With the strike by US oil workers nearing the end of its fourth week, the leadership of the United Steelworkers union has tied the hands of strikers in the face of the intransigence of the energy conglomerates, which have dug in for a drawn out fight. Workers are engaged in a critical battle over safety provisions, impossibly long work schedules, and the continued erosion of their living standards, yet their struggle has been sabotaged by the USW, which has limited the strike to only 6,500 of the 30,000 workers it organizes in the oil industry.