USW Lauds Delta’s Purchase of Philadelphia-area Refinery

Collaboration key to keeping facility operating

For More Information, Contact: Wayne Ranick (412) 562-2444, wranick@usw.org

(Pittsburgh) – The United Steelworkers (USW) today hailed the cooperation of major stakeholders in making possible the sale and continued operation of the Trainer, Pa. oil refinery that was purchased today by Delta Airlines from ConocoPhillips. 

“Retaining these good paying jobs was vital to the community,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “State government, the local union and the companies all worked together to make this happen.

“Our local leadership did a great job telling the public of this facility’s importance.  Governor Corbett made state assistance available and the buyers committed to investing $100 million beyond the purchase price for infrastructure improvements.”

Delta Air Lines announced today that the wholly-owned subsidy, Monroe Energy LLC, has agreed to acquire the Delaware County complex that includes pipelines and transportation for the delivery of jet fuel to Delta’s operations throughout the Northeast.

“It is a bold step by Delta to address increasing fuel costs by stepping up and forming a company,” said USW International Vice President Gary Beevers. “The whole process was gut-wrenching, but the 5,000 jobs saved made it all worthwhile.”

“We’re very happy for this transaction and look forward to working with Monroe Energy’s management,” said USW Local 1210 President Denis Stephano. “We’re a first-class workforce and this is a high-quality facility. We only regret that the Marcus Hook, Pa. facility was not part of the transaction.”

The USW is the largest industrial union in North America and has 850,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. It represents workers employed in metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining, renewable and atomic energy, plus the service sector.

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