C49

1s [SPEAKER_00]
My name is Alicia Sendejas, I'm local three-forty-two and I live in Bay Point, California.

22s [SPEAKER_01]
My name is Alicia Sendejas, my local is three-forty-two and I live in Bay Point, California.

31s [SPEAKER_00]
So what do you do in the refinery?

33s [SPEAKER_01]
So in a refinery, we do a lot of bolt-ups, so any pipe issues that there is.

39s Shutdowns are all like big planned shutting down of a certain unit.

46s We repair, we maintain, we fix any of the issues that are going on in the refineries with oil and all that stuff.

59s I do.

60s It gives me a sense of accomplishment.

63s Being a female in a male-dominated industry, it gives me that more oomph to keep up.

72s And at the end of the day, knowing all the stuff that I've done in that one day alone gives me a different type of confidence, knowing that I am working hand-in-hand with male colleagues.

86s Yeah.

87s I mean just the amount of jobs that there is like it's not just a few of us and it's long-term in the sense where we can move on to other jobs at different refineries but it's almost like a community feel like you remember somebody from when you worked with years ago you have your memories but it's just the jobs is the consistency of having the job

116s knowing that, you know, you're putting your heart into something that's going to be tangible.

121s Like you can see it as you pass by.

123s You know, I get stories from a lot of the older guys saying, I built that.

129s And I'm like, I remember working these many hours, but that was us and going through the refinery and getting stories because I'm still fairly new.

137s As an apprentice, I get these stories.

139s I'm just like amazed at how

142s People did that.

143s It's not just machines.

144s It's not just stuff that was ordered and pieced together.

148s It was like they made a pipe.

150s They made this whole structure that helps us get gas.

155s [SPEAKER_00]
Tell me about your apprenticeship.

156s Tell me about the training.

157s [SPEAKER_01]
So my apprenticeship, it's given me the knowledge that I didn't know.

163s So passing by multiple refineries, living here in the Bay Area, there's Pittsburgh, here in Richmond, Benicia and Martinez, and it's like,

173s I always thought there I was like what's going like these are factories at night they were always like you know castles and beautiful lights and nobody knew what was going on it's like you're getting the insight like I'm a welding apprentice and I never knew what it took to be a welder like not only the steady hand the attention to detail but the fact that you can put metal together like for me that was just like wait what do you mean like people do that and it's like yeah like

197s the welders are the ones that put these pipes together.

200s That's what makes them run for miles on end.

203s And for me, I was just in awe.

205s So when I started in the refineries, I was just completely blown away at the knowledge

212s and how every how much it took to just kind of piece a day together learning about metals like you know the amperage knowing just how to do a simple run of pipe with just a square and a level and a tape measure it's like you got all this information

232s , connecting, you know, point A to point B with just three simple little tools, no high tech, no nothing too crazy.

238s Yeah, it makes it easier sometimes.

240s But when you have that knowledge, you don't have to depend on technology.

243s So it's just nice to see how simple tools

248s , kind of get you to do to get your job done.

251s But I never had any knowledge of that.

254s So now that I'm in the apprenticeship, I'm learning a whole nother side of what it is because there was that taboo of like, you know, refineries, it's, you know, you don't ever want to be there.

263s It's dangerous.

264s But I'm like,

265s this is amazing like I'm in awe at what gets done on a day-to-day basis and the safety that they revolve around like it's such a comfortable place to say you know what I don't want to do this and they're like fine with it so it's it keeps me safe and it's comforting knowing that I can just kind of stop if I need to but I never knew this whole other side of refinery work or being in the trades at all

294s I just I was in retail for ten plus years and I just kind of felt like I was going nowhere my progress was always capped everything like I can only get to a certain point and I was doing a lot of my research I had a friend tell me that hey they're taking applications

313s and I submitted an application, and I did the whole interview process, and I went through, and a lot of people are like, oh, who are you kin to, or who do you know?

323s I'm like, I don't know anybody, but it just helps because a lot of people just want to be part of your growth here, and it's just so nice that there's a lot of people that do want to help.

339s [SPEAKER_00]
What have you heard about the future of refinery agencies?

342s [SPEAKER_01]
I tend to stay off a lot of social media and TV, but anytime I speak to anybody about me working at a refinery, they're like, why?

354s Why are you doing that?

356s There's so many other technologies, there's so many other things.

358s I'm like, yeah, but here, you don't see it from our point of view.

364s Yeah, everybody wants to say it's an ancient thing, we need to move forward.

369s Yeah, there's progression, but it's always going to be needed.

372s Have you heard about the layoffs like in Venetia with the closure of

391s I've heard some stuff here and there, which is unfortunate because there's a lot of local hands.

397s There's even, you know, travelers and all that stuff.

399s It's just anybody losing a job not knowing what's going to come next.

404s It's scary and it shouldn't happen to anybody in a sense.

409s .

410s It's hard to speak on that because you don't ever want anybody to lose their job, their livelihood, living in California or anywhere like that.

421s There's families included.

423s It is expensive for sure.

429s [SPEAKER_00]
What do you think it does to a family?

431s [SPEAKER_01]
Oh, it's devastating.

432s It like it's such a scary thing, even like knowing, you know, if a job is ending at the moment, like, yeah, you know, the hall has your back, they'll get you working as soon as possible.

445s But if

446s You're just not working.

447s It's your family.

449s You try to carry that weight.

450s You try to carry that pressure of, you know, if you're the sole breadwinner, like you have to carry that and, you know, have that pressure of like, is your family going to have for tomorrow?

461s And that's a horrible thing to kind of carry.

471s [SPEAKER_00]
So do you think refineries create good jobs?

473s [SPEAKER_01]
Yes, absolutely.

475s Because like I said, in this job for me, it created a whole new level of confidence for being able to provide.

482s And it's the balance of, yeah, we live in an expensive state, but it does give you the health benefits that you need for you and your family.

490s It creates, you know, those jobs, even the bonds with the people that you work with, it carries not just for the moment, it's like a lifetime.

500s I do.

500s I do.

501s I do.

502s And it's one thing that I take pride in is when I get my work done, they can't tell whether it was a girl or a guy.

511s Like, they're just like, oh, that's good work.

512s And I'm like, I pat myself on the back.

515s So I'm like, yeah, that's what I want.

517s , you know, to excel in the point where, yeah, I want to be equal.

520s So me trying to find tricks on how to undo something, if it's too tight before I go run for assistance, I'm like, let me figure this out.

529s I always try to find, try to troubleshoot before.

532s I'm like, hey, can I get a little help?

535s Although everybody's really nice.

536s They're like, oh, no, we got this.

538s I'm like, no, I got this.

540s We can do this together.

541s I can pick up my weight for sure.

545s [SPEAKER_00]
Can you say that in the beginning, like I get paid the same as any man on the job?

552s [SPEAKER_01]
Yeah.

552s I get paid as much.

555s Wait, what was that?

557s I get paid the same as any man on the job.

560s Yeah.

561s I get paid as much as any man on the job.

567s [SPEAKER_00]
Okay, now I'm just going to ask you to repeat some lines.

576s [SPEAKER_01]
Okay.

586s We keep your commute affordable.

591s We make it better and cleaner in California.

597s [SPEAKER_00]
We make it better and cleaner in California.

607s [SPEAKER_01]
We should make it in California.

611s Made in California by Californians.

617s Keep our jobs in California.

622s [SPEAKER_00]
Okay, now we're going to break this into two.

625s So this whole line is, if more refineries close, we will lose thousands of more jobs.

630s And then it says, how will California make up those job losses?

633s But we'll do it in two sections.

635s So if more refineries close, we will lose thousands of jobs.

643s How will California make up these job losses?

661s [SPEAKER_01]
How will California make up these job losses?

663s Is that what it was?

664s Okay.

665s How will California make up these job losses?

668s [SPEAKER_00]
If more refineries close, we'll lose thousands of jobs.

681s How will California make up for those job losses?

689s How will California make up those job losses?

691s [SPEAKER_01]
How will California make up those job losses?

695s I power California.

700s I power California.