IBEW 1837 Pursues Appeal of NLRB Decision on PSNH Working Foremen

IBEW Local 1837 will pursue an appeal of the March 20th National Labor Relations Board decision that rejected the bid of PSNH Working Foremen in Hooksett, Milford and Derry to join the Union. The Working Foremen work shoulder-to-shoulder with our represented Lineworkers and perform nearly identical work for the Line Department.

The Union has studied the Regional Director's decision finding that the Working Foremen are not employees, and have no right to organize or to be represented by a union. We feel there are some serious errors in that decision, and have instructed our counsel to appeal the decision. That appeal will be a request for the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. to carefully review the Regional Director's decision, and to reverse it if they agree that it is incorrect.

“The NLRB decision was extremely unfortunate,” said IBEW 1837 Organizer Matt Beck. “The Working Foremen took a courageous stand when they decided to join IBEW. To have PSNH and the NLRB deny them this opportunity is very disappointing to all of us.”

The Request for Review is due in Washington next Thursday, April 3. It may take some weeks, or even months, before we hear the result. But the Union feels it is very important to keep on fighting to establish the legal rights of the Working Foremen, and we will continue that fight as long as there is a reasonable basis to do so.

“It’s worth noting that the Bush-appointed Labor Board has been consistently hostile to the rights of workers and labor unions,” said IBEW 1837 Business Manager Cynthia Phinney. “I hope that people who care about this kind of injustice will recognize that it is absolutely vital that our next president and elected representatives make a commitment to change the NLRB and fix our broken labor laws.”