CMP employees in the Fairfield Service Center show off their solidarity red.Union members at CMP wore red last Tuesday in support of the "CMP 47", the bargaining unit that was certified in January of 2006 and is still working to negotiate their first contract. Approximately 600 employees of CMP already belong to the union and have worked under a collective bargaining agreement with the Company for decades. In 2005 a group of fourteen Dispatchers joined the union and negotiated a supplement to the existing agreement.

When the new group of 47, many of them professional employees, voted in 2006 to join the union, the Company insisted that they intended to negotiate an entirely new and separate contract for the new unit. The National Labor Relations Board recently settled unfair labor practice charges that were filed in February of 2006 when the Company unilaterally suspended "The 47" from participation in merit increases and the all-employee incentive bonus program. Negotiations for the first contract are ongoing with assistance from a federal mediator. Members of the original bargaining unit from around the company donned their red clothing to show support for the new bargaining unit in their continuing efforts.

 

Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists (also known as "Writers") at Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) will be voting by mail ballot in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The election will determine whether or not the Writers desire to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining by our union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local 1837, AFL-CIO.

The NLRB has confirmed the following arrangements for this election:

IBEW 1837's Pete Compagna and Matt Beck (far left of photo) join rally outside Portland office of Sen. Olympia Snowe.Monday and Tuesday, June 18 & 19, local workers and labor and community leaders across Maine and New Hampshire gathered outside the offices of our U.S. Senators to call on them to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act -- legislation that would make it more difficult for employers to thwart workers’ efforts to form unions to bargain for better wages and benefits. Members of the New Hampshire and Maine AFL-CIOs and Central Labor Councils, community activists and workers will gather for rallies in Manchester, New Hampshire and Augusta, Bangor, Lewiston and Portland in Maine.

“The middle class is under attack in this country,” said Edward Gorham, President of the Maine AFL-CIO. “For decades, unions have helped working men and women improve their wages and win access to health insurance and other benefits for themselves and their families. If they really care about the middle class, Senators Snowe and Collins should step up to help Maine working families who are struggling to make ends meet and support the Employee Free Choice Act. And for the working poor in our state, a union job is their best shot at a better life. After all, unions are our nation’s best anti-poverty program.”

The Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board has determined that a system-wide unit would be appropriate for Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists (also known as “Writers”) at Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH), the state’s largest electrical utility. IBEW Local 1837 had petitioned for such a unit, only to have it challenged by an attorney for PSNH who sought to have the 33 employees divided into 13 or 14 separate bargaining units.

A hearing was held in Boston on May 15 and 16 to consider arguments from the Union and the Company regarding the composition of an appropriate bargaining unit. Written briefs were subsequently filed by attorneys from both sides, and a Decision and Direction of Election was issued by NLRB Regional Director Rosemary Pye on June 7, 2007. In the decision, Pye states: