Martinez Renewable Refinery Workers Strike Amid Contract Dispute, Demand Safer Conditions

More than 100 steelworkers entered day two of a strike against the management of a Martinez refinery after nearly four months of fruitless contract negotiations with Marathon Petroleum’s corporate leadership.

“These workers showed up ready to reach an agreement,” said Nick Plurkowski, president of USW Local 5, in a statement. “Marathon walked away from the table. When a company refuses to bargain in good faith, workers use the only tool they have left.”

The second day of the strike was held on Workers Memorial Day, “to honor those killed, injured, and sickened on the job,” union representatives said in a statement. Their protest is part of a multi-year battle over workplace conditions after a November 2023 fire engulfed worker Jerome Serrano, leaving him with third-degree burns over 80% of his body.

“That [2023] fire happened here because of a lack of training and lack of staffing,” said Criff Reyes, the chair of United Steelworkers Local 5 and a wastewater operator and United Steelworkers Local 5 chair. “When there is a lack of staffing, things get missed.”

In an emailed statement, a refinery spokesperson said that the company and the union have engaged in “collective bargaining for the last four months in an effort to achieve a new labor agreement to replace the prior agreement that expired on January 31, 2026,” adding that the company has negotiated “in good faith.”

Previously a petroleum refinery, the Ohio-based Marathon “partnered” with Neste, a Finnish company, in 2022 to begin producing renewable fuels.

When Marathon announced its intent to convert in 2020, the Martinez facility laid off 700 workers, including 345 unionized workers, according to a brief from World Resources Institute. In an email, Marathon said it currently employs “115 USW represented employees.”

“Instead of hiring people and making it fair for everybody and giving us the amount of people we need. They just want more of us,” Greg Belcher, another wastewater operator, told KQED.

After the fire, Contra Costa County commissioned a third-party assessment that gave Martinez Renewables an overall “safety culture” rating of 65% — below industry benchmarks. The report identified understaffing as a key issue both during the interviews and in on-site observation days.

When asked about the strike and progress that they’ve made since the report, Marathon said that the company has “implemented a number of corrective and preventive actions to address the recommendations identified in its investigation report, and we are continuously looking for ways to improve the safety and reliability of our operations.”

KQED’s Desmond Meagley contributed to this report.