UPDATE 3-Marathon Petroleum's Detroit refinery workers authorize strike, union says
(Adds details from union statement in paragraph 2 and 3)
Feb 15 (Reuters) - Workers represented by Teamsters union at Marathon Petroleum's Detroit refinery have voted to authorize a strike, the union said on Thursday.
There are 273 Teamsters working at the refinery in a variety of roles, the union said, adding that their most recent contract expired last month.
"If Marathon won't offer the Teamsters whose labor makes them profitable a fair contract, workers are going to withhold their labor," said Steve Hicks, President of Local 283.
The refinery has a crude oil refining capacity of 140,000 barrels per day and processes sweet and heavy sour crude oils into products such as gasoline and distillates.
"The Teamsters Local 283 has not provided the company with a notice of intent to strike, and our Teamsters-represented employees are currently continuing to work as scheduled," a Marathon Petroleum spokesperson told Reuters in an email.
"We remain willing and available to continue negotiating...if needed, we are fully prepared and have appropriate contingency plans in place to safely operate the Detroit refinery with trained and qualified personnel."
Labor actions have gathered pace in the past year. Strikes by the United Auto Workers union had brought some factories of the Detroit Three automakers, including General Motors, Ford and Chrysler-parent Stellantis, to a standstill for months. (Reporting by Sourasis Bose and Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Shinjini Ganguli)
