Former refinery workers' dilemma: Wait for Big West to reopen, or look elsewhere
| Saturday, Nov 14 2009 12:00 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Nov 14 2009 12:00 PM
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Large clouds loom over the oil refinery around sunset on Rosedale Highway.
Of all the people waiting to learn the fate of Big West refinery, perhaps none is more anxious than Roberto Cristobal.
The single father of five children lost his job -- as did 175 or so others he worked with -- when the Rosedale Highway plant was shut down early this year. Unable to find employment elsewhere, he moved his family to live with his sister in Glendale.
Now, in between the numerous job fairs he attends, Cristobal searches for news on the refinery's sale. His main hope is that Big West will reopen before his union-negotiated rehire rights expire in mid-February.
But how soon the sale will conclude is hard to say. Already the process is months behind the company's projected schedule. Adding to the uncertainty, there is no guarantee the plant will reopen as a refinery rather than, say, a fuel depot that would require a much smaller staff than a refinery.
"I'm looking for work everywhere," said Cristobal, who worked at Big West as an electrical engineer. He has since applied for work at large oil companies and other refineries in the area. "They don't have any vacancy yet."
He and others let go at the refinery face a tough dilemma: stick around in case it reopens, or strike out in search of work in other areas.
Someone who opted for the latter is Randy Johnston. He worked at Big West as an outside operator, and now works in local oil fields.
Johnston wrote in an e-mail last week that he still hears from former co-workers looking for a job. Some pass along rumors that the refinery sale is moving along, he wrote, "so maybe the light could be at the end of the tunnel soon."
But some people close to the situation caution against counting on Big West to resume oil refining operations.
"I wouldn't suggest the people just put their lives on hold and that of their families," union official Ed Huhn said.
"It sounds cold, but you put yourself in a hold and you dwindle what little money you might've set aside and stuff, and it's not a really good idea."
News on the private negotiations toward a sale of Big West has been scarce; the refinery's owner refuses to provide details. But last week, Utah-based owner Flying J Inc. issued a statement saying it wishes circumstances were different, and that the refinery had remained open through the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
"We are making every effort to sell the refinery in this challenging environment, and it has been the focus of our attention since March," company spokesman Peter Hill wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. "That sales process continues to move forward, and we are hopeful it will yield a successful result." He declined further comment.
In May the company indicated in an internal memo that it expected to finish the sale by the end of summer, a forecast some inside the refinery criticized as overly optimistic, saying the process could easily drag into next year.
Then, in late summer, Flying J's CEO, Crystal Call Maggelet, said the company was in talks with "several bidders" interested in buying the plant, down from more than 100 groups and individuals that inquired about buying the plant after it was put up for sale early this year.
In the meantime, some former Big West workers are doing what they need to do to find work.
"People either have moved or have attempted to move to the Bay Area or Southern California area or the desert area here locally," Huhn said, adding that some former Big West employees have even moved to Texas. He noted that all union members who worked at the refinery still have recall rights for another few months.
Not everyone who leaves is finding work. A spokesman for Shell Martinez Refinery in the Bay Area said the company filled 18 positions earlier this year. He said about 700 people applied.
