The Zhitong Finance App learned that an administrative law judge of the US National Labor Relations Commission ruled that it was legal for the US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil (XOM.US) to shut down about 600 trade union workers at the Texas refinery for a period of 10 months during the contract dispute.

According to information, the judge supported ExxonMobil in the November 21 ruling, arguing that the work stoppage in 2021 and 2022 was to pressure the American Federation of Steelworkers (USW) to reach a final agreement, not to expel the federation from the refinery with a daily output of 369,024 barrels in Beaumont, Texas, nor to force employees to dissolve the union.

USW faced action to cancel certification during the shutdown and filed an unfair labor practices complaint accusing it of trying to damage the refinery's union by improper means.

The union organization sought millions of dollars in compensation for lost wages and benefits for workers who were turned away from the factory between May 2021 and March 2022.

“There is little evidence that the company shut out employees in the department and unlawfully pressured them to disqualify them from union certification,” National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Judge Jeffrey Wedekind (Jeffrey Wedekind) said in the ruling.

An ExxonMobil spokesperson did not respond to reporters' requests for comment.

Mickey Mosley, president of the American Federation of Steelworkers 13-243, representing ExxonMobil workers, said the union was considering the options it proposed after the judge made a ruling. According to regulations, the American Federation of Steelworkers can file an appeal with the US National Labor Relations Commission.

“We believe this decision does not reflect the actual circumstances of the case,” Mosley said in a statement.

Wedkind made this decision 18 months after hearings on the case began. The hearing examined ExxonMobil Petroleum's internal documents relating to the negotiation strategy and whether a post-contract review could be considered in the case.

However, Wade Kind ruled out these documents. Some of them show that ExxonMobil's senior management has long considered stopping work and discussed the conditions required for union members to vote to cancel union certification or officially dissolve the union.

According to documents reviewed by the media, ExxonMobil's management had previously considered implementing a shutdown of work and production, but later believed that changing the composition of employees would benefit the company's strategy in future salary negotiations.

One-fifth of the employees who were initially suspended on May 1, 2021 left the company before the contract was settled in March 2022.

According to hearing testimony, plant manager Jose Diaz (Jose Diaz) wrote that the people who were replaced “worked as contractors during the shutdown period, which was beneficial to site performance and long-term workforce strategy.” The documents were posted on an internal website and leaked to the American Federation of Steelworkers (USW).

Another document proposed the possibility that in the next round of negotiations in 2027, workers would push for the union to withdraw by separating the contract between the oil and gas complex's refinery and lubricant plant.

According to the documents, former ExxonMobil plant manager Jonathan Parsons said: “If the 2027 contract is split, the refinery will eventually lose its certification qualifications.”