After the SMART Railroad, Mechanical and Engineering Department (SMART-MD) reached a tentative agreement for SMART-MD members working on Union Pacific Railroad (UP), the American Arbitration Association has finalized the vote count and advised that members ratified their agreement unanimously.
The agreement is based on the terms of the agreements reached with other freight rail carriers and provides a variety of improvements including:
Annual general wage increases effective July 1st of each calendar year, totaling 17.5% (over 18.75% when compounded).
Paid vacation days for new-hire employees and accelerated qualification and accrual of paid vacation for tenured employees.
Substantial increases for vision frame allowances from $115 to $250 every two years and the orthodontia lifetime maximum benefit increased from $1,000 to $2,500 per covered individual.
Optional high-deductible health plan with lower monthly cost-share contribution that will be available in 2026.
Increased Opt-Out Payment of $200 per month for employees who select not to have health insurance.
SMART-MD members should expect backpay issued by UP within sixty (60) days of August 29, 2025 (October 24, 2025).
“Our Railroad, Mechanical and Engineering Department dedicated themselves to reaching an agreement that met the demands of our members. With this 100% ratification vote, SMART members at Union Pacific made one thing clear: this is an agreement they can be proud of, and that recognizes their work,” said SMART General President Michael Coleman. “SMART members keep our economy moving, and they deserve a contract that rewards them for that. I’m proud of every member who stood up for what they have earned, and I congratulate the SMART-MD negotiating team for securing real gains for our members.”
“This ratification is a clear victory for our UP members,” said SMART General Committee 2 Directing Chairperson John McCloskey. “It reflects their unity and commitment to securing a stronger future. Thank you to every member that voted to make this agreement possible.”
“The ratified agreement provides real wage increases, plus substantial improvements to paid time off and health and welfare benefits with an added benefit option for those that want it in 2026,” added SMART-MD Director Peter Kennedy. “It is a respectable agreement, and I appreciate the members taking the time to review their ratification packet and vote their conscience.”
Labour Day is a time to honour the Canadian labour movement’s victories for workers, and recommit ourselves to continuing that work.
The labour movement fought for the eight-hour workday, safe job sites, fair wages, meaningful benefits, and the dignity and respect every worker deserves. These necessities were achieved through the collective strength, solidarity and determination of working people who stood together in the pursuit of fairness.
Thanks to their efforts, our industry can enjoy protections that many only dreamed of. And just as past generations fought to make our working lives safer and fairer, we have a responsibility to do the same for future generations.
At SMART Canada, we remain committed to defending the rights of our workers, inspiring every member and building an inclusive, respectful workplace for all. The work of the labour movement is not done, but together, we will continue to raise the bar for progress.
“I committed early on that I would call balls and strikes with this administration. Not everything this administration has done, or will do moving forward, is going to be harmful to our members. But this is CLEARLY a ball.”
On August 28, 2025, United States Surface Transportation Board member Robert Primus was removed after his position as a member of the board was “terminated.” SMART General President Michael Coleman responded:
“Our SMART-TD railroaders work long, hard hours, day in and day out, to keep our country moving. And they count on public servants like Robert Primus and the Surface Transportation Board to hold the carriers accountable, and to make certain that headcounts are kept adequate and that customers are provided reasonable service. During his time on the board, Mr. Primus has done exactly that. And that’s why his removal from the STB makes absolutely no sense.
“As our SMART-TD leaders pointed out earlier today, Mr. Primus has been a solid supporter of service over efficiencies, challenging Precision Scheduled Railroading and taking on Class I CEOs for unjustifiable job cuts. He was the only board member to oppose the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railroad merger, and he was a champion for our members during the recent STB hearings. Now, he has been kicked off the STB — the board in charge of either approving or denying the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern merger. That is something we can’t just ignore. And, to be quite honest, it is a five-alarm fire for anyone who believes corporations shouldn’t just get their way because they say so.
“Let me be 100% clear: SMART will always stand up for our rail members. That’s why we stand with Robert Primus. We call for him to be restored to his position so he can continue to serve railroads, shippers, SMART-TD members and the American people, as he has done so well.”
In 2022, after President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress set aside funds created by the law for a grants program at the Department of Energy that would help public schools perform energy efficiency improvements.
Thanks to the strong labor standards included in the infrastructure law, that program — titled Renew America’s Schools — helped put SMART members to work across the country, taking on energy efficiency jobs in places like Alabama and Oregon.
And by law, the grant funding and resulting job opportunities for SMART members are supposed to continue through the end of the 2026 fiscal year. Each year since fiscal year 2022, Congress appropriated funding to the Department of Energy to carry out the Renew America’s Schools program. Just like other years, the DOE announced a third round of funding opportunity in fiscal year 2025. Submissions from school districts were due on April 3, 2025.
Watch the first episode of SMART News for coverage of IAQ work in Washington schools.
However, following President Trump’s January executive orders regarding funds from the infrastructure law, the DOE delayed funding awards to conduct a review for alignment with the new administration’s policies. So far, it is unclear whether the Department of Energy has resumed committing FY 2025 funds for the program.
So, what does that all mean?
It means that as of January 2025, schools aren’t getting the funds they need to improve their facilities, and SMART sheet metal members are losing out on potential work.
“For the last few years, sheet metal workers have done energy efficiency work at public schools across our country, thanks in large part to this program,” said SMART General President Michael Coleman. “The Renew America’s Schools program is just common sense. It makes schools better, it benefits kids and teachers, and it helps SMART members support themselves and their families.”
“It doesn’t matter who you voted for — I can’t think of anyone who wanted this program, which already has money set aside for it, to be paused,” he added.
Governmental Accountability Office finds DOE violated federal law
The United States Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) is a nonpartisan institution that, according to its website, “provides Congress, the heads of executive agencies, and the public with timely, fact-based, non-partisan information that can be used to improve government and save taxpayers billions of dollars.” Part of that role includes protecting Congress’s “power of the purse,” a phrase that refers to the Constitution laying out that Congress has authority over government spending.
Unless Congress has passed a law that changes how funding is distributed, the GAO noted in its report, executive branch officials and agencies like the Department of Energy need to follow through on awarding appropriated funds when funding is made available. That’s what “power of the purse” means in practice.
“The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA) allows the President to withhold funds from obligation, but only under strictly limited circumstances and only in a manner consistent with that Act. The ICA was enacted to ensure that legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President is faithfully executed,” the GAO wrote.
“We find that DOE violated the ICA,” the office added. “Considering that the funds were withheld for policy reasons and the uncertainty of whether DOE has or will resume obligating FY 2025 funds for the Schools Program, we conclude DOE violated the ICA when it delayed the obligation of FY 2025 Schools Program funds.”
In other words, it’s not just the fact that funding for the Renew America’s Schools program is in no man’s land, taking potential SMART jobs with it. According to the GAO, the Department of Energy is actually violating federal law by delaying those funds.
“There’s really no good reason for this funding to be delayed,” General President Coleman concluded. “It’s bad for our schools, our kids and our educators, and it’s bad for our members. We hope President Trump will stand up for SMART members and make sure his Department of Energy awards funding through the Renew America’s Schools program.”
On Monday, August 25, Kilmar Abrego Garcia attended a mandatory check-in with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore, where he was detained. In response, SMART General President Michael Coleman issued the following statement:
“On Monday morning, just days after he finally saw his family again, Kilmar followed the law by attending a mandatory check-in with ICE — and he was detained. According to his lawyers, ICE did not say why they are detaining Kilmar or where they are taking him.
“At SMART, we fight for the principle of due process every single day. We stand for the fundamental American value that all our members, and everyone in this country, are innocent until proven guilty. Let’s be very clear: Kilmar deserves his day in court. And if the government wants to send him to jail, they need to prove his guilt in court.
“As of this morning, Kilmar has filed a lawsuit challenging his detention and deportation, ‘unless and until he [has] a fair trial in an immigration court, as well as his full appeal rights.’ We stand with Kilmar’s family and supporters in demanding he receive a fair trial and the chance to make his case in court.”
Following reports Friday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been freed from Putnam County Jail and is on his way to Maryland to be reunited with his family, SMART General President Michael Coleman issued the following statement.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, like every single SMART member and every person in this country, has a constitutional right to due process. We demanded that Kilmar be granted that right in March, when he was first illegally deported to El Salvador; in April, when the United States Supreme Court issued a decision that backed a federal judge’s order requiring the government to facilitate Kilmar’s return; and in June, when he arrived back in the U.S.
“Today, after months apart, Kilmar will finally have the chance to reunite with his family. We are grateful that Kilmar, his wife, Jennifer, and his children will be able to see each other soon. And we remain firm in our commitment to the rights of our members. As we said from the beginning, this isn’t about one man — it is about ensuring our constitutional rights are protected, for the sake of all SMART members and everyone in this country. We will always fight for due process for every single member of our union.
“We call for Kilmar’s rights to be protected as the legal process moves forward.”
“If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’re going to get.”
SMART General President Michael Coleman spoke those words to elected delegates at the SMART General Convention in Las Vegas, Nev., in August 2024. Nearly a year has passed since then, and a lot has happened in the United States and Canada: Both countries have new political leadership, for example, and daily life has changed for many SMART members and families in each of our nations.
But one thing hasn’t changed: From the shop floor to the bargaining table, from the bus to the rail yard, from state and provincial governments to Ottawa and Washington, DC, SMART is fighting for what matters: members and working families.
There have been some high-profile fights in recent months. The U.S. Department of Energy canceled funding awards for a variety of clean energy projects that created jobs for SMART members and working families, taking construction work away from hardworking Americans. In Canada, the costs of tariffs have made themselves felt viscerally, and Ontario SMART members’ jobs are in limbo after the pausing of a Honda megaproject. Federal funding cuts took future work away from sheet metal members in San Diego, New Mexico and beyond; uncertainty around policies and global trade continues to impact both the construction and transportation industries, and some local unions now have out-of-work lists for the first time in years.
But as General President Coleman has repeated, fighting for members is what we do as trade unionists. And from the International to the local union level, that fight doesn’t stop.
Fighting in DC, Ottawa and beyond
For better and for worse, federal lawmaking has a big effect on union workers. In the railroad industry, the actions of Congress impact everything from members’ contract negotiations to new safety regulations. And for sheet metal workers, construction projects that create union jobs are often funded directly and indirectly by provisions in federal laws.
That’s why SMART’s International staff fights 24/7/365 to help educate representatives, senators, members of Parliament and other officials about what they can do to benefit members.
SMART had a constant presence in Washington, DC, throughout negotiations on the 2025 reconciliation bill. Governmental Affairs staff met repeatedly with both representatives and senators, explaining precisely how provisions in the legislation that cut tax credits, infrastructure funding, Medicaid funding and more would negatively impact SMART members’ work opportunities and health care coverage. Unfortunately, Congress passed a bill, signed into law by President Trump, that included cuts to programs and tax credits that create jobs for thousands of SMART sheet metal workers, cut Medicaid funding for those who need it most, and more.
“Members will lose work. Costs will go up. And that just doesn’t make sense,” said General President Coleman.
But the fight doesn’t stop. Just like every year, SMART-TD led the charge on Railroad Day on the Hill 2025 in Washington, bringing together a coalition of 13 rail labor unions to meet with representatives, senators and staff to fight for union railroaders. Representatives from every craft of the rail industry — train and engine crews, signal maintainers, dispatchers, car knockers, track department and more — were divided into strategic teams. Each group was armed with a full day’s schedule of back-to-back meetings with lawmakers in the House and Senate.
“In the past two years, railroad day events, SMART-TD’s message and the way we delivered it struck a chord. We knew we had created something powerful with this model,” said former SMART-TD National Legislative Director Greg Hynes. “And this year proved it. We scheduled and executed over 130 meetings on the Hill, our most ever. That kind of momentum builds on itself.”
SMART Canada has pursued the same advocacy, both in Ottawa and in provincial governments across the country. These efforts look set to reward sheet metal workers and roofers: New Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a Federal Major Projects Office intended to cut project approval times and put skilled tradespeople to work, and even before elections took place, SMART Canada had secured funding for training to help members build Canada’s green future.
But sometimes, elected officials have no role to play in major developments that affect SMART members. In those instances, SMART and allies fight for members in whatever venue is available.
When the Department of Defense tried to end the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on large-scale construction projects, it was a direct threat to SMART members’ jobs. North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), which SMART is an affiliate of, did not back down. Together, the building trades stood up for union members and American workers. And ultimately, a federal judge ordered the Department of Defense to go back to using PLAs.
PLA advocacy also extended to the White House, with NABTU and affiliates like SMART communicating just how important project labor agreements are to workers across America. That paid off at least partially in June, when the Office of Management and Budget sent a memo saying the White House “supports the use of PLAs when those agreements are practicable and cost effective” — though the memo did leave plenty of room for exceptions, and does not require PLAs on projects that cost more than $35 million.
“Although it doesn’t contain the same protections as the Biden administration, this is a step in the right direction. Project labor agreements create jobs for SMART members and working people across our country,” General President Coleman said in response. “All of us at SMART appreciate and applaud this guidance from the White House, and we look forward to keeping this conversation going. But we encourage them to go further, for the sake of our members, our families and our neighbors.
“We will continue to do everything we can to keep creating jobs for SMART members and Americans nationwide, and we encourage all agencies to support the use of PLAs on all federally funded projects.”
SMART-TD had the same fighting mentality in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Miami, Florida, in June, when Associate General Counsel Shawn McKinley stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Federal Railroad Administration in defending the FRA’s rule requiring two-person crews on freight trains. Importantly, that defense was bolstered by the testimony of SMART members. When Association of American Railroads (AAR) attorneys dismissed the more than 13,000 public comments submitted in favor of the two-person crew rule, calling them “anecdotes,” McKinley swiftly countered, reminding the court that these weren’t “random” comments or “anecdotes.” They were firsthand accounts from thousands of trained railroaders — the very people the rule is designed to protect.
Winning what members deserve
While federal governments and national labor events tend to make the loudest headlines, some of the most impactful SMART campaigns take place at the local level. From the bargaining table to the shop floor, sheet metal and Transportation Division locals are winning huge victories for members.
In San Carlos, California, members of SMART-TD Local 1741’s Local Committee of Adjustment for San Carlos Schools ratified a new tentative agreement with 96% approval. Their new contract includes a pay increase that will eventually grant members the highest pay rate in the region for school bus operators; a doubling of the employer’s 401(k) match; union release time; enhanced discipline and grievance procedures that give members a stronger voice on the job; and more.
Meanwhile, railroaders working for the Alabama Port Authority stood strong against management’s efforts to divide and conquer. The employer tried to exploit a wage disparity between pre-2008 and post-2008 employees, proposing incentives to divide the membership. But the members of SMART-TD Local 598 refused to take the bait, instead demanding pay equity across the board. As a result, local officers were able to secure an agreement that ensures major gains in wages, benefits and crew consist protections.
In Kitchener, Ontario, a four-year organizing campaign paid off for the members of Local 562 when the local welcomed 56 new members who made the switch from the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC), strengthening market share in the area.
And in Philadelphia, sheet metal workers united to win a strong agreement with the Sheet Metal Contractors’ Association. This followed prolonged negotiations and preparations for a strike that never materialized: As Local 19 wrote to members, “make no mistake — this fight is about respect. It’s about value. It’s about ensuring that every member of Local 19 is seen, heard and fairly compensated for the skill, pride and dedication they bring to the job every single day.”
Solidarity at the statehouse
Fights like the one described by Local 19 go beyond the bargaining table: Sheet metal locals have also mobilized in state governments to win laws that create work for SMART members and working families.
For many years, bad-faith contractors have exploited custom offsite fabrication loopholes to win bids on public works projects and/or jobs that are covered by project labor agreements, preventing offsite fabrication work from going to SMART members and depriving offsite fabricators from getting the union-won pay and benefits that all working people deserve. That’s why SMART locals nationwide consistently fight to extend prevailing wage to cover custom offsite fabrication work. Local 38 and Local 49 recently won laws that did exactly that in Connecticut and New Mexico, respectively: huge victories that will help SMART members, signatory contractors and working people in both states.
“The way this type of bill helps us grow our membership is, it increases our volume of market share by having equal wages across fabrication shops,” said Local 49 Business Manager and Financial Secretary-Treasurer Isaiah Zemke. “Everyone’s having to pay that same state prevailing wage for these public works projects.”
Local unions are also working to secure indoor air quality work for sheet metal members. In Virginia, SMART Local 100 helped win the passage of HB2618: Public school buildings; indoor air quality, inspection and evaluation. The bill adopts several requirements for school districts to help ensure there is proper indoor air quality in public school buildings, mandating that at least once every four years, each school district conducts an industry-recognized uniform inspection and evaluation of the HVAC system. The bill outlines that the evaluation must be performed by a skilled, trained and certified workforce — in a state where more than half of public schools are over 50 years old, the legislation is expected to create work for SMART sheet metal workers.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, Governor Jared Polis signed an HVAC Improvements for Public Schools bill into law, which will require school districts to thoroughly assess and upgrade their HVAC systems using certified contractors when spending federal infrastructure or education funds, and to provide for regular maintenance and inspection of HVAC systems following installation. It also directs the governor to use remaining Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds to assist school districts in finding certified contractors and writing grants to access federal funding, and instructs the state Department of Labor and Employment to create a list of certified HVAC contractors schools can hire from.
“The biggest win for me is that we’ve now enshrined our HVAC standards into law. This ensures that when schools undergo assessments and upgrades, they are working with certified contractors who meet workforce standards, including prevailing wage and apprenticeship utilization,” said Local 9 Business Manager Jon Alvino. “The certified contractor list created through this bill guarantees that those who pay prevailing wages and participate in registered apprenticeship programs are eligible. It’s a huge step forward for ensuring quality work and supporting skilled local labor.”
SMART-TD puts safety first
As Congress continues to stall on federal transportation safety legislation, SMART-TD isn’t waiting to bring the fight to the local level. TD members have racked up an impressive number of legislative wins centered on securing or strengthening safety protections this year.
In Maryland, SMART-TD passed a transit safety bill that protects bus and passenger rail workers from violent assaults by requiring the Maryland Transit Administration to form a safety-focused workgroup in consultation with SMART-TD and other unions. The group will create a passenger code of conduct and roll out a variety of internal safety improvements.
TD Local 202 secured permanent funding for the Office of Railroad Safety in Colorado after more than two years of tireless organizing, lobbying and standing firm in the face of corporate and political games. The office is charged with collecting and analyzing safety data, including the impact of train length, crew size and scheduling on accident rates — key areas that the carriers and the AAR have consistently claimed lack “data to support.” SMART-TD then passed a second new law in Colorado that enacts “Transit Worker Assault and Training Requirements,” which widens the definition of a transit worker and imposes harsher penalties for transit assaults.
In Massachusetts, SMART-TD successfully broadened the definition of “public employee” and “assault” to cover transit workers employed by private companies in the commonwealth, closing an unintended loophole that barred them from the same level of protection as public transit workers.
And collaboration across SMART-TD state legislative boards helped win passage of two major laws in Arkansas, both of which originated in other states (Nebraska and Illinois, respectively). One law protects railroaders’ anonymity in reports on railroad fatalities; the other strengthens the consequences for serious vandalism on rail property and for assault of transportation workers. Those laws will benefit SMART members, and they show the value of communication and solidarity across our union.
SMART programs benefit members and families
In the backdrop of the various fights detailed in this article, SMART continues to offer groundbreaking programs to benefit members. Those include SMART’s pioneering childcare benefit partnership with TOOTRiS, available to sheet metal members at participating local unions in the U.S.; SMART’s maternity leave benefit fund program, also available to United States sheet metal members whose local unions have adopted the program in their health & welfare plans; and Union EAP, an employee assistance program designed to support members’ mental health — created by organized labor, for organized labor.
These benefits, too, are part of the fight. They are explicitly designed to help improve the lives of SMART members and their families.
“These programs are about making things better for SMART members,” General President Coleman concluded. “Because we, SMART members, are worth fighting for. And we’ll continue to fight every single day.”
As I write this, I and the rest of your International leadership are preparing for the 2025 SMART Leadership Conference. Each year, these conferences bring together local union officers from across North America and across our union, with both sheet metal and TD leaders gathering to do the hard work of strengthening SMART.
That is the most valuable part of these conferences: the fact that every single officer in our union — regardless of craft, trade, state, province or country — is in one place, doing the work that needs to be done for our common purpose.
That purpose? Fighting for SMART members.
That’s what we do in this union, whether on the jobsite, at the hall, on buses or trains, in government or beyond. It’s what ALL of us do: International officers, local union leaders, shop stewards and the hundreds of thousands of men and women who build and move our nation. And it’s what we’ve done throughout the history of our union, our movement and our two nations. The gains we’ve made — whether it’s pay, benefits, workplace safety, job-creating laws, you name it — we have made by fighting together for what matters.
SMART is YOU, the members — and I know all of us are dedicated to doing whatever we can to make sure the interests of you, the members, come first.
Across our union, we’ve won some huge victories recently. In Mobile, Alabama, members of SMART-TD Local 598 resisted the Alabama Port Authority’s attempts to divide members and secured an agreement that ensures major gains in wages, benefits and crew consist protections. In New Mexico and Connecticut, Local 49 and Local 38 won laws that expand prevailing wage to include custom offsite fabrication workers, creating jobs for SMART members and our neighbors. In Kansas, SMART-TD won state-level funding to expand passenger rail service. In Colorado, SMART Local 9 helped win the passage of the HVAC Improvements for Public Schools law, which will put our members to work statewide.
We’ve also been fighting for SMART members at the national level, in any arena that we can. One example: When the Department of Defense tried to end the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on large-scale construction projects, it was a direct threat to SMART members’ jobs. This wasn’t something Congress could fix, so North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), which includes SMART and 13 other unions, took the fight to court. Together, we won a key victory: A federal judge ordered the Department of Defense to go back to using PLAs, putting union members and working Americans back on the job.
Another example, this one from Canada: The new prime minister announced a Federal Major Projects Office, designed to cut project approval times from five years to just two — a move that would create more jobs for skilled workers, including sheet metal workers and roofers.
From the local to the national, in the United States and Canada, that’s what our fight looks like. And it’s important to remember: SMART isn’t blue, SMART isn’t red. SMART is YOU, the members — and I know all of us are dedicated to doing whatever we can to make sure the interests of you, the members, come first. We will work with anyone, regardless of political party, and we will fight in Congress, in Parliament, in the courts, in local governments and at the bargaining table to protect members’ jobs, livelihoods and families. You have my word.
This summer, as SMART members reflect on where we’re headed, one truth continues to ground our progress: Our strength comes from each other. From the shop floors to the rail yards, from Parliament to Capitol Hill, our success depends not on a single action or title, but on our unity.
In his Spring 2025 Members’ Journal message, General President Coleman outlined the rising threats we face — attacks on our jobs, our contracts and the industries we work in. Efforts to privatize passenger rail, defund construction projects and chip away at labor protections aren’t just political maneuvers — they’re direct challenges to our ability to provide for our families. They are meant to divide us and weaken the solidarity that makes SMART so effective.
That’s why this year’s SMART Leadership Conference theme — “Fighting for What Matters… Our Members” — is more than a slogan. It’s a commitment. One that each of us makes when we join this union. It reminds us that the union isn’t somewhere else — it’s us. We, the members, are the union. Our collective action, our shared purpose and our daily work are what give SMART its power.
And as General President Coleman wrote on page two, that power has produced real, lasting wins. In recent months, Transportation Division members — rail, transit and bus — stood strong and won transformative contracts that reflect the dignity and demands of the work they perform. Sheet metal members secured maternity leave benefits, improved jobsite safety and gained access to TOOTRiS, a flexible childcare program tailored to our industry’s schedule. Across all sectors, SMART has worked to expand access to mental health support for members and their families via an employee assistance program, Union EAP. And we modernized how locals serve members through the Voyager system.
These gains didn’t come by accident — and they didn’t come easily. They came from our shared discipline, focus and resolve.
Our focus has been simple: strengthen our foundation so we can protect what we’ve built and push forward with confidence.
As your general secretary-treasurer, that’s my responsibility: to make sure every back-of-house decision — from vendors to banking, infrastructure to benefits — supports our front-line mission. We are not just responding to today’s needs. We are preparing for tomorrow’s challenges. That means making smarter investments. Asking hard questions of our partners. Building a technology structure that allows SMART to leverage who we are — and the collective knowledge we hold — in new and more powerful ways.
This work is quiet, but it is transformational. It’s how we ensure stability in unpredictable times. It’s how we build opportunity for the next generation. And it’s how we prove, every day, that SMART is not just a strong union — it’s a growing one.
We aren’t finished. We’re just getting started. Together, let’s keep fighting for what matters: our fellow members.
Whether on the rails or on the road, the trend is clear: Workers are continuing to see the value of joining SMART-TD.
As the gold standard in representing rail, bus and transit workers across the country, we remain as committed as ever to fighting for our brothers and sisters under the SMART-TD umbrella.
We’re also focused on the future, including welcoming our newest members and celebrating the more than a half-dozen tentative agreements that have been ratified so far this year.
This impressive list speaks for itself.
Building off last year’s wins, such as the Louisville & Indiana (L&I) Railroad joining our union, we’ve had three short-line railroads choose SMART-TD by unanimous or overwhelmingly large margins since January.
The first was Wilmington Terminal Railroad, which is a subsidiary of Genesee and Wyoming. After being without representation since coming under G&W ownership in 2005, the workers voted unanimously to join SMART-TD in January.
That was followed less than two weeks later by another G&W property, Connecticut Southern Railroad, joining our union in a nearly unanimous vote. Connecticut Southern workers were previously under an umbrella agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE), which benefits some (but not necessarily all) properties that it covers. Tired of feeling like they weren’t being heard, our new brothers reached out to SMART-TD. That speaks volumes about our union and our reputation.
The most recent addition to our SMART-TD family came in June, when workers from both the Transportation and Engine crafts and the Maintenance of Way crafts with the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad voted to organize in a landslide.
Our organizers are focused on having meaningful conversations about how union membership improves workers’ quality of life, and what SMART-TD can deliver that other unions just can’t.
This is just a snapshot of what our Organizing Department has accomplished at the halfway point of the year, and we have no plans to slow down.
These organizing victories are important, but our union’s ability to nail down strong agreements for new and established members alike is what makes SMART-TD stand out in the labor community.
Our union is committed to standing with our members every step of the way, ensuring their voices are heard, their needs are met and the bar is raised for both their quality of life and the level of respect they receive on the job.
Whether it’s new hires at Zum Transportation (Local 1706) getting a front-row seat to SMART-TD’s Bus Department’s negotiations with their new employer or ratifying a TA for Local 1732 at TransitAmerica Services Inc. (TASI) in California that sets a precedent for other commuter railroads across the country, our union is committed to fighting like hell for our members.
When it comes to negotiating new agreements, we’re always aiming to set the bar higher than before and ensure that pay and benefits reflect the professionalism, knowledge and dedication that TD members bring to the job.
We saw this firsthand with several tentative agreements that were overwhelmingly or unanimously ratified during the first half of the year, including SMART-TD-represented conductors and assistant conductors with Keolis Commuter Services, bus operators in Local 1687 working for Red Apple Transit in New Mexico, and our Local 1887 members who work for Birmingham Terminal Railway putting collective action into practice to secure meaningful change.
The common denominator between all three agreements is significant wage increases that redefine what’s possible for rail, bus and transit workers across the country.
We didn’t stop there. Within the last two months, agreements have been reached between SMART-TD Local 598 and the Alabama Port Authority, California Local 1741’s Local Committee of Adjustment (LCA) and San Carlos Schools, and SMART-TD Local 1701 and Montebello Transit.
This isn’t a laundry list of accomplishments. It’s a reflection of the SMART-TD difference. Workers see the value that we bring to the table because we let our actions speak louder than words. We don’t just talk about what we can offer members: We make it happen.
Together, our union is creating a movement, and these victories are proof. As I said before, momentum is with us. We will carry this momentum through the rest of 2025 and into the National Negotiations with the Class I freight railroads.
Workers are stronger, safer and more secure with SMART-TD at their side.
In solidarity,
Jeremy R. Ferguson President, Transportation Division
