Labor News

September 29, 2016 - Two IBEW 1837 members working at Central Maine Power have received the highest commendation offered by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers after rescuing a man trapped inside a burning pickup truck after a crash.

It was an ordinary Thursday afternoon this past June that quickly turned extraordinary when CMP Lineworkers Andrew Grant and Paul Reynolds came upon a car/pole accident in Bridgton, Maine.

January 13, 2016 - Brother Robert "Bob" Burns, a beloved Central Maine Power retiree and IBEW 1837 member, passed away this week a few days after a tragic accident. He was 81 years old but had more energy than many people half his age.

Bob remained active in the labor movement and his local community after retirement and was loved and admired by many. Brother Burns was also one of the first members of the IBEW 1837 Retiree Club, and his photo graced literature promoting the group.

May 18, 2017 - Workers at AT&T in Maine, New Hampshire and across the country are set to go on because the company refuses to return to the bargaining table. 

21,000 AT&T Mobility workers will be on strike if they do not reach an agreement with the company. They will walk off the job on Friday, May 19 at 3pm and return to work on Monday, May 22.

This greedy company makes huge profits but still wants more concessions from their union workforce - demanding more work for less and trying to replace them with low-wage workers at third party dealers and overseas.

September 29, 2017 - IBEW members working at Granite Ridge Energy in Londonderry, New Hampshire have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement to take them through the next three years. It’s the second 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.

October 12, 2017 - After waiting for more than three years to find out who will take ownership of the electric generation assets of Eversource NH (formerly PSNH), IBEW 1837 members and New Hampshire ratepayers finally have their answer. The winning bidders of an auction were announced on October 12 in an Eversource filing with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (NHPUC).

January 23, 2018 - IBEW Local #1837 Business Manager has appointed Anthony “Tony” Sapienza to be the next Assistant Business Manager from New Hampshire, effective June 1, 2018. Brother Sapienza will be succeeding longtime Assistant Business Manager Tom Ryan, who plans to retire on that date.

Last week, union members in the largest bargaining unit at the New Hampshire Electric Co-op voted 79 – 1 to reject the company’s contract offer and authorize the IBEW Negotiating Team to call for a strike at the utility. Members in the smaller Warehouse bargaining unit also voted unanimously to reject the contract and authorize a strike. Union and Company negotiators met this morning but NHEC representatives refused to back off their demand that that they have the unilateral right to modify or eliminate 401(k) or pension plans without first negotiating with the Union.

IBEW Local 1837 is on strike at the New Hampshire Electric Co-op (NHEC). The Company is attacking our retirement plans and the right to bargain over possible changes to them.

We have begun collecting gift cards for our members for Hannaford Supermarkets and Mobil or Irving Gas (the most common stations in NHEC territory). Gift cards can be mailed to: IBEW Local #1837 (NHEC Strike Support), 680 Central Avenue, Suite 202, Dover, NH 03820.

May 17, 2018 - International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union #1837 members at the New Hampshire Electric Co-op voted this morning to ratify a new 3 1/2 -year contract agreement and end their 10-day strike. The contract includes wage adjustments for some classifications, annual wage increases for all bargaining unit members and improvements in the retirement plans for union employees.

May 31, 2018 - IBEW 1837 members working for Unitil in New Hampshire have ratified new 5-year contract agreements that provide wage increases and other improvements in benefits.

A total of 38 members of IBEW Local 1837 work at two New Hampshire locations of Unitil Energy Systems, Inc. (UES): “Capital” in Concord and “Seacoast” in Kensington. They work as Lineworkers, Meter Mechanics, and some as Support Personnel. A second, smaller bargaining unit of five Electric System Operators work at Unitil Service Corporation's Centralized Electric Dispatch (CED) in Portsmouth.

August 28, 2018 - IBEW Local 1837 members employed by the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) are entitled to unemployment benefits for the time that they were on strike this May. That decision from the New Hampshire Employment Security Appeal Tribunal was handed down on Friday afternoon, August 24.

January 28, 2019 - At a news conference at the Maine State House, Rep. Seth Berry, House Chair of the Energy and Utilities Committee, announced that he was submitting legislation to form a new consumer-owned utility.

November 19, 2019 - Operating Technicians at WABI-TV in Bangor, Maine, ratified a new 2-year contract this week with raises of 2.5% each year and a $250 signing bonus. The starting pay rate for Operating Technicians was also increased.

March 17, 2020 - Workers at the Kittery Water District have formed a union with IBEW Local #1837. The 15 workers include office staff, filtration plant workers, laborers, meter readers, service technicians and others.