Phillips 66 Workers Vote to Strike at East Coast Refinery

The dispute centers on demands for higher wages, robust benefits, and protected time-off policies. Tensions escalated last year following the implementation of an Absence Control Policy, which allows for termination based on illness-related absences. Workers are also pushing back against proposed shifts in training protocols, specifically a reduction in qualification requirements and an extension of the probationary period from 10 months to potentially six years.

Local 877 President Jeff Sanford stated that management has left the workforce with no alternative but to authorize industrial action. Union leadership argues that the proposed changes undermine safety standards at the facility, which processes 275 million barrels of crude oil daily. As negotiations continue without a deal, workers maintain that they will not accept concessions that threaten their safety or livelihoods. Fred Trachsler, an 18-year operator at the site, warned that if the current impasse persists, the union is prepared to move the fight to the picket line.