Inside the nearly 5-month labor lockout at an Indiana refinery

The Skalka family, once a part of BP's Whiting refinery workforce, now finds themselves locked out of their jobs without pay for nearly five months. Jessica Skalka, 37, and her father, Donald Skalka, 62, experienced a dramatic shift in their lives when the 99-day strike at the refinery came to an end in 2015, a situation now reminiscent of their current predicament.

Donald, who had spent over two decades in the refinery's control room, is now locked out, along with his son, Jessica, and approximately 800 other unionized workers. Their union, USW Local 7-1, had rejected BP's last offer, leading to the lockout. The union's demands included frozen wages, weakened safety protections, job elimination, and increased use of artificial intelligence in monitoring employees.

BP, on the other hand, argued that its proposals were not unprecedented and even claimed that it had already implemented similar measures elsewhere. The union pointed out the potential safety risks posed by the 24-hour notice requirement for a strike, which could disrupt refinery operations and necessitate a continuity plan. The lockout also coincided with a series of incidents at the refinery, including four flaring events, a fire, and a major power outage in just four months, raising concerns about the impact on the surrounding community and workers' safety.