BEAUMONT, Texas — Officials with ExxonMobil said they have provided members of the United Steelworkers union with a new offer.
In this new offer, the power giant has added the Martin Luther King holiday to workers' calendars, updated the language to the union workmen’s committee and separated job classification for different jobs.
According to Exxon officials, the union is currently reviewing the offer. 12News reached out to USW officials for comment but did not receive any back in time for this article.
Related: United Steelworkers union makes changes to proposal in hopes of ending lockout with ExxonMobil
Almost 600 union members have been locked out of the downtown facility since May 1, 2021.
In the union's latest proposal to the power giant, small changes were made to an already existing proposal. Union officials hoped officials with Exxon would do the same on their end.
Union spokesperson Bryan Gross said the local union spoke to Exxon representatives over the phone in late January, but no progress was made as far as negotiations go.
Many petitions have 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 on November 12, 2021.
A vote to decertify the USW union was impounded in late January as members of the National Labor Relations Board looked into three separate claims of unfair labor practices.
The NLRB impounded the decertification ballots on Dec. 29, 2021 and postponed the vote counting. Board members stated that they needed to look into allegations filed by both employees looking to decertify the union and the USW union against ExxonMobil.
A count of the decertification votes cannot be conducted until all of the charges are thoroughly investigated. Gross does not believe the charges filed should affect any potential contract talks.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.