Union workers to extend strike at Shell's Pernis refinery
Dutch trade union workers have decided to extend strike action at Royal Dutch Shell’s Pernis oil refinery that they said would limit production to 65 percent of capacity, union spokesman Egbert Schellenberg said.
Schellenberg, spokesman for the FNV union, said the action would continue at least until Shell came back with an offer that could reopen wage negotiations.
So far, Shell has made no proposal to settle the dispute over wage increases which has led to work stoppages at Europe’s largest refinery and Moerdijk chemical plants in the Netherlands since April 8, unions said.
Schellenberg said that in addition to the action at the 404,000 barrel a day Pernis refinery, the strike will continue to prevent maintenance at the Moerdijk facility.
Workers are demanding an immediate pay rise of 5 percent, while Shell has offered an increase of 4.5 percent spread out over two years.
Striking workers shut down a thermal gasoil installation at Pernis on Monday, the unions said, in the first sign of any impact from industrial action on the oil refinery.
Reporting by Bart Meijer; Writing by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by David Evans and Jan Harvey
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