BY JIM GOTESKY

RODEO, California - More than 80 angry oil workers and supporters picketed in front of Unocal's San Francisco refinery on May 31 at the afternoon shift change protesting the firing of two refinery operators blamed for a coke drum fire. The May 17 fire destroyed portions of two coking drums, 100-foot-high structures that produce a powder similar to coal dust. Repairs will cost Unocal tens of millions of dollars.

The pickets slowed management traffic leaving the refinery. Protesters held signs demanding that Unocal reinstate Brian Brown and Perry Barnes, both members of Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers (OCAW) Local 1-326.

OCAW Local 1-5 members from the nearby giant Chevron refinery, along with activists from the West County Toxics Coalition, the Shoreline Environmental Alliance, and the Communities for a Better Environment, joined the Unocal workers. A sign carried by one community activist read, "Liar, Liar Coker's on Fire. Barnes and Brown you must rehire!"

Brown told the Militant that he and Barnes forthrightly admitted opening the valve that caused the fire. He explained the coker fire was an accident waiting to happen. Unocal fired them to scapegoat unit operators rather than own up to the unsafe conditions in the unit, he said.

The coking drums stand next to the Unit 210/212 grease-wax complex, where extremely flammable propane is used in large quantities. Company spokespersons admit that a major catastrophe could have occurred if one of the drums had collapsed. Despite the potential for a more serious accident, Unocal bosses did not shut down the wax processing units. Unit 210 operators were not evacuated during the fire.

"This isn't about a job," Brown said. "We want them to admit their responsibility." Immediately after the firings Brown and his wife invited the media to their home. He said Unocal managers "think the people they hired just fell off the hay truck. We had reporters come to the house. If we are going to be held accountable, what about them?"

Refinery spokesperson Kevin Elliott tried to justify the firings, telling the media it was too early to tell if refinery procedures were faulty. Brown disagreed. Something as simple as bolting a metal plate or "blank" across the end of the unused coking drum feed line would have prevented the accident.

In addition, Unocal bosses have eliminated the "bottom cokeman" job from the crew that switches the coke drum feed. Many plant workers believe the accident would not have occurred if a bottom cokeman was on the job. A picket sign carried by one Chevron worker inquired, "Who eliminated the bottom cokeman?"

Refineries around the country are running units beyond safe levels to rake in profits from inflated gasoline prices. A Unocal newsletter boasted just prior to the fire about record production levels at the coker. As California State Energy Commission Chairman, Charles Imbrecht, told the San Francisco Chronicle, "You can only hold the pedal to the metal for so long and not expect some additional problems in any mechanical device."

Unocal claims no health risks were caused by the clouds of black smoke billowing from the fire. Nevertheless, residents of towns downwind of the plant complained of nausea and vertigo. Public schools were closed. Independent tests revealed toxic chemicals in sufficient amounts to injure health.

The coker fire is the fourth major refinery accident at Unocal in the last two years. In 1994, a toxic chemical additive, Catacarb, spewed from a leaking distillation tower in the Unicracker, a gasoline refining unit, from late August into early September. The leak covered area residents and plant workers for 16 days, destroying property and injuring hundreds. Protests from residents and local businesses finally forced Unocal to shut down the leaking vessel.

Gary Murray, a Unocal instrument repairman, pointed to the different treatment received by Unocal managers responsible for the Catacarb accident. He said the Unocal bosses who ordered the continued operation of the leaking refining tower were not fired. "What is the difference between the coker operators and the supervisors? A red badge, that's all," he said, referring to the colored ID badge worn by all bosses at Unocal.

Jim Gotesky is a member of OCAW Local 1-326 at the Unocal refinery in Rodeo.  
 
 
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