BEAUMONT, Texas — The U.S. National Labor Relations Board has asked a judge to order back-pay for workers locked out of the ExxonMobil Beaumont Refinery for nearly 10 months.
In a complaint filed on Monday, October 3, 2022, the NLRB is calling the lockout an "unlawful" effort to get rid of the United Steelworkers union that represents workers at the refinery.
A hearing on the complaint is set for January 2023 in Houston according to Bryan Gross, of the USW Local 13 - 423 in Beaumont.
If ExxonMobil is required to provide back-pay it could cost the company millions.
This is just the first step in potentially seeing any back pay, because Exxon could ,potentially, file an appeal, Gross told 12News Tuesday morning.
The lockout, which began in May 2021 and involved more than 600 workers from the USW, lasted nearly 10 months and was over by March 2022.
ExxonMobil clarified in a statement to 12News that a "complaint is not a ruling."
"The NLRB’s general counsel has been publicly transparent about rewriting the National Labor Relations Act. This is just one more example of putting those words into action as the NLRB’s general counsel seeks to overturn decades of precedent," the company said in the statement.
ExxonMobil also said in the statement that they provide competitive compensation to their wage employees who are "highly valued."
This is done while the company stays competitive over "a range of economic conditions, including periods of low industry margins" the statement said.
Read the full statement from ExxonMobil...
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Regional office issued complaint on Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges filed by the United Steelworkers (USW) against the company. These charges were filed during or related to contract bargaining between the parties and the resulting work stoppage (effective May 1, 2021 through March 6, 2022). To be clear, a complaint is not a ruling.
The NLRB’s general counsel has been publicly transparent about rewriting the National Labor Relations Act. This is just one more example of putting those words into action as the NLRB’s general counsel seeks to overturn decades of precedent.
At ExxonMobil Beaumont, our wage employees are highly valued, and we provide competitive compensation that supports employee performance and retention. This is while maintaining the company’s ability to compete over a range of economic conditions, including periods of low industry margins. [END]
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During the almost 10-month long lockout, many petitions circulated to remove the United Steel Workers union from representing the locked-out workers.
On Oct. 4, 2021, locked-out workers filed a petition to decertify the union. Afterward, union workers were asked to vote on whether to keep the union. “Secret ballots” were sent out in the mail to USW workers.
The vote was held via mail-in ballot from Nov. 12, 2021 to Dec. 29, 2021. The vote on whether to decertify the union was impounded on Dec. 22, 2021.
The NLRB impounded the decertification ballots and postponed the vote counting saying they needed to look into allegations filed by both employees looking to decertify the union and the USW union against ExxonMobil.
Three months later the votes were counted and showed that 258 members voted in favor of being represented by the USW union and 229 voted against.
Information previously obtained by 12News through open records requests revealed that there were two charges filed by the union against Exxon. There was also one charge filed by the decertification group against the union.
All the allegations filed with the NLRB were centered around unfair labor practices.
The first complaint was filed against the USW on Sept. 30, 2021 by members of the decertification group. The complaint stated in part that union, "officers, agents and representatives have restrained and coerced employees.”
In December of 2021, the union filed two charges against the power giant. Union officials claimed the company violated the National Labor Relations Act by promising to return employees to work if they decertified from the local union.
Union officials also claimed the company was not providing them with necessary information.
Locked-out ExxonMobil workers were allowed back in the refinery, after USW union members voted to accept an offer from the power giant in late February of 2022 effectively ending the lockout.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.