The union leaders said they chose to strikebecause they were, “Tired of Chevron's incompetence. Tired of putting profits before people. Tired of the disregard for safety."
The strike comes after negotiations between the union and Chevron broke down over the weekend. Refinery workers have continued working on rolling 24-hour extensions of their previous contract as talks on a new contract continued. Their last contract expired February 1st.
The United Steelworkers reached an agreement with the oil company on Feb. 25 over wages and working conditions. But individual units still need to bargain over local issues before ratifying their own contracts.
Local 5 represents more than 500 of the 3,000 workers Chevron says work at the Richmond refinery.
Chevron said in a statement Sunday that it had offered the union, “competitive and fair” terms and had reached two tentative agreements, which the local had rejected.