Dominion locks out nearly 1,000 transmission pipeline workers

Dominion Transmission Inc. has locked out about 250 union-represented transmission pipeline workers in Pennsylvania, along with roughly 700 others in West Virginia, New York, Ohio, Maryland and Virginia.

Workers were officially notified of the lockout at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday by the Virginia-based pipeline and storage operator, said Jason Boyce, vice president of United Gas Workers Union Local 69. Picketing is scheduled for the company’s regional facilities in Waynesburg, Uniontown, Charleroi, Delmont, Beaver and Elizabeth, Mr. Boyce said.

The lockout, in which the company is replacing union workers with temporary labor and contractors, stems from a stalemate in contract negotiations. The two parties reached a tentative agreement late last month, but the union chose not to bring that agreement to vote for ratification.

“The union leadership’s actions left us with no other choice as the heating season approaches,” the company said in a statement. “We have become increasingly concerned about the potential for a surprise walkout just when our customers need us most — on the coldest days of the year.”

Read more: http://powersource.post-gazette.com/powersource/companies/2016/09/07/Dominion-locks-out-250-Pennsylvania-transmission-pipeline-workers/stories/201609070183