Labor News

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.

July 14, 2020 - The long-term and likely permanent closure of Schiller Station in Portsmouth last month not only marked the end of 70 years generating electricity for the Granite State, but it was the end of the bargaining unit that played a pivotal role in the history of IBEW Local #1837.         

October 1, 2020 - After a career that started as a Summer Helper at Central Maine Power in 1979 and ended with a 9-year stint as Business Manager and Financial Secretary for IBEW 1837, Dick Rogers has retired. IBEW 1837 Assistant Business Manager Tony Sapienza will assume the Local Union’s top job.

“We work for the members,” Rogers said.  “I always kept that in my mind. A number of people don’t realize the time that goes into doing this job, the time and the commitment. It is a 24/7 job because we have shift workers. I tried to return all calls and be a straight shooter.”

February 8, 2021 - A union organizing campaign by registered nurses at Maine’s largest hospital has captured the attention of union members and hospital patients throughout Northern New England. It also has earned a rare public endorsement from IBEW Local Union #1837.

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.