Organizing

In a ruling dated March 20, 2008, the NLRB's Regional Director disagreed with the Union and agreed with Public Service Company of New Hampshire, finding that the Working Foremen - Line were statutory supervisors. Under the terms of the National Labor Relations Act, workers determined to be supervisors are not eligible to join a labor union and are not protected by the National Labor Relations Act. Working Foremen - Line in the Hooksett, Milford and Derry Area Work Centers had petitioned to be represented by IBEW Local 1837 in December of last year. Their petition was challenged by PSNH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Connecticut-based Northeast Utilities.

Despite the similarity of their role to that of our represented Lineworkers, PSNH fought back against the clear and overwhelming desire of these workers to join the Union. Workers performing the same or very similar jobs as the Working Foremen are union members at other IBEW-represented companies in New Hampshire, Maine, and throughout the Northeast.

The Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists at Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) have voted to join IBEW Local 1837. 100% of the 35 eligible employees (who are also known as "Writers") participated by mail ballot in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election. Representatives of the Union and the Company were on hand as the votes were tallied at the NLRB office in Boston on the morning of July 20, 2007.

The Union's election victory came at the end of a long and difficult campaign. After IBEW filed the petition to represent the "Writers" for the purpose of collective bargaining, PSNH proposed that the 35 Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists be split up into 13 or 14 different bargaining units. Following a hearing on May 15 and 16, the NLRB’s Regional Director specifically found that “the Employer’s proposed units, each composed of a complement of two to four employees, are too small to warrant finding them appropriate.”

IBEW was alarmed and disappointed that PSNH waged a relentless and months-long campaign against the Writers' effort to join our union. PSNH hired an anti-union attorney to conduct mandatory anti-union meetings while refusing requests to grant Union representatives equal access.

Monday and Tuesday, June 18 & 19, local workers and labor and community leaders across Maine and New Hampshire gathered outside the offices of our U.S. Senators to call on them to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act -- legislation that would make it more difficult for employers to thwart workers’ efforts to form unions to bargain for better wages and benefits. Members of the New Hampshire and Maine AFL-CIOs and Central Labor Councils, community activists and workers will gather for rallies in Manchester, New Hampshire and Augusta, Bangor, Lewiston and Portland in Maine.

“The middle class is under attack in this country,” said Edward Gorham, President of the Maine AFL-CIO. “For decades, unions have helped working men and women improve their wages and win access to health insurance and other benefits for themselves and their families. If they really care about the middle class, Senators Snowe and Collins should step up to help Maine working families who are struggling to make ends meet and support the Employee Free Choice Act. And for the working poor in our state, a union job is their best shot at a better life. After all, unions are our nation’s best anti-poverty program.”