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Talks continue in efforts to wrap up negotiations and ratify a labor agreement. As it stands now, we appear to be headed toward talks in Billings sometime around the middle of next week. Over the next few days, we hope to get some clarity on issues that have been presented by the Company. We don’t know if anyone from local management will be allowed in the meetings, but it is our hope that someone with a basic understanding of our issues will be present to answer our questions. Stay tuned. We will fill you in just as soon as we can make sense of it all.

May 1, 2002

Today, management presented a new final offer to your Committee. It contains adjustments to the offer made by the Company way back on February 7th. Your Committee has agreed to present this package to the membership for ratification.

Scheduling concerns require that we hold the vote on Friday the 3rd. We know this is short notice, but we are working hard to make sure all the information needed for an informed decision is made available to you in time for the vote. We are working with management to make sure that copies of the offer are out into the plant and into your hands by Thursday. We will have plenty of copies available at the Hall on Friday for read-a-longs during the informational meetings. Now some notes on the meetings:

It is imperative that you make an informed decision. The stakes are simply too high. There is a ton of information needing explanation before we can vote. There will be no proxy voting. There will be no early voting. Voting will only take place after the informational meetings. Meetings will be held at the Hall on Friday at 4:30PM (to accommodate Day Workers and the folks going in on Nights) and 6:30PM (to accommodate Day Shift workers). We will go through the proposal page by page and answer any questions you might have. We promise to keep things moving and should be able to line up and vote within an hour of the start of the meeting. Refreshments will be served only after the polls have been closed after the 6:30PM meeting.

This update was put together rather quickly, so be sure to tune in tomorrow for any additional information concerning the informational meetings and vote on Friday.

Your Committee

May 2, 2002

Congratulations to our Sisters and Brothers at the Denver refinery on the ratification of their new labor agreement!

Be looking for copies of the new offer from our management team. They should be out in the refinery by the time you guys read this update. Don’t forget to set aside a couple hours of your lives for Friday’s informational meetings and ratification vote. It is imperative that whatever decision made on Friday night is made by the entire membership! Your Committee would like to thank all of you for the support and patience you have shown as we try to get the contract offer out to the refinery while at the same time setting up a short notice election.

See you at the Hall on Friday!!

May 3, 2002

Informational Meetings
And
Ratification Votes
Friday @ The Hall
4:30 & 6:30
Votes Follow Meetings!!

May 4, 2002

The vote is in! It took until after 9 O’clock last night, but the results are finally in. You accepted the Company’s latest offer and ratified a new labor agreement. The jury will be out for a very long time as to whether this will be a good agreement or a bad agreement. One thing is very clear, however, the membership of this Union can be very proud of the fact that throughout this entire process, you acted with honor and dignity. While others may have chosen, with their actions, to reiterate and exemplify what is wrong with corporate America, you chose to take the high road. Know that your Committee is very proud of all of you. You have shown why PACE Locals all across the country look at you with admiration. Check back in a few days for another update giving a wrap-up and overview of the despicable series of events that have taken place during the last four months that will forever changed our relationship with management in this plant.

Something to think about… If you think it was bad for us, wait a few months and see how they feed on their own. Several thousand are going to find out the consequences of life without a labor agreement!

May 7-12