Showdown in a Company Town

http://labornotes.org/2014/03/showdown-company-town

March 25, 2014 / Suzanne Gordon


A 2012 explosion at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, California, nearly killed a dozen workers who got out just in time, and sickened 15,000 residents. Photo: Greg Kunit. - See more at: http://labornotes.org/2014/03/showdown-company-town#sthash.BIVledih.dpuf


Politics in Richmond, California, have long been dominated by Chevron Corporation, which operates a 110-year-old oil refinery here, the largest in the state. In August 2012, a huge explosion and fire nearly killed a dozen Chevron workers and sent 15,000 residents to emergency rooms.

In many communities, elected officials are reluctant to buck the biggest employer in town when it misbehaves. Think of Washington state, which rushed to offer $8.7 billion to Boeing after the company threatened to shift production elsewhere.

But in Richmond, Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and the city council majority have taken a bold approach with Chevron, suing the oil giant for harming local citizens. The city rejected an offer to settle for an insulting $10 million. McLaughlin demanded that Chevron spend a bigger share of its $21 billion annual profit on fixing hazards for refinery workers and residents.

Richmond’s extraordinary mayor isn’t just the city’s good luck, though—her actions are the fruit of years of politics done differently by the Richmond Progressive Alliance. RPA’s refinery safety and clean energy campaign is one of many battles local progressives have waged since first winning city council seats in 2004.

- See more at: http://labornotes.org/2014/03/showdown-company-town#sthash.BIVledih.dpuf

FULL story at link.