Dominion Hope, Dominion Transmission Workers Return to Work Under No-Strike Agreement

- Agreement achieves companies’ goal of protecting customers this winter
- Non-union employees and others operated the system flawlessly during lockout
- Focus remains on continuing safe and reliable service to customers
- Negotiations to resume on new labor contract

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va, Sept. 16, 2016 — About 915 union-represented employees from Dominion Hope and Dominion Transmission Inc. will be returning to work as the companies end a lockout following a long-term commitment by the union not to strike. Union-represented employees from Local 69 of the Utility Workers of America, United Gas Workers, were locked out on Sept. 7 after the union leadership signed a tentative agreement and then refused to take the offer out to its membership for a vote. 

"The bottom line is the companies achieved what we set out to do: protect the safe and reliable service to our customers – by avoiding a surprise walkout this winter – and get the union back to the table for meaningful negotiations," said Jeff Murphy, vice president & general manager, Dominion Hope, and Brian Sheppard, vice president-Pipeline Operations, Dominion Transmission.

Murphy and Sheppard said the system ran flawlessly during the lockout.

"We sincerely appreciate our experienced management team, non-union employees and qualified contractors who controlled our core operations and ran the system safely and effectively. It was clear we could sustain similar results even through the winter season."

Contract negotiations are set to resume in early October. The companies believe the offer the union failed to take to a membership vote is equitable and extremely reasonable. 

“This remains a matter of fairness,” said Murphy and Sheppard. “Our objective is to agree to a new labor contract that is fair to everyone, including our customers.”

Union-represented employees are expected to return to their regular shifts starting at 6 a.m. Saturday.

“We thank our management team and non-union employees for the incredible work they do every day, and we look forward to reintegrating our union-represented employees,” said Murphy and Sheppard.

Dominion Hope and Dominion Transmission are subsidiaries of Dominion (NYSE: D), one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy. Dominion has a portfolio of approximately 25,700 megawatts of generation, 12,200 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline, and 6,500 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates one of the nation’s largest natural gas storage systems with 933 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves more than 5 million utility and retail energy customers in 14 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

For further information: Dominion Transmission: Frank Mack, (804) 385-8755, frank.mack@dom.com; Dominion Hope: Bob Fulton, (681) 842-3200, robert.e.fulton@dom.com