IBEW 1837 News
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Bob Amos May 9, 2016 - It has been five years since IBEW 1837 member Bob Amos was first diagnosed with end stage renal failure. In April 2010, he found out that he would need a kidney transplant.
Brother Amos started working for PSNH on St. Patrick’s Day in 2001. The 58-year-old Schiller Equipment Operator needs to undergo dialysis treatments three times per week. The Rochester, New Hampshire resident is now on the waiting list for the Maine Transplant Program at Maine Medical Center in Portland.
“They figure once you go on the list it is three to five years wait unless you have a living donor,” Amos said. “Then they can do it any time.”
You wouldn’t know that Bob has a serious medical condition if you saw him enjoying a yard sale or antique shop during his time off. He also continues to work his rotating shift for Eversource at Schiller Station with the support of his IBEW brothers and sisters.
“The guys at work have been really good,” Amos said.
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March 25, 2016 - An 18-month collective bargaining agreement for 20 members of IBEW 1837 working at Granite Ridge has been ratified and will go into effect on Sunday, March 27, 2016. It’s the first contract for the union local with Calpine Corporation, a Houston-based generator of electricity from natural gas and geothermal resources with more than 80 power plants.Calpine purchased the Londonderry, New Hampshire, gas-fired plant that had been operated by NAES and has renamed it Granite Ridge Operating LLC. IBEW Local #1837 immediately reached out to the new Company and sought to reach a new agreement that would benefit our members. The previous agreement with North American Energy Systems (NAES) did not include contract successor language, so Business Manager Dick Rogers and Assistant Business Manager Tom Ryan knew it was vital to build an amicable and mutually constructive relationship with the new owners as quickly as possible.
“We’re pleased that we were able to reach an agreement quickly with Calpine and that they recognized the skills that our members bring to their new asset,” Brother Ryan said. “We look forward to working with them to ensure that Granite Ridge remains profitable and our members continue to enjoy the good jobs that they have there.”
Members will begin the new contract with the 3 3/8% increase that had previously been negotiated with NAES and will receive a 2 ½% wage adjustment on the contract’s first anniversary of March 27, 2017. The contract will run through September 27, 2017, with an agreement that any future wage adjustment would not take effect until at least March 27, 2018.
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March 4, 2016 - Members of IBEW Local #1837 have elected delegates to represent them at the 39th IBEW International Convention in St. Louis. The delegates (in alphabetical order) are Pat Cote, Renee Gilman, Jeff Huckins, and Pamela Paquette.
Business Manager Dick Rogers and President Bill Tarallo will also represent the Local by virtue of their elected office in the Union.
Complete election results are available in the Members Only section by Clicking Here.
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Aaron, Elaina, Renee and Madi Gilman
enjoying one of their family road trips.February 29, 2016 - After nearly 20 years as an IBEW union member employed by Bangor Hydro and its successor company Emera Maine, Renee Gilman is now working for Local #1837 as a Business Representative. The newly-created Business Representative position is part of a staff restructuring plan proposed by Business Manager Dick Rogers and approved by the IBEW 1837 Executive Board following the recent retirement of Assistant Business Manager Bill Dunn.
Sister Gilman started working as a Customer Service Representative for Bangor Hydro in 1997. She enjoyed interacting with the utility’s customers (“most of them, anyway”) and built close relationships with her co-workers at the Call Center. She wasn’t there long before she took an active role in her union.
“I came from a Union family, so it’s something that’s always been important to me. I became a steward a couple of years after I started with the company,” Renee said. “I’ve known about Unions for as long as I can remember. My Dad worked in a mill the whole time I was growing up. He was a steward and then a Chief Steward there, so it’s something we talked about a lot. He never backed down from the company, even when it would have been a lot easier for him. I think he enjoyed the challenge.”
In her new job as an IBEW 1837 Business Representative, Sister Gilman is currently working with and for our members at Emera Maine, which is made up of the former Bangor Hydro and Maine Public Service companies. She keeps busy communicating with members on a daily basis via phone, text and email, and working through their questions, the majority of which are contract related. Renee also works closely with Dick Rogers handling grievances and a wide variety of member issues while working with company representatives to try to resolve those issues in a way that benefits our members.
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IBEW 1837 E-Board members shared a
laugh with Emily Cain (right) during a
recent meeting.January 26, 2016 - The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union #1837 Executive Board has voted to endorse Emily Cain for Congress in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.
“Emily has always worked to improve access to education and training, to create and sustain good jobs and to fight for fair wages,” said Dick Rogers, IBEW Local 1837’s Business Manager. “We always know where Emily stands because it is always right beside Maine’s working people. We need Emily’s leadership in Congress and our rank and file members on the Union’s Executive Board were proud to endorse her campaign.”
IBEW 1837’s Executive Board took note of Cain’s opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal during their deliberations. They also recognized her longstanding opposition to so-called “Right-to-Work” bills and her 100% Working Families rating from the Maine AFL-CIO.
“The members of IBEW Local 1837 play a crucial role in Maine's economy and I am honored to earn their endorsement,” said Emily Cain. “They deserve a U.S. Representative who works as hard as they do, and one who will fight to create jobs, strengthen the middle class and ensure the American Dream is accessible for everyone.”
The IBEW Local #1837 endorsement does not include any financial support. No IBEW Local #1837 union dues money is ever donated to political candidates and it is prohibited by federal law.
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The IBEW Founders' Scholarship honors the dedicated wiremen and linemen who, on November 28, 1891, organized the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Each year the officers of the IBEW are pleased to offer its working members scholarships on a competitive basis. It is hoped that the awards will not only contribute to the personal development of our members but also steward the electrical industry that our founders envisioned.
The award is for $200 per semester credit hour at any accredited college or university toward an associate's, bachelor's or postgraduate degree in an approved field. The maximum distribution is $24,000 per person over a period not to exceed eight years.
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IBEW 1837 Business Manager Dick Rogers thanked
outgoing President Ray Colello (center) for his
many years of dedicated service to IBEW 1837 as
incoming President Bill Tarallo looked on.January 6, 2016 - Throughout the years, first as a Union Steward and Chief Steward in the 70’s and then as a Union Executive Board Representative throughout the 80’s, leading to his role as President of IBEW Local #1837 beginning in 1991, Ray Colello has always been a devout and dedicated trade unionist. His decision last month to pass the baton to Vice President Bill Tarallo to finish out his term was one he made because he thought it would be best for the Union.
Brother Colello started his full-time career as a General Helper for Central Maine Power in 1972 working at Wyman Station on Cousins Island, Maine. Later, with deregulation of electric utilities and after the sale to Florida Power and Light (now known as NextEra), Ray would work as a Senior Production Tech A as a shift worker for the last ten years. His father had worked at Wyman beginning in 1964 after several years at the South Portland Cape Steam Station beginning in the mid-to-late 50’s.
“I learned most of what I knew about unions from my dad and joined the union as soon as I could,” Colello said. “Union members have somebody to speak for them when they are mistreated. They also have the right to a safe workplace. If the working people are put in a bad situation, it’s not just you that the company is affecting but your family and your family’s future.”
In more than 24 years as President of the Local, Ray Colello has faced many difficult challenges but feels especially proud that the union’s leaders and members stepped up to make changes to the dues structure that were necessary to be effective representing our members.
“We often had a financial inability to represent people when we needed to (before the dues change). The change to the by-laws that included a percentage of pay (2 hours) gave us the financial structure we have now,” he said.
A change of this magnitude required President Colello and other E-Board members to travel throughout Maine and New Hampshire for three months to meet with members and explain the need for the change. The Local was having difficulty meeting operating expenses and the decision to arbitrate some member grievances had to be weighed against the significant costs of the process.
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Sanders spoke at the NH AFL-CIO
Convention earlier this year.December 22, 2015 - The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union #1837 Executive Board has voted to endorse Bernie Sanders for President in the New Hampshire Democratic Primary and the Maine Democratic Caucus.
“Bernie Sanders has a 35-year record standing shoulder-to-shoulder with workers and supporting the labor movement,” said IBEW Local #1837 President Bill Tarallo. “How our members vote is their personal decision but our E-Board wanted to recognize the tremendous work that Senator Sanders has done supporting the right of unions to organize, fighting against unfair trade deals and in support of higher wages for working people. He has the best labor record of any presidential candidate in more than a generation.”
The Union’s E-Board is made up of rank and file workers elected by the members to represent them. They also applauded Bernie Sanders’ support of IBEW and CWA union members during the recent successful strike at FairPoint in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, where he joined striking workers on the picket line and demanded the company agree to a fair contract.
“Beyond his stellar labor record, Bernie Sanders has defended Social Security and stood up to Wall Street,” Tarallo continued. “His support of public education and our nation’s veterans also deserves our recognition.”
The IBEW Local #1837 endorsement does not include any financial support. No IBEW Local #1837 union dues money is ever donated to political candidates and it is prohibited by federal law.
