On the morning of Wednesday, November 6, Donald Trump won his bid for reelection to the White House, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
The American people have spoken, and SMART stands ready to work with elected leaders to advance the interests of members and their families.
SMART endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket based on both candidates’ strong, pro-labor records and their plans to build on the unprecedented accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration.
President Biden’s term in office will be looked back on as one of the most pro-worker administrations in modern history. For SMART members, specifically, the Biden-Harris administration’s passage of the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act saved union members’ pensions and created thousands upon thousands of union jobs. And the Federal Railroad Administration’s two-person train crew rule finally prioritized safety and SMART-TD railroaders’ jobs over Wall Street profit.
No matter what happens after January 2025, know this: SMART will continue to fight tirelessly on behalf of members and their families. As SMART General President Michael Coleman said in the leadup to Election Day: “We must remember that, at the end of the day, we are all brothers and sisters. As long as we have each other’s back, we will continue our forward march to secure the rights and dignity of all working people.”
Every four years, election season changes the tone and tenor of life in the United States.
Attack ads flood our TV screens. Vitriolic arguments take place in the comment sections of Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Family reunions are infiltrated by the latest manufactured culture wars. And politicians visit union halls across the country, seeking your endorsement — and your vote.
VP Harris at Local 19
As a collective labor organization, we know that we depend on each other, not politicians, for our prosperity. But we also know that anti-labor politicians can severely damage our rights, our pensions, our safety and our futures.
Mainstream media outlets like to depict elections as complex, filled with minute details that might sway a voter’s decision one way or the other. As union members, though, we know that the reality is much simpler. It comes down to two questions: What actions have politicians taken to empower our union? And how will they enable us to win moving forward?
Delegates to the Third SMART General Convention in August voted to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president and Minn. Governor Tim Walz for vice president based on those questions. Harris’s and Walz’s actions demonstrate their commitment to helping SMART and working people win strong contracts, better workplace protections and higher pay. And their vision for our country is one that puts union labor first.
We can’t afford to go back
In his four years in the White House, Donald Trump and his administration enacted and attempted to implement some of the most anti-union actions the American worker has experienced in generations.
The Trump administration tried to gut our union apprenticeship programs with its Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs proposal, a scheme that our union had to fight against tooth-and-nail to defeat.
The Trump administration withdrew the proposed two-person crew regulation SMART-TD had been working towards under the Obama administration — and then went a step further, actually attempting to preempt existing state two-person crew laws. This was an attack on our railroaders’ safety, jobs and pensions, as well as a direct threat to states’ rights.
The Biden-Harris administration secured a federal two-person crew regulation after the Trump administration withdrew it.
The Trump administration’s National Labor Relations Board was legendarily anti-worker, with a general counsel who formerly worked as a management-side lawyer. The Trump NLRB made it more difficult for workers to picket a subcontractor; held that employers can legally monitor or search employees’ personal vehicles on company premises; and issued a decision making it easier for employers to restrict employees’ rights to talk to their coworkers about their union during work time, including asking a coworker to join the union, asking a coworker to vote to strike or asking a coworker to vote to ratify a contract.
VP Harris at Local 17
President Trump’s signature law, the flagrantly anti-worker Tax Cut and Jobs Act, encouraged offshoring of both paper profits and real production of U.S. multinational companies. It also eliminated the tax deduction members previously enjoyed for union dues.
President Trump signed an executive order that threatened funding for Social Security. He recommended vetoing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act if it reached his desk. His administration encouraged firms to misclassify employees as independent contractors, lowering workplace standards and putting union jobs in jeopardy. President Trump rolled back protections against child labor and said he “loved right-to-work,” and his Justice Department successfully argued to make it the standard policy for government employees.
Those were only a few of his actions while in office — and the plan devised by his advisers for a potential return to power, Project 2025, spells out exactly what he intends to do next.
The document should alarm all of us for its attacks on public schools, Medicaid that our seniors rely on, and veterans’ ability to receive disability benefits. But the Trump Project 2025’s 37-page chapter on labor specifically targets our rights.
Project 2025 would prohibit project labor agreements, which consistently put our sheet metal members on jobsites across the nation. It would enable employers to get rid of workers’ unions in the middle of their contracts, and it would allow individual states to ban the existence of labor unions. Project 2025, if implemented, would gut local and state funding for public transit, hurting the sheet metal workers who build new transit infrastructure and public transit operators whose jobs depend on that funding. It would get rid of overtime guarantees and repeal labor and wage protections on federal projects.
Walz with SMART-TD Minn. SLD Katich
Under a second Trump administration, Project 2025 would make it harder for families to access unemployment insurance, eliminate child labor protections and enable businesses to violate the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) without consequence. It would prevent companies from voluntarily recognizing workers’ unions. It would allow companies to retaliate against organizers, and it would actually enable employers to form company unions: supposed employee organizations with fake employee committees hand-picked by management.
Walz with Local 10
In other words, a second Trump administration would build on the actions of the first: It would jeopardize our livelihoods, put our health and safety at risk and threaten the very existence of our union.
Actions speak louder than words
The endorsement resolution presented to SMART convention delegates in August detailed the Harris-Walz ticket’s stellar pro-worker record. These candidates have acted in the interests of SMART members.
The Biden-Harris administration passed landmark laws that are funneling money towards SMART members’ jobs and livelihoods. As vice president, Harris cast the tiebreaking vote to pass the American Rescue Plan, which jumpstarted the U.S. economy, invested billions into reopening schools and indoor air quality, and allocated $100 million to OSHA for worker safety. Crucially for retirees, the ARP provided billions of dollars in union pension relief: saving the pensions of more than one million workers, including 1,600 Local 33 retirees in Massillon, Ohio. In this case, it was Harris’s vote that rewarded our retirees’ years of hard work and sacrifice.
The CHIPS and Science Act, meanwhile, invests in the U.S. semiconductor industry and American-made manufacturing. This has already put SMART sheet metal workers on huge projects everywhere from Vermont, to Ohio, to Arizona and beyond.
SMART members are also benefiting from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Along with huge investments in traditional infrastructure like our nation’s railroad and public transportation systems, the law focuses on the industries in which sheet metal members work — like indoor air quality, energy efficiency and more — providing an enormous number of new jobs.
In 2022, Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act. This law cuts healthcare prices for working families, fights climate change and holds the one percent accountable to pay their fair share in taxes. The IRA invests heavily in green energy infrastructure, with strong labor standards ensuring that SMART sheet metal workers will be in demand for this work.
Accompanying all these laws are strident, pro-worker regulations: the updating and strengthening of Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rules, the first-ever inclusion of apprenticeship standards in IRA tax cuts and the requirement of project labor agreements on federal jobs that cost more than $35 million, for example.
And that’s just on the legislative side. Just this year, the Biden-Harris Federal Railroad Administration and Department of Transportation announced a long-awaited federal two-person crew regulation, taking action to protect the jobs, safety and pensions of union railroaders. Additionally, the administration has demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting public transit and bus workers, addressing worker assaults in these sectors. This White House’s proactive stance on worker safety issues, including the Federal Transit Administration’s establishment of Public Transit Safety Plans, reflects a clear understanding of the challenges faced by frontline transportation employees and a dedication to creating safer working environments.
Walz, meanwhile, has an outstanding pro-worker record in Minnesota that leaves no doubt as to where his priorities lie.
On the transportation side, Walz made a number of SMART-TD railroad priorities the law of the land: requiring two-person crews on Minnesota freight trains, funding the Northern Lights Express — Amtrak’s passenger service between Duluth and Minneapolis — and bringing on two more state rail safety inspectors, plus additional funding for passenger rail corridor studies and railroad-provided first responder training. He is also the first and only governor in the nation to have signed legislation covering yardmaster hours of service.
Walz took similar action to advance the interests of SMART sheet metal workers when he signed a law that stipulates that the Minnesota Department of Commerce must establish and administer an air ventilation program to award grants to public school boards in Minnesota, with the grants covering work such as testing and balancing, HVAC and energy efficiency upgrades and much more. Importantly for SMART members, the bill specifically includes strong prevailing wage language that requires work covered by grants to “be performed by a skilled and trained workforce that is paid the prevailing wage rate … and of which at least 80 percent of the construction workers are either registered in or graduates of a registered apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation.”
Those are only some of Minnesota’s pro-union accomplishments under Walz. The legislature passed what most in the Minnesota building trades consider the most expansive prevailing wage enhancements in state history: from increased enforcement, to attaching the law to state funds, programs, energy projects and more. Walz also signed laws enacting paid sick leave for all workers; the banning of anti-union captive audience meetings; new protections for meatpackers, construction workers and Amazon employees; a huge expansion of paid family and medical leave; the largest-ever increase to the Minnesota work compensation system’s permanent partial disability fund; a universal free school breakfast and lunch program for the kids of working families; and more.
Harris’s and Walz’s actions speak far louder than words. They stood, and they continue to stand, with SMART members and our families.
A union-made future for SMART members and families
It’s clear what SMART members’ votes for Harris and Walz enabled your union to do in the past. What will our votes empower us to do next?
SMART has a vision for the future: one where union sheet metal and transportation workers build and move the critical infrastructure of our nation. One where SMART members earn better contracts, better pay, dignity at work and time to spend with their loved ones. One where our union continues to grow, representing with grit and pride every worker in our industries and trades.
The Harris-Walz ticket aligns with our vision. With Harris and Walz in the White House, we can build upon the progress we have made, continuing to implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act in a way that benefits SMART members. We can keep working with the DOT, FRA and FTA to protect transportation workers in the face of employer greed. If a pro-worker Congress takes power, we can pass the Railway Safety Enhancement Act, the PRO Act, the National Apprenticeship Act and much more. And with Harris’s proposed plans to cut price gouging and increase new housing production, we can reap the fruits of our labor while building the affordable homes our neighbors deserve.
Election day is fast approaching, and with it the accompanying noise. But when we enter the ballot box, we all need to remember those two vital questions: What actions have politicians taken to strengthen our union? And how will they help us win moving forward?
Following multiple letters submitted and concerted outreach to the United States Department of Transportation by SMART Governmental Affairs staff, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority secured $5.1 billion from the federal government to help fund the construction of four new Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stations. The extension, part of a broad effort to expand transportation rail connectivity in the Bay Area, represents the second-largest federal investment in any transportation project — and the largest outside of New York City.
“This will put Local 104 members to work for years to come, and it’s a direct example of the Biden-Harris administration’s willingness to fund major infrastructure projects — built union,” said Local 104 (Northern California) State Legislative Director Vince Sugrue. “This work will be performed under a PLA.”
On Aug. 12, delegates at the Third SMART General Convention voted to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president in the upcoming 2024 election following President Joe Biden’s announcement on July 21 that he would end his re-election campaign.
This significant endorsement reflects the voice of SMART-TD’s members, who have long fought for the safety and well-being of our freight rail workers.
SMART-TD extends its heartfelt thanks to President Biden for his dedicated service and commitment to the labor movement. Under his watch, we made significant advancements in protecting our bus, transit and railroad members. The doors of his administration were always open when we needed to speak with the Department of Transportation, FRA, FTA, NTSB or STB, or others.
We are eager to support Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in continuing the vital work that has marked the Biden-Harris administration’s tenure.
Advocating for two-person crews
Four years ago, during a global pandemic that tested our resilience, SMART-TD members united to support Biden and Harris, driven by their promise to uphold workers’ rights and enhance safety measures across the board.
Two-person crews are not just a policy choice but a critical safety measure that impacts the well-being of every freight rail worker. The presence of two qualified individuals in the cab of a freight train helps prevent accidents, ensures immediate response to emergencies, and supports overall operational safety. It is an essential step towards protecting our members and reinforcing the safety standards within the industry.
Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz have consistently demonstrated their support for the labor movement. Harris, with her leadership in the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing, and Walz, with his pro-labor legislation as governor — he is the first and only governor to have signed legislation covering yardmaster hours of service — are both strong allies in our continued fight for workers’ rights and safety.
Their commitment to the labor movement and their track record of advancing worker-friendly policies make them the best choice to lead our nation forward.
We extend our deepest gratitude to President Biden for his unwavering support and look forward to working with Vice President Kamala Harris to continue advancing the interests of our members and all working families across the country.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited the SMART Local 17 union hall in Boston on Wednesday, November 2, emphasizing the work SMART members will perform as part of the Biden administration’s push to lower energy costs. Harris announced a variety of steps the administration will take – part of the Inflation Reduction Act – to help working families stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer; many of which will create union jobs manufacturing, retrofitting and installing energy efficiency equipment.
The vice president was introduced by SM Local 17 member Shamaiah Turner, who proudly represented our union and the many boundary-breaking women and people of color in the union trades.
“The Inflation Reduction Act … pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in terms of providing good jobs and a sustainable way to address the climate crisis,” Turner explained.
“Shamaiah, you represent the heart and soul of Local 17,” Harris said upon taking the stage. “Thank you for that introduction and all that you have done – and all that you have left to do.”
Local 17 member Shamaiah Turner introduced the vice president.
After thanking Local 17 sheet metal workers for their work building our nation, Harris outlined the Biden administration’s aim to “create millions of good-paying union jobs, to protect workers’ rights, to expand American manufacturing and to lower costs for American families.”
“One of the best ways a family can reduce the energy bill is to make their home more energy efficient. But here’s the challenge,” Harris added. “For many homeowners, energy efficiency upgrades are expensive. … And that is why we are investing $300 million right here in Massachusetts, and $13 billion nationwide, to help families upgrade their homes and to lower their monthly energy bills.”
As part of the White House’s plan to lower energy prices, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is providing $4.5 billion in assistance to help cut heating costs for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), helping families make necessary repairs and upgrades to their homes to increase energy efficiency. Additionally, the Department of Energy will allocate $9 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to support up to 1.6 million households nationwide in upgrading their homes to decrease energy bills, including by installing heating pumps – efficient technology that can heat and cool homes and buildings using half or a third of the energy used by traditional heating systems. Importantly, Harris noted, the labor standards included in the funding incentivize the use of skilled, certified workers to perform such upgrades.
“These investments will also create jobs. Jobs for electricians, who do the residential wiring. Jobs for laborers, who install energy efficient windows and doors. Jobs for sheet metal workers, who build and install electric heat pumps. Jobs for union workers who will be trained right here in this building.”
In a fact sheet released ahead of the event, the White House specifically directed stakeholders to BetterAirInBuildings.org – a resource that enables interested parties to find skilled, certified SMART workers and SMACNA contractors for their building needs. The administration also announced its intention to designate funding for workforce development and training, helping local communities and unions like SMART expand access to good, union jobs.
Will Griffin (second from left) with his family and Vice President Kamala Harris
On Tuesday, April 12, SMART General President Joseph Sellers, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and others rallied at the SMART SM Local 19 (Philadelphia, Pa.) union hall to publicize an important Department of Labor (DOL) initiative.
On April 8, the DOL Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) created a National Emphasis Program (NEP) on workplace heat hazards, launching a targeted effort to protect workers from the threat of heat-related illness which, as a result of climate change, has increased in 18 of the last 19 summers. Workers suffer more than 3,500 injuries and/or illnesses related to heat each year, with low-wage workers and workers of color disproportionately impacted. With the implementation of the NEP — which is effective starting April 8 and will remain in effect for three years unless canceled or extended — the DOL aims to protect workers in more than 70 industries, including those that employ SMART workers. Learn more at OSHA.gov/heat.
GP Sellers addresses the crowd at the Local 19 union hall in Philadelphia.
Facts on the NEP from OSHA:
The NEP is a nationwide enforcement mechanism for OSHA to proactively inspect workplaces for heat-related hazards in general industry, maritime, construction or agriculture operation alleging hazardous exposures to heat (outdoors and/or indoors).
This means that OSHA can now launch heat-related inspections on high-risk worksites before workers suffer preventable injuries, illnesses or fatalities.
The NEP encourages employers to protect workers from heat hazards by providing employee access to water, rest, shade, adequate training, and implementing acclimatization procedures for new or returning employees.
The NEP contains both enforcement and outreach/ compliance assistance components.
The NEP establishes heat priority days when the heat index is expected to be 80°F or higher. On heat priority days:
OSHA will initiate compliance assistance in the targeted high-risk industries.
OSHA will also continue to inspect any alleged heat-related fatality/catastrophe, complaint or referral regardless of whether the worksite falls within a targeted industry of this NEP.
OSHA will conduct pre-planned inspections in targeted high-risk industries on any day that the National Weather Service has announced a heat warning or advisory for the local area.
OSHA also recognizes that many businesses want to do the right thing by developing heat illness prevention plans to keep their employees safe.
On heat priority days, OSHA field staff will engage in proactive outreach and technical/compliance assistance to help keep workers safe on the job.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaking at SM Local 19.
In addition to the NEP, Vice President Harris, Secretary Walsh and President Shuler reaffirmed the Biden administration’s support for organized labor and working people across the country. Following an introduction by Local 19 third-year apprentice Will Griffin, in which he spoke about his journey in the trade and the benefits he’s experienced since joining SMART, Vice President Harris discussed planned improvements to schools and other local infrastructure using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding — improvements to be completed by members of organized labor, including SMART. “It will put thousands of union workers … and, yes, sheet metal workers, to work across the country,” Harris said.
“[The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law] will put thousands of union workers … and, yes, sheet metal workers, to work across the country,” Harris said.
“President Joe Biden and I are determined to lead the most pro-union administration in America’s history,” she added. “Because you see, we are clear and we know, each and every day in ways big and small, unions change lives. Unions negotiate better wages and safer working conditions for millions of workers around our country.
In April 2021, we met with Steve Dodd and Greg Hynes to talk about the first 100 days of the Biden administration. We have brought them back for this Talking SMART episode to talk about the first year of the administration and, more specifically, its impact on SMART members.
Steve Dodd
Brother Dodd is SMART’s Director of Governmental Affairs. He spoke with us about the many actions the Biden administration has already taken to support working families, including positive impacts of the passage of the American Rescue Plan on COBRA, unemployment benefits, multiemployer pensions, and funding for school HVAC retrofits.
He also discussed the PRO Act and what it means for SMART members to have so many labor friendly people now appointed to top positions in the Biden administration.
“This president has done something that all presidents have always talked about but never were able to accomplish,” said Dodd. “This Bipartisan Infrastructure bill, and now its implementation, means a great deal to not only sheet metal workers but all workers, whether they’re union or nonunion, across the United States.”
Greg Hynes
Brother Hynes is a fifth-generation railroader and SMART TD’s National Legislative Director. He discussed how the Biden Administration, in contrast to the previous administration, now very much has an open door for labor and actively seeks input from unions on issues of concern to working families.
“The most obvious are the appointments and the people that President Biden has surrounded himself with,” said Hynes. “He’s actually put competent people in charge of these agencies. And they are all very labor friendly, I mean, it comes from the top down.”
Greg also touched on how the American Rescue Plan included funding to rehire furloughed Amtrak workers, the significance of new leadership at the Federal Rail Administration which is now re-prioritizing rail safety over corporate profits, and what it really means when politicians or rail carriers say we need to just “cut back on regulations.”
In addition, listen for the open mic segment with SMART General President Joseph Sellers at the end of this episode. He responds to multiple questions that have come in from SMART members asking about what steps the Biden-Harris administration has taken to address the multiemployer pension crisis.
Back in January, we met with Steve Dodd and Greg Hynes to talk about the 2020 election and what to expect from the Biden-Harris administration. We have brought them back for this Talking SMART episode to talk about the first 100 days of the administration and, more specifically, its impact on SMART members.
Steve Dodd
Brother Dodd is SMART’s Director of Governmental Affairs. He spoke with us about the many actions the Biden administration has already taken to support working families, including positive impacts of the passage of the American Rescue Plan on COBRA, unemployment benefits, multiemployer pensions, and funding for school HVAC retrofits. He also discussed the PRO Act and what it means for SMART members to have so many labor friendly people now appointed to top positions in the Biden administration.
Greg Hynes
Brother Hynes is a fifth-generation railroader and SMART TD’s National Legislative Director. He discussed how the Biden Administration, in contrast to the previous administration, now very much has an open door for labor and actively seeks input from unions on issues of concern to working families. Greg also touched on how the American Rescue Plan included funding to rehire furloughed Amtrak workers, the significance of new leadership at the Federal Rail Administration which is now re-prioritizing rail safety over corporate profits, and what it really means when politicians or rail carriers say we need to just “cut back on regulations.”
In addition, listen for the open mic segment with SMART General President Joseph Sellers at the end of this episode. He responds to multiple questions that have come in from SMART members asking about what steps the Biden-Harris administration has taken to address the multiemployer pension crisis.
