IBEW 1837 Members Ratify New Contract at Maine Public Service

October 1, 2009 - IBEW 1837 members at Maine Public Service have ratified a new four-year contract that includes a 3.25% pay increase in each year of the agreement. The agreement also includes improvements in stand-by pay, improved vacation credit for long-term employees and a switch to the New England Electrical Workers Benefit Fund for health insurance and related benefits.

Union members had rejected an earlier agreement that did not include the NEEWBF and had authorized a strike. That vote sent both negotiating teams back to the bargaining table.

The additional day of negotiations yielded an agreement that included the 3.25% wage increase and the switch from an Anthem PPO to the NEEWBF. The Fund provides health insurance and related benefits to several thousand IBEW members in New England, including members at some of IBEW 1837’s other represented companies.

The agreement also makes changes in stand-by pay for employees at the company. MPS workers will now get 14 hours pay if required to stand-by for seven consecutive days and an additional three hours pay if required to stand-by more than one week during any consecutive four-week period.

The contract contains a change in vacation credit for long-term employees. An employee who completes 12 continuous years of paid employment during 2010 will be entitled to receive 20 paid days of vacation time. Employees completing their 13th through 19th year of continuous paid employment will be entitled to two workdays of paid vacation for each five weeks of paid employment during the previous year. This is an entitlement of up to 20 days of paid vacation.

Other contractual changes include some non-economic provisions that were important to the members. One important gain in the area of safety was an agreement to submit a change in the Standard Operating Procedures that would explicitly encourage two or more person crews for pole setting. The issue of working alone has been an important one for bargaining unit members since a fellow worker was injured several years ago in a way that ultimately prevented his return to work.

Another gain in the area of safety is provision for rest time for a worker on standby duty who works in the middle of the night. The rest time would be without loss of pay.

The final vote included 49 out of 50 bargaining unit members. The one IBEW member not on hand was believed to be out bird hunting and could not be reached in time to be notified of the vote meeting.

50 members of IBEW 1837 work at Maine Public Service in Presque Isle, Fort Kent, Caribou, and Island Falls, Maine. MPS was acquired by Maine & Maritimes in 2004.

IBEW 1837 members who work at MPS are lineworkers, stock handlers, and technical service workers. The stock handlers are the most recent part of the bargaining unit, having organized in 1999. The rest of the group joined the union in the early 1970’s.

Website members of IBEW 1837 may download a copy of the agreement package here.