{"id":21804,"date":"2022-03-21T13:05:59","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T20:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=21804"},"modified":"2022-03-21T13:06:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T20:06:00","slug":"more-than-500-bay-area-chevron-workers-go-on-strike-saying-they-need-raises-due-to-extremely-high-cost-of-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2022\/03\/21\/more-than-500-bay-area-chevron-workers-go-on-strike-saying-they-need-raises-due-to-extremely-high-cost-of-living\/","title":{"rendered":"More than 500 Bay Area Chevron workers go on strike, saying they need raises due to extremely high cost of living"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jessica Flores<\/a>,\u00a0Michael Cabanatuan<\/a> March 21, 2022 (SFChronicle.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The Chevron Richmond Refinery is seen in Richmond, Calif. More than 500 steelworkers at the refinery in the San Francisco Bay Area went on strike over ongoing disputes during contract negotiations.Jessica Christian\/The Chronicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More than 500 workers at the Chevron refinery in Richmond went on strike Monday after their union rejected a recent company contract proposal and demanding a \u201cBay Area pay bump,\u201d union officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several dozen workers, waving picket signs reading \u201cStrike Against Chevron\u201d stood in front of entrances to the company\u2019s offices on Chevron Way and to gates to the sprawling refinery along Castro Street. Passing motorists \u2014 especially big-rig drivers \u2014 blasted their horns in support as they sat in traffic waiting to get onto Interstate 580 and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re out here because Chevron has refused to bargain earnestly and instead gave us an offer with little chance of getting ratified for a contract,\u201d said B.K. White, an operator at the Richmond refinery and spokesman for United Steelworkers Local 5 .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union represents operators, machinists, pipefitters, welders, riggers, warehouse workers, lab technicians and packaging and lubrication workers at the refinery on the industrial western edge of Richmond near the bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers gave their notice of intent to begin an unfair labor practice strike after union members twice rejected Chevron proposals and the company refused to return to the bargaining table, union officials said. Workers had been reporting to their jobs on a rolling 24-hour extension since their old contract with Chevron expired Feb. 1, White said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White said the company \u201cdid nothing\u201d to address the workers\u2019 concerns, ignoring requests to address soaring medical insurance payments, inflation and work fatigue. Some workers, he said, have been working 12 hour shifts and 60-70 hours a week since the start of the pandemic, with many of those hours on mandatory overtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re understaffed, overworked,\u201d he said, and the company is in violation of industry safety standards limiting hours to avoid worker fatigue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for Chevron disputed the union\u2019s account of the state of negotiations, and said the company\u2019s proposal was fair and addressed workers\u2019 concerns. The company said in a statement they would \u201ccontinue discussions\u201d with the union to reach an equitable agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe did not want this,\u201d said White, an Oakland resident who has worked at the Richmond refinery for 29 years. \u201cOur workers are fatigured and we\u2019re understaffed. We\u2019re falling farther behind,\u201d said White.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said workers have also risked their health and safety during the pandemic \u201cwhile they watch the upper management work remotely from home\u201d who they said received high salary raise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the Bay Area\u2019s high cost of living, White said, the union is seeking a one-time \u201cBay Area bump.\u201d Also on the table are a proposal to mandate union membership and to increase staffing levels in an effort to increase safety and reduce fatigue, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tyler Kruzich, a spokesperson for Chevron, said in a statement that the company believed its contract offer to the union was \u201cfair, competitive and responsive\u201d to the union\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have negotiated in good faith for months, reaching two tentative agreements that were rejected by the union, and we are ready to continue discussions with USW so we can reach an equitable agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the company argued that \u201cthe union\u2019s demands exceeded what the company believes to be reasonable and moved beyond what was agreed to as part of the national pattern bargaining agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kruzich said normal operations would continue at the Richmond refinery and they did not expect the strike to impact supply issues, adding that Chevron would not speculate about potential fluctuation of gas prices as a result of the strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Union members are skeptical that replacement workers brought in by the company will be able to keep the plant operating at normal levels, White said, but wouldn\u2019t speculate on its impact on gas prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnited Steelworkers doesn\u2019t even attempt to understand the magic of gas prices, how crude oil prices go up and gas prices go down but when crude oil prices go down, gas prices don\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Flores (she\/her) and Michael Cabanatuan areSan Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com<\/a>, mcabanatuan @sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @jesssmflores<\/a>, @ctuanFifth & Mission<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Flores is a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. Before joining The Chronicle in 2021, she worked for USA Today, NPR affiliate KPCC and Curbed LA. Originally from L.A., she received her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree from Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles.<\/a>Written ByMichael Cabanatuan<\/a>Reach Michael on<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Cabanatuan is a general assignment and breaking news reporter who’s covered everything from wildfires and sports fans to protests and COVID masking requirements. He’s also written extensively about transportation and covered Contra Costa County for The Chronicle. He’s ridden high-speed trains in Japan, walked in the Transbay Tube, been tear-gassed in Oakland and exposed to nude protesters in the Castro. Cabanatuan worked at the Paradise Post (long before anyone heard of the town), the former West County Times (in Richmond) and the Modesto Bee before joining The Chronicle. He is a two-time graduate of UC Berkeley.VIEW COMMENTSTop of the News<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a92022 Hearst
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Jessica Flores,\u00a0Michael Cabanatuan March 21, 2022 (SFChronicle.com) More than 500 workers at the Chevron refinery in Richmond went on strike Monday after their union rejected a recent company contract proposal and demanding a \u201cBay Area pay bump,\u201d union officials said. Several dozen workers, waving picket signs reading \u201cStrike Against Chevron\u201d… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21804"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21805,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21804\/revisions\/21805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}