From the May-June 2015 issue of News & Letters

Chicago—On March 19 hundreds of workers from the BP oil refinery in Whiting, Ind., massed in front of BP corporate offices in Chicago. The 1,100 workers’ strike has continued over unfair labor practices. The local issues centered on safety and staffing after BP rejected the pattern agreement of the industry with the United Steel Workers.

Picketers in Chicago chanted slogans like “One Day Stronger, One Day Longer!” behind a banner reading “Safe Refineries Save Lives.”

BP had killed 15 workers at Texas City, Texas, in 2005, and the refinery industry has killed 27 more in the last five years alone—reason enough to stand firm against BP’s demands for concessions, especially on critical issues of life and death. As we go to press, the strike continues.

—Bob McGuire