Four new appointees named to SMART GEC

Thomas De Bartolo, Jason Pedersen, Stephen Langley and Matthew Fairbanks have been appointed to the SMART General Executive Council as eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh general vice president, respectively.

After graduating from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and urban communications, Thomas De Bartolo began his four-year apprenticeship as a second-generation sheet metal worker at SMART Local 27 (Southern New Jersey), becoming a journeyperson in 1989.

De Bartolo served his local union in various capacities including shop steward, foreman and general foreman for union contractors. In 1999, he was elected to the Executive Board of his local, where he sat for almost five years, and he was appointed as a full-time organizer in 2002 — signing multiple sheet metal shops to Local 27 in a two-year period.

In 2004, De Bartolo was elected a business agent of Local 27, a position he held until 2021. During his time as an agent, he was also a trustee on various funds and aided in negotiating multiple collective bargaining agreements. De Bartolo became president and business manager of Local 27 in March 2021.

In addition to his local union, De Bartolo was elected president of the Monmouth & Ocean Counties Building and Construction Trades Council in 2010 and still serves in that capacity today. Prior to becoming president of the council, he was its secretary-treasurer from 2006–2010. In 2024, De Bartolo was elected president of the Metropolitan Association of Presidents & Business Representatives. The “Metro” consists of 18 sheet metal local unions from Region 1 of SMART, which share information pertaining to the area and the International.

De Bartolo’s labor leadership has been recognized through the years by organizations such as the Monmouth County Workforce Investment Board, Monmouth County Democrats, Ocean County Democrats and the New Jersey Alliance for Action. In 2023, he was honored as Labor Person of the Year by the Middlesex & Somerset Counties AFL-CIO Labor Council. De Bartolo and his wife, Suzanne, have been married for 25 years; they have two children, Olivia and Tyler, a daughter-in-law, Caitlin, and a granddaughter, Peyton.

Jason Pedersen began his sheet metal apprenticeship in 1990 with Local 280 in Vancouver, British Columbia, working in stainless steel fabrication. In 2002, Pedersen moved to Vancouver Island and transferred to Local 276, where he furthered his career in custom fabrication for the next 14 years — the last five of which he worked as foreman.

In 2016, Pedersen was elected business manager and financial secretary-treasurer of Local 276, not only leading the local union but also acting as the administrator of the local’s pension and healthcare plans. He also sits on various councils and committees, including the Vancouver Island Building and Construction Trades Council; the Vancouver Island Metal Trades Council; the B.C. Building Trades Council Executive Board; the SMART Roofing and Building Enclosure Council; the SMART Canada Local Unions and Councils (LUC) Pension Fund; and the Canadian Pension and Benefits Steering Committee. Pedersen is the president of the Western Conference and vice president of the Canadian Council.

Local 85 (Atlanta, Ga.) Business Manager/Financial Secretary- Treasurer Stephen Langley entered the local’s apprenticeship in July 1990, graduating from the program in June 1995. Over the last 30 years, he rose through the ranks to become a foreman, managing some of the largest projects in the Atlanta area, and has served in every office within Local 85: on the Executive Board from June 2004–2005; as recording secretary from July 2005 until September 2010; as a trustee to the Vacation Fund, Building Fund, Pension and Health Funds and president of the Death Benefit Fund; as Local 85’s Retirement Club coordinator; and as Local 85’s legislative liaison and a SMART Members Assistance Program (MAP) representative. Langley served as a business representative starting in 2010, and he was elected Local 85 business manager and financial secretary-treasurer in 2020.

In addition to his local leadership, Langley has an extensive history serving on the Southeast District Council, the SMART Production and Sign Council, the Nuclear Hazard Council and as delegate for all Georgia local and state AFL-CIO labor councils. He was recently appointed as an ICB (International Certification Board) trustee by General President Michael Coleman.

Matthew Fairbanks, along with his two brothers, is a second-generation sheet metal worker at SMART Local 10, representing Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. He began his career in the sheet metal industry in 1995 when he enrolled at St. Paul Technical College, entering the three-year Local 10 apprenticeship program after completing two years of full-time day school. Fairbanks worked at various shops throughout his apprenticeship, eventually turning out as a journeyperson in 2000 while working for Metropolitan Mechanical Contractors, where he became a foreman and worked for nine years.

Fairbanks was elected to the Local 10 Executive Board in 2006, becoming vice president of the board later in his term. In 2009, he was elected business representative, which included a specified appointment as the apprentice liaison; he also served on numerous negotiating committees throughout the three-state local, as well as a trustee or chair of trust funds affiliated with Local 10. In 2018, he was elected business manager/president of Local 10, where he has continued serving on negotiating committees and as trustee or chair of various trust funds.

In addition to his local leadership, Fairbanks is the current secretary-treasurer of the Minneapolis Building Trades Council. He also sits on various boards, including as a trustee for Union Bank & Trust (a union-owned financial institution in Minneapolis); a work compensation advisory committee; and the St. Paul Building Trades, among others.