Workforce Update

For more than 80 years, the St. Paul Park refinery has reliably produced transportation fuels for our neighbors in the Twin Cities and communities across Minnesota. It’s an honor we hold in the highest regard, and we are committed to operating safely and responsibly – for our community, our people and the environment. 

The safety of our employees, contractors, business partners, customers and the community is and always will be our number one priority. Every day, the people who work at our plant do so with the highest commitment to safety and a vigilant focus on care for the environment, and our management team continually reinforces this expectation. 

On the evening of January 21, the Teamsters notified us that the 200 refinery employees they represent intended to immediately strike, and they remain on strike. We worked hard to avoid this situation through frequent negotiating sessions with the union, and we remain willing and available to continue meeting. We have negotiated in good faith throughout the bargaining process, and we will continue to do so, guided by our values of integrity and respect. We continue to be committed to reaching an agreement that is satisfactory to all parties.   

While we had hoped to avoid this situation, I want to assure you that we are fully prepared for it. In the fall, we undertook a months-long, comprehensive contingency planning process that enables us to continue safely operating the refinery. The men and women currently operating our plant are fully trained and qualified Marathon Petroleum employees. As a team, they have extensive experience with refinery operations, and each individual holds all necessary certifications to run the equipment they’re assigned to, in full compliance with our company standards, which are based on robust industry, state and federal requirements. 

Our employees and their families are important to us. Our community is important to us. For 80 years, we have provided many good-paying, local jobs, and we have no plans to change that. We are equally passionate about our community being a safe, thriving place to live and work – we live and work here, too. As part of this commitment, we have a Community Advisory Panel of local leaders that helps ensure we listen to and understand community concerns. 

We fully understand and appreciate the significant responsibility we have – as an employer, community member and provider of essential products that help ensure Minnesotans have the goods and services they need. As we have done for many years, we will continue to be a good neighbor and to operate safely and responsibly.