IBEW 1837 News

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.

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.

January 19, 2010 - IBEW Local 1837 and Unitil Energy Systems have agreed to a two-year contract extension. The current collective bargaining agreement was due to expire May 31, 2010.

On January 14, 2010, the IBEW members at the Company approved the extension which left the hours, terms, and working conditions unchanged. Members  agreed to a 2% wage increase effective May 30, 2010 and an additional 3% wage increase effective May 29, 2011. 

August 8, 2008 - IBEW 1837 member Rob Lang was enjoying a summer Sunday afternoon in mid-July when two young children who lived next door came running up to his New Durham home. They told him their dad was hurt. Hurt bad. They needed his help.

September 1, 2008 - Once again this year, Labor's Day events in Maine and New Hampshire provided a great opportunity for members of many unions to get together to show their solidarity, learn a little bit more about labor history, listen to some great music, and—in this pivotal election year—enjoy a heaping helping of politics! And, as in previous years, members of IBEW Local 1837 were a part of the action in Manchester, New Hampshire and in Portland, Lewiston, and Brewer, Maine.

August 25, 2008 - Every year on the first Saturday in June, Darrell Buzzell and his wife Carole help lead people down the Kennebec River while raising money for disabled children and adults to attend summer camp here in Maine. “Twelve years ago, Carole and I started kayaking the Kennebec with a handful of friends to raise money for Pine Tree Society,” said Darrell. “Little did we know that twelve years later we would have over 200 boaters including people with disabilities.”

July 23, 2008 - IBEW 1837’s Bill DeMotta from PSNH and Ray Boyle from CMP represented our Local at the National Safety Council 2008 Spring Labor Division meeting in Bettendorf, Iowa. Over the course of 3½ days in mid-May, Brothers DeMotta and Boyle joined around 240 other union members—including 133 from the IBEW—to attend training sessions and union caucuses covering a wide array of important safety issues both in our workplaces and also right in our own homes.

July 4, 2008 - More than 400 union members and other supporters of working people in Maine gathered in Brewer for the 8th Annual 4th of July Solidarity Celebration. This wonderful event featured great food, two U.S. Congressional Representatives, live folk music, fireworks, an original stage musical, and a large, rolling museum bus powered by bio-diesel. Clearly, this was not your average holiday picnic.

June 27, 2008 - The National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. has denied IBEW Local 1837’s request for review of the decision rejecting the effort of PSNH Working Foremen to join our union. This effectively ends the months-long campaign to allow these workers to join IBEW 1837.

June 13, 2008 - Cynthia Phinney was re-elected as Business Manager/Financial Secretary and Ray Colello was re-elected as President of IBEW Local 1837 following a mail-in secret ballot election. Ballots were counted on June 13, 2008 with Election Judge Rebecca Johnson helping to supervise the tally at our Union Local office in Manchester, Maine.

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