Business Manager Tony Sapienza
P: (603) 743-1652
Union members at CMP wore red last Tuesday in support of the "CMP 47", the bargaining unit that was certified in January of 2006 and is still working to negotiate their first contract. Approximately 600 employees of CMP already belong to the union and have worked under a collective bargaining agreement with the Company for decades. In 2005 a group of fourteen Dispatchers joined the union and negotiated a supplement to the existing agreement.
Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists at Public Service Company of New Hampshire are awaiting a decision from the National Labor Relations Board to determine if they can have a statewide bargaining unit as IBEW Local 1837 has proposed. The NLRB held a hearing in Boston on May 15 and 16 to determine the scope of the proposed bargaining unit for the "Writers" at PSNH.
Following months of investigations and weeks preparing for trial, Unfair Labor Practice charges filed against Central Maine Power Company (CMP) by IBEW Local 1837 were settled just days before the trial was set to begin.
Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) has scheduled mandatory "Face-to-Face" anti-Union meetings for Field Technicians A/B/C and Field Technician Specialists who are seeking to join IBEW Union Local 1837. This comes in the wake of the withdrawal of our petition and the rescheduling of a hearing at the National Labor Relations Board in Boston. (See "NLRB Meeting for PSNH Writers Rescheduled" website story posted on April 13, 2007.)
Safety Concerns Highlighted for IBEW 1837 Members
IBEW 1837 members Ray Boyle, Bill DeMotta, and Assistant Business Manager Bill Dunn represented our union at the 2006 National Safety Council Congress and Expo in San Diego. The November gathering was billed as "the largest annual event in the world of Safety, Health and the Environment."
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever be sitting in a union meeting”. This sentiment has been echoed by several workers in a group of non-union workers at CMP who have been so frustrated by changes made since Energy East took over their company that they are now actively seeking to join the union.
CMP (Energy East) has again discovered a raft of apparent errors in their payroll system. Although the problems are apparently company wide for Energy East and include both union and non-union workers, 131 IBEW 1837 members have received letters either asking for refund of alleged overpayments or with checks for alleged underpayments. Many but not all of the errors are related to 401(k) withholdings. Others are apparently miscalculated callouts and other miscellaneous errors.
When local farmers answered a union request for assistance providing Thanksgiving dinners to laid off workers, a new alliance was born. Understanding that both farmers and workers face challenges posed by corporate global trading injustice, the farmers stepped up to the plate and made wonderful dinners possible for the laid off workers through the Food AND Medicine program and the Greater Bangor Central Labor Council.
System and Area Dispatchers at CMP voted in February to join IBEW Local 1837. The Local already represents about 600 other workers throughout the company.
Negotiations will begin with the Company on April 26. The newly organized workers have already met to formulate proposals and select a Negotiating Committee. The Committee has been working to refine the proposals and build a negotiating strategy.
Additional dates are being scheduled for May and June.