Waltham Asks City To Support Unions, Moratorium On National Grid

WALTHAM, MA — As municipalities across the state from Arlington to Cambridge pass moratoriums on new contracts with National Grid amid a months-long union lockout, a group of residents want Waltham to join.

"Waltham is the headquarters for all of New England. It would go a long way [for Waltham] to join the more than dozen communities already passing moratoriums to say this is not OK and that National Grid, what they did is reprehensible," said Chris Gamble, co chairman of Progressive Waltham, a non-partisan organization described as dedicated to pursuing progressive policies.

You may have seen the two picket lines in the city. As talks over a new contract have stalled for them, more than 1,200 union workers have been locked out of their jobs with National Grid, the state's largest gas utility, prompting union workers to pick up signs.

Gamble said he sees the lockout as a public safety issue: It's experienced veterans who have taken a stand to say they won't work until new hires have the same benefits as they do, he said. "It's really quite admirable. But the contractors are not equipped to do this kind of stuff, it's dangerous."

Monday night residents and union supporters said they will be taking to City Hall around 7:30 p.m. with a message of solidarity for city councilors: "Support the fair treatment of organized workers, and their right to work while fighting to protect their pension and benefits," said Gamble.

During the summer Progressive Waltham asked for the the moratorium on new National Grid contracts to be placed on the City Council Docket, and when that didn't happen, at least a dozen or so folks showed up at City Hall to rally for it. And tried again.

"We are, as a city, one step closer to making a tangible, effective show of solidarity to the 1,200 workers from United Steelworkers 12003 and 12012 that have been locked out of their jobs for more than 11 weeks now," Progressive Waltham posted to its social media after an item listed as: "National Grid Resolution" made its way onto the Sept. 10 docket.

Councilors Bill Fowler, Robert Logan, Diane LeBlanc, Tom Stanley, and John McLaughlin all sponsored the docket item and Gamble said he hopes the majority sponsor the moratorium.

"Now that it's on the docket we see that the City Council is taking this issue seriously and us seriously. Hopefully it passes," he said. "I hope that that first of all it passes, that would be great. My second hope is that City Councilors use strong language in making sure National Grid understands it's not OK what they're doing."

City Council President Diane LeBlanc told Patch she is taking the issue seriously.

"I stand in full support of the resolution and the moratorium and the various locals that are involved," said LeBlanc. This is a life safety issue that directly impacts the citizens of Waltham.

LeBlanc said she knew of at least six National Grid employees who lived in Waltham, but said the lockout had a much broader impact.

"We have leaks all over the city. There's work that needs to be done all over the city but it needs to be done by those who have been properly trained. National Grid needs to step up and get these men and women back to work," she said.

A moratorium would mean that National Grid wouldn't be able to do work in the city with less than fully qualified employees and they would only be able to deal with true emergency situations and everything else would just have to wait, said LeBlanc.

And although that would then have its own impact on the city, she said "The bottom line is, this is important work and needs to be done by trained workers who know what they they are doing that."

Gamble pointed to the wording he's seen other cities use when passing moratoriums, strong words with teeth like "reprehensible" and "atrocious," that he'd like to see Waltham use, too.

"This is just a small piece of the puzzle. I think unions and organized labor unions are under attack with the Supreme Court decision that just happened. Organized labor has been decreasing and if we don't show solidarity here, it's just going to chip away further and further until middle class labor is dead," said Gamble.

A representative from National Grid denied there was any safety issue at play.

“The safety of our employees, customers and the general public is always our top priority. We say it. We mean it. While we realize there is currently heightened public awareness around our safety policies right now, we do, in fact, address safety issues on any given day, all year round, across our jurisdictions with both union and non-union employees. We hold our workforce that is out in the fields right now to the same standards that we hold our union employees on any normal day. If we find that any violations have occurred, we will take appropriate action—just as we would on any normal day," Chris Milligan said in a statement to Patch.

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States, Unions Can't Collect Fees From Non-Members: Supreme Court

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff