BP revised its Whiting oil refinery offer after unions rejected the proposal

BP issued a revised contract to its union 'workers' at its Whiting oil refinery in Indiana on Friday after the United Steelworkers overwhelmingly voted against what BP had described as its 'last, best, and final proposal.

The USW said that "an unprecedented 94 percent of union members voted on Thursday, and 98.3 percent voted to reject BP's proposal."

Last week, BP presented to the union what it called its "final offer" and stated that it would expire within 10 days.

This revised offer is not meant to penalize the union or its membership for refusing the original offer. BP said in a bulletin to employees released following the vote that it was simply reflecting certain incentives which were conditional on an agreement being reached by March 12th, 2026.

The revised proposal would not retroactively apply the first-year wage increase to February 1, 2026 but instead take effect at the beginning of the first pay period following ratification.

BP reduced a lump-sum payment of $7,500 to $2,500. This brings the total lump-sum to a range between $2,500 and $10,000.

The revised offer will not expire, the company stated.

"More that 98% of the union members of United Steelworkers, Local 7-1, voted against British Petroleum's last offer. Yet less than 24 hour later, British Petroleum's response is'somehow worse'," said Eric Schultz.

Schultz said, "BP is not serious about reaching a deal without cutting jobs, reducing wages and removing bargaining rights."

Schultz stated that the union will continue to discuss "the way forward".

Since the contract expired on January 31, the union has been working under rolling extensions of 24 hours their previous agreement. Reporting by Anushree?Mukherjee from Bengaluru, and Nicole Jao from New York. Editing by Rod Nickel & Will Dunham.

(source: Reuters)