NB Power's restructuring of Transmission, Distribution and Customer Service.

On June 8, NB Power started telling workers about a restructuring within Transmission and Distribution and Customer Service ("T and D"). Since then, some members have asked if the reorganisation within "T and D" violates or changes our Collective Agreements and whether or not NB Power needs the Union’s permission to make these changes.

The answer is that NB Power has the right to reorganise and restructure their business – they don’t need the Union’s approval. They are also allowed to reassign staff, which is why we have negotiated wage protection provisions in our collective agreements. Many of you probably remember previous reorganisations.

In addition, the reorganisation does not violate or change the existing Collective Agreements. Members who were assigned to Transmission before will continue to operate under the Transmission Agreement, even if they are now reporting to a Customer Service region.

Likewise, the proposed combining of the operating companies and the proposal to take NB Power back to a single company will have no impact on the current Collective Agreements (including seniority rules) that are in place. If the proposal to recombine NB Power goes forward, it will not be much different than pre-2004. At that time NB Power was one company, with four different Collective Agreements, just as it is today.

When changes like this occur, it can create a lot of confusion and uncertainty. There are many questions about the future structure of NB Power. Some of those questions we have answers for and there others that we don’t at this time. As this continues to evolve, we’ll all get a better picture of the impacts of the changes as well as any steps we may need to take to deal with emerging issues.

Although times of change can be frustrating, I do believe that by working together we can successfully deal with any issues that arise.

Thank you for your support!

I want to express my sincere appreciation to all members of Local 37 for your continued support. I am deeply humbled to have a second opportunity to represent you as your Business Manager. You have given me another very strong mandate. Thank you. I know that we can work together to build an even better, stronger union.

I would also like to extend my congratulations to all other candidates who stood for election to Local 37’s Executive Board. People who are willing to step up and take a leadership role are doing it because they truly want to help others – they care about their fellow workers, our workplaces and our communities, and they want to help us move forward. We all owe them a debt of gratitude for making such a commitment to the members of this union.

I also want to thank the staff of Local 37 who work so hard for our members every day - Gary Munn, Claude Richard, Mary Williamson, Annette Perry and Leslie MacNeill. I especially want to recognize the extra effort that Annette and Leslie put into preparing, distributing and the counting of ballots under the supervison of election judge Bob Tucker. As well, I want to say thank you to Election Tellers Lucy Vautour and Delbert Cogswell. Their time and commitment were greatly appreciated.

Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank my wife Krista and my two children, James and John. The job of Business Manager takes me away from them on a frequent basis, and I’m grateful for having such a caring, understanding family.

Once again, thank you for your overwhelming vote of confidence, trust and continued support. Working together, we have accomplished a great deal. In the future, we will accomplish even more.

Fraternally,

Ross Galbraith