New Mexico Governor and Democratic Presidential Candidate Bill Richardson addressing the NH AFL-CIO Convention.IBEW Local 1837 members in the Granite State were represented by seven delegates at the 50th Constitutional Convention of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO in North Conway. The May 5 & 6 biennial gathering received numerous reports from members and considered a handful of resolutions as well as a per capita increase. But it was the presentations by most of the Democratic presidential candidates that created the greatest buzz.

New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary has always attracted a lot of attention from presidential candidates of both political parties. And Democratic candidates have always tried to put in an appearance at the AFL-CIO Convention. This year delegates got to hear from Sen. Barrack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, and John Edwards via a live phone hook-up. Appearing in person were Former Senator Mike Gravel and Gov. Bill Richardson. All six vowed to sign the Employee Free Choice Act if they were elected president and all six promised to maintain a close working relationship with organized labor.“I will be a president that says Unions are good for this country,” said Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico. “I will not only sign the Employee Free Choice Act, I will work hard to get it enacted.”

Presidential Candidate Bill Richardson and IBEW 1837 Vice President Bill Tarallo share a laugh at NH AFL-CIO Convention.Sen. Barrack Obama stated: “I want to spend time during this campaign to see that organized labor gets a fair shot. When I’m president, I’ll see to it that the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) looks out for workers, not just management.”

“The Bush Administration wants to make unions disappear,” said Sen. Hillary Clinton. “When they see a union bug, they want to call an exterminator.”

The assembled delegates also heard from their freshman congressional representatives, Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter. They both thanked organized labor for their invaluable support and pledged to work hard in Washington.

“The country owes a great debt to unions,” said Rep. Shea-Porter. “They always seem to get it wrong in the paper. They always say that the politicians owe a great debt to the unions, but it’s the country that owes a great debt.”

New Hampshire Governor John Lynch called in and thanked the AFL-CIO and President Mark MacKenzie for their support and their work on the recent increase in the state minimum wage. “I do believe that will make a real difference for working families here in New Hampshire,” Lynch said.

National AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson moved the crowd of union activists with her personal stories about the impact of long hours on her family life and held out the promise that the day may come when our loved ones respect the importance of that work. In addition, she congratulated union members for the election of Hodes and Shea-Porter. “We want to bottle what you did in New Hampshire and spread it all over the country,” Chavez-Thompson said.

Convention delegates were also touched by the plight of Emily Mansell, a nurse in a long-term health facility who believes that she was unlawfully fired for meeting with a union organizer. Emily helped to put a human face on the ongoing problem of people being targeted by their employers for exercising their basic human right to organize a labor union. She made an impassioned plea to our elected representatives to support the Employee Free Choice Act while earning the cheers and admiration of the pro-union audience.

Other important business conducted included the election of New Hampshire AFL-CIO officers and board members; a per capita increase and the passage of five resolutions:

• Standing Committee Resolution #1
• Employee Free Choice Act and Senate Bill 216 Resolution #2
• Fast Track & Trade Policy Resolution #3
• End Our Military Involvement in Iraq Resolution #4
• New Hampshire AFL-CIO Against Rural Telecom Red-Lining and The Sale of Verizon in New Hampshire Resolution #5 (Submitted by IBEW 2320)

Attending the NH AFL-CIO Convention and pictured above (from left to right): IBEW 1837 Organizer Matthew Beck; Delegates Steven Eldredge, Pamela Paquette, Tom Ryan, Rebecca Johnson, Bill Tarallo, Kerry Guptill, Bob McNeff; and Business Manager Cynthia Phinney.