MARTINEZ, Calif. — “Fair contract now!” demanded dozens of process operators and maintenance workers, members of United Steelworkers Local 5, who rallied in front of the Marathon biodiesel refinery here March 3.
Criff Reyes, an operator and Marathon Local 5 union chair, told the Militant that in recent contract negotiations Marathon management has refused to treat this refinery the same as its crude oil refineries. The previous national contract expired Feb. 1, and Marathon and the Steelworkers union agreed Feb. 6 on a four-year “national pattern agreement,” with wage hikes of 15%.
While crude oil is no longer what this refinery processes — replaced in recent years by corn oil, seed oils and tallow — Reyes said, “our biodiesel is explosive.” He cited a fire at the refinery here two years ago that caused severe burns.
“Whether we use what I call ‘dinosaur oil’ or ‘soybean oil’ our product is still explosive, still flammable,” said Reyes. He cited other refineries that have switched to “green” feedstocks that remain under the union’s National Oil Bargaining Program.