Union workers at Marathon Petroleum’s St. Paul Park refinery approved a new contract Thursday, ending a five-month work stoppage.
The 200 members of Teamsters Local 120 are scheduled to resume work Tuesday. They approved a “revised” contract offer, according to the union, after rejecting an earlier Marathon offer nine days ago.
Marathon’s improved offer included protections that significantly limit the company’s ability to subcontract work done by union workers, Teamsters Local 120 said in a press statement.
“This has been a long battle, with many twists and turns, but we are immensely proud of our members who put their livelihoods on the line to demand better working conditions,” Scott Kroona, a business agent for Teamsters Local 120 said in a press statement.
The union went on strike on Jan. 22, largely over contracting out issues. TheTeamsterssay they were locked out of their jobs after offering to return to work shortly after the strike began.
Marathon has dismissed the notion of a lockout, maintaining the union has been on strike. The company has continued operating the refinery with management employees from St. Paul Park and its other refineries.
The union has said thatMarathon’s earlier contract offers would cost it more than 40 jobs, withTeamstersworkers being replaced by employees of nonunion contractors. The move would compromise plant safety, the union maintains.
“From the start of the work stoppage, Teamsters Local 120 members made it crystal clear that safety was their top priority,” Kroona said. “While this new contract addresses some of our concerns, it does not address them all.”
Marathon could not be immediately reached for comment. But the company has said that it is operating the refinery safely, and that its earlier contract proposals rejected by the union would have lead to only one job being contracted out.
On June 22, members of Local 120 voted 125-38 against Marathon’s “final” proposal made on March 1. The union did not release the vote tally for the contract approved Thursday.
Findlay, Ohio-basedMarathon, the nation’s largest oil refiner, bought the St. Paul Park refinery in 2018. The property was part ofMarathon’s $23 billion buyout of San Antonio-based Andeavor.
MarathonPetroleum’s corporate predecessor,MarathonOil, co-owned or owned the St. Paul Park refinery from 1997 to 2010.Marathon, one of two oil refineries in Minnesota, is the prime gasoline supplier to Speedway stations in the Twin Cities.