Submitted by Tony Lamadrid
For the past several months workers at Phillips 66’s Los Angeles Refinery have had an uphill battle with their employer because of demands to eliminate jobs that are critical for the safe running of that refinery. The employer’s proposal is three jobs, employing twelve people in a 24/7 operation into two jobs, employing only eight people. The Phillips 66 Los Angeles was bought by Tosco from Union Oil of California (UNOCAL) in 1997 and Tosco promptly eliminated over a hundred jobs. More production and maintenance jobs have been lost since then due to attrition with no replacements.
This, in turn, has caused excessive overtime and stress for both employees and for their families. While the Company lamely argues that they have been hiring people at the same time a lot of people have retired or been fired, some of them for unjustified reasons or situations that did not warrant such action. While the “headcount” authorized by Corporate HQ may not have appreciably lowered production employees have been replaced by managers and contractors. The Company argument has been that they can eliminate these production positions because the technology allows them to do so and because supposedly the units will run more efficiently. We all know the truth: The Company wants to cut production jobs to save a relatively few dollars in a “calculated” risk to the well-being of the employees, the community and the environment. It even irresponsibly risks the investments of their shareholders, some of whom are also us.
Consequently, P66 Los Angeles Refinery employees who are members of United Steelworkers Local 675 protested at the Wilmington, CA plant-gate on the afternoon of July 29 . The demonstration was also endorsed and supported by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Southern California District Council, the Maritime Trades Department/Southern CA Ports Council, Communities for a Better Environment, the Del Amo Action Committee, Food and Water Watch, the Sierra Club, Southbay 350.org, and the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance.
The workers and their community allies plan additional escalating actions to make Philips 66 accountable for its decision with respect to safety for the workers, safety for the community, and responsible stewardship of shareholder assets.