Following reporting by ABC News that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being returned to the United States from El Salvador, SMART General President Michael Coleman released the following statement:
“Since March, our demand has not changed: Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be returned to the United States and receive his right to due process. This is a right granted to every person in our country.
“This fight isn’t about one man — it’s about ensuring our constitutional rights are protected, for the sake of all SMART members and everyone in this country. If one person’s right to due process is denied, all our rights are in danger.”
The Spring 2025 Belonging and Excellence for All (BE4ALL) Challenge asked SMART members to answer the question: Why are you proud to be a SMART member? Dozens of members answered the call, with three selected in a raffle as the quarter’s winners. Read their submissions below.
Local 280 (Vancouver, British Columbia) Business Rep. Troy Clutchey went long in his answer:
“I am proud to be a union member, as I believe in the union movement all around. I am a third-generation sheet metal worker. I have benefitted from Local 280, as well as unions in general, since well before I was born.
“My grandfather came to British Columbia and joined Local 280 as a journeyman sheet metal worker in 1950. He told me that the journey rate was about $2.50/hour when he started here. This obviously would have had an influence on my mom’s upbringing, as she wasn’t born until 1953. My mom also understood and believed in the benefits of union.
“She met my dad many years later, and in 1974, at the suggestion of my grandfather, he too joined Local 280, obtaining his Red Seal in 1979. This led to my family having a good, full, enjoyable lifestyle. Born in 1983, the benefits and pride that came from union membership have been with me my whole life. My father’s membership in 280, and my mother’s union membership as an employee of the government provided so many great aspects to our life.
“In 2003 I started my pre-apprenticeship at SMART Local 280, and I have never looked back. I went through my apprenticeship, and I obtained my Red Seal certification in May 2008. The benefits that I have received are amazing. From the very beginning, everything from the “automatic savings” to go through apprenticeship, to the registered program for training that entitled us to unemployment insurance benefits while in school, to the more affordable tuition costs, to having our own training centre with amazing instructors who are Red Seal certified tradesworkers.
“Move ahead a few more years, and I started a family of my own. With my wife being able to get benefits, and then us having two children together, the union has never stopped helping with our lives. Everything from psychology assessments, medical benefits, dental coverage, to glasses coverage and even wage indemnity coverages during times of need.
“The benefits are great, and so is knowing that everyone is together and looking out for one another. Safety conversations are much easier with everyone on the same page and a backing the size of a local union. We believe that we are setting the standards for industry all over the place.
“Knowing that even things like counselling and mental health services — not to mention addiction services and everything along those lines — are covered and organized through the union is amazing.
“For the last seven years, I have had the honor of serving as an elected business representative at Local 280. This work can be stressful and draining at times; however, the benefits and belief that I am helping as many people as I can join and benefit from the union makes it all worth it. Knowing that I might be able to get even one more person to join the union, grow and strengthen it, while obtaining some of the amazing benefits union membership affords the working class, is so fulfilling.
“I hope that the union, and all proper unions, can thrive for generations to come, as I truly believe that they bring out the best in everyone.”
Scott Raia, a member of SMART-TD Local 1626, said in his answer:
“My membership in this union has been the single most important step I have taken in my family’s financial life. It came right after my daughter was born. Finally, we were able to purchase a home, access quality medical care and think about the future. Every worker in this country should have those privileges. The men and women in this union have fought hard for generations to afford us the protections and security we enjoy as members. I owe this organization everything.”
Adrian Murcia, a member of SMART Local 565 (Wisconsin), discussed not just his union pride, but the support and happiness his membership gives him as well:
“I am very happy to belong to SMART. Ever since I was hired and joined the union, I have felt proud to belong to it. It was incredible to receive the bonus in the negotiation of the contract after just six months of joining Sub-Zero. With SMART, I feel supported in the resolution of any conflict that may arise, and SMART gives me the peace of mind that I have job stability. Additionally, and thanks to the strong negotiation of our salary, I have been able to make investments for my future.
As Canada kicks off its 6th Annual National Roofing Week, it’s a great time to be a SMART member and a roofer.
Roofers, as skilled trades professionals, play a critical role in building and maintaining the infrastructure that keeps our communities safe and resilient. This week is an opportunity to celebrate the legacy projects that span coast to coast to coast — from hospitals in British Columbia to long-term care homes on the East Coast and innovative library projects in Ontario; our dedicated members are truly building the future.
As Canada enters a new era of growth, focusing on green energy projects and the transition to net-zero, roofers stand at the forefront of this transformation. From solar-ready roofs to green roofing systems, our members are leading with integrity, respect, and pride as they build a clean and sustainable future. With hundreds of thousands of skilled trades jobs needed to meet Canada’s climate goals, roofers play a crucial role in creating resilient communities and supporting the transition to a green economy.
Let’s take this opportunity to recognize the contributions of roofers and emphasize the importance of skills development and training, ensuring that we have a diverse and powerful workforce ready to meet Canada’s needs.
Los Angeles is famous for its traffic. And a large part of that (in)famy is driven by the East Los Angeles Interchange, where Interstate 10 connects with United States Highway 101. Hundreds of thousands of drivers going to, from and through downtown L.A. connect via the two highways daily — including Local 105 member Margarito Martinez, who currently works night shifts as a foreman for Thermal Concepts in Chino, California.
That’s precisely where he was headed on May 9 at 4:40 p.m., when he happened to look out the window on his drive to work and see a woman experiencing a seizure behind the wheel.
“I’m not a doctor,” Martinez said. “I’m no nurse, but, you know, just doing all the [safety] training I’ve been doing all these years, even when I was in the apprenticeship, prepared me to see what was going on.”
Dashcam video shows Margarito Martinez and a fellow driver helping a woman who had a seizure while driving during rush hour in Los Angeles.
The traffic during rush hour on a weekday, Martinez explained, can be near gridlock. On May 9, as he commuted to work, cars were driving on the interchange at speeds under five miles per hour. That provided the ability to see more than usual.
“I noticed a lot of the cars were just going around a car that was acting weird,” Martinez recalled. “So as I got closer to the car, I looked over and I saw a lady foaming from her mouth. She just had a white pile of foam on her chest. And as I got closer, I looked over and it just kicked in for me. You know, I run work, I’m trained for this stuff, so instinct kicked in.”
None of the other drivers were stopping or taking action — but on the other side of the woman’s vehicle, Martinez made eye contact with another work truck.
“I don’t know who he was, but he had a passenger, and we made eye contact and we both agreed … we’ve got to help this lady,” he said.
Martinez and his fellow worker leapt into action. They jumped out of their respective vehicles and ran towards the woman’s car, at which point Martinez said he noticed the woman was “turning blue.” The car was still moving — as the other Good Samaritan tried to slow the car, Martinez pushed a window down.
“I tried opening the door, but she was unconscious. I shook her and she kind of looked surprised, looked at me, like, ‘what are you doing to me?’ And I said, I’m trying to save your life,” he described. “I told her, you’ve got to put your car in park. [But] … for some reason, her body seemed stuck. And she said, ‘oh my God, it’s happening again.’”
The woman started seizing, Martinez said: Her eyes rolled back and she began foaming at the mouth.
“That’s when I jumped more into the window,” he recounted.
Martinez was able to reach the door and open it, and the woman briefly regained consciousness. She tried to put the car in park but accidentally started to reverse instead; Martinez jumped back into the car and hit the emergency brake.
“That’s when she looked at me again. She said, ‘thank you so much, sir, but it’s going to happen again.’ And sure enough, she started seizing again,” he said.
Martinez held her head back to make sure she didn’t choke. Once the woman regained consciousness, he asked two women behind the car to call 911. The ambulance arrived shortly after, bringing the medical attention the woman needed.
Martinez had to leave when the ambulance came — “I can’t be late,” he remembered thinking.
But before he hit the road again, the paramedics told him that had he not acted, the woman could have crashed, been hit or simply not woken up.
Local 105 paid tribute to Martinez on Facebook, writing: “Margarito, your courage and dedication reflect the very best of Local 105. Your commitment to the safety and well-being of those around you — on and off the job — makes us incredibly proud. Thank you for your service to the community and for representing SMART Local 105 with such integrity. Keep leading by example!”
To Martinez, it was nothing heroic — it was simply a combination of union training and union values.
“I didn’t even think about myself to be honest. It was just: Help this lady out,” he reflected.
“All this training we do … it did do something. I did not panic … it felt like the right thing to do.”
On Thursday, March 27, an executive order signed by President Trump ended collective bargaining for nearly one million federal workers, including Local 17 sheet metal workers at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) in Maine.
“I found out when I woke up in the morning [Friday] that the dues that were supposed to be taken out of the check were not taken out,” recalled Shaun Fisher, electrician inspector and chief steward at PNS. “The reaction is horrible. … We don’t know what’s coming or going.”
PNS employs workers in a variety of metal trades: mechanical, electrical, interior for the submarine lockers. For years, and following a decades-long fight to organize the shipyard, these skilled tradespeople workers under the protection of union representation — giving them not only the financial benefits that allow SMART members across North America to provide for their families, but also job security and peace of mind.
All that changed in March, when SMART members like Fisher had their rights stripped in an instant. That had an immediate, on-the-shop-floor impact on member representation and working conditions.
“Everybody’s scrambling, and it gives free reign for management to do whatever the hell they want,” he said. “It makes it real hard now, especially the fact that if they take away our pool time and we can’t represent our people, we’ve got to use our own leave to do that.”
Local 17 and the Portsmouth Metal Trades Council immediately contacted impacted members to let them know their unions were pursuing all avenues available to protect shipyard workers’ jobs. But the constant uncertainty around workers’ representation and the threat of mass layoffs is taking a toll, Fisher said.
“Everybody’s scared,” he added. “We’re left with no guidance [from management] whatsoever.”
The fight isn’t over. In the halls of government, an array of Republican and Democratic representatives introduced the bipartisan Protect America’s Workforce Act, which would restore federal workers’ (including PNS SMART members’) collective bargaining rights.
And regardless of what happens moving forward, Fisher declared, he and SMART will do whatever it takes to protect members under attack.
“I’ll do anything,” he vowed. “If it means standing on a line with people and representing for the shipyard, I will do that.”
Local 49 won a huge victory for New Mexico sheet metal workers in April 2025, when Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a law that expanded prevailing wage to include custom offsite fabrication on public works projects. With the law’s definition of “off-site fabricators” — “those earning wages to fabricate heating, cooling, ventilation, or exhaust systems, or any prefabricated components or structures used in public works projects” — the law promises to benefit SMART members and signatory contractors statewide.
“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.”
SMART members know better than anybody the problems that arise when bad-faith contractors bid on custom offsite fabrication work. In many places, even if a public works project pays prevailing wage or is covered by a project labor agreement, non-signatory contractors can submit low bids on the fabrication work that takes place offsite, even if the ductwork being fabricated is for that prevailing wage job. That means union sheet metal fabricators and signatory contractors get undercut and lose out on work hours.
Local 49 members faced that exact issue in New Mexico, where the custom offsite fabrication loophole in the state’s Public Works Minimum Wage Act allowed out-of-state companies to secure fabrication work on public projects. Coming into the 2025 legislative session, Zemke and the local decided to take matters into their own hands.
“We started early on with developing an endorsement questionnaire process that was bipartisan,” Zemke explained. “It was sent out to all state reps, all state senators — Republican, Independent, Democrat, whatever party affiliation. Following that, we had an open house with everybody that we endorsed. We brought them into the house of labor, of sheet metal workers; we educated them on fabrication, educated them on what sheet metal workers do in the industry.”
From there, the local found their sponsors for the bill, securing commitments from leadership in the state House, Senate and the governor’s office.
“From there, we strapped our boots on and went and did the work of not only being expert witnesses, but also lobbying the bill in the state legislature here in 2025,” Zemke siad.
The early groundwork and constant advocacy paid off when Governor Lujuan Grisham signed the bill into law. While not a headline-making piece of legislation in the national media, it will help change the lives of SMART members and working families in New Mexico for the long term: ensuring SMART signatory contractors and sheet metal workers win more work, provide for their families and invest in their pensions.
From the jobsite to the capitol building, organizing is how we win!
The spending bill recently passed by the United States House of Representatives includes nearly $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid — a move that could have serious consequences for SMART members alongside working families across the country.
“These cuts will affect our members directly at the bargaining table and in their wallets,” said SMART General President Michael Coleman. “Health care costs rise year after year, but when Medicaid is slashed, health care providers and insurance companies will shift even more of the burden onto high-quality plans like ours. That means even higher premiums, rising deductibles and increased out-of-pocket costs. Our members are already doing their part — this would make it even more expensive just to hold onto the care they’ve earned.
“Medicaid provides health coverage for millions of Americans, including many SMART members’ spouses and children. For families who rely on a combination of employer-provided benefits and public programs like Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), these cuts threaten their access to the care they need. It’s not just about coverage — it’s about stability for our families.
“As the bill advances to the Senate, SMART is actively working with congressional leaders to make sure our members continue to have access to affordable, high-quality health care. We urge senators to improve this legislation by maintaining full funding for Medicaid, which plays a critical role in keeping health care costs manageable for working families.”
The spending bill passed by the United States House of Representatives includes more than $500 billion in cuts to tax credits and infrastructure funding that help finance construction projects. In response, SMART General President Michael Coleman said:
“As written, this spending bill will take work away from SMART members, and it will hurt our country’s national interests. Developers and end users rely on tax credits and infrastructure funding to make sure construction projects are completed. Without that money, projects including nuclear, hydrogen and battery facilities get canceled, and SMART members lose their jobs.
“SMART is working with members of Congress to fix this. We are making sure senators know that these tax credits keep union sheet metal workers on the job so we can provide a stable future for our families.
“We will keep fighting for our members’ jobs, and we urge the Senate to stand with our members by fixing this bill and keeping these tax credits in place.”
SMART, TOOTRiS partner to deliver childcare benefits to U.S. SM members
On January 16, 2025, SMART announced a transformative partnership with TOOTRiS, the nation’s leading provider of on-demand childcare services, to offer childcare benefits to members across the United States. This collaboration established SMART as the first building trades union in the country to adopt wrap-around childcare benefits for its members, with the benefit activating February 1, 2025, for participating sheet metal local unions.
“This partnership sets a new standard for addressing the real-life challenges faced by working families,” said SMART General President Michael Coleman. “We are proud to be the first building trades union in the country to provide access to childcare programs nationwide, ensuring that our members — especially apprentices and young families — have the support they need to thrive in their careers and at home.”
Members at participating sheet metal locals can find customizable care
Ordinarily, access to TOOTRiS’s program costs $24.99 per month. For SMART sheet metal members at participating local unions in the United States, the program cost is covered by funding from the SMART International, giving them real-time access to licensed childcare providers in urban and rural areas; search features tailored for special needs care and flexible scheduling; and multilingual support through TOOTRiS’s app and website. In addition to the platform, TOOTRiS’s concierge service offers members personalized assistance in helping to locate providers that meet their needs and work schedules, including very early hours, swing shifts and more. Providers are licensed and regularly reevaluated utilizing state licensing data to ensure they meet stringent quality standards, giving members peace of mind when searching for care.
In two locations, SMART has piloted a subsidy program for participating members. Participating Local 20 sheet metal workers at a hospital megaproject in Indiana are eligible to receive a monthly childcare subsidy, helping members with children take on the work as the local staffs the multi-billion-dollar job. And participating Local 3 production members at Lozier in Omaha also can receive a subsidy, helping provide much-needed childcare for existing members and serving as an incentive for unorganized members at the shop to join SMART.
SMART Local 206 in San Diego, California, began offering the program as a benefit to members nearly three years ago — “the whole reason being a lot of our members [were] calling in, saying they couldn’t get to work, apprentices especially, because they had childcare issues,” said Business Manager Dave Gauthier.
He added: “I was really impressed with the technology, the fact that it was a search engine that you could pretty much edit in any way you wanted,” filtering anything from scheduling needs to allergy information and proximity to work or home.
Eligibility requirements:
Available to members in good standing with children aged 0-12.
Local union must participate for its members to be eligible.
Please note: The benefit doesn’t cover the cost of childcare but gives members premium access to the most affordable options.
SMART FIRSTS
1953: Local 28 (New York City) negotiates first-ever pension plan in a building trades labor contract.
1961: SMART (then SMWIA) and SMACNA develop first sheet metal industry training manual.
1963: SMART becomes first union to offer members accident insurance.
Childcare: key to building our nation
Infrastructure investments and a resurgence in domestic manufacturing have driven huge workforce demands in the United States in recent years. Along with ensuring indoor air quality in schools, hospitals and other buildings, SMART sheet metal workers have been at the forefront of many large infrastructure projects, including the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) modernization, the Dallas-Fort Worth terminal expansion, semiconductor fabrication projects by Micron, Intel and others, and many more.
The need for skilled workers continues to rise as projects break ground. However, childcare is frequently cited as one of the most significant barriers to both entering and staying in the building trades, with unpredictable schedules and mobile jobs making ordinary services less accessible. Additionally, childcare costs have surged over 50% in the past decade, and the shortage of providers has securing care even more difficult. Apprentices and younger members, who are often in the early stages of building their careers and salaries, are particularly vulnerable.
SMART Local 16 (Portland, Ore.) Organizer Korri Stubenrauch detailed the impact of the childcare crisis on workers in the construction industry during Tradeswomen Build Nations 2023. Stubenrauch spoke from personal experience: Despite her love for her craft and dedication to her union, she had to briefly step away from her sheet metal career due to the challenges she faced finding adequate, affordable and accessible childcare.
“Together, let’s build a future where no parent in the trades has to choose between professional commitments and parental responsibilities,” Stubenrauch urged TWBN attendees at the time.
Now, through its partnership with TOOTRiS, SMART is poised to do just that. With the newly launched childcare benefit, U.S. members at participating locals gain access to over 200,000 licensed childcare providers nationwide via TOOTRiS’s state-of-the-art platform, including programs offering non-traditional hours, drop-in care and 24/7 availability. TOOTRiS technology — accessible via the TOOTRiS app or online — allows parents to search, compare and enroll in care based on real-time availability tailored to their needs. And perhaps most importantly, the concierge service offers prompt, personalized assistance, whether trying to find summer camp a year in advance or dealing with a childcare need at an unorthodox time.
“A big thing for us is the hours,” Gauthier explained. “I dropped my kids off at their daycare at six in the morning, and if [the daycare was] late to open up the doors, then I was late to work. And so the fact that there’s a lot of facilities out there that have flexible hours … most people aren’t aware of [that] unless they have a search engine like TOOTRiS.”
Local 17 membersChild of Local 265 member Mitch Geister
Growing our union
SMART’s new childcare benefit aims squarely to strengthen participation in the sheet metal trade, particularly among women and members with young families. This is crucial for the present and future of our union: We need to grow to take on the work hours demanded of us, bringing in the labor force of the future to support active and retired members.
“We’re recruiting a lot of women in the trades,” said Gauthier. “[There’s] a national labor shortage for people in the trades, and 50% of the people out there that are looking for work are women. So in order to bring women in, we have to give them options,” including maternity leave and accessible childcare.
“This partnership addresses a critical gap for families in the trades, enabling parents — especially women — to succeed in careers that were once out of reach due to a lack of childcare,” added Allison Grealis, Women in Manufacturing Association president and founder. “This is a step forward for support and inclusion in the workforce.”
Local 206 has already witnessed the material differences, both for existing members and when conducting outreach.
“The average age of an apprentice is close to 30 years old,” Gauthier said. “If the average age [is] in the thirties, and the average age of people having young children [is] in their late twenties or early thirties, and they’ve got to be at work every day and then school twice a month, those are hours and times that they’re going to need childcare.”
He continued: “So in recruiting, we go to outreach events and … we bring the TOOTRiS flyer and say, ‘Hey, if you have kids, we offer this childcare provider system that will give you an option to get better childcare, more affordable childcare.’”
Members or local union officers with questions about TOOTRiS should reach out to SMART Director of Special Projects Louise Medina. You can also view more details on SMART’s TOOTRiS landing page here.
I’ve talked a lot about the importance of solidarity recently. It’s our foundation, our core value and our strength; it’s the guiding principle that has carried us through generations of challenges, whether we’re at work, at the bargaining table or on the picket line.
Much of the conversation around our solidarity has been in response to political events in the United States. Recent developments, from the unprecedented firings at the U.S. National Labor Relations Board to the shifting policies on tariffs, have sent ripples through our industries. These decisions have real consequences for working people — our people.
But make no mistake, brothers and sisters: Our union solidarity spans all of North America, from Hawaii to Vancouver, Florida to St. John’s; whether we’re on the shop floor, the jobsite, the railroad or the bus terminal.
Amid all the noise encompassing our nations’ governments, I want to focus on the hard-working citizens of our two nations that make up our membership: We have far more in common than we have differences. Skilled SMART sheet metal workers perform top-notch craftsmanship on jobsites and in production shops across both of our two nations. Organizing in British Columbia, Ontario and everywhere in between strengthens our union in the states just like it does in the provinces, and vice versa. And political developments in Ottawa and Washington have ramifications for every single one of us.
“Our union solidarity spans all of North America, from Hawaii to Vancouver, Florida to St. John’s; whether we’re on the shop floor, the jobsite, the railroad or the bus terminal.”
As SMART members, we want the same thing, regardless of which country we call home: good, family-sustaining jobs, stellar pay, a retirement with dignity. And our union organizes across North America for those exact goals — recently, in both of our nations, winning extraordinary growth. Regardless of the political climate, no matter who holds power in Washington or Ottawa, we will continue to fight for the betterment of this union: no member left behind.
The history of SMART spans over 200 combined years of organizing, tradition, mentorship and solidarity. We’ve faced adversity, fought countless battles and secured life-changing victories for workers across North America. Every victory we’ve achieved stems from our unity and the principle that an injury to one is an injury to all.
I want to emphasize something, though. That collective power doesn’t simply appear when we pay our dues. We, the members, are the union. We need to be engaged, involved and ACTIVE in our locals. That’s how we organize new manufacturing plants and contractors, like Evergreen Sheet Metal in B.C. That’s how we secure local laws that bring in more work for members, like project labor agreements in Southern California. That’s how we develop new tools to help keep our SMART-TD bus members safe. All this is only possible when we proactively flex our collective strength.
We continue to see anti-worker entities, whether bad-faith employers or antagonistic governments, attempt to divide us. They want us to fight each other instead of fighting the rich and powerful. They want to pit Canadians versus Americans, railroaders versus sheet metal workers; they want workers against workers.
Brothers and sisters, we must reject that division and choose solidarity instead. Let’s stand together, not just in the face of political challenges, but for the future we believe in. When we are united across the United States and Canada, there’s nothing we can’t achieve.
