2021 St. Paul Park refinery strike

The strike, involving approximately 200 workers, took place at an oil refinery owned by Marathon Petroleum and began on January 21, 2021, with members of Local 120 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters alleging unfair labor practices and unsafe working conditions.

[3] In December, union members voted to authorize strike action against the company if a new contract had not been agreed to by the end of the year.

[3] On January 21, 2021,[3] members voted by a significant margin[note 1] to reject a contract offer made by the company and prepared to take strike action.

[5] however, multiple sources, including the Star Tribune and the news agency Reuters, characterize the ongoing dispute as a lockout.

Additional calls to end the lockout have been made from several state politicians, including U.S. Representative Betty McCollum and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz,[5] the latter of whom participated in picketing with the strikers in February.

[11] On June 22, union members voted to reject an offer that Marathon had made on March 1, stating that the agreement would have cost 40 jobs at the facility.