I thought while B was out on strike (hopefully not for long) I would talk about what is going on and how we have been affected by it in the past week.
Week 5
Last Friday B got a $100 gift card to Kroger. That was nice surprise and helped with the groceries for this week so we didn’t have to dip into the savings.
We got our first strike fund check. It was for $4xx.00. Not the $200/week like we were told was allocated for each person. They did it somewhat on a sliding slope. It looks like some of the single men w/no kids got $100, single mom with 3 kids got in the low $400, a family with four kids and the mom is a stay at home in the upper $400. How in the world was this even figured out? Every person from the refinery on strike works the same amount and yet they aren’t given the same amount from the strike fund. Why?
On a good note, the RMF contractors donated baby goods. We were able to get diapers, wipes, baby cereal, puffs, and more. We got a huge box of Kirkland diapers which is awesome because that is one of the only brands P does not break out from.
Friday they served pizza at the union hall. S, P, and I met B at the union hall and we had dinner together. We hung out with B’s co-workers and I had a little adult interaction.
It looks like a tentative agreement has been made for a new contract. Of course, we are not getting any information and only know what I am reading from online publications. B finally got an email yesterday saying that a tentative agreement was made but BP has not agreed to it. I read in one of the articles that even after they sign a new contract it could be up to two weeks before they can even go back to work. They still have to negotiate at a local level so we could be out even longer.
Disclaimer: I have never claimed to be any great writer. So any mistakes that are made are my fault. Sometimes I mix up names B, S, and P, but I think you can figure out who I am talking about. If you find any grammatical errors just fix it in your mind so it sounds right.