IBEW 1837 Assistant Business Manager Bill Dunn Retires

October 1, 2015 - After serving union members for more than 20 years, first as an IBEW Shop Steward and then as an Assistant Business Manager beginning in 2006, Bill Dunn retired this week from his position with IBEW and his job at Central Maine Power Company.

Brother Dunn, 55, started working for Maine’s largest utility in 1983. After 2 ½ years in the Meter Department, Bill moved over to the Line Department where he spent the rest of his years at CMP. He first became a Union Shop Steward in 1994 at the urging of Bob Dodge, the Assistant Business Manager that Bill would replace 12 years later.

“I became a Steward on the immediate heels of CMP going through a layoff the wrong way,” Dunn said. “It didn’t affect me directly but it affected everyone around me and it just ticked me off.”

Dodge suggested that Bill could channel that energy and anger into something constructive by becoming a Steward. He moved from CMP into his union staff position with the encouragement of other Stewards when he was appointed by then-Business Manager Cynthia Phinney.

Dunn helped countless members during his nine years as an Assistant Business Manager, managing their grievances and arbitrations, answering questions about their contacts (and helping to negotiate those contracts) while maintaining a good rapport and earning the respect of people on both sides of the table.

“The best part of the job was attempting to resolve problems and situations for people but understanding that not everyone would be happy,” Brother Dunn said. “The most satisfying moment was prevailing in the CMP AMI (Automated Metering Infrastructure) arbitration knowing that everyone who wanted a job could come back to work. That was a 2 ½ year process!”

Bill doesn’t have many specific plans for his retirement other than spending more time at home in York Beach with his wife Linda, their children and grandchildren, while continuing occasional volunteer mission trips with his church. He encourages his union brothers and sisters to embrace their union and work together for better contracts and improved working conditions and not to give in to the forces that seek to divide them.

“Having worked with Bill for over 15 years and closely in the past nine years, his dedication to 1837 will be greatly missed,” said IBEW 1837 Business Manager Dick Rogers. “I know personally what it takes to do these jobs and how committed Bill was to doing the best he could for the members. We wish him nothing but the best.”