Lyondell Houston refinery layoffs to begin in mid-April, letter shows

Updates with company response, comments from the union, and background

HOUSTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Layoffs at Lyondell Basell Industries' LYB.N shuttered Houston refinery will begin in mid-April, the company stated in a letter sent to the United Steelworkers union (USW) on Monday.

"Employment separations - including for (USW) Local 13-227-represented employees – are expected to begin on or about April 17, 2025," Estalee Russi, the refinery's human resources director, said in the letter to USW International President David McCall.

The letter was reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday.

A Lyondell spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment.

There are around 400 Lyondell employees working at the 263,776 barrel-per-day-capacity Houston refinery, with about 70% of them being hourly workers represented by the Steelworkers.

"Lyondell's decision to remove 250,000 bpd of capacity from the market is not only diasppointing, but will negatively impact American consumers," said Marcos Velez, assistant to the director for USW district 13, which includes the Houston refinery, on Tuesday.

Russi's letter stated that "bumping rights," which allow workers with greater seniority to have priority in securing the jobs that will remain at the refinery, would be upheld in accordance with the contract between the union and the company.

Velez said that pledge did not go far enough to honor the contract.

"Their handling of these layoffs does not align with the collective bargaining agreement in place," he said. "We are exploring every avenue to hold them accountable."

Lyondell completed the shutdown of the Houston refinery by February 7, people familiar with plant operations told Reuters.

In 2023, Lyondell announced plans to close the plant as it no longer aligned with the company's shift towards becoming a global manufacturer of plastic pellets used to produce plastic products.

The company plans to convert the refinery site along the Houston Ship Channel for use with equipment - set to be added after 2027 - that will produce plastic pellets from recycled materials.