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Season 5, Episode 39

Teamsters members ready to strike at Detroit Marathon Refinery

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America's Work Force Union Podcast AWF Teamsters

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Guest Name:

Steve Hicks

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https://teamster.org/ 

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International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 283 President Steve Hicks joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about the status of negotiations at the Marathon Petroleum Refinery in Detroit and explain why members voted to approve a strike if negotiations do not improve.

Hicks has been a member of the Teamsters for almost 44 years, with 28 of those years serving as the Local 283 President. He is the longest-serving Teamsters Local president in Michigan, as the membership has re-elected him to the position nine times. The Local is home to over 800 workers around the Detroit area. 

Members who work at the Detroit Marathon Petroleum refinery recently voted with a 95 percent approval rate to authorize a strike. One of the main sticking points in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is pay, as the company has yet to offer a reasonable pay raise that matches the rate of inflation. Hicks noted the refinery has record profits and awarded bonuses to executives and CEOs, while not helping the workers. 

Marathon is also refusing to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a holiday, something that shocked Hicks. Amongst other issues is the inflexibility of the work schedule. He explained the scheduling issues and how the current schedule creates a workplace safety hazard. Hicks said the members are ready to go on strike but will exhaust all possible routes before committing to the strike.

Listen to the show above to hear more about the potential strike by Teamsters Local 283.

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, American Alliance for Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North America, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Survey and Ballot Systems, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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