Business Manager Tony Sapienza
P: (603) 743-1652
Labor's Day 2007 events featured shows of solidarity, lessons in labor history, great music, and politics! And members of IBEW Local 1837 were there to take it all in. A variety of gatherings in New Hampshire and Maine drew hundreds of enthusiastic union members, their families, and their friends.
CMP 47 Negotiating Committee Working on Proposals: Negotiating Committee Working on Proposals" CMP 47 Negotiating Committee Working on Proposals: Negotiating Committee Working on ProposalsA majority vote today ratified a first contract for "The 47" CMP employees who voted to join IBEW Local 1837 in January of 2006.
IBEW 1837 Business Manager Cynthia Phinney participated in a panel presenting testimony to the FCC in a hearing on media ownership on Thursday, June 28, 2007. The hearing was one of several held around the country over the past year for FCC Commissioners to hear directly from people in communities their thoughts and experiences about media ownership and localism. While most of the panelists focussed on local content and community involvement issues, IBEW 1837 has a special relationship with the media.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a Complaint and Notice of Hearing to WGME for engaging in unfair labor practices as a result of a charge by IBEW Local 1837. The charge by the Union was filed on March 19, 2007, after Union Steward Jack Amrock was threatened, intimidated and coerced by WGME management while fulfilling his responsibilities as steward by investigating a possible contract violation. WGME is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. of Hunt Valley, Maryland.
The crowd was addressed by both Congressman Mike Michaud and Congressman Tom Allen, both of whom also spent time chatting with event attendees.
The Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists at Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) have voted to join IBEW Local 1837. 100% of the 35 eligible employees (who are also known as "Writers") participated by mail ballot in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election. Representatives of the Union and the Company were on hand as the votes were tallied at the NLRB office in Boston on the morning of July 20, 2007.
Demonstrator CMP Portland Members of "The 47" at CMP still working to achieve their first contract took to the streets again today, this time in three locations. Allies from the other IBEW bargaining unit at CMP turned out to show their support, as did members of several other unions including the Machinists from Bath Iron Works, IBEW Local 567, IBEW 2327 workers from Verizon, the Maine AFL-CIO, the Newspaper Guild, and the Maine AFL-CIO. Spirited demonstrators walked the line between 6 and 7 before heading to work in Augusta, Portland, and Lewiston.
The Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board has determined that a system-wide unit would be appropriate for Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists (also known as “Writers”) at Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH), the state’s largest electrical utility. IBEW Local 1837 had petitioned for such a unit, only to have it challenged by an attorney for PSNH who sought to have the 33 employees divided into 13 or 14 separate bargaining units
Monday and Tuesday, June 18 & 19, local workers and labor and community leaders across Maine and New Hampshire gathered outside the offices of our U.S. Senators to call on them to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act -- legislation that would make it more difficult for employers to thwart workers’ efforts to form unions to bargain for better wages and benefits.
Union members at CMP wore red last Tuesday in support of the "CMP 47", the bargaining unit that was certified in January of 2006 and is still working to negotiate their first contract. Approximately 600 employees of CMP already belong to the union and have worked under a collective bargaining agreement with the Company for decades. In 2005 a group of fourteen Dispatchers joined the union and negotiated a supplement to the existing agreement.
Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists at Public Service Company of New Hampshire are awaiting a decision from the National Labor Relations Board to determine if they can have a statewide bargaining unit as IBEW Local 1837 has proposed. The NLRB held a hearing in Boston on May 15 and 16 to determine the scope of the proposed bargaining unit for the "Writers" at PSNH.
Following months of investigations and weeks preparing for trial, Unfair Labor Practice charges filed against Central Maine Power Company (CMP) by IBEW Local 1837 were settled just days before the trial was set to begin.
Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) has scheduled mandatory "Face-to-Face" anti-Union meetings for Field Technicians A/B/C and Field Technician Specialists who are seeking to join IBEW Union Local 1837. This comes in the wake of the withdrawal of our petition and the rescheduling of a hearing at the National Labor Relations Board in Boston. (See "NLRB Meeting for PSNH Writers Rescheduled" website story posted on April 13, 2007.)
Safety Concerns Highlighted for IBEW 1837 Members
IBEW 1837 members Ray Boyle, Bill DeMotta, and Assistant Business Manager Bill Dunn represented our union at the 2006 National Safety Council Congress and Expo in San Diego. The November gathering was billed as "the largest annual event in the world of Safety, Health and the Environment."
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever be sitting in a union meeting”. This sentiment has been echoed by several workers in a group of non-union workers at CMP who have been so frustrated by changes made since Energy East took over their company that they are now actively seeking to join the union.
CMP (Energy East) has again discovered a raft of apparent errors in their payroll system. Although the problems are apparently company wide for Energy East and include both union and non-union workers, 131 IBEW 1837 members have received letters either asking for refund of alleged overpayments or with checks for alleged underpayments. Many but not all of the errors are related to 401(k) withholdings. Others are apparently miscalculated callouts and other miscellaneous errors.
When local farmers answered a union request for assistance providing Thanksgiving dinners to laid off workers, a new alliance was born. Understanding that both farmers and workers face challenges posed by corporate global trading injustice, the farmers stepped up to the plate and made wonderful dinners possible for the laid off workers through the Food AND Medicine program and the Greater Bangor Central Labor Council.
System and Area Dispatchers at CMP voted in February to join IBEW Local 1837. The Local already represents about 600 other workers throughout the company.
Negotiations will begin with the Company on April 26. The newly organized workers have already met to formulate proposals and select a Negotiating Committee. The Committee has been working to refine the proposals and build a negotiating strategy.
Additional dates are being scheduled for May and June.
System and Area Dispatchers at CMP voted in February to join IBEW Local 1837. The Local already represents about 600 other workers throughout the company.
Negotiations will begin with the Company on April 26. The newly organized workers have already met to formulate proposals and select a Negotiating Committee. The Committee has been working to refine the proposals and build a negotiating strategy.
Additional dates are being scheduled for May and June.
The new overtime rules in the Fair Labor Standards Act, pushed by the Bush Administration under the guise of "updating", took effect August 23 after lengthy and repeated efforts to amend or defeat them were thwarted by the Bush administration. For an analysis of the situation and the new rules, visit the Economic Policy Institute overtime page.
There seems to be a new move afoot in the corporate world to enter the realm of controlling the personal health practices of employees. IBEW 1837 first saw this when Bangor Hydro (BHE) announced the implementation of a new “tobacco-free workplace” policy that covered not only smoking but also the use of smokeless tobacco products.
Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists (also known as "Writers") at Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) will be voting by mail ballot in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The election will determine whether or not the Writers desire to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining by our union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local 1837, AFL-CIO.
The NLRB has confirmed the following arrangements for this election:
February 24, 2014 - Fiber Microwave Technicians at Central Maine Power have ratified their first union contract. These six workers are now part of the largest existing bargaining unit at CMP along with hundreds of other IBEW members. The Fiber Microwave Technicians voted to have union representation in a National Labor Relations Board election last May.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re better off,” said Phil Fessenden, one of the Fiber Microwave Techs. “It was an avenue to better our position at CMP and ensure a more productive future for our department.”
The new overtime rules in the Fair Labor Standards Act, pushed by the Bush Administration under the guise of "updating", took effect August 23 after lengthy and repeated efforts to amend or defeat them were thwarted by the Bush administration. For an analysis of the situation and the new rules, visit the Economic Policy Institute overtime page.
For the third time since transferring payroll responsibility from CMP Augusta to the Energy East facility at Pineland, CMP will be notifying a large number of employees that their paychecks were miscalculated. While some will learn that the company owes them a refund, most who recieve letters will be notified that they owe the company money.
IBEW 1837 is advising ALL members who work at CMP to check your pay stubs carefully each week to be sure that your pay is calculated correctly, and that the right amount is deducted for your 401(k).
Several bills in Congress threaten to weaken the overtime protections that most of us currently take for granted under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA). Several proposals sponsored and supported by Republican legislators aim to give companies more flexibility on whether they have to pay time and a half after forty hours.
A tremendous effort by union members and supporters to educate legislators about the value of unions and the anti-union nature of the so-called "right to work" bill paid off when the legislature voted against the bill. Below is a listing by county of each legislator, and how they voted.
Company moves workers - declares new location NON-UNION!
Apparently slithering through one legal loophole after another, CMP has announced its decision to merge the non-union Lewiston Phone Center with the Union Fairfield Credit Center to a new location in Augusta and to declare the resulting department non-union.
The move is currently scheduled to take effect November 13. Union members and officials are continuing to work against the loopholes and allow the Fairfield workers to maintain their union status. In the meantime, please read the following
Remember the Dead
Support the Living
In a two to one vote September 14, Meter Readers in the PSNH Milford facility voted to join IBEW Local 1837. Prior to the vote, Milford was the only location in the company where Meter Readers were not represented by a union.
Following final approval of the vote by the National Labor Relations Board, the Meter Readers will be covered by the same contract that covers other IBEW 1837 workers in the company. They will be their own bargaining unit for purposes of job postings.
The parents of Brent Churchill, a member of this local who died tragically while restoring electrical power after a storm in 1999, have worked with their local legislator, Representative Walter Gooley of Farmington, to propose legislation they hope will help prevent similar tragedies in the future.
The draft of the language for the bill (LD 869) became public on Wednesday, February 14.
Thirteen members and one family member attended the legislative hearing on March 8, 2001 at the Maine State Capitol. Seven of them gave oral and written testimony in support of the bill. Below is testimony from some of them.
Jane Allen
Dale Blethen
Joan Blethen
Bob Dodge
Dana Hayes
Bob Reed
Jane Allen's Testimony
Senator Ferguson, Representative Savage, Honorable Committee Member:
For Immediate Release:
Utility deregulation continued to unfold this morning with the surprise announcement of the purchase of CMP by Energy East. Union workers have known that the current maneuvering of forces in the newly deregulated industry meant this could happen, but this particular deal was as much a surprise to the union as to the general public.
Rainy weather and short notice wasn't enough to stop twenty-plus IBEW members from turning out to picket the CMP annual meeting on May 21. Although the circumstances could have caused these workers to blame each other for their situation, they decided to band together and point their fingers at the company who is pulling the strings.
According to Bob Ward of Local 104, "We wanted to bring our situation to the attention of the stockholders – to have our side heard."
Rainy weather and short notice wasn't enough to stop twenty-plus IBEW members from turning out to picket the CMP annual meeting on May 21. Although the circumstances could have caused these workers to blame each other for their situation, they decided to band together and point their fingers at the company who is pulling the strings.
According to Bob Ward of Local 104, "We wanted to bring our situation to the attention of the stockholders – to have our side heard."
February 12, 2014 - IBEW Local 1837 and Central Maine Power have reached a landmark two-year settlement agreement that creates new union positions, sets base line staffing levels in each of the classification groupings, provides certain protections against layoffs, and creates new overtime opportunities in areas that are using DLI contractors. This wide-ranging agreement suspends a pending arbitration case over CMP’s use of contractors while preserving the Union’s right to grieve and arbitrate the present and future use of them.
February 10, 2014 - Customer Service Representatives at the Central Maine Power Call Center in Augusta have ratified their first union contract with the Company. An overwhelming majority of the 46 CSR’s voted late last week to accept the collective bargaining agreement negotiated between IBEW Local 1837 and CMP. The workers had voted to organize a union this past June.
November 27, 2013 - IBEW members working for NextEra Energy Resources at their Maine fossil plants have ratified a one-year contract extension. The collective bargaining agreement will run through February 28, 2015.
NextEra owns the oil-fired Wyman Station in Yarmouth and the much smaller oil-fired Cape Energy in South Portland. Both plants, which run primarily during times of peak demand for electricity, were put up for sale earlier this year. They are the only remaining NextEra facilities in Maine.
November 26, 2013 - The Building Mechanics and Attendant at Public Service Company of New Hampshire have ratified their first collective bargaining agreement and have officially become members of IBEW Local Union #1837. The contract vote was held this morning at the PSNH garage facility in Manchester.
November 22, 2013 - IBEW Local #1837 has announced a final agreement between the Union and Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners officials on the company’s reorganization plans and a 4-year extension of the parties’ Collective Bargaining Agreement.
October 30, 2013 - Union members at Littleton Water and Light (LWL) have ratified a new 5-year contract a full two months before the expiration of their current collective bargaining agreement.
The successor agreement takes effect on January 1, 2014 and runs through December 31, 2018 with 2.8% wage increases in each year of the contract.
October 8, 2013 - IBEW Local 1837 is mourning the loss of our friend and union brother Kris Jacobson who passed away on Sunday after being hospitalized for some time.
October 2, 2013 – IBEW members at Maine Public Service (MPS) have ratified a new contract with an average wage increase of 8.8% over two years. The agreement also includes improvements in overtime, call-out, standby, and system emergency pay as well as a number of other improvements.
Featuring these headline stories and more:
CMP Pole-Setting Project Seeks to Recoup Work for Union
1-Year Contract Extension at NextEra; Hydro Assets Sold
Maine Public Service Customer Service Reps to Join Union