- The United Steelworkers (USW) announced a tentative agreement on February 6, 2026, which falls short of workers' demands, including a 25% wage increase over 4 years, as outlined in the USW's National Oil Bargaining Program (NOBP) policy.
- The contract includes a 15% wage increase spread over 4 years, with increments of 4%, 3.5%, 3.5%, and 4%, and maintains current health care coverage levels, but lacks protections against AI-driven job cuts, sparking anger and suspicion among refinery workers.
- Workers are denouncing the deal on social media, with one worker stating, "Our patience is gone," and another saying, "The union is laying in the same bed with these companies," as they call for a national refinery strike and the formation of rank-and-file committees to fight the sellout.
JUSTICE MATTERS
The World Socialist Web Site and NPR exhibit framing differences in their coverage, with the World Socialist Web Site using phrases like "sellout deal" and "workers reacted with anger" to describe the refinery workers' situation, while NPR focuses on a different topic, using phrases like "easier for Trump to fire federal workers" and "at-will employees." This difference in focus obscures the refinery workers' story and the concerns about job security and AI-driven layoffs, as presented in the World Socialist Web Site article. The World Socialist Web Site's emphasis on the workers' anger and the union's role is not mirrored in NPR's coverage, which instead highlights Trump's plan to fire federal workers.
Cross-referenced with: NPR
