National Grid Gripes Piled Up During Lockout of USW Workers

The man calling the Massachusetts gas regulator on Aug. 30 said a temporary contractor for National Grid PLC had hit a live gas pipe while installing a water line and couldn’t find the pipe’s shut off.

“He fears a house will blow up at any moment,” a Massachusetts’ Department of Public Utilities official wrote in his description of the call.

That was two months into a lockout of 1,250 unionized gas workers in Massachusetts after their contract expired with the British-owned utility.

The employees, represented by two United Steelworkers locals, approved a new contract Jan. 8 and will return to ...