Refinery workers get ‘processed:’ They’re out of jobs
The fire is out at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery. The damage is not. And it will not be for years to come.
The refinery was crippled in a massive explosion and fire back on June 21. Almost immediately, company owners indicated they had no intention of reopening the plant, instead focusing on shutting the facility down and preparing it for a possible sale.
The workforce, which was given notice that they would be laid off en masse, got something of a reprieve when PES officials said they would delay layoffs until Aug. 25 while continuing the process of shutting down the facility.
That reprieve expired this week.
On Tuesday, PES began handing out pink slips. Company officials terminated 80 workers and indicated the bulk of the refinery’s unionized workforce would follow suit this week.
The news sent shock waves through Steelworkers Local 10-1, based in Norwood. The union represents about 700 workers at the plant, most of whom live here in Delaware County.
The company prefers the term “processed” in describing the plight of the more than 1,000 workers at the plant. That no doubt sounds better than terminated. The end result is the same.
A host of solid, high-paying jobs – a ticket to a solid middle-class life for generations – is gone.
Much like it had back in 2012 for workers at Sunoco’s iconic Marcus Hook refinery. Sunoco decided to get out of the refinery business. When no buyer came forward, the Marcus Hook facility, which had operated on the banks of the Delaware River for more than a century, was shuttered.
A similar fate looked to be in the making for the sprawling, 1,400-acre refinery in Southwest Philadelphia, the largest refinery on the east coast, which produces 335,000 barrels of fuel a day.
The Philly refinery was saved when Sunoco entered into an agreement with the Carlyle Group, which created Philadelphia Energy Solutions – with the help of a lot of state and taxpayer money. But the plant continued to sputter. PES filed for bankruptcy, emerged from that struggle only to file a second time in the weeks after the explosion and fire.
In addition to the layoffs, PES officials said Tuesday that they continue to move the facility toward a full shutdown and are taking measures for a possible resale and restart.
No one is holding their breath waiting for that outcome.
Another in a series of public hearings focusing on the future of the site was held Tuesday night. There were talk about a lot of options, including a park, green space and even a solar energy farm. There was not much talk about a future as a refinery.
And that’s the stark, cold future facing hundreds of union workers.
“The refining complex has completed the idling of a majority of the equipment,” said Mark Smith, chief executive officer of PES. “We are releasing employees this week in accordance with previous announcements.
“We realize this is a very difficult situation for our employees, their families, the community, and the city of Philadelphia. We thank our employees for their many years of dedication.”
End of story. And of a way of life.
Jobs like those at the refinery, which can pay as much as $80-$90,000 dollars a year, don’t grow on trees. It’s a specialized skill that is becoming increasingly rare as the refining
In addition to the layoffs, PES officials said Tuesday that they continue to move the facility toward a full shutdown and are taking measures for a possible resale and restart.
industry continues to undergo change.
No one knows that better than Ryan O’Callaghan. He heads Steelworkers Local 10-1.
He warns that it’s not only union refinery workers that will be hurt, that the ripples from all those pink slips will reverberate through the community. It means less shopping, fewer cars being bought, houses sold and bills going unpaid.
A host of state and federal investigators continue to examine the plant looking for clues and a cause as to what caused the June 21 explosion.
Now they and their coworkers are being shown the door.
Neighbors and environmentalists are urging a future for the site that does not include a refinery. They have a point.
But it does not lessen the jolt and pain that is now facing all those workers.
For them it was a way of life. A way of life that is now gone, and not likely coming back.