By The PA. AFL-CIO

The United Steelworkers have reached a tentative agreement with Shell Oil that is expected to set the pattern for bargaining in the oil refining industry, after a strike lasting nearly 6 weeks and involving over 6,500 workers. According to USW president Leo Gerard, the the tentative agreement includes “vast improvements to safety and staffing.” Dangerous conditions at refineries, and the companies’ refusal to bargain in good faith over those conditions, were the primary motive of the largest strike by US oil refinery workers in over 30 years.