News from USW: United Steelworkers Union Announces New Joint Safety Initiative at BP; Supports Findings of the BP Independent Panel.

PITTSBURGH -- News from USW: The United Steelworkers union (USW) today announced that it has reached an agreement in principle with BP on a comprehensive joint safety initiative. The announcement comes on the day that the BP Independent Review Panel released its findings in Houston. That report was prompted by the March 23, 2005 explosion at BP's Texas City explosion, which killed 15 workers and injured more than 170.

"Nothing can mitigate the 2005 tragedy," said USW President Leo W. Gerard. "But our new agreement with BP shows the company's willingness to work with the union to address the root causes of the explosion, not just in Texas City, but throughout the corporation."

"We want to thank the members of the Panel for the expertise, objectivity and spirit of independence with which they worked," said USW International Vice President Gary Beevers. "We fully support their findings. The factors that caused the deadly 2005 explosion at BP's Texas City refinery were not isolated problems, or simple matters of human error. The root causes went much deeper, to the way process safety was managed throughout the corporation. And while the Panel was not charged with looking beyond BP, we in the union know that similar problems exist throughout the oil industry."

"BP's agreement with the USW shows that the company takes the Panel's report seriously," said Gerard. "And they have already done some things to improve safety in their refineries. But we are only at the beginning. It will take hard work at every level of the union and the company to ensure that BP's facilities are as safe as possible for workers and for nearby residents."

"This work will not end with BP's US refineries," said Beevers. "The company has committed itself to discussions on improving safety worldwide, and in the union we plan to broaden this effort to all the oil companies. We look forward to improved relations with BP as the first step in that process."

The USW represents over 30,000 oil workers in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean, including 4,300 at BP's refineries in Carson, California; Toledo, Ohio; Whiting, Indiana and Texas City, Texas.