Laid-off Philadelphia refinery workers struggle with shrinking sector

Laid-off Philadelphia refinery workers struggle with shrinking sector

PHILADELPHIA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Third-generation Philadelphia oil refinery worker Lee Murray wore his late father's hard hat every day of the 25 years he spent there.. Gulf Coast is the one region that has seen a surge in oil industry employment, presenting PES workers with the difficult choice of staying local for jobs that pay less, or moving hundreds of miles away.. Workers who have stayed in Philadelphia have left the industry or dipped into retirement savings to pay bills while looking for work.. His wife requires continued medical care for a kidney condition, which had been covered by company health insurance.. Crude processing capacity in the region has dropped by 50% in the last 10 years to roughly 1.5 million bpd, according to iirenergy.com data.. Ryan O'Callaghan, the former local union head at PES, who worked there for 14 years, dropped his daughter off at her first day at a new college the day the refinery closed..