CMP Owner Iberdrola USA Sells Gas Companies to Help Pay for MPRP
May 25, 2010 - Iberdrola USA has announced its intent to sell three natural gas companies in Southern New England. The sale will help pay the $1.4 billion price tag of the Maine Power Reliability Project, a major upgrade of the state’s electricity grid that was approved this month by the Maine Public Utilities Commission. Central Maine Power Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iberdrola USA.
All three Iberdrola USA subsidiaries – Southern Connecticut Gas Co., Connecticut Natural Gas Corp. and Berkshire Gas Co – are being sold to UIL Holdings for approximately $1.3 billion, including the... Read More
In Support of IBEW Workers at WGME 13, Democratic Candidates for Governor Refuse to Buy Campaign Ads on the TV Station
April 22, 2010 - All of the Democratic candidates in June’s gubernatorial primary have decided not to purchase political campaign advertising on WGME, channel 13 in Portland, to demonstrate their support for workers at the television station.
The refusal of Pat McGowan, Libby Mitchell, John Richardson, Steve Rowe, and Rosa Scarcelli to buy ads on the station is in response to a request from the union representing more than 40 workers at the station. That request came after WGME-TV and Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., of Maryland, unilaterally declared an impasse in contract talks, cut wages,... Read More
CMP Plans Layoffs to Boost Profits
April 7, 2009 - Central Maine Power Company has notified the union representing some 700 workers at the state’s largest utility that they plan to lay off over 100 workers in order to boost their profit margin from 9% up to 11%. This comes less than a month after most of the union members ratified a contract set to run for another four years, and right on the heels of approval to use stimulus funds to replace 141 meter employees with automated meter infrastructure.
 After reaching a tentative agreement on a collective bargaining agreement in early March, CMP representatives told... Read More
Workers at WGME-TV Begin Reaching Out to Public for Support
March 31, 2010 - Workers at WGME-TV have begun public demonstrations, re-launched a website that was first started four years ago, and have collected "fans" for a new Facebook page as they struggle to get a fair contract offer from the Portland television station. At the same time, IBEW Local 1837 has filed unfair labor practice charges against the Company with the National Labor Relations Board.
On Wednesday, March 17, both in the morning and early afternoon, workers from WGME-TV and their allies peacefully demonstrated in front of Northport Business Park on Washington... Read More
Local 1837/CMP Contract Vote
March 9, 2010 - After 2 delays due to storm restoration, IBEW Local 1837 members working at Central Maine Power Co. voted on a new contract today. After a full year of negotiations, nearly 10 months of working without a contract, the membership voted to accept the company's final offer. The final tally of votes was 68%-32%.
Maine PUC Approves AMI System at CMP; 141 Jobs Will Be Lost – Many IBEW 1837 Members
February 1, 2010 - The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will be issuing an order for Central Maine Power Company to move forward with their Smart Grid Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) initiative. The PUC held deliberations on the AMI case on February 1, and all three commissioners agreed that CMP had done a good job at working toward and achieving 50% of the funding for their proposed system through a federal stimulus grant. The commissioners believe that the system will produce benefits for customers that will outweigh the costs. The installation of so-called “smart meters”... Read More
WGME-TV and Sinclair Broadcasting Force Pay Cuts on IBEW 1837 Members
February 18, 2010 - IBEW members at WGME-TV, channel 13 in Portland have had their pay cut as much as 10% as Sinclair Broadcast Group began implementing part of their last contract offer without the agreement of the workers and their Union. As the union’s Negotiating Team brought new proposals to the bargaining table in hope of reaching a contract agreement with the Company, WGME 13 and Sinclair pulled the plug on the talks by declaring the sides were deadlocked – even as they thanked IBEW for all the movement they were making.
“We’re disappointed by Sinclair’s decision to do this to their... Read More
IBEW 1837 Reaches Tentative Agreement for New Contract at CMP
February 22, 2010 - The Union Negotiating Team at Central Maine Power has reached a tentative agreement for a contract for 650 workers at Maine’s largest utility. Prior to negotiations on Thursday, February 15, it had been nearly six months since the last bargaining session between the parties. During that time, three other Iberdrola USA companies settled contracts with their respective unions.
Those contracts were better deals than CMP had offered to their workers represented by IBEW Local 1837. For their employees in Maine, the Company was willing to meet a few of the inequities between the... Read More
Negotiations Begin at PSNH
February 24, 2010 - Negotiations with Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) formally began today. Following weeks of preparation, the Union Negotiating team, consisting of members from both IBEW Local 1837 and Steelworkers Local 8938, sat down across the table for opening statements and an initial exchange of proposals.
Due to the inclement weather and the nature of our work keeping the power on during such events there were some empty seats on both sides of the table and participants in jobs related to power restoration returned to the field immediately following the meeting.
The parties... Read More
CMP Contract Vote Postponed While Crews Work to Restore Power
February 26, 2010 - Around 650 IBEW members at Central Maine Power will have to wait a few more days to vote on a new contract offer. The vote originally scheduled for Friday, February 26 was postponed for a few days while CMP crews kept busy fixing down power lines.
“Because of the storm, we will have members that will be deployed to various work locations,” said Bill Dunn, IBEW 1837 Assistant Business Manager. “Because of that, we have rescheduled the ratification vote for a new contract until next Tuesday, March 2.”
UPDATE: Due to ongoing restoration work, the vote has been rescheduled... Read More