Negotiations Update #12 from Chris DellaFranco – May 1, 2026
bp Whiting continues push for agreement focused on safety and resilience
Key Takeaways:
- We remain committed to operating the Whiting refinery safely and reliably while ensuring its long-term success for future generations in Northwest Indiana.
- Our proposal is designed to support worker and community safety, refinery reliability, and the refinery’s long-term economic resilience.
- The lockout does not prevent negotiations from continuing. We are disappointed that union leadership has not accepted our offers to meet at the negotiating table or discuss key issues important to the refinery’s future, but we remain optimistic an agreement can be reached soon.
- Following a brief power interruption and flaring event at the refinery, power was quickly restored and operations safely returned to normal. The incident was related to an electrical systems issue and not operator actions.
"We want our employees to know that we’re working to bring them back to the refinery by reaching an agreement that, again, achieves the safety, the reliability, and long-term viability we all want."
Chris DellaFranco, bp Whiting refinery manager
Transcription
Hi, Chris DellaFranco here with an update for the bp Whiting community.
We want to make sure what's discussed at the negotiating table is understood at the kitchen table.
Our bp Whiting team is proud to be an important part of Northwest Indiana for more than 130 years. We’re not just a refinery – we’re employers, friends, neighbors, and customers.
We understand the responsibility that comes with running a safe, reliable refinery today and hopefully for many more decades.
The actions we take today must help ensure the refinery succeeds for generations.
We have a proposal that lives up to these principles: for the safety of our workers and the community, reliability for the refinery, and economic resilience into the future.
We’ve spent the last few weeks reaching out, asking the union leadership to meet us at the negotiating table. And I want to be clear: the lockout does not prevent negotiations from continuing. We remain ready to meet with union leadership at any time during the lockout and want to work toward an agreement.
We’re disappointed that the union leadership has not negotiated on the issues important to all of us, which is a critical part of what led to the current lockout, but we’re hopeful they’ll reconsider soon.
We want our employees to know that we’re working to bring them back to the refinery by reaching an agreement that, again, achieves the safety, the reliability, and long-term viability we all want.
Lastly, this past Sunday, some units within the refinery experienced a brief loss of electrical power, and flaring occurred. Power was quickly restored, and operations were promptly returned to normal. The power interruption was an electrical system-related issue and not the result of operator actions.
Thank you, and we remain optimistic that we can start making progress again soon.