Category: Sheet Metal
The SMART Rapid Response Protocol: Why is this important?
SMART’s Rapid Response Protocol is intended to help union officers prepare for and respond to incidents of bias, discrimination and harassment. Why is this important? There are many reasons.
Department of Labor updates prevailing wage regulations in win for SMART members and building trades workers
On August 8, United States Vice President Kamala Harris and Acting Secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL) Julie Su announced the publication of a rule that updates the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, strengthening prevailing wage regulations and raising pay standards for SM [...]
Ontario sheet metal worker shares how SMART and a pro-labor contractor changed his life
Local 47 (Ottawa, Ontario) sheet metal worker Stuart Simpson started his tradesperson career at a nonunion sheet metal shop. Unlike many nonunion contractors, though, his employer ended up actively encouraging Simpson and his coworkers to join SMART – resulting in a “truly li [...]
Union pension provides “dignity and grace” for Local 12 retiree
SMART Local 12 (southwestern Pennsylvania) retiree George MacGregor says that the decision he made to join the union – a decision more than 50 years old – has changed his life for the better.
SMART members show up for project labor agreements, union jobs in Northern California
Thanks to the efforts of SMART Local 104 and other union members across Northern California, workers in cities like Vallejo, Lathrop and beyond stand to benefit from the better wages, local hire provisions and strong apprenticeship standards guaranteed by a project labor agreement.
Arizona chip plant megaprojects create hundreds of jobs for sheet metal workers
New chip plant megaprojects continue to create jobs for SMART sheet metal workers across North America – including in Arizona, where huge projects have led to unprecedented job growth and a boom in the membership of SM Local 259 (Phoenix, Ariz.) “We’ve been able to increase o [...]
Recent grad shares “I Got Your Back” story
A Local 16 member holds a piece of metal dedicated to Carrie Barber. Chelsey Bus recently graduated from her apprenticeship at Local 16 in Portland, Oregon. During her five years of training, she experienced much of the same adversity that other women in the trades face; alth [...]
Reservist returns from deployment to sheet metal apprenticeship
Staff Sgt. Antonette Ventura’s path to becoming a sheet metal journeyperson took an unexpected detour when she was deployed to Saudi Arabia in late 2020, during the middle of her apprenticeship. Thanks to the support she found at the SMART Local 88 training center in Las Vega [...]