HOUSTON (Reuters) - Representatives of the United Steelworkers union (USW) and oil companies have completed five days of talks as of Sunday for a new national contract that will cover hourly workers at 63 U.S. refineries that account for 64 percent of national refining capacity.

The national agreement sets the floor on wages and benefits for USW members. Management at each refinery also negotiates issues unique to that plant with the USW local union. The national agreement and local agreement are combined to create the final contract for that refinery. The local agreement cannot change the terms of the national contract.

At least one contract offer has been rejected by the Steelworkers, the union said on Friday.

The current national contract expires at 12:01 a.m. local time on Feb. 1.

Below are the initial proposals the USW made to the oil companies, which are being led by Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Term of new agreement: Three years

Wages: $7,500 signing bonus and a 6 percent increase in pay effective in each year of the agreement beginning on Feb. 1 2015, Feb. 1, 2016 and Feb. 1, 2017.

Fatigue: No loss of earnings due to the application of a fatigue policy. The employee is to be made whole for a possible loss in the pay period when the compensation was to be received. The parties will develop and implement adequate staffing levels.

Contracting out: All work that bargaining unit members are capable of performing will be assigned to USW members unless the local parties agree otherwise. The local parties will work together to achieve adequate staffing levels and transfer work from contractors to USW members.

Union shop: Where enforceable by law, all workers covered by the contract will be members of the USW. Where not enforceable, all workers covered by the contract who are not USW members, will pay a service charge to cover the union's costs for collective bargaining representation.

Health care: Health insurance plans covering bargaining unit employees will have premium splits reduced by 5 percent on May 1, 2015 and May 1, 2016. Out of pocket maximums for all health insurance plans will be $2,500 per individual and $6,000 per family by May 1, 2015.

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2012 Agreement:

Term of agreement: Three years

Wages: Pay increased by 2.5 percent in the first year and 3 percent in each of the following years.

Health insurance: The employer would pay 80 percent of health insurance premiums and the employee would pay 20 percent.

Health and Safety: A union member would be designated to be the full-time health and safety representative at each refinery. A fatigue prevention program would be implemented at each refinery. An annual process safety review would be performed at each plant.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Eric Walsh)