Current Newsletter Fall 2007
The Current is distributed quarterly by IB
Highlights include:
The CMP 47 Ratify Their First Contract
NH Co-op Members Ratify Five-Year Agreement
Companies Playing The Role of Parents: Attack on Tobacco Use
Labor Day Festivities Stories and Photos from ME & NH
Legislative Update: RESPECT Act
 
Download the Fall 2007 issue of The Current by clicking the attachment below.
EW 1837 stewards at worksites. You can also download the most recent edition here.
This Holiday Season, Shop With Your Union Heart!
With the holiday shopping season bearing down on us, you have a chance to support Union principles while buying great gifts for family and friends. By selecting Union-made gifts, you’ll help make the holidays even happier for other working people, their families and their communities. What’s more, you know that gifts made by union workers are of the highest quality, so you can feel good about doing good.
 
Another great way to shop is to look for products that are Fair Trade certified (TM). Fair Trade advocates work to promote labor, environmental, and social policy standards to benefit... Read More
Legislative Update: RESPECT Act Seeks to Undo Damage Caused by NLRB Decisions
When the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued new guidelines in September of 2006, defining what constitutes a “supervisor” in the workplace, the three NLRB members appointed by President George W. Bush formed a majority that gave employers the weapon they needed to attack the eligibility of thousands of workers to belong to a union. Now, allies in the U.S. Congress of IBEW 1837 and other unions are fighting back with the RESPECT Act, hoping to restore the original intent of Congress that people with only minor supervisory duties should continue to have the right to join a union.
The... Read More
New Hampshire Electric Co-op Lineworker "Hero" Gets National Attention
NH Co-op Lineworker James Robison.
 
NH Electric Cooperative Lineworker James Robison.This story is featured in the Fall 2007 issue of The Current, IBEW 1837's quarterly newsletter.
 
Sheila Robison was just sitting down to lunch in her Bristol, New Hampshire home one afternoon when she picked up a copy of her husband’s Powerlineman Magazine, just to have something to thumb through while she took a break. An advertisement caught her eye that would really shake things up in the Robison household, and also cause quite a stir at the New Hampshire Electric Co-op where her husband James... Read More
IBEW 1837 Members Ratify Five-Year Contract at New Hampshire Electric Co-op
IBEW 1837 Negotiating Committee takes a quick break during bargaining. Following difficult negotiations that included almost two days of federal mediation, IBEW 1837 members at the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative have ratified a five-year contract. The agreement includes an increase in the meal allotment and wage increases in each of the five years. The Negotiating Committee was satisfied with the contract and it was approved by IBEW 1837 members at the Co-op by a ratification vote on Thursday, October 4, 2007.
 
The contract calls for a 65 cents revaluation in the wage paid to... Read More
Union Negotiations Can Be Hurt By Members' Money Woes
If you owned coastal property in Maine or New Hampshire and weather forecasters said that a hurricane was barreling up the Atlantic Coast, you would probably batten down the hatches, stock up on groceries and flashlight batteries, hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. If the hurricane passed us by, well, you could still make good use of those supplies. If we took a direct hit from Mother Nature, you’d be all set to ride out the storm.
By the same token, when the forecast calls for upcoming contract bargaining at one of our represented companies, members ought to consider getting their... Read More
IBEW 1837 Members Join Labor's Day Festivities in New Hampshire and Maine
Labor's Day 2007 events featured shows of solidarity, lessons in labor history, great music, and politics! And members of IBEW Local 1837 were there to take it all in. A variety of gatherings in New Hampshire and Maine drew hundreds of enthusiastic union members, their families, and their friends.
The New Hampshire AFL-CIO Breakfast in Manchester drew close to 500 people to the St. George Greek Orthodox Church, including the state’s congressional delegation, Governor John Lynch, and Democratic presidential hopefuls Christopher Dodd and Barack Obama. Representing IBEW 1837 at the exciting... Read More
CMP 47 Ratifies First Contract
CMP 47 Negotiating Committee Working on Proposals: Negotiating Committee Working on Proposals" CMP 47 Negotiating Committee Working on Proposals: Negotiating Committee Working on ProposalsA majority vote today ratified a first contract for "The 47" CMP employees who voted to join IBEW Local 1837 in January of 2006.
The ratification moves the employees into a new era, that of working under a collective bargaining agreement. While this first contract package fails to fully ameliorate erosion in the group's wages that has taken place since the company was sold several years ago, it establishes... Read More
IBEW 1837 Business Manager Addresses FCC Hearing
IBEW 1837 Business Manager Cynthia Phinney participated in a panel presenting testimony to the FCC in a hearing on media ownership on Thursday, June 28, 2007. The hearing was one of several held around the country over the past year for FCC Commissioners to hear directly from people in communities their thoughts and experiences about media ownership and localism. While most of the panelists focussed on local content and community involvement issues, IBEW 1837 has a special relationship with the media. Besides our interest in how well and how thoroughly the media cover labor issues both... Read More
Intimidation of Union Steward

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a Complaint and Notice of Hearing to WGME for engaging in unfair labor practices as a result of a charge by IBEW Local 1837. The charge by the Union was filed on March 19, 2007, after Union Steward Jack Amrock was threatened, intimidated and coerced by WGME management while fulfilling his responsibilities as steward by investigating a possible contract violation. WGME is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. of Hunt Valley, Maryland.
As stated in the NLRB complaint document, the charge stems from the previous September when Brother... Read More