The SMART Army showed out in force for kids in Bradley County, Tennessee, last October: Local 5 members partnered with the local chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, building 30 beds for children who need a safe place to sleep.
SHP’s mission is that “no kid sleeps on the floor in our town” — with the help of Local 5, that dream moved one step closer towards reality.
“The nonprofit was very pleased and wants to partner with us again,” reported Local 5 Organizer Hunter Gossett.
SMART Local 20’s Youth-to-Youth program paid dividends in Indianapolis, Ind., in early December 2024, where members and officers worked to highlight alleged anti-union behavior and win hundreds of thousands in backpay from Performance Mechanical Contracting, Inc (PMC). After the local filed four unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, the NLRB secured a settlement agreement with the contractor that saw PMC pay $459,758 to fired Local 20 workers.
The campaign began when PMC started hiring sheet metal workers. As part of Local 20’s organizing efforts, Local 20 Business Manager Trent Todd explained, eight members in the local’s Youth-to-Youth program applied to work at the company — and declared their union affiliation ahead of time. Those workers were not hired by the company. However, Todd added, two members that did not announce their Local 20 membership were hired. After starting at PMC, the members stated their union affiliation, and they were fired.
Local 20 acted swiftly, filing a complaint that, according to the NLRB, “alleged that the employer unlawfully refused to hire or consider for hire eight applicants and fired two employees because they engaged in union activities, interrogated employees and promulgated an unlawful rule.”
And in December, the NLRB announced the settlement. Along with backpay, PMC agreed to cease and desist from unlawful conduct and to post, read and email a notice of employee rights to its workers.
“Every worker in this country has the right to organize a union, and we at Local 20 will always fight to defend that right,” Todd said. “I am proud of the work our organizing department performed on this campaign. PMC illegally refused to hire qualified applicants because of their union affiliation. This settlement is evidence that rank-and-file organizing has a direct impact on our industry.”
“It is unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire applicants — or fire workers — because of their support for a union,” said [NLRB] Region 25 Regional Director Patricia Nachand in the NLRB’s press release. “I’m proud of Region 25 staff for securing this strong settlement that makes whole the victims of the unfair labor practices.”
On January 28, news broke that President Donald Trump fired National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo and NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox. SMART General President Michael Coleman issued the following statement in response:
“From day one, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo made it her mission at the National Labor Relations Board to fight for working Americans. In the past, SMART members and organizing workers in this country could only hope for an impartial figure in the NLRB’s general counsel position. With Abruzzo, the American working class had a champion — someone who spent her entire career advocating for workers and advancing their rights to unionize. She was, is and always will be a true friend of the American worker, and she will be sorely missed.”
General President Coleman added:
“General Counsel Abruzzo’s firing was a blow, but an expected one. The firing of NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox is something else entirely — an unprecedented move that makes it impossible for the NLRB to perform its core duties, leaving American workers in limbo. At this time, the board cannot issue decisions, including routine-but-vital cases alleging violations of labor law and workers’ rights. Make no mistake: This move hurts American workers.”
The labor movement and the fight for civil rights have always been inextricably connected. Unions like SMART are organizations made up of working-class people from all backgrounds, races, gender identities and places of origin, fighting for fairness at work and a life with dignity; just like the civil rights movement, union members band together to fight for justice and equality for all.
SMART members from across North America demonstrated that in January, attending the AFL-CIO’s Martin Luther King Conference for Civil and Human Rights in Austin, Texas — building comradery with fellow trade unionists, engaging in a community service project and strategizing for a future that puts the working class first.
RISE Committee takes Austin
The SMART RISE Committee (Representation, Integrity, Support, Empowerment), formed in late 2023, provides a space for celebrating the experiences and addressing the needs of underrepresented members of our union. The committee also supports our recruitment and retention efforts within underrepresented communities, helping SMART grow our market share in previously untapped areas.
It was only fitting, then, that the Martin Luther King Conference brought RISE Committee members to Austin to build power. Dr. King famously spoke about the importance of trade unionism in the fight for racial justice, proclaiming: “…the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.”
“[We’re] building worker power and [learning about] the whole message of Dr. King — civil rights along with economic justice,” explained RISE Committee member and Local 71 Director of Membership Development Andre Mayes.
The conference kicked off on Thursday, January 9. The opening session, featuring AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy and Texas AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Leonard Aguilar, offered attendees words of resilience and motivation from a state that has been, politically, a bastion of anti-unionism.
Texas is the place, Levy said, where the government relentlessly union busts, attacks immigrant workers and tries to deprive people of their rights. It’s the place where the anti-union playbook of division has been constantly employed. But, Aguilar noted, we can fight that division: “The one thing we have in common across this land is our labor.” Levy echoed that sentiment, telling attendees what they already knew: We can defeat anti-worker attacks through our collective solidarity.
“Let’s commit ourselves together to the struggle for labor rights … civil rights … and to the fundamental ideal that there is no difference between those two fights,” he declared.
Shuler connected the themes emphasized by the two Texas labor leaders with the labor movement’s broader struggle. Anti-worker forces are conducting an all-out assault on everything SMART and fellow unions have fought for: worker safety laws and regulations, project labor agreements, Social Security and more, she said. Our greatest weapon in response is solidarity — symbolized, she noted, by the Service Employees International Union’s historic reaffiliation with the AFL-CIO, announced just one day prior.
“They want us to believe an immigrant worker making minimum wage is the source of our problems, not the CEO who handed himself more money than we will ever see in our lifetimes,” Shuler said. “They are terrified of what happens when we come together.”
SEIU President April Verrett then took the stage to hammer home the message that, together, we can fight to win economic justice for workers. Whether public sector service employees or construction workers, she said, “we can no longer be satisfied with the status quo,” adding: “It is going to take every single one of us to make a powerful, collective demand.”
Members also heard from AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Rocio Saenz, AFGE President Everett Kelley and AFT President Randi Weingarten during a Thursday afternoon session on “Bending the Arc: The Labor Movement’s Fight for Justice.” Speakers discussed how unions’ fight for power and safety in the workplace is by no means limited to jobsite advocacy: Unions promote the rights and dignity of working-class people on and off the job, from government employees taking care of our veterans to SMART production workers putting together HVAC systems for hospitals. Any attack on one of us is an attack on all, and we cannot let our movement be divided in the years to come.
Growing solidarity, putting it into action
Friday brought SMART members and fellow unionists together for a day of theory and practice. After a morning spent in session, the afternoon put workers into action, packing books for local kids and sending letters to legislators.
The day kicked off with the morning’s keynote speaker, Rep. Jasmine Crockett. The second-term United States representative fights hard for constituents in Texas’s 30th District — but, she noted, she works in Congress as an ally to ALL workers.
“I am here to be a representative of your voices. … Your presence here today tells me that you understand the importance of a movement … and what we can do united,” she declared.
Crockett has spent much of her career fighting against deregulation, attacks on worker safety and anti-union actors. She leaned on her experience to talk about the importance of focusing on the issues that matter to working people — at a time when some pundits were trying to blame the California wildfires on DEI programs, Crockett said, “this is your time to rise.” She urged attendees to mobilize, organize new and existing members, and make politicians uncomfortable as we work to prioritize working people:
“I want you beating down the doors of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.”
All photos Copyright Casey Chapman Ross
The labor movement spans every industry, with members ranging from sheet metal workers and freight railroaders to teachers, nurses, museum workers and beyond. What brings us together is our common fight for worker power and a just society — a fact highlighted during Friday morning’s panel, “Where Do We Go from Here? Advancing Dr. King’s Vision of a Unified Movement and the Guarantee of Economic Justice for All.”
Panelists Stacey Gates Davis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union; SEIU Texas President Elsa Flores; Brent Booker, general president of LIUNA; and Demond Drummer, director of strategy at The New School’s Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, dove into a range of topics, from the radical labor action that helped end slavery, to the importance of building solidarity and coalitions across our movement, to the impact that the economy has on every other facet of our lives.
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates
Violence and social disruption are the result of an economy where 90% of economic growth goes to the richest 1%, Drummer said; we are living in a “call to action” moment for organized labor. Panelists reminded attendees that “labor issues” don’t exist in a silo — union organizing is also public safety organizing, racial justice organizing, immigrant justice organizing.
United States Representative Greg Casar — a pro-worker champion who has stood with SMART on the PRO Act, legislation related to heat protection and more — addressed the conference in the afternoon, talking about the importance of unity between pro-worker politicians and the labor movement. Last year alone, anti-worker legislators fought to take away water breaks on Texas construction jobsites. Together, Casar said, we need to fight back: “We are the labor movement, we are the civil rights movement.”
Organized labor made significant progress in recent years, electing members of Congress who don’t just say the right things but actually act on behalf of SMART members. Nevertheless, Casar warned, there still exists a corporate class that desires a secondary class of workers — people who work more and get paid less, people who will be scared to organize. That’s what we’re fighting against, he said. And make no mistake: When someone else’s rights are suppressed at work, that sets the stage for union workers’ rights to be stripped next.
RISE Committee members then spent the afternoon doing what the SMART Army does best: engaging in community action. The American Federation of Teachers’ “Reading Opens the World” initiative aims to bring books to those who need them most but can’t afford them, helping kids develop literacy and find joy in reading. Attendees at the 2025 Martin Luther King Conference — including the SMART RISE Committee — played their part, sorting, labeling and packing books to distribute to Texas kids before writing letters to U.S. senators in support of our brothers and sisters working public sector jobs.
Looking ahead: plenary sessions and workshops help members strategize
Saturday’s conference itinerary prompted members of the RISE Committee to engage with workers from across North America in plenary sessions and workshops. With a potentially hostile presidential administration and Congress taking power, trade unionists networked, listened, learned and planned to proactively strengthen the bonds of solidarity that are our foundation.
CWA President Claude Cummings
The morning kicked off with a speech from Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Claude Cummings. Gazing out from the podium, Cummings said: “We see the power of a unified labor movement working towards the dream of Dr. King.”
Now as in Dr. King’s day, he explained, pro-union sentiment is seen as a threat by those who want to profit off the backs of the working class. That’s why a unified labor movement is so imperative. The ruling class doesn’t prefer one union over another — they want to dissolve our entire movement.
“No one group is going to succeed while the others are denied justice, are denied the fruits of their labor, are denied basic human rights and dignity. That’s why we fight,” Cummings said, later adding: “We love our families and our country, and we want everyone in our communities to have the freedom to pursue their dreams and live their life.”
The morning concluded with another panel: “Rising Up: The Power of Solidarity and Forging a Winning Coalition.” Like much of the conference, the session focused on how issues that might appear to be separate — immigrants’ rights, reproductive freedom, collective bargaining protections, etc. — are closely tied together. And, panelists noted, a rigorous labor movement is crucial in order to take on these interconnected battles.
Following lunch, members spent the afternoon in breakout workshop sessions. As unions, we need to effectively tell our story of how working people can achieve economic justice and a good life through our movement. With that in mind, SMART members and Martin Luther King Conference attendees spent their chosen workshops focusing on storytelling exercises, solidarity mapping and developing action plans as they pertained to specific subject areas: defending collective bargaining, protecting LGBTQIA+ rights against legislative attacks, advancing the rights and protections of our immigrant union siblings and more.
Local 17 member Adrian Mobley attends an afternoon workshop at the 2025 MLK Civil and Human Rights Conference, Day 3.
The night ended with the annual AFL-CIO Civil and Human Rights Awards, honoring union members who have gone above and beyond in the fight for justice and human dignity. The evening program also paid tribute to labor legend Bill Lucy — founder of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, longtime AFSCME secretary-treasurer and a fighter for justice throughout his life, including the famous 1968 Memphis sanitation strike and the labor movement’s support of anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.
RISE Committee meets to secure a greater future for SMART
The RISE Committee wrapped up its weekend in Austin with a committee meeting on Sunday, where members reflected on the conference and went into detail on how to put the committee’s action plan in motion. From International and local union staff to rank-and-file sheet metal workers, these SMART brothers and sisters are tasked with the important work of securing our union’s future by bringing in and retaining workers from all backgrounds. During their meeting, members strategized implementation of a SMART Future Leaders initiative, a RISE cookbook and more.
Committee members considered the conference an overall success.
“I wanted to see how people who have the same ideals or the same drive as us, how we all can come together,” said Dale Clark, Local 24 (Columbus, Ohio) member, International Training Institute OSHA specialist and RISE Committee chair. “And it’s a beautiful thing. It refocused me.”
SMART is the first building trades union to offer nationwide childcare benefits, setting a historic precedent for working families.
On January 16, 2025, SMART announced a transformative partnership with TOOTRiS, the nation’s leading provider of on-demand childcare services, to offer childcare benefits to members across the United States. This pioneering collaboration establishes SMART as the first building trades union in the country to adopt wrap-around childcare benefits for its members, with the benefit activating February 1, 2025, for participating sheet metal local unions.
“This partnership sets a new standard for addressing the real-life challenges faced by working families,” said SMART General President Michael Coleman. “We are proud to be the first building trades union in the country to provide access to childcare programs nationwide, ensuring that our members — especially apprentices and young families — have the support they need to thrive in their careers and at home.”
More information is available to SMART members here.
Eligibility requirements:
Available to members in good standing with children aged 0-12.
Local union must participate for its members to be eligible.
Please note: The benefit doesn’t cover the cost of childcare but gives members premium access to the most affordable options.
SMART members: If your local union chooses to participate, please keep an eye out for an upcoming email with instructions on how to claim your benefit.
Childcare: key to building our nation
Infrastructure investments and a resurgence in domestic manufacturing have driven huge workforce demands in the United States in recent years. Along with ensuring indoor air quality in schools, hospitals and other buildings, SMART members have been at the forefront of many large infrastructure projects, including the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) modernization, the Dallas-Fort Worth Terminal Expansion, semiconductor fabrication projects by Micron, TSMC, Intel and others, and many more.
The need for skilled workers continues to rise as projects break ground. However, childcare is frequently cited as one of the most significant barriers to both entering and staying in the building trades, with unpredictable schedules and mobile jobs making ordinary services less accessible. Additionally, childcare costs have surged over 50% in the past decade, and the shortage of providers has made securing care even more difficult. Apprentices and younger members, who are often in the early stages of building their careers and salaries, are particularly vulnerable.
SMART Local 16 (Portland, Ore.) member and Organizer Korri Bus detailed the impact of the childcare crisis on workers in the construction industry during Tradeswomen Build Nations 2023. Bus spoke from personal experience: Despite her love of her craft and dedication to her union, she had to step away from her sheet metal career due to the challenges she faced finding adequate, affordable and accessible childcare.
“Together, let’s build a future where no parent in the trades has to choose between professional commitments and parental responsibilities,” Bus urged TWBN attendees at the time.
Now, through its partnership with TOOTRiS, SMART is poised to do just that. With the newly announced childcare benefit, U.S. members in participating locals gain access to over 200,000 licensed childcare providers nationwide via TOOTRiS’s state-of-the-art platform, including programs offering non-traditional hours, drop-in care and 24/7 availability. TOOTRiS technology — accessible via the TOOTRiS app or online — allows parents to search, compare and enroll in care based on real-time availability tailored to their needs.
Local 17 membersChild of Local 265 member Mitch Geister
Growing our union
SMART’s new childcare benefit aims squarely to strengthen participation in the sheet metal trade, particularly among women and young families.
“TOOTRiS is proud to partner with SMART to tackle the childcare crisis head-on,” said Alessandra Lezama, TOOTRiS CEO and member of the ReadyNation CEO Task Force on Early Childhood. “Parents in the trade industry are the backbone of progress. By providing real-time access to quality childcare solutions, TOOTRiS will empower parents to thrive in their careers while ensuring their children — the future of our economy and country — have the foundation they need to succeed. Together, we’re building stronger families, industries and communities.”
“This partnership addresses a critical gap for families in the trades, enabling parents — especially women — to succeed in careers that were once out of reach due to a lack of childcare,” added Allison Grealis, Women in Manufacturing Association President and Founder). “This is a step forward for support and inclusion in the workforce.”
SMART hosted a webinar with representatives from TOOTRiS and local unions throughout the United States on Wednesday, January 15. Information on the benefit, member resources and more will continue to be shared.
On January 13, 2025, SMART Railroad, Mechanical and Engineering Department (SMART-MD) members ratified the national agreement with the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC)-represented railroads.
Annual general wage increases effective July 1 of each calendar year, totaling 17.5% (over 18.75% when compounded);
Paid vacation days for new-hire employees;
Accelerated qualification and accrual of paid vacation for tenured employees;
Various improvements to health and welfare benefits, including the extension of health and welfare coverage for surviving dependents, male sterilization procedures (i.e., vasectomy), as well as substantial increases for vision frame allowances (from $115 to $250 every two years) and an orthodontia lifetime maximum benefit increase from $1,000 to $2,500 per covered individual;
An optional high-deductible health plan with lower monthly cost-share contribution that will be available in 2026;
Increased opt out payment of $200 per month for employees who select not to have health insurance.
“The ratification of this agreement demonstrates SMART-MD’s commitment to negotiating for the improvements members have said they need: better pay and benefits, flexibility and increased quality of life,” said SMART General President Michael Coleman. “Almost as important is the fact that these negotiations were conducted in a timely, good-faith manner. I want to thank SMART-MD negotiators for their leadership and SMART-MD members for their engagement in this process.”
“I am glad the members ratified the national agreement,” SMART General Committee 2 Directing General Chairperson John McCloskey added. “It is one of the best negotiated agreements in my career and will provide meaningful improvements to the members, in record time. We hope that future rounds of national negotiations proceed more sensibly and result in fairer agreements such as this.”
CPKC, Union Pacific Railroad and Alton Southern did not participate in national negotiations this round and remain the only other freight rail properties that have not reached tentative agreements with SMART-MD.
I want to wish you and your families a very happy holiday season.
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or practice your own tradition, this is a meaningful time. I hope all of you are able to spend these days with loved ones.
The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.
The labor movement has been resurgent in recent years, with working people organizing like they haven’t in decades and union approval ratings close to all-time highs. That includes in our industries: More than ever, Americans and Canadians realize just how crucial SMART members are to our two nations. They understand the importance of the workers who manufacture and install HVAC systems and who help maintain the quality of the air we breathe. They finally recognize the essential work performed by freight railroaders and public transit operators. And they see the true value of our collective power: We are the workers fighting to raise the standard of living for our neighbors and communities.
With that foundation, we made history over the last 12 months.
We put members to work on megaprojects across the United States and Canada. We negotiated strong contracts across industries and trades. We fabricated HVAC systems for hospitals, chip plants and more. We won a nationwide two-person train crew rule. And we grew as a union, bringing in tens of thousands of new SMART members.
The truth is this, sisters and brothers: Our two nations simply don’t work without sheet metal and transportation workers, whether we’re helping build new schools or bringing freight from coast to coast. I want to thank you for all that you do — every single day.
The holiday season means different things to different people. But at its core, I believe it’s about our common humanity. As union members, that is one of our core values; the idea that every working person deserves safety, fair pay, a secure retirement and a life with dignity, and that we will organize together to win those rights.
That principle — our solidarity — will guide us in the future. As we close out 2024 and head into 2025, we will continue to stand united, to organize and to have each other’s backs.
Again, happy holidays from me, my family and the SMART General Executive Council. Enjoy the season, and please stay safe.
The strength of our union lies in the fact that every SMART member has each other’s back. From sheet metal workers on the same jobsite, to production workers at the same manufacturing company, to railroaders working in the same state, to the fact that we are all members of the same union, across the United States and Canada.
That principle was on display in December 2024, when the Recruitment and Retention, Roofing and Building Enclosure, and Production Workers and Sign Councils met in Cathedral City, California. Dubbed the “Three Pack Attack,” the council meetings convened sheet metal and transportation leaders from all over North America to focus on both holistic challenges and specific industry landscapes. Whether overviewing rail safety from a recruitment lens or strategizing ways to use the picket line to our advantage, the goal remained the same: growing and strengthening our fighting union.
“I certainly think we’re going to have our challenges,” said SMART General Secretary-Treasurer John Daniel during the Recruitment and Retention Council meeting. “But with every new challenge comes an opportunity for growth.”
Securing our future: Recruitment and Retention Council maps challenges, opportunities ahead
After President Chuck Greer (Local 12, Pittsburgh, Pa.) brought Recruitment and Retention Council delegates to order, Local 105 Business Manager Steve Hinson welcomed attendees to Southern California on Monday, December 2. Hinson talked about the importance of recruitment and retention to Local 105 and our union’s efforts to expand market share.
General Secretary-Treasurer Daniel then took the podium, where he looked back on the 2024 election results and touched on our union’s response — plus the outlook moving forward. During President Trump’s first term in office, Daniel explained, SMART’s apprenticeship programs and pension plans came under direct attack. Trump also appointed a number of anti-union staffers to key positions in the Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board, OSHA and more, all of which impacted SMART’s ability to organize and retain new workers.
That said, Daniel continued, SMART will work with any candidate to advance the interests of union members. Regardless of the political climate, it’s our union’s job to ensure sheet metal and transportation workers are represented as effectively as possible — and moving forward, maintaining consistent communication with members in response to any anti-union developments will be key.
“We need to make sure we’re present on the jobsite, present in the shops,” Daniel said.
Jason Benson
SMART Director of Organizing Jason Benson delivered a detailed presentation on SMART’s sheet metal organizing and attrition numbers since 2019, giving attendees key insights into the importance of retention strategies that accompany our aggressive recruitment. Retention rates grew each of the last five years, in parallel with SMART’s overall membership increase. Still, Benson challenged the council to come up with new ways to keep members in our union.
“We’ve done a fantastic job bringing people in,” he said. “We have a great opportunity to grow SMART to be much bigger than what we are now. … We can all be better, and we will be better.”
Council Trustee Shamaiah Turner (Local 17, Boston) and Council Vice President (Production) Stephanie Bottke (Local 480, Faribault, Minn.) conducted an interactive workshop on succession planning at the local union level. Succession planning is crucial to SMART’s success — not just for strategic continuity, but also when it comes to membership engagement, preserving connections with local communities and more. During the session, attendees talked about leadership development, successes and challenges in helping members step up to be leaders, resources and more.
After lunch, Local 28 (New York City) member and Nontraditional Employment for Women President Leah Rambo took the podium alongside Nicholas Beadle, chief of staff for Workforce and Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor, and Tammi Fleming, infrastructure investment equity fellow at the DOL, to discuss building infrastructure with an equitable workforce.
Organized labor is in an opportunity moment, the presenters told attendees; one where we can use infrastructure construction demands to increase union membership and recruit more women, people of color and other underrepresented populations — securing greater industry strength and market share in the process. Now, it’s up to us to take on current impediments, from discrimination and harassment to structural barriers, and to leverage funding opportunities to revamp our recruitment processes, confront obstacles like childcare and transportation access, and seize this moment of growth.
The challenges confronting SMART Transportation Division locals can differ vastly from those facing sheet metal unions. However, many of the strategies SMART-TD has deployed to successfully take on these challenges have a universal application. Jerry Gibson, chief of staff of the Transportation Department, highlighted innovative steps the TD organizing department has taken in the last several years.
Jerry GibsonBus VP James Sandoval
Externally, the Transportation Division has organized eight new rail properties and one new bus property since 2019. But the real focus has been on internal organizing: educating and engaging members, improving communication (especially with members who are upset) and — perhaps most importantly — reaching out to those transportation workers who have left our union. By doing that, Gibson said, SMART-TD has greatly improved the number of transportation workers we have welcomed back into our ranks.
SMART-TD Trainer Chad Yokoyama then took center stage to highlight the risks of rail hazmat transportation. Every day, railroaders carry hundreds of thousands of gallons of hazardous materials across the United States — making Yokoyama’s session relevant not only to railroaders, but Americans everywhere. The risks of transporting hazmat and the consequent need for adequate safety and training make it a recruitment issue, he explained: Members need to feel protected when they’re on trains with potentially dangerous chemicals.
Council Vice President Shannon Kilgar of Local 30 (Toronto, Ontario) concluded the day, paying tribute to the Recruitment and Retention Council delegates who came together across cities, states, provinces and countries for one purpose: furthering the interests of SMART.
“Our success moving forward is of the upmost importance to our members,” Kilgar said.
Roofing and Building Enclosure Council meets to expand market share
SMART General Secretary-Treasurer Daniel, president of the SMART Roofing and Building Enclosure Council, called the council to order on day two of the Three-Pack Attack, with officers and members working to increase industry knowledge and to capture, maintain and protect market share.
After council Secretary-Treasurer Michael LaFleur, business manager of Local 63 (Western Mass.), reported back to attendees on the body’s finances and the 2024 MetalCon conference in Atlanta — which was attended by officers of the council — Assistants to the General President Darrell Roberts and Tom Wiant took the podium to update delegates on various initiatives that are either underway or ready to be introduced from the International, including the new maternity leave benefit fund.
AGPs Darrell Roberts and Tom Wiant
Roberts and Wiant reminded officers that these initiatives were the brainchildren of SMART members — similar officer engagement and proactivity will be needed moving forward. Finally, they updated attendees on the status of resolutions proposed by the council during the 2024 SMART General Convention.
SMART Director of Governmental Affairs Steve Dodd addressed the council next, recapping the results of the 2024 election and urging officers to continue engaging in the political process. Regardless of who is in office, Dodd explained, SMART will continue to fight for members in the political arena — and make sure to keep members informed on policy actions in government, both good and bad.
“Nothing is more meaningful than being part of a struggle for democracy,” he said. “When we fight, we do some good things.”
Steve Dodd addresses the council
Local 105 offered a multifaceted presentation on how the local has secured and maintained market share in the architectural sheet metal industry. Business Agent Ruben Richards overviewed Local 105’s history in the architectural sector — both declines and regrowth in market share — and discussed the current landscape in Riverside County, with more than 30 architectural companies signed to Local 105 (including multi-signatory companies with other unions). Richards emphasized the importance of training for the future and securing contractor buy-in to invest today in growth tomorrow.
Attendees then heard from signatory contractor Best Contracting’s Vice President of Operations, Alana Bowman. Best Contracting serves as a one-stop shop for building envelope systems in Southern California and is signatory to various trade unions; the contractor has performed work on projects like the Los Angeles Football Club soccer stadium, LAX, Crypto Arena, the Rose Bowl and others.
Performing all scopes of the envelope system under one contractor — and with one unified effort — could help locals and contractors protect and expand market share in the architectural sheet metal sector. But key to any possibility of success, Bowman advised, is maintaining a strong relationship between workers, their local unions and the employer, and pursuing effective communication at all times.
The moral of the story told by Southern California industry representatives is one of unified, forward-thinking strategy. That point was hammered home by Local 105 JATC Coordinator Ralph Aguiar, who touched on the success Local 105 has found by joining with trade partners and using brand-new technology to appeal to a new generation of architectural sheet metal workers. Local 105 is putting together architectural/CAD training for apprentices: training the future workforce to capture and maintain market share in the long term.
The presentation was well-received by attendees.
“The opportunities we have in the architectural sector of our industry are huge — let’s take advantage of it,” Funds Director Dan McCallum encouraged leaders in the room.
“We have to get outside the pond we swim in on a daily basis,” added General Secretary-Treasurer Daniel, noting the importance of such council meetings for pursuing innovative strategies related to training, technology and more in the architectural sector. “That’s what our members elect us to do.”
Joe Manso offers an overview of Canadian affairs
In the afternoon, Local 30 (Toronto) Business Rep. Joe Manso, Canadian vice president of the council, gave a summary of the challenges and opportunities in Canada’s roofing and architectural sheet metal sectors, focusing particularly on training, market share and the industry landscape at large. There are a variety of unique institutions attempting to encroach on SMART Canada’s market share, Manso said. Training and organizing can help SMART locals defend against them.
Mike Powers of Local 265 ended the day by describing and demonstrating a powerful tool SMART sheet metal locals can use to protect their work hours: letters of assignment. Written letters of assignment from contractors that provide concrete information about jobsite responsibilities can help SMART locals guard their jurisdiction, ensure union members are performing sheet metal work, and enhance transparency and trust in the local’s relationship with the contractor.
Production Workers and Sign Council plans to build power — on and off the shop floor
The SMART Production Workers and Sign Council closed out the Three-Pack Attack on Wednesday, December 4, and Thursday, December 5, helping local leaders increase knowledge to improve representation and worker power in the production and sign industries.
After Council President Derek Evans (Local 540, Mississauga, Ontario) called delegates to order, attendees got to work with an interactive presentation on picketing and information-based tactics to leverage in organizing, collective bargaining and beyond. SMART House Counsel Luke Rebecchi, Paul More of McCracken, Stemermen & Holsberry LLP, and Eric Comartin, counsel with the Ontario Sheet Metal Workers and Roofers Conference, offered a relatively comprehensive overview of relevant sections of labor/labour law.
Council President Derek Evans stands at the podium
That included the foundational laws that guide and protect labor relations in the United States, such as the First Amendment, Railway Labor Act, National Labor Relations Act and Taft Hartley Act. The Taft Hartley Act, More explained, outlawed some of the most effective tactics unions had previously used to advocate for their workers, namely “secondary” tactics. And there have been no major changes in federal labor law, he continued, since 1959 — despite repeated attempts, including the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. That means labor law is interpreted, implemented and enforced by the National Labor Relations Board, at the administrative level. It also means that employers seeking to disrupt the labor movement (and stop SMART locals from organizing) rely primarily on state law.
Comartin outlined the sources of Canadian labour law, which derived from militant worker action in the 1930s and 40s. In Canada, labour law is governed primarily at the provincial level, rather than federally. However, the federal 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms includes an enshrined right to freedom of association, which is one of the major differences between Canada and the U.S. That freedom has been interpreted as the right to strike, and it essentially prohibits provincial right-to-work laws (though some reactionary provincial governments are attempting to use certain mechanisms to pass such anti-worker legislation anyway).
The rest of the nearly two-day legal session focused on strikes, lockouts, picketing and secondary actions in both the United States and Canada. Along with the peculiarities that differentiate labor law from labour law — for example, the fact that in some Canadian jurisdictions, employers are not allowed to bring in scabs — the three lawyers talked about these actions’ potential impact, rules that must be followed in such scenarios, the different categories of picketing, and important considerations to be made around timing, picketing sites, planning and more.
On Thursday, December 5, the Production Workers and Sign Council put their education into practice, picketing two jobsites. Attendees then returned to finish the council meeting, receiving a rundown on what unions can expect — both obstacles and opportunities — from the incoming second Trump administration.
The Three-Pack Attack ended with another demonstration of what SMART solidarity means in action: On each of the three days of council meetings, attendees raised money for Autism Spectrum Athletics — a Southern California charity, founded by Local 105 member Manny Zapata, that gives kids with autism the chance to play sports with others. On the final day, the councils presented their more-than-$40,000 donation to Zapata — an astounding gift.
Overall, all three council meetings sent delegates back to their home locals equipped with new knowledge, skills and relationships that will benefit members across North America.
“This is how we grow stronger and keep fighting for the interests of the membership,” Evans concluded.
The SMART Education Department held its New Business Managers class in St. Louis, Mo., during the week of November 18, 2024. The new business and regional managers built comradery throughout the week as they worked on different group exercises focused on managing their local unions.
As part of the course, participants created strategic action plans that prioritized improvements in the areas of personal leadership, union representation, growth, resources, trust funds and community relationships. New business and regional managers also created a strategic action plan for their local and presented it to the class.
“The class will meet online in six months to see how everyone is proceeding with their plans,” said International Instructor Richard Mangelsdorf. “Well done, everyone!”
I want to wish all of you and your families a very happy Thanksgiving, from myself, General Secretary-Treasurer John Daniel and the entire SMART General Executive Council.
Today is a day to gather with those we hold dear. From the essential workers who manufacture, build and install the HVAC systems that keep our air clean and healthy, to the railroaders and transit operators who literally keep our supply chain moving — and who, even today, are transporting passengers and freight where they need to be — we know just how valuable these moments are.
Everyone has their different traditions on days like today. Many of us gather to eat turkey and stuffing with family and friends; others may practice different observations. But no matter what you choose to do, I hope you keep in mind a spirit of fellowship, unity and our common humanity.
For me, Thanksgiving is especially welcome in the wake of election season. Politics can so often feel divisive, and these days, elections are used by the rich and powerful to try and pit us against one another. Today and every day, please remember one thing: As union members, we are each other’s family. We have each other’s backs. No matter what’s taking place in the political arena, our solidarity is by far the most important principle we can uphold.
Organized labor has changed history time and again, and we did it through our unbreakable unity. All of us should be proud to be trade unionists; to be part of a collective movement to better the lives of working-class people from coast to coast.
I want to thank each one of you for the invaluable contributions you make to our union, our labor movement and our nation.
Again, happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the holiday, and please stay safe.
