SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — More than 500 workers at a Chevron Corp. refinery in the San Francisco Bay Area are on strike over safety concerns and to demand a salary increase to keep up with inflation and the area’s high cost of living.
The United Steelworkers union says the strike affecting the refinery in the city of Richmond began at 12:01 a.m. Monday. It came after union workers voted down Chevron's most recent contract offer.
Chevron says in a statement that it negotiated with the union for months and believes its contract offer was fair.
The company says refinery operations will continue despite the strike.
The refinery is one of largest in the state and processes about 240,000 barrels of crude oil a day to make gasoline, diesel and jet fuel and lubricating oils, products that are sold mainly in California.
If the strike were to shut down the refinery, that could negatively affect gasoline prices in California — which has the highest regular gas price in the nation at $5.86 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association.
