Business Manager Tony Sapienza
Pam Paquette and Bill Tarallo Retire from Eversource and IBEW 1837 E-Board
March 5, 2018 - Two longtime activists of IBEW Local #1837 have recently retired from Eversource in New Hampshire, and have also left their positions on the Local's E-Board.
Pam Paquette has retired from Eversource/PSNH after 37 years at New Hampshire’s largest electric utility. Sister Paquette was active in her union for more than thirty years.
“The Local and I share the same beliefs – that the dignity of labor needs to be maintained and defended for all workers, regardless of gender, race or experience,” Pam said.
Originally hired as a non-union Customer Service Clerk, with the assistance of recently-retired IBEW Local #1837 President Bill Tarallo, she helped organize her co-workers to join the union, winning their NLRB election in 1984. Pam not only served as Recording Secretary for the Union E-Board, she was also steward, a unit officer, a contract negotiations committee member, and an elected delegate to six International Conventions.
“One of the most prominent things I’ll take with me is all the Brothers and Sisters that I’ve met and talked with along the way,” Sister Paquette said. “As Union members, we all share the same dream – which is to protect what we have, have a say in where we are going, and make sure everyone is treated with equally with dignity and respect.”
“Pam has been an extremely active and helpful union member, and has helped me and the Local with innumerable issues,” IBEW Local #1837 Assistant Business Manager Tom Ryan said. “Her insight has been greatly valued. We’re going to miss her.”
“I want to thank IBEW Local 1837 for everything it’s done for me and made me the person I am today,” Sister Paquette added. “I’m a PROUD UNION MEMBER forever.”
With a career spanning five decades as a worker at Public Service Company of New Hampshire (now Eversource) and as a union activist, then-president Bill Tarallo's retirement on June 30, 2017, was truly the end of an era for IBEW Local 1837. During his longtime career, Brother Tarallo served in virtually every possible elected office and staff position for his union.
Bill Tarallo (Photo by Sue Ekola)
"It's hard to put 50 years into thoughts or words," Brother Tarallo said. "Because of the union, we made PSNH a better place to work."
Bill's impact went well beyond PSNH. During his tenure as IBEW Local 1837's business manager, he helped negotiate contracts for represented companies in Maine and New Hampshire. As president of the local, he kept the union moving forward.
Longtime union activist Kerry Guptill fondly remembers working shoulder-to-shoulder with Bro. Tarallo almost from the moment she started at PSNH and right through her own retirement last year.
"As a young 19-year-old clerical worker, I was approached by a Meter Department worker from our division office, asking me what I knew about unions," Sister Guptill said. "Over the next 40-plus years, I had the privilege of working with Bill on numerous functions in the local. He always had the best interests of the people he represented, as well as their family members."
"We are in a better place to help our members than we have ever been," Tarallo added. "The IBEW is the best union and we're lucky to be part of it."