Good for USW. I am glad they're taking a stand. The body count and attendant risk to the public of these safety hazards has been unconscionable.

And people say that we don't need unions any more...

Cue gas price increases...

Fatalities by industry published on the OSHA Web site for 2013:

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting: 479

Mining: 154

Construction: 796

Trade, transportation, and utilities: 1,153

Wholesale Trade: 190

Retail Trade: 253

Transportation and Warehousing: 687

Financial Activities: 84

Real estate and rental and leasing: 63

Petroleum Refineries: 4

Yeah, let's focus on petroleum refining.

@reality123. Bp oil spill 2010 killed 11 workers; did they get paid enough. Were their deaths just part of the job. Was the damages from the spill worth the shortcuts? Have a clue before posting

@4: That's the same argument as the old "why are we worried about guns and not swimming pools?" distraction. The number of deaths is unimportant compared to the number of reasonably preventable deaths.

If we can't do everything we must do nothing!!!!!

@ reality123,

How about you make your comments to my countless friends who lost their fathers, and brothers, and my parents who lost many of their friends in the two Puget Sound Refinery explosions?

How about you be the kids sitting at school in anacortes, where they were told to close all windows and doors on the possibility of hazardous chemicals in the air because there was an explosion at the refinery? Some of those kids were later informed that their parents didn't make it out.

Think before you speak.

I lived in Bellingham for 12 years and made a lot of friends who worked at the refineries. Many of these guys are contractors and float from refinery to refinery.

Consensus, across the board, from all of my friends up there is that BP Cherry Point is the safest one around. I have heard over and over that their safety culture is as good as it gets in the refining industry.

I have not heard the same good things about the Anacortes refineries.

Not about wages?!!!! You guys are demanding a 6% wage increase and decrease the out of pocket amount that the members should pay! By all means, get what you can get but lets be realistic IT IS ABOUT MONEY AS WELL! And its about removing the contractors from your plants. You guys want to push out all skilled contractors (union and non-union alike). You're concerned about safety?! Yet a contractor who has years of experience and is a specialist in his specific craft, you guys want to get rid of, so that your nominally trained jack of all trade handyman operators can take over a skilled craft! Give me a break! Look at the fire at Chevron Richmond August of 2013, it was "experienced" USW members that made a controllable bad situation into a catastrophic event, everyone knows it! Look at the BP Texas City explosion, it was USW Ops that contributed greatly to that avoidable event as well. Believe me when I tell you, none of the Building Trade Crafts or the AFL-CIO will ever sanction or honor any if your lines! GOOD LUCK!

The Unionists died because they didn't follow established procedures.

Darwin smiles from on high.

I don't know anything about the contractor vs. Union situation, but I do know safety is a huge issue. The people who died at Tesoro in 2010 did follow procedures. The pipe that exploded wasn't even the pipe they were working on, and they had no fault whatsoever in what happened. It was a 40 year old pipe that had never been properly inspected in the entire 40 years it had been in service. There were no temperature gauges on that pipe, which is one of the measures to see if a potential problem is happening. There are many other incidences of old and faulty equipment at that refinery and many others throughout this industry. There are no government agencies with the power to force changes in this industry. L&I can only fine them certain amounts, and in WA they do not have to fix anything during the appeals process. Often times they never wind up changing much at all, if anything. The other agencies that inspect them, such as CSB, can publish findings and make suggestions, but lack the power to compel changes. For those of you worried about rising gas prices, I find it sad that you are willing to put a price tag on someone's life as these oil companies do. First of all, it's an easy and effective scare tactic used by thwse companies. Second, like many people, these workers have taken a cut over the years, and what they are asking for won't even bring them up to where they should be. Why are they entitled to these raises and not you? Well most of us don't work in a job where we put our lives on the line every day, and don't have employers who can easily afford it. These requests are a drop in the bucket to these companies. Every refinery operator knows they have a dangerous job, but any worker in this country should be able to go to work knowing that their employer will do everything possible to minimize those risks. The bottom line here is that they aren't living up to that responsibility. So you have irresponsible companies, no agency to watchdog them and force them to behave...all these workers have left is their union. If you want to place anger somewhere, put it where it belongs. Be angry at the oil companies for causing preventable deaths, and at our government for not properly governing a dangerous industry when every other company has guidelines up to their eyeballs and can be shutdown if they aren't followed. Put your frustration where it belongs! What qualifies me to make these statements...my brother was one of the seven lost here in 2010, and I will never forget the sight of his burned body over the 22 days it took before he died. I will never forget that he was conscious and probably knew he was going to die. I will never forget that it could have been prevented if his company had properly inspected and replaced one pipe. I will never forget!

Lee Three, your comments about getting rid of contractors shows your ignorance of the refining industry. The USW wants the oil companies to hire the skilled contractors, making them USW members, not push them out. We want to keep them for the long term, instead of moving site to site, never taking pride or ownership of the refinery. This is an easy way to make the refineries safer.

The USW will honor your picket line every time. I doubt if you speak for many of your coworkers.

Lee Three, your comments about getting rid of contractors shows your ignorance of the refining industry. The USW wants the oil companies to hire the skilled contractors, making them USW members, not push them out. We want to keep them for the long term, instead of moving site to site, never taking pride or ownership of the refinery. This is an easy way to make the refineries safer.
The USW will honor your picket line every time. I doubt if you speak for many of your coworkers.

I used to work at that refinery as a contractor, and had to go check on our equipment the afternoon after the explosion. I knew all 7 people. Our company was deeply involved in the inspection process of the aftermath. The explosion happened in a pressurized vessel, not a pipe. I know several workers that quit working there since then, and moved on to other refineries in the area, due to their own personal safety concerns. Yes, they are also concerned about wages and benefits, as we all would. Do not condemn people for actions you would be taking also. With that, I do believe that safety is a major focus of the strike, as I have been to numerous refineries around the United States, and have yet to enter one refinery where I felt perfectly safe. I have also had the same uneasy feelings at every paper mill I ever went to. Yes, their fatalities are quite fewer than other industries, but how many refineries are there in the US??? The answer is There are 139 operation oil refineries in the US. 14 of them are less than 40 years old....that mean 125 operational oil refineries have been running 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week, for 40+ years, with a routine shutdown for inspection and maintenance about every 5 years. How safe would you feel in that environment, knowing that you are in the middle of a giant 50+ year old meth lab....That is basically what they are...

I used to work at that refinery as a contractor, and had to go check on our equipment the afternoon after the explosion. I knew all 7 people. Our company was deeply involved in the inspection process of the aftermath. The explosion happened in a pressurized vessel, not a pipe. I know several workers that quit working there since then, and moved on to other refineries in the area, due to their own personal safety concerns. Yes, they are also concerned about wages and benefits, as we all would. Do not condemn people for actions you would be taking also. With that, I do believe that safety is a major focus of the strike, as I have been to numerous refineries around the United States, and have yet to enter one refinery where I felt perfectly safe. I have also had the same uneasy feelings at every paper mill I ever went to. Yes, their fatalities are quite fewer than other industries, but how many refineries are there in the US??? The answer is There are 139 operation oil refineries in the US. 14 of them are less than 40 years old....that mean 125 operational oil refineries have been running 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week, for 40+ years, with a routine shutdown for inspection and maintenance about every 5 years. How safe would you feel in that environment, knowing that you are in the middle of a giant 50+ year old meth lab....That is basically what they are...