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Working families across North America continue to bear the brunt of the climate crisis, from extreme heat and natural disasters to poor air quality caused by wildfire smoke. The Canadian government is pursuing aspirational green economy goals in response — and SMART Canada is working to take advantage, organizing and recruiting to make sure the provinces’ sustainable future is union made.

“Transitioning Canada’s workforce to net-zero and ensuring our members receive the skills required to lead the change — without losing jobs — is critical to our economy,” said SMART Director of Canadian Affairs Chris Paswisty.

To that end, SMART Canada recently targeted potential recruits across the nation with a digital advertising campaign. Students and guidance counselors received a video introducing them to the skilled trades, with a link to SMART’s Canadian website providing information on how to get involved. The video proclaims: “This is OUR time, so think green, think clean, think SMART” — emphasizing that a new focus on green industries provides bountiful career opportunities.

“We see the worsening effects of climate change every year,” Paswisty added. “Taking action isn’t just about the future of our planet and the world we leave behind for the next generation. This is about providing for our members, both today and tomorrow.”

The Canadian government’s current goal is to achieve net-zero carbon emissions, as a society, by the year 2050. Doing so will require a massive, nationwide effort — one that will rely largely on SMART’s skilled sheet metal workers and roofers. SMART Canada’s new apprenticeship web page underlines that fact, making clear that our green energy future will create plenty of jobs.

“Our sheet metal workers fabricate and install proper ventilation and air filtering systems, ensuring the overall health and energy efficiency of schools, offices, hospitals, factories, nuclear plants and homes,” said Paswisty. “Our architectural and roofing members play a crucial role in the building envelope, again helping structures operate efficiently, and they install green roofing that helps reduce greenhouse gases and improve air quality. Canada needs our members to complete the green transition.”

Union workers are being helped by political action. The Government of Canada’s 2023 federal budget featured a far-reaching focus on Canada’s green economy, including broadened investment in private-sector-led infrastructure, strong responses to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and much more. Perhaps most importantly, the budget tied green tax incentives to one of the strongest definitions of prevailing wage Canada has ever seen — one that incorporates union compensation, benefits and pension contributions, helping create good-paying union jobs as Canada transitions to sustainable energy.

In addition, Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU) are taking steps to make sure today’s workers aren’t left behind. Funded by Employment and Social Development Canada’s Union Training and Innovation Program (UTIP) — which SMART Canada and the CBTU lobbied for extensively — CBTU’s “Building It Green” national training program aims to integrate climate literacy into already existing construction trades education and training, helping apprentices, journeypersons, inspectors and training instructors take on the pressing concerns of climate change. SMART Local 280 (Vancouver, B.C.) President and Training Coordinator Jud Martell helped develop the trade-specific curriculum for SMART members.

There’s no questioning the fact that the climate crisis is, in fact, a crisis, Paswisty added. But meeting the challenge head-on provides a way forward, both for our communities and for SMART members.

“We are ready to grow and meet the demand by welcoming Canadians into the skilled trades, and we will collaborate with the government to continue driving Canadians towards a career in the trades,” he concluded.

SMART International Organizer Warren Faust speaks during a rally for Green Transit, Green Jobs in New York.

SMART International Organizer Warren Faust and International Representative Larry Kinzie joined fellow union members, environmental advocates, industry leaders and New York state legislators on January 30 to call on Governor Kathy Hochul to include the Green Transit, Green Jobs bill (S.6089/A.6414) in the SFY 2025 Final Budget. Standing in front of an electric bus built by SMART Local 105 members in Lancaster, California, the coalition urged New York lawmakers to pass common-sense legislation that puts workers first and creates union jobs.

“As the union that represents workers at a major zero-emission bus manufacturer, we recognize that government spending can support good, community-sustaining jobs throughout the country and in New York,” said Faust. 

The Green Transit, Green Jobs bill would mandate that public bus systems convert to zero-emission buses, incentivizing the manufacturing of electric buses in New York communities that need jobs and opportunity. It would require that all new buses purchased by New York public transit authorities be electric by 2029, and it would ensure that zero-emission buses purchased by the state achieve a dual goal: helping reduce carbon emissions in New York State and creating good, family-sustaining jobs that take New Yorkers into the middle class.

During the January 30 rally, Faust pointed to the work of Local 105 members at electric bus manufacturer BYD as an example for New York to follow, noting that their work helped the Antelope Valley Transit Authority achieve North America’s first fully zero-emission bus fleet in 2022. He also emphasized the importance of SMART and BYD’s work to develop the country’s first electric bus manufacturing apprenticeship program, creating firm pathways to union careers for local community members.

“SMART and BYD have shown that a successful partnership between unions and manufacturers can lead to a well-trained workforce ready for the transition to a green economy,” Faust said. “This was possible through policy proposals like the U.S. Jobs Plan, a strong jobs and equity tool that is part of the Green Transit, Green Jobs bill.”

Currently, according to Earthjustice, the transportation sector accounts for 41% of all fuel combustion emissions in New York state – helping spur the ongoing climate crisis and leading to high levels of air pollution that make up more than 2,000 premature deaths from ingesting toxic pollution from tailpipe emissions annually. The public health damages from vehicle emissions cost the state $21 billion each year.

“New York state can change the way it invests our public dollars to maintain and create good, community-sustaining jobs in manufacturing,” Faust concluded. “New York can lead the way by passing the U.S. Jobs Plan and the Green Transit, Green Jobs bill.”

SMART members work to manufacture electric public transportation vehicles at BYD in Los Angeles, an example of the green union jobs SMART is pursuing.
SMART members work on green union jobs across our two nations, including the manufacturing of electric vehicles and transit systems.

Earth Day represents both an annual celebration of our natural environment and a call to action for our planet, our jobs and our families. Awareness continues to grow regarding the damaging effects of climate catastrophe, and governments are reacting accordingly by shifting towards green economic and energy systems. From offshore wind farms, to public school retrofitting, to electric vehicle battery manufacturing, climate change is requiring new innovations across all sectors of North America’s workforce.

SMART members have been on the forefront of green union jobs for decades. Buildings account for about 40% of total energy use in the United States, with more than 35% of the energy generated in the U.S. used to operate buildings’ HVAC systems. SMART’s manufacturing members produce energy efficient air movement equipment, heating and cooling machinery and insulated duct systems. Across our two nations, these production workers build dedicated outside air systems (DOAS) units, rooftop units, water-source heat pumps, underfloor air distribution systems and chilled beams – all designed to increase energy efficiency and keep our buildings running smoothly. These green, leading-edge technologies are not only designed and manufactured by SMART members; our union sheet metal workers install the products as well.

A SMART production member at work at BYD in Los Angeles.
A SMART member installs HVAC ductwork.

Members of the SMART Transportation Division are also doing their part to reduce harmful pollution, particularly in the transit sector. Whether moving passengers from point A to point B on electric buses in California or bringing citizens to work on commuter rail systems in Chicago, New Jersey and beyond, TD workers are helping accomplish the dual achievement of reducing automobile emissions and efficiently and safely transporting Americans to their destinations. And at BYD in Los Angeles, the sheet metal and transportation sectors combine, as SMART Local 105 members help manufacture electric busses for local communities.  

“Whether schools, hospitals, offices or apartment buildings, SMART workers are helping reduce energy output and keeping our nations working in cleaner, healthier ways,” said SMART General President Joseph Sellers, Jr. “These green union jobs are vital for our countries and our membership.”

SMART Local 0023 bus drivers pose for a picture in front of a bus.
SMART Local 0023 members working for Santa Cruz Metro.

In Canada, meanwhile, the government’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 has placed a new emphasis on SMART’s skilled workforce.

“The transition to net-zero is a once-in-a-lifetime economic shift, not seen since the industrial revolution, and it is absolutely vital that this work is performed by union members,” noted SMART Director of Canadian Affairs Chris Paswisty. “Whether retrofitting buildings across Canada to increase energy efficiency, performing indoor air quality work or installing green roofs, the incentives included in the 2023 Federal Budget will put our members’ labour in high demand, creating green union jobs.”

The electric vehicle industry has proven to be fertile ground for SMART, with hundreds of members currently working to build EV battery factories in states like Kentucky and Ohio. But the burgeoning sector also presents a warning – unlike the “Big Three” automakers of old, many electric vehicle manufacturers are extremely nonunion. That’s why SMART members and locals must do more than merely take on the green energy work of today, Sellers added. Labor needs to organize and engage lawmakers to ensure the economy of tomorrow works for future generations.

“There was once a time when green energy goals were at odds with the labor movement. But SMART sheet metal and transportation workers know the importance of ensuring the jobs of the future are good, family-sustaining, green union jobs,” he explained. “Across our two nations, SMART members and local unions must push our communities to adopt green energy policies with strong labor standards attached – from decarbonizing schools in Rhode Island to installing green roofing technology in Canada. We will continue bringing workers into our union to meet these new workforce needs, and work with our elected officials to make this transition to green energy with union labor.”

The Government of Canada released its 2023 Federal Budget on March 28, 2023, outlining the government’s priorities for the near and long-term future. Importantly for union construction workers and SMART members, the 2023 budget makes enormous investments in a green energy system that will be largely built by union labor.

“Building on the supports for green technologies announced in the 2022 Fall Economic Statement, including the Investment Tax Credits for Clean Technology and Hydrogen, the Budget included expansions to the previous credits along with an Investment Tax Credit for Clean Electricity and for Clean Technology Manufacturing,” Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU) Executive Director Sean Strickland said in a statement following the release of the budget. “… Tying these incentives to Prevailing Wage that includes union compensation, including benefits and pension contributions, will raise the standard of living for all workers, maximize benefits for the entire economy and create a legacy of good paying, middle-class jobs throughout this transition.”

The definition of prevailing wage in the federal budget would be based “on union compensation, including benefits and pension contributions from the most recent, widely applicable multiemployer collective bargaining agreement, or corresponding project labour agreements, in the jurisdiction within which relevant labour is employed.” Additionally, the budget specifies that at least 10% of tradesperson hours worked must be performed by registered apprentices in the Red Seal trades – which include sheet metal and roofing – and the government intends to apply prevailing wage and registered apprentice requirements to the Investment Tax Credit for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage, and the Investment Tax Credit for Clean Electricity.

“The transition to net-zero is a once-in-a-lifetime economic shift, not seen since the industrial revolution, and it is absolutely vital that this work is performed by union members,” noted SMART Director of Canadian Affairs Chris Paswisty. “Whether retrofitting buildings across Canada to increase energy efficiency, performing indoor air quality work or installing green roofs, the incentives included in the 2023 Federal Budget will put our members’ labour in high demand.”

SMART members across the United States and Canada are the frontline workers helping to build a sustainable future – from roofers installing green roofs to meet net zero goal in Canada, to transit workers helping reduce automobile emissions, to sheet metal workers constructing LEED-certified buildings across our two nations. In a recent interview with Climate Jobs National Resource Center (NRC) New York, SMART Local 28 (New York City) draftsman/sketcher Kandice Rogers, an 11-year union member, detailed the crucial role SMART workers play – and will continue to play – in the fight against climate breakdown.

“As the climate crisis continues to worsen, it’ll be our job [as union members] to make sure that people can continue to live in the spaces they want to live in,” she said in the interview.

Rogers originally applied for the Local 28 apprenticeship program on the advice of her best friend’s dad, a union member himself. She had graduated college with an architecture degree but found herself trying to enter the workforce during the Great Recession, when there were simply no jobs. So, after completing a pre-apprenticeship program, she entered the union, starting in HVAC duct installation before moving to the sketching department.

“Before coming into this work, I had no idea what it meant being union,” Rogers told Climate Jobs NRC. “Now, I can’t imagine a life without being a union member. Being a union member has allowed me to have job security. I was able to buy a home, start a family, and have a comfortable life because I’m a union member. If I had known about [apprenticeships] in high school, I would have come straight here, but I’m just glad I’m here now.”

Rogers said she experienced the growing ramifications of climate change back in her installation days, when inordinately high temperatures sent her to the hospital with heat-induced dehydration. As volatile weather conditions continue to increase, she pointed out, working conditions – particularly for construction workers – will deteriorate correspondingly.

In the interview, Climate Jobs NRC pointed out that a number of New York unions are “organizing to make public schools safer, healthier, and carbon-free by upgrading HVAC systems.” Rogers elaborated on the importance of that effort for the students of today as well as future generations.

“We have new technology now, things like Heat Recovery Systems, that help recycle the air and reduce the energy use of these HVAC systems,” she explained. “We can reduce the spread of Covid and other airborne viruses, lower the carbon footprint of these buildings, and reduce energy costs all at the same time now. We’ll need HVAC to survive whatever changes are happening to our climate.”

“Ultimately, as a mom, I want my son to be able to go to places like school without getting sick,” she added.