UC Berkeley Labor Center will host an online conversation about their new report, Fossil Fuel Layoff, which details what happened to Marathon workers in Martinez after the refinery shut down last year—a case study of the reasons why planning and funding for just transition are essential.
The report shows that, on the whole, workers from the shuttered Marathon Refinery ended up with lower pay and worse working conditions. About a quarter are unemployed. Workers who found jobs faced an average pay cut of 24%. And the industry where the largest percentage of former Marathon workers (28%) found new jobs was—the oil and gas industry.
Speakers:
Virginia Parks
Report co-author, professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine, and faculty director of the UCI Labor Center.
Tracy Scott
President of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 5, which represented workers laid off at the facility.
Josh Sonnenfeld
California Economic Development Specialist, BlueGreen Alliance
MODERATOR
Jessie Hammerling
Co-director of the Green Economy Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center
WHEN
Wednesday, June 14, 12 – 1 PM
WHERE
Online. Register here
The report, Fossil fuel layoff: The economic and employment effects of a refinery closure on workers in the Bay Area, lists recommendations to support displaced workers:
- Extended cash payments to maintain pre-layoff income levels
- Financial support to cover the 24% average gap in workers’ pre-layoff wages and their post-layoff wages
- Bridge-to-retirement funding that provides full retirement benefits to workers eligible for early retirement within one year following layoff
- Third-party certifications to define and verify the skills of refinery workers, and facilitate more efficient and accurate skill matching between jobs and workers in the labor market
- Targeted, individualized job search assistance that focuses on a broad scope of strategies for identifying good job opportunities, and preparing for and applying for those jobs
- Targeted, short-term training for a specific set of occupations and industries, with income support for workers during training
- Short-term, stand-alone training modules to enable workers to maintain certifications they had earned on-the-job at the refinery, such as CPR and HAZMAT training certifications
- Counseling services for workers and their families during layoffs and job transitions