Steelworkers union says pay raise made by Marathon Petroleum absurd

A United Steelworkers flag flies outside the Local 1299 union hall in Ecorse, Michigan, September 24, 2019, U.S. The United Steelworkers union said on Wednesday that a pay raise for workers made by Marathon Petroleum MPC.N is ridiculous.

The union said that they showed up and kept their facilities running, as per the message seen by Reuters. The offer would give 30,000 U.S. refinery and chemical plant workers a 1% pay increase for each of three years under the contract being negotiated.

Marathon Petroleum spokeswoman Jamal Kheiry said the negotiations were about a wide range of topics.

Kheiry said that we are committed to bargaining in good faith and working toward a mutually satisfactory agreement.

Under the current contract, which ends Feb. 1, workers will receive increases of 3.5% in each of the contract's first two years and 4% in the third and last year.

The union was looking for significant pay increases and improvements in health insurance as part of negotiations going into the summer, according to people familiar with the deliberations over the summer within the USW, who were not authorized to speak publicly. Refiners and chemical producers started recovering in 2021 after large losses in 2020 when lockdowns and work-from- home policies to prevent the spread of COVID 19 drove down motor fuel demand.