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Variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems are on the rise, making up an ever-growing portion of the HVAC market share in the United States. And in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Local 49 is taking proactive steps to ensure VRF work is performed by SMART members.

On April 16, 2024, the local welcomed representatives from Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US (METUS) to its JATC to open the first-ever METUS VRF lab in the U.S.

METUS representatives joined Local 49 members and SMART leaders to officially open its new VRF lab.

“This collaboration between the Local 49 JATC, Trane and Mitsubishi showcases cutting-edge VRF technology and provides hands-on training for apprentices and industry professionals,” explained Local 49 Business Manager and Financial Secretary-Treasurer Isaiah Zemke. “Our curriculum is tailored to the latest advancements in VRF technology, ensuring industry relevance.”

VRF HVAC systems offer sophisticated, energy efficient heating and cooling by using a single outdoor condensing unit to provide hot and cool air through indoor units, utilizing heat pumps or heat recovery systems. With a greater national emphasis being placed on such environmentally beneficial and cost-effective technologies for commercial and multi-family residential buildings, the demand for VRF expertise will only continue to grow – and as of today, the only METUS VRF lab in America is in the Local 49 JATC. (Importantly, Zemke noted, METUS is New Mexico’s exclusive vendor for all the state’s air moving equipment.)  

Not only does that ensure Local 49’s apprentices have the skills needed to take on VRF work in New Mexico — the lab can also function as a de facto organizing tool, bringing nonunion workers in need of training to the one place where they are guaranteed to witness, without any interference, the union difference.

“It’s going to be the future of heating and air conditioning,” said Local 49 member Miguel Lopez of Butler Sheet Metal, who led apprentices in helping build the lab.

The journey to the April 16th ribbon-cutting had an unexpected origin. Local 49 President Chuck Lees is an avid fly fisherman. As it turns out, so is Trane Sales Representative Larry Anderson. Years ago, through their shared love of fly fishing, the two men forged a relationship that led to collaborations on testing and balancing work — and, some time later, the idea of a VRF lab. Thanks to the friendship between Lees, Anderson, Zemke and the rest of the local, labor and the manufacturer swiftly established a partnership, and METUS signed a memorandum of understanding with Local 49 for the JATC’s innovative new lab.

“Basically, Mitsubishi supplies all the VRF equipment and will replace it with any new, updated equipment,” Zemke explained. “Our obligation on the training side is to make sure that we install it and put in all the controls.”

For Local 49 members, the VRF lab couldn’t have come at a better time. The state of New Mexico is applying for a variety of grants to perform work related to lowering emissions and building a green economy. One example of that work: constructing and retrofitting multi-family housing. Thanks to its in-house VRF training, Local 49 anticipates being able to take on those jobs from start to finish.

“For low-income housing, they would do an assessment of the windows, the roof, the HVAC system,” Zemke explained. “So, it will be our testing and balancing contractors that can go do that assessment. And then we would have our contractors go and install these Mitsubishi split VRF systems.”

The new lab demonstrates how vital it is for labor unions to be active and forward-thinking when it comes to training, organizing and collaborating with management-side partners. Zemke views it as an example of “organizing the work” that will benefit all the entities involved.

“When all the parties come together — the training center, the labor union, the contractors — we can build great things together,” he concluded. “And that’s basically what we’ve done with this.”

During the 2023 holiday season, SM Local 49 (Albuquerque, New Mexico) members gave their time, funds and food donations in a demonstration of union solidarity, helping the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy (ASLA) gather and distribute food to kids who rely on school meals — but can’t access that crucial nutrition source during breaks.

Local 49 officers and members joined ASLA staff and students to both donate food and load up trucks for delivery.

“Building better communities — that’s our mission with the SMART Army, and it is vital as a local that if we can, we should assist the community we live in,” explained Local 49 Business Manager Isaiah Zemke. “Thank you to our membership for assisting the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy with food donations. The academy’s staff is amazing and hustles to make efforts to help those kids eat.”

“Our families are truly very lucky to have the support of the union and the whole community, and the [ASLA] Honey Badgers appreciate your support,” an academy staff member told Zemke in a video shared to the local’s Facebook page.

The academy is nationally unique in that it serves students who are deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing within the same environment, said ASLA Executive Director Raphael Martinez. In its 15 years of existence, the academy has quickly become a local staple, Martinez added — making it a natural partner for Local 49, another organization rooted in the community.

While the connection between ASLA and the local happened on short notice — funds to provide food for ASLA were approved by Local 49 only one week before the donation event — the effort was a success.

“We look forward to doing this again next year,” concluded Zemke.

Vince Alvarado, a longtime business manager for SMART Local 49 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, joined NEMIC this past fall as the fund’s new director of implementation. Alvarado has been tasked with overseeing some of NEMIC’s legislative initiatives and working to implement solutions that NEMIC identifies across the country.

NEMIC Director of Implementation Vince Alvarado

“I’m working on the ‘how’ of things. How can we assist locals and contractors in states where we’ve passed legislation on indoor air quality, for example? We get the legislation passed, but there may be no enforcement. We need to change that,” Alvarado said.

Alvarado started working for a small independent refrigeration contractor as a junior in high school. He apprenticed at Local 49 and went on to serve in various leadership roles there, culminating in his election as business manager/financial secretary in 2010. After a few years, he was also elected to serve in a statewide leadership role as president of the New Mexico Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, in 2018.

In both roles, Alvarado had to find ways to influence local politics. For SMART, he worked on smoke and fire damper legislation. As the leader of the AFL-CIO New Mexico state federation, he assisted in getting various types of legislation in front of state decision makers, most aimed at improving health and safety outcomes for working people and their families.

At NEMIC, Alvarado looks forward to helping people and organizations like Local 49 on this much larger scale, and he realizes he will need to navigate political scenes that may be more complex than he’s previously experienced. COVID introduced to the world many of the issues with indoor air quality, and now it’s time to work to help fix those issues, he said.

“I’ll be working with new faces, which is exciting, but it could be difficult, if I don’t understand the political landscape,” Alvarado said. “While I could approach solutions in my work at Local 49 entirely from a working family perspective, I now have to approach it with more groups in mind. That could be a challenge.”

Even before the pandemic, Alvarado was fighting to improve indoor air quality regulations, along with smoke and fire damper laws. In 2019, Local 49 fought for and passed SB 143 — the nation’s first statewide fire safety law. Alvarado subsequently worked with leaders in Nevada, New Jersey and Hawaii to pass similar legislation.