As we start another year, it’s worth reflecting on where we’ve been — and where we want to go.
Throughout 2025, SMART members won victories that changed lives. Our own lives, the lives of our families and the lives of people we most likely will not ever meet. We organized, signing up new members in production shops in right-to-work states, recruiting sheet metal apprentices and journeyworkers all over the United States and Canada, bringing in new properties on the railroad and winning big victories at municipal bus carriers. We bargained, coming together to collectively secure contracts — across the sheet metal and transportation industries — that provide the pay, benefits and dignity that every single one of us deserves. We mobilized, whether we were helping build better communities through SMART Army service projects or packing city hall buildings to secure project labor agreements and union jobs.
That is what we do, sisters and brothers. We are sheet metal workers, sign workers, roofers, railroaders, bus and transit operators, and production employees. United by our common cause and our values, we achieve things together that we could never do alone.
And yet, as General President Coleman wrote, last year was still a tough one. We faced attacks from people who are wealthy, powerful and determined to hold on to that power, even if it means making life harder for working families.
The truth is, this isn’t new. Anti-worker forces have been attacking the labor movement for decades. They did it through “trickle-down” economic policies in the 1980s that cut taxes for the wealthy. They did it through deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement, which led to outsourcing and lost jobs for working people in both of our nations. And they kept it up this past year, in the U.S. especially: canceling funding for construction jobs, including when the government was shut down, and passing legislation that will raise costs and lead to lost work hours for SMART members.
With all those challenges, it can be easy to feel like the odds are against us. They have money, they have influence, and they have allies in government who will prioritize their interests over policies that benefit working families. But there’s a reason these forces are so determined to pass right-to-work laws, undermine collective bargaining and try to weaken our movement. It’s because they know our strength.
There’s a saying: “Organized people beat organized money.” SMART members prove that every single day. When we pass laws that extend prevailing wages to offsite fabrication, like we did in Connecticut, New Mexico and other states. When we get project labor agreements passed in cities and counties across the country. When we win state railroad safety policies in states like Colorado, or when we secure bipartisan support for our issues. All of that shows that when we stand together, we have real power and strength — even when we are up against the richest and most powerful people in the world.
The start of a new year gives us a chance to chart where we go from here. Over the next 12 months, let’s stand together, have each other’s backs and secure the future for ourselves, our families and our union.
In solidarity,
John Daniel
SMART General Secretary Treasurer