When the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued new guidelines in September of 2006, defining what constitutes a “supervisor” in the workplace, the three NLRB members appointed by President George W. Bush formed a majority that gave employers the weapon they needed to attack the eligibility of thousands of workers to belong to a union. Now, allies in the U.S. Congress of IBEW 1837 and other unions are fighting back with the RESPECT Act, hoping to restore the original intent of Congress that people with only minor supervisory duties should continue to have the right to join a union.

The NLRB issued their new guidelines in the Oakwood Healthcare case as a result of a United States Supreme Court decision on Kentucky River Community Care.

NH Electric Cooperative Lineworker James Robison.This story is featured in the Fall 2007 issue of The Current, IBEW 1837's quarterly newsletter.

Sheila Robison was just sitting down to lunch in her Bristol, New Hampshire home one afternoon when she picked up a copy of her husband’s Powerlineman Magazine, just to have something to thumb through while she took a break. An advertisement caught her eye that would really shake things up in the Robison household, and also cause quite a stir at the New Hampshire Electric Co-op where her husband James is an IBEW 1837 member and a lineworker since 1989.

The ad that Sheila saw was for the Huskie Tools Hero Contest. It first caught her eye because the lineworker in the photograph bore a faint resemblance to her husband. “When I read that they were looking for someone who had a great work ethic, integrity, the whole nine yards,” Sheila said, “ I thought ‘I know someone like that!’”

Sheila and James have been married for 22 years and have known each other since grade school. Without a word to her husband, she entered him in the Huskie Hero Contest, and then promptly forgot about it.

IBEW 1837 Negotiating Committee takes a quick break during bargaining. Following difficult negotiations that included almost two days of federal mediation, IBEW 1837 members at the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative have ratified a five-year contract. The agreement includes an increase in the meal allotment and wage increases in each of the five years. The Negotiating Committee was satisfied with the contract and it was approved by IBEW 1837 members at the Co-op by a ratification vote on Thursday, October 4, 2007.

The contract calls for a 65 cents revaluation in the wage paid to Lineworkers I, Working Foremen and District Representatives. That adjustment will come prior to the annual pay increases of 3.5%, 3.5%, 3.25%, 3%, and 3% for all represented members.

IBEW 1837’s agreement with the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative has been augmented by the addition of storm language in and out of Co-op territory. A small increase in the meal allowance is another improvement in the pact. Member payment percentages for health insurance that were negotiated last fall will remain in effect.

There seems to be a new move afoot in the corporate world to enter the realm of controlling the personal health practices of employees. IBEW 1837 first saw this when Bangor Hydro (BHE) announced the implementation of a new “tobacco-free workplace” policy that covered not only smoking but also the use of smokeless tobacco products.

Smoking is widely accepted as affecting not only the users but also those in nearby surroundings, so policies considering the rights of both may be considered reasonable. However, rules governing the use of smokeless tobacco are an unprecedented step at our represented companies. BHE says that the reason for the move is that a tobacco-free workplace has proven to be the most effective tool in getting employees to give up the habit and they want healthier employees.

As IBEW 1837 entered negotiations with Bangor Hydro over the proposed policy, two more companies announced policies to reduce smoking, one very similar to the BHE proposal, and one proposing to use the tool of imposing penalties on insurance rates.