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Inside IBEW 1837
IBEW 1837 Unit Meetings Resume in September
September 1, 2011 - As IBEW members in New Hampshire and Maine continue to restore power to electric utility customers in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, most of the Units in our Local Union are gearing up to resume regular monthly meetings in September. The only exception is Unit 6, Portland, which will resume monthly meetings in October. Unit 10, Bangor and Unit 11, Presque Isle continued to hold summer meetings this year.
Monthly unit meetings are where the important business of the Local is conducted. It's also an opportunity to hear about the latest news from the labor movement, and catch up with your IBEW 1837 Brothers and Sisters.
January, April and October meetings of Unit 5, Keene, are moving to a new date and location. Those meetings will now be held at the Newport Veterans Club in the downstairs room at 118 John Stark Highway in Newport, NH. Unit 5 meetings in all other months will still be held at the Keene Recreation Center on Washington Street in Keene. All meetings for Unit 5 are held the first Wednesday of each month at 5:15 p.m.
IBEW Local 1837 members are welcome at any unit meeting. Some units do not meet during the summer, on holidays, or during severe weather. Meeting locations and times may vary. Check with your steward, the union office, or the calendar on this website before driving.
IBEW Local 1837 Members Elect Officers, Representatives and Convention Delegates
June 17, 2011 - Union officers and representatives including President, Vice President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, Business Manager, Executive Board Representatives for each of the 11 units, and delegates to the IBEW International Convention were elected this month. Ballots were counted this morning at our Manchester, Maine office.
Dick Rogers was elected to his first term as Financial Secretary and Business Manager of the Local.
Raymond A. Colello was re-elected as President of the Local for another 3-year term. Vice President Bill Tarallo and Recording Secretary Pamela Paquette were also re-elected to 3-year terms. Former Unit #3 Executive Board Representative Kerry Guptill was elected to her first term as our Local Treasurer, replacing Donald Leighton, who recently retired from Central Maine Power.
The Business Manager and President both serve as delegates to the International Convention which will be held this September in Vancouver. Other delegates elected to represent our Local at the Convention are: Bill Dunn, Kerry R. Guptill, Pamela J. Paquette, and Bill Tarallo.
Early Retirements at CMP Impact IBEW Local 1837
January 18, 2011 - An attractive package of incentives at Central Maine Power Company has led to the early retirement from the Company of four Chief Stewards and the Treasurer of IBEW Local 1837. Chief Stewards Dale Blethen, Rodney Curtis, Gilbert Guevin, Barry Ripley and Treasurer Donald Leighton retired from CMP in January.
“I could go on and on about what these brothers have done for Local 1837,” said Assistant Business Manager Bill Dunn. “They have been great activists for us and tireless fighters for the union movement. It will be a big hole to fill.”
When CMP received approval from the Public Utilities Commission to install so-called “Smart Meters” for its 600,000 customers, it meant that more than 100 members of IBEW Local 1837 would be affected. In order to help minimize the number of layoffs and open up other jobs at the Company, CMP and IBEW negotiated the Voluntary Early Retirement Program, or VERP. A total of 82 members took the VERP out of just over 700 IBEW members at CMP.
In addition to his role as Chief Steward, Dale Blethen was representing Unit 9, Waterville on the Local’s E-Board at the time of his retirement, and agreed to continue in that capacity until a successor is elected this spring. A Service Worker out of Fairfield, Brother Blethen has been a member of our Local since 1974.
CMP Workers Meet to Discuss Safety and Staffing Concerns
December 5, 2010 - With the impending layoff of dozens of CMP meter readers and the imminent early retirement of an unknown number of CMP workers age 55 and older, IBEW members met in Gardiner to discuss the impact on the Union and the Company in the weeks and months ahead.
As reported on this website and in the IBEW newsletter The Current, the Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system will directly impact more than 100 union members in the meter department. Some with more than five years on the job will be offered other positions at CMP. Those with less experience will be subject to layoff or may accept incentives to leave the Company early.
The Company refused to negotiate early with the union so that the implementation could be carried out in a way that maximized opportunities for workers who would be affected. But after the project was approved by the Maine Public Utilities Commission and Smart Grid legislation requiring the union’s participation in a displaced worker plan was signed into law, the terms and conditions related to the impact of the AMI were negotiated between the Union and the Company.
Northeast Utilities and NStar Make $4 Billion Merger Deal
October 21, 2010 - Northeast Utilities, the owner of Public Service Company of New Hampshire, will purchase NStar for $4.17 Billion in a deal that both companies describe as a “merger.” If approved by federal and state regulators as well as shareholders, the new company will be New England’s largest utility with a total of 3.5 million electric and gas customers in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. The merged company will have a total enterprise value of $17.5 Billion, according to a joint statement.
The announcement earlier this week came as a complete surprise to nearly everyone, including the union representing many of the workers at PSNH.
“I received a call from PSNH’s former Human Resources Director Rich Chagnon Monday morning informing us that Northeast Utilities, the parent company of PSNH, was merging with NStar,” said Tom Ryan, IBEW Local #1837 Assistant Business Manager. “I was surprised - as I believe all PSNH employees were - as the news was kept extremely confidential.”
IBEW 1837 and CMP Reach AMI Agreement
October 15, 2010 - Months of uncertainty for more than 125 members of IBEW Local #1837 followed the February 2010 final approval from the Maine Public Utilities Commission that gave Central Maine Power the green light to move forward with their Automated Metering Infrastructure project. Once the AMI was complete and CMP’s residential and business customers had so-called “Smart Meters” installed, the positions of Revenue Data Readers and other workers in the Revenue Service department were slated for elimination. For those workers, their future at CMP raised many questions that were left unanswered.
On Friday, October 1, the Union and the Company issued a joint statement on an Enhanced Transition Agreement following five days of negotiations over a two week period. According to that joint statement, the agreement “provides a clear framework for managing the installation of CMP’s smart meter system, and a workforce management plan with generous opportunities for voluntary retirements, re-assignments, and support for those whose jobs will be displaced by this technology.”
IBEW Members at Granite Ridge Enjoy Improvements with Union and Prepare to Negotiate 2nd Contract
October 14, 2010 - Workers at Granite Ridge Energy in Londonderry, New Hampshire are preparing to negotiate the successor agreement to their first union contract. The power plant workers voted to join IBEW Local #1837 on August 4, 2006, though it took until March of 2008 to complete negotiations on the first contract. The represented workers include all 20 maintenance and operating personnel at the plant. Their first contract runs through March 26, 2011.
At first, the relationship between the Company and the Union got off to a bumpy start with a flurry of grievances after the first contract was ratified. The grievances, most of which involved upgrade pay for people working outside of their classification and scheduling changes in an effort to avoid the payment of overtime, were all settled prior to the completion of arbitration. After that, things seemed to settle down as both sides came to accept the benefits of working through their differences.
Most Unit Meetings Set to Resume in September
August 19, 2010 - As a great summer in New Hampshire and Maine draws to a close, most of the Units in our Local Union are gearing up to resume regular monthly meetings in September. The only exception is Unit 6, Portland, which will resume monthly meetings in October.
Meetings for members of Unit 3, Laconia, are moving to a new date and location. The Opeechee Park Clubhouse is no longer available. Meetings for Unit 3 will now be held at the Laconia Elks Lodge at 17 Sugarbush Lane in Gilford on the third Thursday each month at 5:15 p.m..
Monthly unit meetings are where the important business of the Local is conducted. It's also an opportunity to hear about the latest news from the labor movement, and catch up with your IBEW 1837 Brothers and Sisters.
IBEW Local 1837 members are welcome at any unit meeting. Some units do not meet during the summer, on holidays, or during severe weather. Meeting locations and times may vary. Check with your steward, the union office, or the calendar on this website before driving.
IBEW 1837 Reaches Tentative Agreement for New Contract at Bangor Hydro
July 10, 2010 UPDATE - IBEW 1837 members at Bangor Hydro have voted to pass the tentative agreement and accept the new contract.
July 1, 2010 – IBEW Local 1837’s negotiating team has reached tentative agreement with Bangor Hydro on a new five-year contract with wage increases each year. Union members in the bargaining unit will vote on whether to ratify the package at a meeting on Saturday, July 10, 11:00 a.m. at the Ramada Inn in Bangor.
With 23 bargaining sessions since contract talks began in late February, negotiators discussed a wide range of both economic and non-economic issues before reaching tentative agreement shortly after the June 30th expiration of the previous contract.
The Union Negotiating Team is pleased that members at Bangor Hydro will stay significantly below recent trends on healthcare cost increases with no increase in 2011 of the medical premium costs the employees are paying if the contract is approved. In addition, employees will be able to enroll in vision and/or dental plans if they wish to do so. Although these will be paid for by the employee, they will be available at group rates.
IBEW 1837 Stewards Receive Training from Renowned Labor Educator
July 1, 2010 - Stewards from eight of our represented companies enjoyed a daylong advanced training from Charley Richardson, an award-winning labor educator and former teacher for the UMass Lowell Labor Extension Program. Gathering at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Hall in Augusta on June 14, IBEW 1837 stewards talked about some of the challenges and concerns facing our Union, and they developed strategies we can all use to help deal with them.
Brother Richardson led a great discussion about how the difficult economic landscape facing workers impacts all of us – even though we enjoy many benefits by belonging to a Union. All workers feel some stress and uncertainty during these tough times, and those feelings can have a real impact both on our ability to enjoy our jobs and, more importantly, on our relationships with our family and friends.
