Union News

There have been numerous watershed moments in the labor movement in Maine and New Hampshire, and for the past three decades – Matt Beck has been at the forefront for nearly all of them.  From a contentious effort, which successfully stopped an attempt to bring “right to work,” to the Granite State in 2011 – to supporting his union brothers and sisters on the picket lines during the strike at the New Hampshire Electric Co-Op in 2018 – Beck has had his hand in numerous events through the years, in addition to countless organizing campaigns and contract negotiations.

September 24, 2012 - Since 1992, the Union Plus Scholarship Program has awarded more than $3.4 million to students of working families who want to begin or continue their post-secondary education. Over 2,200 families have benefited from their commitment to higher education. The Union Plus Scholarship Program is offered through the Union Plus Education Foundation.

The 2013 Scholarship application is now available.

February 19, 2015 - BREAKING NEWS/UNION NEWS RELEASE: FairPoint Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: FRP); System Council T-9 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (AFL-CIO) Locals 2320, 2326, and 2327; and the Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO) Local 1400 are pleased to announce that today they have reached tentative agreements on the terms for new collective bargaining agreements.

AUGUSTA, ME (FEBRUARY 22, 2015 UNION NEWS RELEASE)—After three days of voting, IBEW and CWA members in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have ratified tentative agreements with FairPoint Communications. The new agreements protect good jobs and ensure quality telecommunications service for New England communities.

November 19, 2019 - Operating Technicians at WABI-TV in Bangor, Maine, ratified a new 2-year contract this week with raises of 2.5% each year and a $250 signing bonus. The starting pay rate for Operating Technicians was also increased.

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.

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.

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.)

The new overtime rules in the Fair Labor Standards Act, pushed by the Bush Administration under the guise of "updating", took effect August 23 after lengthy and repeated efforts to amend or defeat them were thwarted by the Bush administration. For an analysis of the situation and the new rules, visit the Economic Policy Institute overtime page.

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.

In a two to one vote September 14, Meter Readers in the PSNH Milford facility voted to join IBEW Local 1837. Prior to the vote, Milford was the only location in the company where Meter Readers were not represented by a union.

Following final approval of the vote by the National Labor Relations Board, the Meter Readers will be covered by the same contract that covers other IBEW 1837 workers in the company. They will be their own bargaining unit for purposes of job postings.

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