BY ILONA GERSH
SALT LAKE CITY - A photo on the front page of the July
26, 1995, issue of the San Ramon Valley Times depicting
black-garbed sharp-shooters accompanied an article entitled
"Chevron drills for man-made disaster." The article sparked
discussion on layoffs and safety at the refinery where I
work.
Many Chevron refineries routinely hold drills called "hypotheticals." These are designed to train workers on how to respond to various emergency situations that could occur. Co-workers of mine were surprised to hear that now the corporate offices are doing "hypotheticals" too.
The article reports that "in the 1990s, big businesses have to prepare for more than just tragic acts of nature, such as earthquakes. They must prepare for acts of mankind. Police, rescue workers and Chevron officials played out such a scenario Tuesday, staging a large-scale drill in a two-story office building at the company's quiet San Ramon business park.
"The scene was this," the article continued. "Two disgruntled former Chevron employees enter one of the company's office buildings, shoot a roomful of employees and take two hostages. It was only a drill, but organizers realize that it could happen to them.
"One of the shooting victims, Alex Smith, ran out of the building covered with Hollywood `blood' and collapsed on the grass, critically wounded, until a police officer came to his aid.
"Firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene along with a California Shock Trauma Air Rescue helicopter, which arrived to transport Smith to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. Less injured victims were taken to San Ramon Regional Medical Center."
The background to the drill is that Chevron announced last January that it was laying off 475 employees in San Ramon. "We talked about this [drill] nine months ago," said one Chevron manager. "We're having this drill like this because it's a possibility. This type of disgruntled employee situation has been around a number of years. We want to be a step ahead of the curve and know what to do in case it happens."
No concern for laid-off workers
Chevron's corporate "hypothetical" kicked off a lively
discussion among my coworkers about the company's
misdirected concern. "Why aren't they concerned about the
welfare of the workers that are getting laid off, and the
future of their families?" asked one.
Competition to be the top oil producer has led Chevron to take drastic steps. Like many other big corporations, Chevron is "downsizing" the workforce at its refineries. This is affecting low-level management as well as operators and maintenance workers.
Crew sizes are down to the bare-bones minimum needed to keep the refinery running. Absences due to vacations, illnesses, injuries, or special assignments create gaps that can only be filled by overtime.
Operators at most of Chevron's refineries work 12-hour shifts that rotate from days to nights. Even for workers who volunteer for some overtime, the forced long hours are beginning to be a burden. "They should hire more people, not cut back on personnel," is a common sentiment.
The anti-terrorist drill led some co-workers to recall a safety meeting our crew had a few months ago. Safety meetings are held by each crew monthly to discuss a topic chosen by the supervisor or a crew member.
Workers' real safety concerns
This one was scheduled a couple of days after two
contract maintenance workers were killed in a small
nonunion refinery nearby. One was welding inside a nitrogen-
filled tank. The other was on standby, watching out for his
safety. The oxygen tank the welder was wearing ran dry
without adequate warning, and he died from lack of oxygen
when he ripped off his face mask. The second man had no
standby oxygen tank, but went in to save his partner
anyway. He died within seconds.
Many of us thought that appropriate topics for that month's safety meeting would be the dangers of a nitrogen- filled atmosphere, and confined space work and rescue procedures. But the supervisor chose to lead a discussion on what we should do if we get a bomb threat on the telephone.
Safety meetings organized by the workers through the union would reflect the real safety concerns in the refinery, including the lack of attention paid by the company to equipment and pipes that are deteriorating with age. The fatigued condition of U.S. refineries have caused several catastrophic disasters in the past couple of years. The budget and workforce cutbacks by the oil companies over the past three decades are directly responsible.
Couldn't plenty of workers be hired to do the work of rebuilding, repairing, and maintaining refineries that are safer to operate? The cutbacks in the workforce and in capital expenditures are criminal under these conditions.
One co-worker, pointing out that the union's contract runs out next spring, explained to me that Chevron's corporate "hypothetical" fits in well with the government's anti-terrorist campaign, which can be used against working people who speak out for political rights and stand up for union struggles.
Ilona Gersh is an operator at the Chevron refinery in Salt Lake City, and is a member of Local 2-931 of the OCAW.