On June 26, members of the CPUSA Chicago club joined hundreds of locked-out Steelworkers and their supporters at a solidarity rally outside BP’s corporate headquarters at 30 S. Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago. The rally, organized by United Steelworkers Local 7-1, came on the 100th day of the lockout of more than 800 union operators at BP’s Whiting, Indiana refinery.

Since March, these workers have been locked out after overwhelmingly rejecting BP’s contract offer—by more than 98%. The proposal would cut over 100 union jobs, slash wages, require a 150-day notice before a strike, and force the refinery out of the national pattern bargaining group. BP posted $3.2 billion in first-quarter profits, yet demands workers accept concessions that would undo 90 years of union gains.

The Chicago Club CPUSA continues to stand in solidarity with USW Local 7-1 members and their families, who have been without paychecks for three months and receive no unemployment benefits. Workers are surviving on a strike fund that covers only utilities and rent — not even groceries — forcing some to seek second jobs while facing blacklisting for being BP workers.

Speakers at the rally included USW President Roxanne Brown, USW Local 7-1 President Eric Schulz, USW District 7 Director Mike Millsap, U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-Indiana), U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Illinois), and other elected officials who walked the picket line. 

Hundreds of workers and supporters filled the canyon of skyscrapers in the Loop, their megaphones, whistles, and vuvuzelas demanding BP return to the bargaining table in good faith.

The stakes extend beyond the workers themselves. The Whiting refinery processes oil 24 hours a day, supplying fuel to critical infrastructure in Chicago and seven states. With untrained scabs running the facility, the community has already witnessed multiple flaring incidents, raising serious environmental alarms for the surrounding neighborhood and Lake Michigan.

BP is banking on starving workers into submission, but the solidarity shown on June 26 proves that the working class will not stand by while bosses attack organized labor.

The opinions of the author do not necessarily reflect the positions of the CPUSA.

Image: Steelworkers President Roxanne Brown addresses the crowd at BP HQ downtown Chicago. CPUSA. Creative Commons.