Marathon Union Workers Vote In Favor Of Revised Contract, Will Return To Work

ST. PAUL PARK, Minn. (WCCO/AP) — Union workers have voted to return to their jobs at the Marathon Petroleum refinery in St. Paul Park, Teamsters officials announced Thursday.

About 200 workers have been idled since January in what the union called a lockout and the refinery called a strike. The employees plan to resume work on Tuesday.

The union said the company's revised offer included protections that limit the company's ability to outsource work traditionally done by the refinery's "highly trained, safety conscious permanent maintenance personnel."

"While this new contract addresses some of our concerns, it does not address them all, we will continue our advocacy for a safer refinery through the grievance process in the contract and by advocating legislatively for policies that improve refinery safety at every site in our state," said Teamsters Local 120 Business Agent Scott Kroona.

A proposal by a Democratic state senator to require oil refineries to employ only skilled and highly trained workers, an amendment related to the Marathon dispute, was shot down last month by the Republican-controlled Senate.

(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)