DETROIT—Early Wednesday morning, 270 refinery workers at the Southwest Detroit Marathon refinery walked off the job demanding a fair contract with better wages to keep up with inflation, working conditions—including better scheduling and safety measures—as well as benefits.
The strike comes after Teamsters Local 283 voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike after their contract expired in January. To date, Marathon has not been bargaining in good faith, has been stalling, and has frustrated the workers there, the union said. The refinery workers, including board operators, field operators, chemists, laboratory technicians, electricians, and mechanics, voted 95% to strike.
The workers here say they deserve better and are willing to stay on strike to get better. As of Wednesday morning, around 75 workers were picketing out front of the Marathon gates, a landmark of sorts in Detroit down I-75. They are wearing red t-shirts that read “Teamsters FUEL Marathon profits,” and “Our patience for a fair contract—EMPTY” and carried picket signs that said “On Strike” and “Unfair Labor Practices” outside the refinery, as dawn broke and the sun started to rise.
“They need to put our people back in there,” said Steve Hicks, president of Teamsters Local 283 and board member of the Teamsters Joint Council 43, on the picket line. “We asked Marathon for a 6% raise to keep up with inflation and give us union security…. Everyone has to be a union member. They refused to do that and shut down bargaining.
“They want to be able to take all our senior employees, even after they’ve been trained for two years to run this plant, and move them all around and put them wherever they want,” he said. “They have scabs in the plant right now, and it’s not safe for the citizens of Detroit. They’ve had them in there for weeks…paying people to sit in there and do nothing. We want to get back to work. We didn’t want to strike, but they forced us into it.”
Like workers in many industries across the country, the refinery workers here have been struggling with inflation, especially the rising costs of basic goods and necessities since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We don’t know what inflation will look like five or six years from now. They are offering a 3% increase at seven years. We are demanding a 6% raise in the first year,” Hicks said.
“Though Marathon Petroleum made nearly $10 billion in profit in 2023 on the backs of Teamsters, the company claims to not have enough to pay their workers their fair share.”
The striking refinery workers also mentioned that Marathon, like many major corporations, is taking advantage of the public by increasing prices for no valid reason. Because of their monopoly power, corporations can get away with overcharging consumers.
Marathon’s CEO, Michael Hennigan, raked in $24,054,492 in 2023. Compared with the wages of the workers there, his pay was 137 times the company’s median employee’s pay, according to the AFL-CIO’s Executive Paywatch.
“We’ve lost a lot of buying power [as working people],” said one of the workers walking the picket line. “We had, what, an 8% inflation rate last year? We didn’t get an 8% raise. We’re falling behind.”
Jeff Tricoff, a relief operator at the plant, said, “We are essential workers that work around the clock to ensure the plant keeps running and keeps making Marathon money.”
The refinery has a crude oil refining capacity of 140,000 barrels per calendar day, according to the company. “Marathon has made record profits for the last few years by ramping up production and cutting costs, but we don’t want our contract to be a part of their cost-cutting efforts,” Tricoff said.
“Our role in Marathon’s success should be rewarded with a strong union contract that includes competitive wages and fair language to increase work-life balance and morale in the plant.”
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