Board Member Alvarado Looking Out For Public Safety

To The Residents of Reading:

Since June 25, my fellow locked out National Grid Steelworkers and I have found ourselves in situations we have never been in before. Instead of working in the streets and basements of the cities we serve, we are going to town meetings in the area we cover to inform them of the dangers of replacement workers doing gas work in their communities. Every town is dealing with their response to National Grid’s use of replacement workers in different ways. The Reading Select Board chose to vote down (4-1) any moratorium or resolution to restrict permits or provide more oversight to National Grid while the union workforce is locked out.

This letter is not to argue with that vote. We appreciate the time the Board took with this very serious and potentially dangerous matter. But I would be remiss to not bring attention to the inspiring leadership that Board Member Vanessa Alvarado showed. We attended the last three Board meetings with a group made up of union reps, locked out workers who live in Reading and concerned Reading residents. A portion of the Board seemed disinterested in the matters we were there to discuss. But Board member Alvarado reached out to our members after the first meeting to educate herself more on the matter. The citizens of Reading should feel great comfort knowing they have a representative who is not going to bend to the weight of the Board majority. She is very clearly looking out for what she thinks is best for the residents of Reading. It isn’t easy to be the lone voice of protest, but Board Member Alvarado did it while showing tremendous professional respect to her colleagues, respect that wasn’t always reciprocated to her, in my opinion.

In closing, we want to thank the Select Board, as well as Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, for giving us the opportunity to inform them about the seriousness of the current matter. But more than that, we would like the Reading community to know they have a leader they can depend on to put public safety first in Vanessa Alvarado.

Neil Crowley

United Steelworkers Local 12012-04