Bangor Hydro Electric and Unitil have already made the switch to various forms of automated meter reading, resulting in the loss of dozens of Union jobs. Now, Central Maine Power has asked the Maine Public Utilities Commission to grant a significant rate increase to pay for the installation of an automated system at Maine’s largest electric utility.

CMP has thus far refused to talk to IBEW 1837 about how this will affect their employees if it is approved by the PUC. A decision is expected sometime in May. The Company currently has approximately 100 Revenue Data Readers on staff who may be impacted by the proposed change.

The CMP request is part of a $90 million increase sought from ratepayers to install an Advanced Metering Infrastructure system, more commonly known as an “AMI System.” In addition to helping to pinpoint outages, and enabling remote connects and disconnects, an AMI “Smart Meter” could automatically be read several times each day by remote control. This could lead to the offering of Adjustable Rate Plans (ARPs) that would charge different rates for power consumption during different parts of the day. Some parts of ARP may lead to an increase in employment in the Line Department as part of a stepped-up maintenance schedule, but the outlook for workers who read meters is less promising.

April 28, 2008 - After 10 years in our Rochester office, IBEW 1837 has relocated our New Hampshire office to Dover. Along with that move came an improved facility for conducting union business and working with our members in the Granite State.

Since 1998, IBEW 1837 rented space atop a dental office on Main Street in Rochester. Although the location was fine, the space was somewhat cramped and antiquated, making it difficult to hold meetings with our members or store some of the important documents associated with our local. When our dentist/landlord decided to expand his dental practice, it was time for us to find office space elsewhere.

April 1, 2008 - Workers at Granite Ridge Energy in Londonderry, New Hampshire have ratified their first union contract, a three-year deal with substantial wage increases for most workers. The power plant workers voted to join IBEW Local 1837 on August 4, 2006. The represented workers include all maintenance and operating personnel at the plant.

“Our new members at Granite Ridge have shown tremendous determination in staying together through this long process, resulting in good language for the contract,” said IBEW Assistant Business Manager Tom Ryan. “I’m also pleased that we’ve been able to establish classifications for each job with a corresponding wage rate. Within each classification, we’ve established a progression schedule from entry level to top pay with a corresponding increase at each step.”

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 National Labor Relations Board has rejected the bid of Working Foremen in the Line Department of PSNH to join IBEW Local 1837. The Working Foremen work shoulder-to-shoulder with our represented Lineworkers and perform nearly identical work for the Line Department.

In a ruling dated March 20, 2008, the NLRB's Regional Director disagreed with the Union and agreed with Public Service Company of New Hampshire, finding that the Working Foremen - Line were statutory supervisors. Under the terms of the National Labor Relations Act, workers determined to be supervisors are not eligible to join a labor union and are not protected by the National Labor Relations Act. Working Foremen - Line in the Hooksett, Milford and Derry Area Work Centers had petitioned to be represented by IBEW Local 1837 in December of last year. Their petition was challenged by PSNH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Connecticut-based Northeast Utilities.