By Simpson
05-10-07
ConocoPhillips refinery workers showed up at the Big Oil company’s annual meeting and warned that budget cuts are compromising plant safety.
It’s nothing new in the industry. Remember the worst industrial disaster in recent U.S. history was the explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery that killed 15 and injured 500. And then there was BP’s huge oil spill in Alaska.
Both were blamed squarely on an incessant drive for cost cutting while then CEO Lord John Browne was greenwashing the corporate image and positioning BP as "beyond petroleum." The gap between words and deeds has since caught up with him and Browne resigned.
Back at ConocoPhillips’ annual meeting, according the Houston Chronicle, Charles Galatro, president of Teamsters local No. 877 in Linden, N.J., who works at its plant in Bayway, N.J., said that employees fear safety will suffer in favor of squeezing more profits from refining.
CEO James Mulva responded that 60 percent of the $1.7 billion earmarked to spend on refining and marketing this year is slated for safety and infrastructure. He claimed the company has not made across-the-board budget cuts.
"Budget decisions and overtime limitations put a strain on our trust," the Chronicle quoted Galatro as saying. "Budgetary decisions will eventually lead to an incident similar to BP."
The newspaper continued: "Stephen Swader, who works at ConocoPhillips’ Santa Maria facility in Arroyo Grande, Calif., said that amid staff reductions, employees are increasingly expected to do the work of two people, ‘and it’s becoming systemic.’"
For your own sake, listen to your workers, Big Jim. If you have any doubts just ask Lord Browne…