Phillips 66 workers in Linden authorize strike as contract deadline nears

Workers at the Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery in Linden have voted to authorize a strike as contract negotiations approach a Thursday deadline, adding a labor dispute to longstanding questions about the refinery’s environmental and economic impact on the city.

Members of Teamsters Local 877 voted 92 percent in favor of authorizing a strike, with about two-thirds of the membership participating, according to Teamsters Local 877 President Jeff Sanford. The vote involves 385 process and mechanical workers at the refinery.

The current collective bargaining agreement expires Oct. 1. Negotiations are continuing, and the strike authorization does not mean a walkout will necessarily occur.

The union said its members are seeking higher wages, stronger benefits, reliable access to paid time off and protection of existing contract provisions.

Teamsters officials also object to changes they say Phillips 66 has proposed involving training, qualification requirements and probationary status.

“If a strike occurs, it will be because Phillips 66 management has left these workers with no other choice,” Local 877 President Jeff Sanford said in a statement.

Phillips 66 did not respond to a request for comment.

The union also criticized an absence-control policy implemented in 2025 that it says permits discipline, including termination, for employee absences caused by illness. The Teamsters said management has proposed shortening the current 30-month training period for new employees and changing qualification requirements.

The company’s proposals and the union’s characterization of their potential safety effects could not be independently verified.

The Bayway refinery is a major industrial operation in Linden and has operated at the site since 1909. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identifies the facility at 1400 Park Ave. as a 1,300-acre industrial site that includes a refinery, chemical plants, tank fields and a distribution station.

Federal records list the refinery’s crude-processing capacity at about 238,000 barrels per day. Phillips 66 has also described the Bayway site as having a polypropylene plant with a capacity of 775 million pounds per year.

The refinery is also a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. EPA data show that Bayway reported about 2.11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in 2023 under the federal greenhouse gas reporting program.

The facility has a documented history of environmental contamination. EPA says investigations have identified benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene, along with petroleum hydrocarbons, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and metals including arsenic and lead, in soil and groundwater at the site.

Cleanup activities are being conducted under state and federal oversight. ExxonMobil remains responsible for ongoing remediation associated with contamination from its period of ownership, according to the EPA.

State and federal records also document past environmental enforcement and regulatory actions involving the refinery.

Environmental concerns have become part of a broader discussion about the refinery’s role in Linden, where industrial operations coexist with residential neighborhoods.

That discussion has also entered the city’s mayoral campaign.

Mayor Derek Armstead did not respond to a request for comment. Armstead is seeking another term in the Nov. 3 election.

Former Democratic City Councilman Carlos Rivas, an independent candidate for mayor, said the labor dispute should prompt residents to examine the city’s relationship with the refinery.

“This should concern every resident of Linden,” Rivas said in a statement.

Rivas said the city should review agreements involving the refinery, including payment arrangements, property taxes and environmental responsibilities. He questioned whether Linden receives an adequate financial return from the facility and called for greater transparency around agreements affecting the city.

Rivas’ statement referenced nearly $19 million in annual payments to Linden, but that figure was not independently verified.

The refinery’s economic role extends beyond its direct workforce.

2025 economic impact report commissioned by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association and prepared by the New Jersey Institute of Technology said the broader Bayway Industrial Complex, which includes Phillips 66 and several other companies, generated an estimated $21.3 billion in statewide economic output in 2023 and supported more than 12,000 jobs across New Jersey.

The figures cover the entire complex, not Phillips 66 alone.

For the Teamsters, the immediate issue remains the contract.

The union said the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has authorized enhanced strike benefits of $1,000 per week for eligible members. Bargaining is continuing as the Oct. 1 expiration date approaches.

“We put our health, safety, and livelihoods on the line to keep this refinery running, and we expect to be compensated accordingly,” said Fred Trachsler, an 18-year Bayway operator and Local 877 steward.

Whether the parties reach an agreement before the contract expires, or whether workers ultimately walk off the job, remains unresolved.

The Bayway refinery in Linden processes 238,000 barrels of crude oil and 145 million barrels of gasoline each day, so a strike could impact prices that have already gone up enough that Republicans are sweating the results of the November election.