Contra Costa Labor Council

Championing policies that improve the lives of workers and their families, promote economic and social justice, and protect the rights of workers to collectively bargain and organize.

In 2020, the Marathon Martinez oil refinery in Contra Costa County, California, announced that it would indefinitely idle, laying off over 700 workers, including 350 members of the United Steelworkers Local 5. The job losses, given with only 60 days’ notice, were a shock to workers and their families, who were prohibited from transferring to other Marathon facilities and only supported by short-term union-negotiated severance.

Contra Costa County labor, environmental, and environmental justice groups—who had previously collaborated to strengthen refinery safety—now faced an urgent and critical need to plan for refinery transition and ensure that workers and communities are placed at the center of this process. These two reports are a culmination of this work.