IBEW and NHEC Reach Agreement on Terms of Upcoming Layoff

December 8, 2009 – International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union 1837 and the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) have reached an agreement on the Company’s forthcoming layoff, thereby averting a looming court fight. The Union withdrew their application for a temporary injunction in the U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire. The Union had been asking the court to intervene in this matter because they felt that NHEC might fail to comply with specific provisions of the union contract that require it to prove the necessity for such action and to fully exhaust other alternatives prior to the layoffs.

IBEW and NHEC reached agreement that all Union members will be required to take an unpaid 10-day furlough in 2010 and an additional unpaid 10-day furlough in 2011. As a result, NHEC will retain three union members who were slated to be laid off. However, there will still be a layoff of five IBEW members out of a total of 91 unionized NHEC employees. That number equates to just under 7% of the total union workforce.

In addition, NHEC has agreed that they will not seek additional concessions or layoffs before December 31, 2011. Furthermore, the Company and Union have agreed that service and maintenance work on the forthcoming Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) will be performed by members of IBEW 1837. AMI installation jobs will be offered to laid-off union members as they become available. NHEC was selected for further consideration by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Smart Grid Investment Grant Program for federal stimulus funding to support the deployment of Smart Grid Technology, including the AMI project. 

“We believe that this is a reasonable resolution to a difficult situation,” said IBEW 1837 Assistant Business Manager Tom Ryan. “Ten days off without pay is a big sacrifice for our members and the layoff of five of our members is a tough blow. But given the current state of the economy, we were committed to finding a solution that would work for our members, the Company, and NHEC’s customers”

The union members are covered by a contract that runs until September 30, 2012. Union representatives met with NHEC to explore possible cost cutting measures to help the Co-op deal with the effects of the downturn in the economy. In addition to their obvious concern about the impact of layoffs on union members, IBEW also thought that the original plans for a much larger layoff could have posed a potential threat to the reliability of the service to the NHEC’s customers. IBEW is relieved that a larger layoff was averted, but still considers the layoff of five IBEW members to be regrettable.

The New Hampshire Electric Co-op is a member-owned and controlled distributor of electricity where 91 members of IBEW Local Union 1837 are currently employed, helping to deliver electricity to a wide swath of New Hampshire. At the Co-op, IBEW Local Union 1837 represents Co-op workers including District Representatives, Working Foremen, Lineworkers, Operations Coordinators, Line Design Technicians, Auto Mechanics, System Electricians, Meter Technicians, and other Technicians.