Local 480 drives unprecedented growth at Daikin in Southeastern Minnesota

SMART members across North America are living in extraor­dinary times. And nowhere are these extraordinary times, with all their challenges and opportunities, better exemplified than in Faribault, Minnesota, a town of approximately 25,000 people and the home of SMART Local 480. In Faribault and nearby Owatonna, money from laws passed by the Biden administration has […]

AFL-CIO TTD, industry encourage full funding of RRB

The AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department coalition, of which the SMART-MD and SMART-TD are part, sent the following letter to Congress in conjunction with rail industry representatives on May 21.

Masino retires as SMART general vice president and Local 19 president/business manager

After years fighting for thousands of sheet metal workers and their families as the president and business manager of SMART SM Local 19 (Philadelphia, Pa.) — and for SMART members across North America as a general vice president on the SMART General Executive Council — Gary Masino retired in early 2024. A third-generation sheet metal […]

Oberman calls out UP, BNSF for cutting jobs when they should focus on growth

Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman has seen some rail carriers cut jobs and neglect their infrastructure in pursuit of short-term profit, and he says there’s nothing to like about it. Oberman spoke last week before the Southeast Association of Rail Shippers’ conference, and the “cult of the operating ratio” (OR) could be rising again […]