WASHINGTON—The Congressional Labor Caucus is urging new British Petroleum (BP) CEO Meg O’Neill to order bargaining in good faith on a new contract covering Steelworkers Local 7-1 members at its big Whiting, Ind., oil refinery, before something goes terribly wrong there.
Led by new USW President Roxanne Brown and Local 7-1 President Eric Shultz, union members and caucus leaders called a June 23 press conference to put pressure on the profitable company.
Instead of sitting down at the table with the local, the multinational firm, one of Big Oil’s “Seven Sisters,” demanded drastic concessions, and when the 850 workers refused, locked them out at midnight on March 20.
BP also brought in hastily trained “replacement workers,” plus some managers, to try to run the plant—increasing the risk of a catastrophic accident at the largest inland refinery in the U.S., and one just 19 miles from Chicago.
“We’ve been locked out because of their concessionary demands,” Shultz told reporters, lawmakers, and congressional staffers at the session called by Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Ind., a Labor Caucus member whose northwest Indiana district includes Whiting.
The workers have bipartisan support outside D.C., Mrvan noted. Indiana GOP Gov. Mike Braun walked the picket line with them for a day. “I ask the [Trump] administration to join us,” said Mrvan.
The company demands elimination of between 100 and 200 jobs, “elimination of collective bargaining rights,” total control over work hours and methods, arbitrary changes in job classifications, and the right to replace workers via artificial intelligence, Shultz said.
“This is not just a labor dispute on pay,” Shultz added. “They’re having to work two or three jobs,” Shultz said of locked-out members. Between that and picketing, ”they’re exhausted.”
Steelworkers International President Roxanne Brown saw an even deeper threat from the lockout. BP not only wants the workers to yield, “but is engaged in an effort to destroy the union.”
The lockout forces workers and families to skip meals, rent and mortgage payments, and more just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table for their kids, Brown added. And Indiana does not let locked-out workers seek jobless benefits, Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., noted.
Meanwhile, “BP sits back,” said Shultz, and counts its profits. Reports put gross profits at $7.5 billion worldwide in 2025, and running at a higher level so far in 2026.
The real danger of the lockout is the risk of an accidental explosion, which the replacement workers, unlike the trained oil refinery workers and technicians USW represents, cannot stop. That’s an industry-wide problem, Shultz commented.
“The oil industry doesn’t like to fix things,” and the replacements “don’t know how,” said Shultz. “They’re putting the community at risk,” Brown stated.
The workers drew strong support from the Labor Caucus co-chairs: Reps. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., Norcross, Mark Pocan, D-Wis., a Painter, and Steven Horsford, D-Nev., a former Unite Here officer. Reps. Nikki Budzinski and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, both D-Ill., also spoke.
“The company is trying to screw the workers, and we’re not gonna stand for it,” declared Dingell, her voice rising. “Billionaires want to break unions.”
And, citing its prior safety record of OSHA violations at U.S. refineries, Dingell added: “BP doesn’t give a shit about safe working conditions.” Dingell noted complainers “are often fired.”
Though he’s an Electrical Worker and former President of the South Jersey Building Trades Council, Norcross said he spent “the first half of my working life” toiling at the oil refineries that line the Delaware River around his hometown of Camden. “They are dangerous places. When they go bad, they go really bad.”
“When you have skilled workers, you don’t take that risk” of dangerous accidents, said Pocan. “When you lock them out, it’s Trumpian.”
Illinoisan Garcia said there would be a rally in Chicago on June 26 for the Whiting refinery workers, but gave no details. And Illinois colleague Budzinski warned BP, “If you’re underestimating the Steelworkers, you’re making a big mistake.”
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