The United Steelworkers Union (USW)—which represents unionized workers at 230 US refineries, chemical plants, pipelines and terminals—called a strike Sunday 1 February at nine US refineries and chemical plants Sunday after failing to reach an agreement for a new three-year labor contract by Sunday’s deadline. The USW says it began discussions on 21 January with Shell as the lead company, to establish a pattern on wages, benefits, and working conditions. The remaining USW-represented facilities are now operating under a rolling 24-hour contract extension. A spokesperson for Shell said it activated its strike contingency plan to continue operations in the normal course of business. Shell added that it remains committed to resolving its differences with USW at the negotiating table and hopes to resume negotiations as early as possible to get its employees back to work. No further negotiations were scheduled as of Monday morning 2 February.
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