Read our editorial “The Significance of Strikes” here.
Workers at the Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery in Linden, New Jersey are picketing after the refinery locked them out on October 19.
The 385 workers organized under International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 377, have been negotiating with Phillips 66 for months, leading up to the expiration of their contract on October 1. During negotiations, the workers’ contract was extended to October 19.
Workers had voted to authorize a strike on September 29, but the union leadership did not call for one. Immediately after the contract extension expired, the oil monopoly locked out the workers.
Among those locked out are about 120 emergency responders, according to the union, who has raised concerns about accidents arising while the facility is operated by a scab skeleton crew.
On the picket line, workers have blocked some trucks from entering the facility at times, according to monopoly news outlet CBS.
A worker on the picket line told The Worker that the monopoly is continuing to stall on negotiations.
Workers are fighting for better wages, benefits, safety standards, and paid time off, among other demands, the union said. Workers have raised safety concerns about proposed cuts to training and new company policies that punish workers for taking sick leave.
The Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery is the largest refinery on the east coast. The monopoly has reported record profits amid the criminal US war of aggression against Iran. The company is using its strengthened position to attack the union through the lockout in an attempt to force a capitulationist contract.
Image: IBT Local 377 picket outside the Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery in Linden, New Jersey. Credit: The Worker.
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