December 2009 IBEW and NHEC Reach Agreement on Terms of Upcoming Layoff

December 8, 2009 – International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union 1837 and the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) have reached an agreement on the Company’s forthcoming layoff, thereby averting a looming court fight. The Union withdrew their application for a temporary injunction in the U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire. The Union had been asking the court to intervene in this matter because they felt that NHEC might fail to comply with specific provisions of the union contract that require it to prove the necessity for such action and to fully exhaust other alternatives prior to the layoffs.

IBEW and NHEC reached agreement that all Union members will be required to take an unpaid 10-day furlough in 2010 and an additional unpaid 10-day furlough in 2011. As a result, NHEC will retain three union members who were slated to be laid off. However, there will still be a layoff of five IBEW members out of a total of 91 unionized NHEC employees. That number equates to just under 7% of the total union workforce.