SMART UnionOctober of each year marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an international campaign to increase knowledge of the disease and boost efforts to research its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure. Last year, SMART Local 38 members in Brewster, New York, played their part during the local’s October union meeting: The hall was decorated with pink accessories, and Local 38 officers and members wore pink to show their support for this worthy cause.
SMART Southwest Gulf Coast Regional Council members gathered at the Local 67 (San Antonio, Texas) JATC for a SMART MAP Peer-to-Peer training, raising their own mental health awareness and learning how to be advocates for themselves and their fellow members.
The Member Assistance Program training, conducted by the Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust (SMOHIT), teaches SMART members how to be peer mentors for their fellow brothers and sisters: raising awareness, reducing the stigma surrounding mental wellness and creating a self-sustaining mental health support system within our union. The three-hour SMART MAP sessions also provide members with an avenue to open up about their own experiences.
In Topeka, Kansas, solidarity across transportation and sheet metal has helped strengthen our union — and forged bonds of friendship among SMART-TD and Local 2 (Kansas City) officers.
SMART-TD GO-953 General Chairperson Luke Edington explained:
“Our general committee has extra office space which has been utilized by a business representative from Local 2 for over 10 years. We also gave office space to an organizer for a couple years who focused on the Topeka area.
“I’ve seen several good business representatives in our office over those years, and the latest one, Rich Deviney, is stellar. His devotion, work ethic and leadership are unmatched and have brought the local numerous members from our area.
“We give Rich full access to all the resources from our office (meeting rooms, copy services, etc.), and he uses them to their full advantage, which is fantastic. The local hosts training sessions each week in the evenings, new members are in here weekly to talk with Rich, and current members come in to get help with issues.
“This is a testament not just to what Rich has done for his sheet metal brothers and sisters, but also the relationship he’s built with his TD brothers here in the office. We’ve adopted him as one of our own.”
Local 206 (San Diego, Calif.) members working for signatory contractor A.O. Reed made history on the IQHQ Research & Development District project — previously covered in the Members’ Journal — by fabricating and installing what SMACNA considers the largest ductwork ever fabricated, measuring 248” x 142”.
“Our BIM team worked hand-in-hand with SMACNA and the engineer to ensure these large systems operate at the highest quality,” A.O. Reed said in a press release. “After fabrication and installation, SMACNA reviewed its records and found the ductwork was the largest ever fabricated.”
A.O. Reed employs the largest number of union tradesworkers in San Diego County and is the only mechanical contractor in the city of San Diego that fabricates its own ductwork. The company, which started as a small plumbing business 110 years ago, directly attributes much of its success to its unionized workforce.
“This advantage gives us the unique ability to modify our fabrication process and adjust to the different idiosyncrasies of the job,” the press release continued. “Our team finds new and inventive ways to overcome obstacles in the field. At A.O. Reed, we have some of the best fabricators in our industry, and by utilizing our team’s skills and expertise, we made history! Our team produces high-quality products for our clients, and with the help of our journeymen, apprentices and technicians, we can provide the best mechanical systems in Southern California.”
Local 206 members working at the company’s in-house sheet metal shop put in long hours on the IQHQ duct system, fabricating approximately 24,000 pounds of galvanized steel roof duct. The duct riser was made of 15-gauge galvanized steel and weighed 1,600 pounds per joint.
“Our team of union journeymen, welders, technicians and apprentices meticulously fabricated these pieces of ductwork to ensure we provided the highest-quality product for the project,” the release concluded. “Without their skillset and craftsmanship this project would not have been possible.”
SMART members know that union dues are an investment in themselves — one that pays off consistently in the form of strong contracts, pro-union laws and increased work.
The advocacy of union officers demonstrated that fact in summer 2024, when Local 105 (Southern California) won back thousands of work hours that rightfully belonged to SMART members.
In California’s Inland Empire, the Riverside Unified School District recently signed a project labor agreement/community workforce agreement (CWA) for the first time; a major win for union building trades workers that guaranteed them work on RUSD projects. However, on the mechanical side, a non-signatory contractor won several bids on RUSD work, including a large new build: Casa Blanca Elementary School.
Knowing the rules of the CWA and the strong labor provisions therein, Local 105 Business Manager Steve Hinson and officers decided to investigate. Sure enough, the contractor, Simco Mechanical, “sent unregistered core workers to the jobsite,” explained Local 105 Organizer Albert Orosco. “I caught them through certified payroll report records.”
Under Hinson’s direction, Orosco swiftly filed a grievance against Simco, noting that the violation of the CWA lowered area working conditions, kept local workers off the jobsite and violated the strong labor standards collectively bargained by SoCal unions.
Armed with the CWA language, Hinson and Local 105 negotiated a settlement with the contractor — one that will benefit members for years to come. For the remainder of the $600 million RUSD CWA, the settlement reads, Simco Mechanical can only “staff one of their field employees to fulfill the duties of a field foreman for the worksite, with all other duties onsite being performed by Local 105 members.”
In other words, the activity of Local 105 officers — made possible by union dues — secured an enormous amount of work for union sheet metal workers.
“This is a major win for our members: creating work hours in the Inland Empire, where many of them live and will be put to work as the agreement intended,” concluded Local 105 Business Representative Tim Hinson.
Local 265 (Carol Stream, Ill.) held its 8th annual picnic and wheels event on September 21, 2024, bringing members and families together for food, solidarity, raffles and giveaways, and more. Along with classic cars, attendees took advantage of a variety of activities: live music, a rock-climbing wall, a bounce house, a reptile show and a tour of the training facility.
On October 25, 2024, William “Bill” Heasley, Local 12 retired past president, Dave “Gomez” Losco, Local 12 retiree, Captain Tim Bradley, a retired iron worker, and camp cook Lois Kolarik achieved a successful black bear hunt in Cameron County, Pennsylvania. Heasley harvested the bear at 9 a.m. on Friday the 25th, the second day of the state’s special firearms season for black bears. Congratulations, all!
With the full-fledged support of SMART Local 18 (Wisconsin) members, signatory mechanical contractor JM Brennan recently raised more than $20,000 for local children with physical disabilities — putting the principles of our union into practice.
The effort started in 2022, when operations staff at JM Brennan — which is based in Milwaukee and Madison — started brainstorming ways to reinvigorate the company’s motorcycle poker run, at that point dormant for many years.
“The initial intent was to have this event and bring employees and vendors together,” the contractor wrote. “It turned out to be much more.”
Staff researched local charities, searching for an initiative that would benefit from the motorcycle run, and ultimately selected the Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee’s Go Baby Go! program. Go Baby Go!, designed to help kids with physical disabilities, allows young children to gain more independent mobility via custom motorized cars.
“Each car is uniquely designed and fitted for the specific child, allowing them the maximum benefit and experience of motion,” JM Brennan explained. “This is important as wheelchairs will either not work, or will not fit them due to their specific disability.”
In 2022, the event brought 75 riders together to raise $6,000. One year later, with 90 riders participating and additional sponsors, the event raised $12,000. And in 2024, 17 sponsors, 110 riders and 20 volunteers raised $22,000 — which translates into 36 motorized cars for the kids who need them.
A recipient family attended the 2024 ride. Laurie and her son, Emmet, told participants face-to-face just how important Go Baby Go! has been to their family.
“Laurie indicated that the freedom of motion cannot be understated, or even appreciated — and the joy that he experiences,” JM Brennan wrote. “Just like motorcycles bring elation and freedom to riders, Emmet’s car draws a suitable parallel.”
“A notable and profound thank you to Local 18, Steuart Wilson and Craig Wagner, who have been supportive and instrumental from day one,” the contractor concluded.
Throughout 2024, SMART Local 25 (Northern New Jersey) supported a variety of pro-worker candidates on labor walks, spreading the word about the importance of voting union.
On November 11, 2024, SMART Local 66 (Seattle, Wash.) presented honorary membership to Mary Fosse, a state House representative from Washington’s 38th District.
“In her time in the Washington State Legislature, and in her service on the Everett City Council beforehand, Mary Fosse has tirelessly championed workers,” explained Business Agent Sam Hem. “Her policy advocacy spans a number of worker issues and includes requiring labor standards on publicly funded projects; expanding apprenticeship pathways into the trades; construction site safety; addressing barriers to childcare for apprentices; clean energy, union job creation; unemployment insurance access; and extending the working families tax credit.”
Local 66’s bylaws state: “From time to time the International may wish to honor an individual who has a sustained record of supporting the labor movement and exemplifies dedicated public service by granting him or her an honorary membership of this Association.”
In the judgment of Local 66, Fosse’s dedication to workers’ rights and Washington’s workforce merited just that.
“In honor of the work she has already accomplished, and looking forward to the work we will continue to accomplish together, it was the pleasure of the Northwest Regional Council and SMART Local 66 to welcome Representative Fosse as an honorary member of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers,” Hem concluded.