BP Rotterdam Refinery resuming operations, vote on union deal Wednesday

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Unions and BP PLC have reached an agreement on pay for workers BP’ large Rotterdam refinery, which had been largely idled this month amid a dispute over wages, unions and the company said on Friday.

A union spokesperson said agreement had been reached on a new three-year package including a 6% wage increase, a 4,000 euro one-time bonus, and the ability to participate in a stock compensation plan.

Workers are expected to gradually restart the parts of the facility, one of Europe’s largest, that are still offline ahead of a vote on Wednesday. BP could not immediately be reached for comment.

“We can confirm we have made progress with the unions towards a 3-year collective labour agreement which will be put to a vote next Wednesday,” BP said in a statement.

“In the meantime, we are resuming operations of the remaining installations at our refinery.”

(Reporting by Toby Sterling, Editing by Louise Heavens)