Category: Summer 2024
GOP Gov. Youngkin vetoes Virginia two-person crew bill
In March, mere weeks before the Federal Railroad Administration announced its federal two-person crew regulation, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin decided he was against public safety, common sense and protecting Virginia railroad workers’ jobs and pensions: He vetoed a bill that [...]
Senior White House adviser experiences union expertise at Local 312’s JATC
Tom Perez, a senior White House adviser and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, spent March 22, 2024 with Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, highlighting local initiatives funded through the American Rescue Plan Act — including a county pre-appr [...]
SMART members demonstrate strength, commit to a unionized future at NABTU Legislative Conference
Each year in April, SMART members travel to Washington, DC, to gather with fellow trade unionists for the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) Legislative Conference: a week for union members to forge alliances with pro-worker politicians, lobby for laws that benefit workers and strategize for a future that puts SMART to work.
SMART expands the I Got Your Back Campaign — “Speak Up, Speak Out”
At the jobsite, senior members of the crew often tell us how important it is to speak up if we see an unsafe act. We all want to return home in the same condition we arrived. But when we fail to look out for one another while performing our work, incidents happen, and these c [...]
Local 67 apprentice named U.S. DOL Apprentice Trailblazer
As part of the United States Department of Labor’s (DOL) Youth Apprenticeship Week in May, SMART Local 67’s Amber Oliver was named an Apprentice Trailblazer — one of just two DOL Apprentice Trailblazers in Texas, and the only sheet metal Apprentice Trailblazer in the country. [...]
Local 25 members complete Newark Liberty Airport redevelopment project
Local 25 sheet metal workers in northern New Jersey recently completed work on the brand-new Terminal A at Newark Liberty Airport. The huge project, funded by a $3 billion investment from the Port Authority of New Jersey/New York, included 33 airline gates and eight bridges, [...]
BE4ALL launches standalone website to meet members’ needs, strengthen union
On August 1, 2024, Belonging and Excellence for All (BE4ALL) launched its brand-new standalone website, beforall.org — fulfilling a need the BE4ALL Committee had heard numerous times from SMART members and signatory contractors, and providing visitors with a one-stop shop for [...]
Local 49 opens trailblazing VRF lab to secure the future for New Mexico sheet metal workers
Variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems are on the rise, making up an ever-growing portion of the HVAC market share in the United States. And in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Local 49 is taking proactive steps to ensure VRF work is performed by SMART members.