Twenty Working Foremen at three Public Service Company of New Hampshire Area Work Centers in the Southern Division may soon be represented by IBEW Local 1837. Working Foremen at the Derry, Hooksett and Milford AWCs have authorized the Union to represent them for the purpose of collective bargaining.

Certification of Representative Petitions were filed with the National Labor Relations Board office in Boston on Friday, December 21, 2007. The NLRB is expected to schedule elections for the three bargaining units sometime early in February 2008, pending a possible challenge to the Union petition by PSNH.

Each year, the Union Plus Scholarship program offers college scholarship money to union members and their dependents. Applications for the 2008 program are now available and the deadline to apply is January 31.

You can find out more about the program and download an application at the Union Plus website.

In the wee hours of December 13, tentative agreement was reached for a contract package between FPLE-Maine and IBEW Local 1837. If ratified by the membership, the proposed contract will take effect when the current contract expires at the end of February, although some wage provisions will take effect right after the new year.

One major feature of the new contract is a provision that allows employees who gain the required skills to progress into higher classifications without waiting for openings.

A detailed summary of the tentative agreement is available to IBEW 1837 members. The members will vote on December 21 to accept or reject the package.