Following multiple letters submitted and concerted outreach to the United States Department of Transportation by SMART Governmental Affairs staff, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority secured $5.1 billion from the federal government to help fund the construction of four new Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stations. The extension, part of a broad effort to expand transportation rail connectivity in the Bay Area, represents the second-largest federal investment in any transportation project — and the largest outside of New York City.
“This will put Local 104 members to work for years to come, and it’s a direct example of the Biden-Harris administration’s willingness to fund major infrastructure projects — built union,” said Local 104 (Northern California) State Legislative Director Vince Sugrue. “This work will be performed under a PLA.”
Washington, DC, Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit against five companies in late June, alleging that they engaged in a “widespread misclassification scheme that deprived hundreds of District construction workers the wages and benefits they were entitled to under DC law.”
The companies — Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, W.G./Welch Mechanical Contractors, LLC and three labor brokers (Mechanical Plumbing Crew Co., Ramirez Plumbing Inc. and GINCO HVAC, LLC) — are accused of denying workers the proper minimum wage, overtime and paid sick leave they deserve.
Local 100 job action related to the DC OAG lawsuit.
“The construction industry is loaded with nonunion contractors who hire subcontractors called labor brokers to act as intermediaries between the workers and the construction companies,” said Chuck Sewell, marketing director for Local 100, in a press release from the DC Office of the Attorney General. “This leads to a diffusion of responsibility, where neither the broker nor the construction company takes full responsibility for the workers’ conditions, rights and welfare.”
Bad-faith, nonunion contractors and labor brokers often misclassify workers to avoid paying taxes, work compensation and other requirements, Sewell added, noting that labor brokers “often put their workers on projects without sufficient training, risking their safety and resulting in poor quality workmanship.”
At a mixed-use development in DC known as City Ridge, sheet metal worker Edwin Mayorga and approximately 370 of his fellow workers said that they weren’t paid in full.
“We worked 12 hours a day from Monday to Friday, and on Saturday we worked 10 hours, Sunday, 10 hours, practically,” he said in Spanish [to the Post], through an interpreter. “We weren’t resting.”
Local 100 Organizer Rolando Montoya connected with workers at the City Ridge jobsite after hearing complaints that they weren’t getting paid, helping them access resources to fight for the compensation they were owed.
“Our contractors that are being responsible, paying for training, paying good wages, benefits — when they bid on these projects, they can’t compete,” Montoya said in the Post article. “It’s affecting union workers, because it’s less work.”
Fighting wage theft and uncovering low-road contractors isn’t just the right thing to do for exploited workers and high-road contractors; it illuminates the difference provided by union representation, helping SMART locals recruit more workers. One example: the sheet metal worker from the City Ridge project, Edwin Mayorga, who has since joined Local 100.
“It’s a huge difference,” he told the Washington Post, “mainly because one is not fighting to get paid.”
On Monday, July 15th, during an instructors’ meeting at the SMART Local 177 (Middle Tennessee) JATC, Organizer David Larue presented a BE4ALL Toolbox Talk to instructors, describing the need to support apprentices’ mental health (Toolbox Talk #8) as they attend training. The group discussed the role of an instructor being much more than just a teacher, Larue said.
“We are on the front lines of the well-being of our apprentices and often serve as counselors, life coaches, social workers — and friends,” he explained. “It is our duty as union brothers and sisters to look out for each other and show a sense of understanding, compassion and guidance when we see a fellow member in need.”
In attendance: JATC Training Coordinator Joe Maloney, Instructors Aaron Brown, Tony Easley (retired Local 177 business manager), Russ Hawkins, John Lloyd, Dave Morgan, Aroldo Pedrero, Danielle Piper (Local 177 recording secretary), Michael Smith, Casey Stanley, Jason Street (Local 177 president) and Luther Tate (Local 177 business manager).
Fifth-year Local 27 (Southern New Jersey) apprentices forged their way into the local’s history with their group project this summer, creating a “27” sign that is now proudly displayed at the Local 27 union hall. The apprentices fabricated the sign out of 11 ga carbon steel, designing and forming the project using CAD, a plasma table and a press brake — all equipment that was provided through the International Training Institute (ITI) grant program.
Pictured, front row, left to right: Business Rep. Mike Kolbasowski, President/Business Manager Thomas De Bartolo, fifth-year apprentices Malcolm Hill, Clayton Jansa, Conner Kozar, Training Coordinator John Espinos Jr., Zach Szabo, Isaac Rolph. Back row: Peter Palumbo, Thomas Sommers III, Rob Rasmussen, Mike Melon, Dan Marino, Alex Sarti, Will Anderson.
On Saturday, August 10, the Local 38 (Westchester and Rockland Counties, N.Y.) SMART Army held its first Annual Benefit Car Show for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation — an organization that, since 9/11, has worked to provide “mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children and … [build] specially-adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders,” among other efforts. The event brought in approximately 200 spectators to view the cars and take a tour of Local 38’s union hall and training center, and raised more than $5,000 for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
Pictured, left to right: Local 33 Business Manager Corey Beaubien, Business Rep. Hank Strahan, Frank Jones (50 years), Marvin Polo (50 years), Gus Williams (50 years), Thomas Frizzell (50 years), SMART General President Michael Coleman, Guy Disiena (50 years), Business Rep. Todd Alishusky, Richard Cartwright (25 years), Business Rep. Shane Vermilye.
On June 17, Local 17 (Boston, Mass.) Business Development Representative and SMART International Women’s Committee Chair Shamaiah Turner won the June NABTU Tradeswomen Heroes Award — a feather in the cap of a committed trade unionist who has consistently advocated for her union, her trade and her brothers and sisters.
“Shamaiah’s achievements and dedication to SMART are remarkable,” Local 17 wrote in its nomination. “Sister Turner’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity in the sheet metal industry shines throughout her career.”
Turner started in the construction industry at 18, when she worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer building houses with Habitat for Humanity in Fort Myers, Florida. After entering the Building Pathways Pre-apprenticeship Program in Boston, Turner joined Local 17 in 2012, officially beginning her journey as a union sheet metal worker. She’s worked in a range of positions since, including as a sub-foreman leading crews to complete specific building objectives on various projects. Today, as a business development representative, she strives to help workers win the pay, benefits and peace of mind they deserve.
“Beyond her workday, Sister Turner actively engages with community events and organizations, including the Greater Boston Labor Council, Building Pathways, MASS Girls in Trades, Boston Union Trade Sisters, The Boston Ujima Project and Boston While Black, emphasizing her broader community empowerment commitment,” Local 17 added.
Turner has also dedicated herself to mentorship, particularly to her sisters at Local 17 and throughout the union sheet metal trade. From apprentices to journeypersons, Local 17 noted, she actively works to help her fellow workers reach their fullest potential.
“Sister Turner’s career achievements, commitment to inclusivity, and dedication to mentoring make her a true Tradeswomen Hero,” the local concluded. “She is a role model and advocate for women in the trades, leaving a mark on the industry and paving the way for future generations of tradeswomen.”
SMART Local 19 hosted United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo and Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su in Philadelphia in July. Local officers gave the agency leaders a tour of the union hall and JATC, discussing how a pro-worker economic agenda is creating good-paying, union clean-energy jobs.
Adeyemo and Su have been key allies for SMART members across the U.S., helping implement policies and funding from laws passed by the Biden-Harris administration in a way that puts union workers on jobsites from coast to coast. One of the recent examples: the Treasury Department’s final rules on the Inflation Reduction Act’s prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship requirements, which will help create work for SMART members on clean energy jobs.
“Investments in clean energy projects announced since the passage of the [Inflation Reduction Act] in 2022 are projected to create more than 270,000 jobs, and studies estimate that more than 1.5 million additional jobs will be created over the next decade,” the department said in a press release.
Union sheet metal workers will play a crucial role on those projects in cities like Philadelphia, where it is vital that schools, hospitals and other new and existing buildings are green and energy efficient.
Local 19 President/Business Manager Bryan Bush, center, is joined by US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, left, and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, right, while speaking at Local 19 in Philadelphia.
Such jobs demonstrate concretely that with strong labor standards in federal laws — and strong, pro-labor officials in positions of power — SMART members and their families benefit, said SMART General President Michael Coleman.
“There are laws that say good things to union members, and there are laws that do good things for union members,” he explained. “With the U.S. Treasury Department’s final rule on labor standards for Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, there is no doubt that the IRA is a law that concretely benefits SMART sheet metal workers.”
Union solidarity was on full display at the SMART Local 219 (Rockford, Ill.) union hall in August, where the local presented recipients with scholarships to help them continue their education.
“Our members are dedicated to supporting our own by investing $70,500 in scholarships for 47 family members enrolled full-time in college,” the local wrote on Facebook. “Each recipient received $1,500 to help pave the way for a brighter future.”
In fall 2024, CSX Railroad announced plans to change how the carrier moves freight between Chicago and the East Coast; a plan that would have forced more than 120 SMART-TD members to choose between relocation to either Buffalo, N.Y., or Willard, Ohio — or be laid off.
SMART-TD officers and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown took action in response. And with the senator’s help, union railroad jobs stayed in Cleveland where they belong.
“[Senator Brown] said, ‘Hey look, your plan is very flawed and you’re definitely affecting Ohio workers in a negative way. And here we are [now], talking about creating more jobs for Ohioans,” said SMART-TD Ohio State Safety and Legislative Director Clyde Whitaker.
The fight for Cleveland railroaders started when CSX unveiled a plan to streamline its operations in Northern Ohio by reducing train stops and crew members at Collinwood Rail Yard. This streamlining predominantly depended on employees moving from Cleveland to Buffalo or Willard — 180 miles and 80 miles away from Cleveland, respectively.
“With the crews in Cleveland, there was a lot of panic and a lot of ‘what if,’” said Ryan Fries, SMART-TD Local 378 vice local chairperson. “‘Are we going to have to drive three and a half hours to work? Is my spouse going to have to change jobs?”
“Their whole plan was contingent on us moving, because they needed the manpower to go with their plan,” added SMART-TD General Committee GO-049 Assistant General Chairperson Eric Kosinski.
According to CSX, this was a positive development — one that would actually create jobs, Fries said. But, he added, phase three of CSX’s plan was essentially a full shutdown of Collinwood Yard. After a conversation with CSX Superintendent Darin Hershiser, Whitaker agreed.
“In the 24 years I’ve been here, whenever I hear that word [streamlined], that tells me you’re shutting the entire place down and we’ll get a barebones operation. Which, coincidentally, was their plan.”
That’s when SMART-TD reached out to Senator Brown, asking him to help broker a meeting between TD and CSX. Brown took action, issuing a public letter that called on CSX President and CEO Joseph Hinrichs “to meet with workers as soon as possible and reverse plans that would remove train stops and train crews from the Collinwood Rail Yard facility in Cleveland.”
“In the strongest possible terms, I urge you to reverse CSX’s strategy concerning Collinwood staffing,” Brown wrote. “CSX recorded more than $3.7 billion of profits last year. Instead of cutting positions at Collinwood, CSX should pursue safer and more reliable operations by investing in hiring in Cleveland and across your company’s rail network.”
The combined efforts of union labor and a pro-worker senator paid off: SMART-TD officers met with CSX and were able to devise a solution.
“We were actually able to implement a plan that created more jobs for the area,” Fries concluded.
Prior to this development, SMART and SMART-TD had already endorsed Senator Sherrod Brown in his reelection campaign this November. His immediate, strong and successful defense of the jobs of Local 378 members in Cleveland reaffirmed to our organization that our faith in him is well placed.
