TALKING SMART is the podcast of the the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, a diverse union of more than 200,000 members. Each episode, we bring you news, guests and discussions of interest to working families across the United States and Canada.
We are a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network — working people’s voices, broadcasting worldwide 24 hours a day.
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In this Talking SMART special episode, SMART General President Michael Coleman, SMACNA President Anthony Kocurek and returning guest host Dushaw Hockett discuss the Belonging and Excellence for All initiative, also known as BE4ALL.
For this episode of Talking SMART, we sat down with SMART Local 28 Business Agent Marvin Tavarez to discuss his journey going from working non-union to being organized into SMART. He breaks down some of the myths about organizing into our union versus taking a more traditional full apprenticeship route.
The fight to improve freight rail safety following the devastating derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, was the focus of the March 2023 episode of the Talking SMART podcast.
A wave of new megaprojects – or projects valued at over $1 billion – is creating unprecedented job opportunities for SMART sheet metal workers across the United States and Canada, as well as driving new changes and growth in the benefits available to SMART members.
Be4All is a bold, long-term effort to transform the unionized sheet metal industry by creating workplace and business environments that are welcoming and foster belonging for ALL workers and contractors.
The October 2022 episode of Talking SMART focused on suicide prevention, substance abuse disorder and all the resources and support available to our members through the SMART Member Assistance Program, or SMART MAP.
SMART Local 33 (Ohio) Organizer and Director of Partnership Development Eli Baccus discusses the importance of organizing and different strategic approaches.
This episode we sit down with two more SMART members who have successfully run for elected office. We discuss their sheet metal and transportation careers, what motivated them to run for elected office, specific steps they took to build and run successful campaigns and key issues they focused on once in office.
The March 2022 episode of Talking SMART featured a discussion with SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson about the BNSF "Hi-Viz" attendance policy and national rail contract negotiations.