PSNH Fights Bid of Working Foremen to Join IBEW 1837; NLRB Set to Decide if Union Elections Will Be Held

Nashua City Hall, site of the first day of hearings. Public Service Company of New Hampshire has challenged the right of Working Foremen in the Line Department to be represented by IBEW before the National Labor Relations Board. In six days of hearings beginning in Nashua on January 7th and ending in Boston on the 17th, the Company sought to portray the Working Foremen as an integral part of their management team while the Union strongly defended the right of these workers to join IBEW.

Under the terms of the National Labor Relations Act, labor unions may not represent “supervisors” for the purpose of collective bargaining. During the hearings, PSNH management witnesses argued that the Working Foremen were in fact supervisors since they exercised independent judgment in the performance of their jobs and played a role in the promotion of Lineworkers through appraisals. Through the testimony of the Working Foremen themselves, the Union demonstrated that the judgments these workers make and their recommendations for Lineworker promotions do not meet the definition of supervisor under The Act.