Peoples Gas and its 1,050 striking union members squared off Monday over the utility's ability to deal with emergencies amid a pipeline break on Chicago's Northwest Side.
The company said an emergency crew had halted a leak within 15 minutes at a gas pipeline, which had been damaged by a paving contractor, on the 5400 block of North Harlem. "We met our standards," spokesman Luis Perez-Diaz said.
But Tom Brennan, business agent for Gas Workers Union Local 18007 of the Service Employees International Union, said striking workers "waited for a good hour" for the emergency crew to show up.
He said the union members arrived after being alerted by fellow strikers.
To fill in for the strikers, who check reports of leaks at homes and businesses and repair damaged gas lines, the company is relying on retirees, non-union workers and supervisors.
chicagotribune.com
254
Peoples Gas, strikers in tiff over job
Peoples Gas and its 1,050 striking union members squared off ...