Read our editorial on the significance of strikes here.
About 385 oil workers affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 877 voted 92% to authorize a strike at Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery in Linden, New Jersey on September 28 before their contract expiration on October 1. The refinery is the largest on the east coast.
Workers are demanding “a contract that delivers higher wages, stronger benefits, reliable access to paid time off, and protects contractual language previously negotiated and agreed upon”, according to a press statement from their union.
Despite the October 1 expiration, the strike has not begun and no tentative agreement has been reached as of writing. In a lead up to the vote, IBT Local 877 stated, “a strike authorization vote does not mean we are going on strike. It gives the union authorization to call a strike if it becomes necessary during the bargaining process”.
Negligent conditions at Bayway Refinery persist. A subcontracted chemical worker was killed at the chemical processing plant in January 2026, and a Phillips 66 worker was injured in a 2024 machine fire.
Despite this, the monopoly wants to slash the 30-month training period for new hires, and expand the period that workers can be terminated with no cause from 10 months to 6 years. They also instituted policy changes in 2025 that give workers penalties for taking sick leave.
US imperialism’s defeat in its criminal war of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran has restricted it from 30% of the international oil supply. This has sparked gas hikes and demand for domestic oil production. Oil workers face speedups at all US refineries, now running 96% utilization rates, increasing the chance of mechanical failure and catastrophic hazards.
Process and mechanical workers maintain the chemical distillation infrastructure necessary to transform crude oil into consumer fuel. This requires carefully managing volatile pressure and temperature-sensitive operations, making safety trainings critical.
Philips 66 reported second-quarter profits of $3.85 billion, up from $207 million in the last quarter, mirroring the record profits of the domestic oil industry in 2026.
Workers at the Bayway Refinery last struck in 1964 over mass layoffs, attempts to gut contract protections, and the inadequacy of the existing company union. In the midst of police violence, injuring and arresting strikers on the picket line, the workers ultimately disaffiliated with the company union mid-strike, founded IBT Local 877, and secured a foundational contract after 101 days.
Image: The Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery in Linden, New Jersey. Credit: Quintin Soloviev on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
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