Union Workers Strike For New Contract At 9 Refineries

United Steelworkers Union members went on strike Sunday at nine U.S. refineries and chemical plants after negotiations failed to produce a new contract. The strike is the first since 1980, when a nationwide walkout lasted three months. The union and companies were negotiating over pay, safety conditions and staffing issues for employees at 230 refineries nationwide. Workers struck at LyondellBasell in Houston, a Marathan oil refinery and cogeneration plant in Texas City, Texas, and a refinery in Catlettsburg, KY, Shell Deer Park Refinery and chemical plant in Deer Park, Texas, and Tesoro refineries in Anacortes, Wash., Martinez, CA and Carson, Ca.