March 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. United SteelWorkers (USW)

union members voted on Thursday to overwhelmingly reject what

energy giant BP called its "last, best, and final"

contract proposal to those working at its Whiting refinery in

Indiana.

The USW stated in a release that "an unprecedented 94% of

union members voted Thursday and 98.3% voted not to accept BP's

offer."

BP had presented the union with a Last, Best and Final offer

(LBFO) last week, and said that the offer would expire in 10

calendar days.

USW has said that after two months of negotiations, BP's

proposal came with changes to the basic terms of the contract

including limiting the union's ability to strike and stripping

its bargaining rights, base wage cuts across classifications,

elimination and outsourcing of 100 union jobs, ending seniority

protections in case of layoffs, and more.

United Steelworkers Local 7-1, which represents around 800

workers at the largest refinery in the U.S. Midwest, said its

bargaining committee has reported the results to BP and will

give the company an opportunity to present a more serious

proposal.

BP in a response late Thursday confirmed that its

represented workforce at its Whiting refinery has voted not to

ratify the company's "final" offer.

"BP will continue to bargain in the best interests of our

employees, our company, and the community," the company added.

Eric Schultz, president of USW 7-1, said the company has

recently tried to divide the union, with management even

offering members donuts during their shifts, while they have

also threatened the loss of health insurance and being locked

out.

Since their contract expired on January 31, the union has

been working under rolling 24-hour extensions of their previous

agreement.