorado (only previous refugees from California) or any of those people who seem to be on AM radio. History, in my experience, is against them. We need to support unions, and support Farmer's Unions, bring back the Grange movement! Democracy is not democracy until it covers economic issues.

        Alright, young khallow, I am tired now, it has been a long ride. I just wanted to pass on to you my experience through many millennia. I have been hoodwinked by smooth talkers, better than the Vienna Circle or Ayn Rand, and every time they have proven false. Go with the Union, because as Machiavelli said, all of us together can never be so wrong as one person by theirself.

        Peace, my fellow Soylentil.