ITI Business Development Enhanced With SBA Help, Module on Diversity

The ITI Business Development program  has completed a highly successful pilot program, garnering high praise, strong interest, and—as pilot programs are intended to do—important enhancements to the ongoing curriculum. The post-pilot courses include a Phase-Three collaboration [...]

Unions Stopping Addiction

by Bill Salvatore Local 28 SMART MAP Director   At a park in Flushing, N.Y., Local 28 took a swing at striking out addiction by hosting a softball tournament highlighting the issue. The opioid epidemic has been declared a national health crisis, with Hydrocodone, Oxycont [...]

Veterans Get Chance At Career Through LA Program

Military veterans who have honorably transitioned into civilian life often don’t know what their next steps will be. Instead of doing a job to get by, a boot camp to introduce veterans to a career as a sheet metal worker is offered by the Southern California Sheet Metal JATC [...]

Today Is National Voter Registration Day

Voting is one of the most important things we can do to effect change in our local communities and now, more than ever, we must hold our elected leaders accountable. As you may know, SMART has a special stake in our local communities. It’s where decisions are made on transit [...]

Canadian Roofing Apprentices Receive Factory Training on New Product

At the recently held Canadian Roofing Contest, held in Victoria B.C. July 7th & 8th, apprentices got the opportunity to get some hands-on training on the new Soprema SBS cold application systems.  Thanks to Bill Bowers of Convoy supply, who arrange for Soprema Technician, [...]

Missouri voters overwhelmingly reject Right to Work

Missouri voters voted decisively on Tuesday, August 7 when they overwhelmingly rejected a right-to-work (for less) law that would have divided work forces and limited the freedom to negotiate in private-sector workplaces. Unions gathered enough signatures to send the question [...]

Member Letter Shows Example of SMART Solidarity

True Unionism is exemplified in the SMART Disaster Relief Fund—and in how we work to reach every member who might need it. After the 2017 hurricanes, a 50-year member from Chicago who had retired to Florida learned of the fund in his Local 73 newsletter and, reluctantly, aske [...]

Virtual Welder Sparks Apprentices’ Interest In Welding

It’s not all that uncommon to hear cheers and commentary emanating from welding classrooms at either Local 359 in Phoenix or Local 100 near Washington, D.C. Where at many schools, welders learn one-on-one with their instructor in a quiet booth, apprentices at these two school [...]