Elyse Bronson (IBEW 1837) Wins Union Shop Steward of the Year Award

This year’s Union Steward of the Year award goes to Elyse Bronson (IBEW 1837) in recognition of her outstanding leadership as Shop Steward of IBEW Local 1837. Bronson goes above and beyond to serve her fellow union members, leads by example, and shows others what it means to be a union member and the importance of sticking together.

As Bronson’s coworker Annette Derry wrote in her nomination, “Elyse truly embodies what it means to be a union steward. She consistently shows up for her co-workers. Whether it’s offering support during a tough time, standing up for what’s right, and making sure everyone is heard. She leads with empathy, strength, and a commitment to fairness. People feel comfortable going to Bronson because she is always there to listen and take action. Her dedication goes far beyond the role, it’s who she is.”

Derry added that Bronson stands out because of how she welcomes new hires. “She takes the time to talk to them about the union, explain their contract and make them feel included from day one. You can see how much pride she takes in being a steward. It’s not just a title for her, it’s a responsibility she carries with heart and dedication. Elyse is the kind of steward this award was made for.”

Bronson grew up in the Bangor area with a strong belief in the value of unions. Many

of her family members were union members who worked for the telephone company and she remembers them going on strike in the 1980s. “I really saw the power of what a union can do and what a difference it can make,” she recalled. “So that was kind of instilled in me from the time I was little.”

When Bronson grew up, she also went to work for the phone company and worked there in customer service for over ten years as a member of CWA Local 1400. She took part in the massive 131-day Fairpoint Strike between 2014 and 2015. When the company eliminated 55 percent of the workforce, Bronson took a buyout and taught special education preschool and kindergarten for a few years. In 2021, she began working for the utility Versant and joined IBEW.

Bob Toole was her steward at the time and he became her mentor. When Toole retired, he convinced her to run for the position and Business agent Renee Gilman and former Steward of the Year winner Greg Middleton told her, “We know you’ve got the background for this.”

Bronson said it’s critical for union stewards to know the contract and understand that it’s a “living, breathing document” and that they hold the power to change it. She said a good steward must be empathetic and a good listener so members know they can confide in them. “I think in this day and age, it’s so hard for people to speak up because they feel like they aren’t heard,” she said. “If you can’t put yourself in another person’s shoes, you won’t be able to advocate for them. If you can’t understand where someone is coming from, how are you supposed to speak up and fight for them?”

A good steward is also a fighter, she added. For anyone considering becoming a shop steward, Bronson advises them to “just go for it.”

“If you have even a little bit of passion in you, if you have a strong sense of justice, you will find a way to find your voice,” she said. “I feel like that’s really how it worked for me. I’ve always been so big on fairness. Like even as a kid, I was always the one who would be like, ‘well, that’s not fair’ when someone was being bullied. I think it was really easy to become a steward because I have a pretty low tolerance for that sort of nonsense.”

As Danielle Lovejoy said of Bronson, “Elyse is always there to listen and has our back, through the whole company, it feels like Elyse is the only one who listens and if you have a question and she don’t have an answer right away, she will do her very best and ALWAYS follows up with you. She is an amazing caring person who always does what she can for us.”