Contractor workers walk off BP jobsite - By TJ Aulds, Daily News - Galveston County, TX
TEXAS CITY — A wage dispute between workers and a scaffold company prompted almost 600 contractors to walk off the job at BP’s Texas City refinery Thursday morning.
The workers, all employees of ISI Specialties, staged a daylong work stoppage demanding more pay. The protest began as the night shift workers refused to go home and the incoming day shift workers refused to report to their unit.
ISI is providing scaffolding for BP as it continues a major overhaul of its 1,200-acre refinery.
ISI president and acting CEO Jim Getgood said between 30 percent and 50 percent of its BP work force participated in the protest. He blamed the conflict on a tight labor market, especially among construction contractors.