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Vice President John D. “J.D.” Whitaker III, whose vital and key roles in negotiating numerous contracts on the general committee and national levels that improved the lives of many SMART-TD rail members, passed away July 27, 2023, of cancer.

VP Whitaker was 50 years old.

“It is a tremendous loss for John’s family — his wife, Melissa, and their three sons — to his friends and to the SMART Transportation Division,” TD President Jeremy Ferguson said. “Brother John was a trusted and tireless leader for the membership and had an absolute passion about what he did for everyone we represent. Our hearts are broken and there is a great loss caused by his untimely passing. Yet the legacy he leaves behind is one of strength, bravery and accomplishment. The union would not be what it is today without his contributions.”

SMART Transportation Division Vice President John D. “J.D.” Whitaker III addresses the Second SMART General Convention at the Mirage in Las Vegas Nevada in 2019. VP Whitaker passed away on July 27 after a battle with cancer.

In his position as TD vice president, Brother Whitaker engaged in the National Rail Contract negotiations that began in November 2019, in addition to all his assignments for many of the TD general committees. He also proudly fulfilled his duties as a General Vice-President on the SMART General Executive Council (GEC).

“His absence leaves a profound void, for he dedicated his entire life to representing and advocating for the members he served,” SMART General President Michael Coleman said. “Throughout his career, he achieved remarkable success, always putting the well-being of those he represented above all else. Our hearts and thoughts are with his family as they navigate through this challenging period of loss.”

Brother Whitaker was born Nov. 16, 1972, and began his railroad career in 1997 with CSX Transportation as a conductor. He was promoted to engineer in 2002. A member of Local 1106 in Rocky Mount, N.C., he was elected to the position of local chairperson for engineers in 2002.

After gaining experience as local chairperson, he ran for vice general chairperson for CSX General Committee of Adjustment GO-851 and was elected effective January 2006. Whitaker maintained that position through March 2011, at which time he was elected general chairperson for GO-851 representing approximately 2,000 members on the former Seaboard Coast Line, CSX Transportation, Florida East Coast Railway, Winston-Salem Southbound Railway, High Point Thomasville & Benton Railroad, Georgia Railroad, South Carolina Public Railway Commission and South Carolina Central Railroad, covering six states.

In October 2013, Whitaker was appointed alternate to the TD executive board and was elected by delegates for another term in 2014. In December of that year, he was elevated to the position of Transportation Division alternate vice president. Whitaker was elected to the board of the SMART TD Association of General Chairpersons (Dist. 1) in 2016. He was then elevated to the position of vice president in April 2019, upon the retirement of Dave Wier and was elected by acclamation to that position at the Second Transportation Division Convention in August 2019.

Vice President Whitaker is survived by his wife, Melissa, and their three sons, Russel, Chase and Nick (Nicholas).

A celebration of VP Whitaker’s life is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, at Plantation Oaks Farms, 45460 Hodges Road, Callahan, FL 321011.

View Brother Whitaker’s obituary.

Terry Belleville retired in summer 2023, following more than four decades in the unionized sheet metal trade.

Belleville started his sheet metal apprenticeship with Local 47 (Ottawa, Ontario) in the 1970s, becoming a journeyperson in 1979. He started serving his union as a member of the Local 47 executive board in 1985 before becoming an organizer for the local in October 1987. He successfully ran for business agent in July 1988, serving in that position until June 2000, before serving as the local’s business manager from July 2000 until February 2007. He became a SMART international representative in March 2007.

Belleville was instrumental in forming the eastern Ontario Members’ Assistance Program, which has evolved across Ontario for any building trades member, including Local 47 and other SMART members in the province. He has also worked to form the Daryl Lecuyer Memorial Softball Tournament, helping to raise thousands of dollars for the Members’ Assistance Program.

Terry has one son, Chris, and one daughter, Ashley, with his late wife Marilyn, as well as two granddaughters. SMART thanks you and wishes you a long and healthy retirement, Terry!

International Representative Peter Kennedy is the newest addition to the SMART Railroad, Mechanical and Engineering (RME) Department.

Brother Kennedy started his railroad career in September 2003 in the Maintenance of Way Department of CSX Transportation and has been a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED) of the Brotherhood of Teamsters for 20 years.

Kennedy is an experienced labor relations practitioner and strategist and has a knack for special projects. Most recently, he served as director of strategic coordination and research at BMWED, a position in which he oversaw major projects and initiatives impacting railroaders, including presenting the union’s case before Presidential Emergency Board 250, implementing the National Paid Sick Leave for Railroad Workers Campaign, and creating a memorandum of understanding on Brightline West for the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition.

International Representative Joe Fraley, whose experience working with Kennedy was instrumental for this recruitment, is extremely enthusiastic about the new hire.

“I have worked with Peter Kennedy throughout the last two rounds of national negotiations and on several other committees including CRLO, which jointly administers the Railroad National Healthcare Plan,” Fraley said. “He is a dedicated union leader who puts the members first. He is a great addition to our team.”

Likewise, General Committee 2 leadership is eager to work with Brother Kennedy and make use of his fresh perspective.

“Peter’s reputation in our industry is second to none,” said Directing General Chairperson John McCloskey. “The local officers and members of General Committee 2 will benefit so much from his knowledge and dedication.”

Financial Secretary-Treasurer Jason Busolt echoed that sentiment: “We look forward to working with him and utilizing his expertise when it comes to many different areas of the railroad. Welcome aboard, Peter!”

For outgoing International Representative Larry Holbert, Brother Kennedy’s recruitment ensures the department is in competent hands.

“Without any hesitation, I am so confident of a successful future for this department and for the entire union with the assignment of Brother Peter Kennedy,” Holbert said. “I have had the opportunity to work with Peter on numerous occasions, and I am truly impressed with his professionalism and knowledge of this industry.”

Finally, having recently become a member of SMART Local 256 (Chicago, Ill.), Kennedy is eager to show his commitment to his new role. In his own words: “I look forward to interacting with every member at every railroad across the country and getting to know what is important to them. This is our time to renew the meaning of SMART’s work and improve the workplace. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve and represent the members of the SMART Railroad, Mechanical and Engineering Department.”

It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that SMART announces the death of Chief International Representative Scott Parks, who passed away on September 6, 2023, surrounded by his family. All of us at SMART send our condolences to Scott’s loved ones during this difficult time.

Scott Parks was born in Indianapolis, where he would become a member of SMART Local 20 in 1990, completing his apprenticeship and becoming a journeyperson in August 1996. Scott immediately involved himself in his local union: He served on various steering committees for the local’s 1996 and 1999 contracts, as well as in the Local 20 Youth-to-Youth Program. He was elected business representative in 2001; nine years later, in July 2010, he was elected to serve as the local’s business manager and financial secretary-treasurer. At the local, with a jurisdiction spanning Indiana and portions of Kentucky, Illinois and Michigan, his duties included responsibility for the supervision and direction of 13 business agents and one organizer.

In 2019, Scott became a general vice president on the SMART General Executive Council. He was also an AFL-CIO delegate, president of the Indiana State Building Trades and secretary-treasurer of the Great Lakes State Council. He served as chairman of Local 20’s Dad’s Day committee, as well as on the boards of the Central Indiana Building Trades Council, East Central (Muncie) Building Trades Council and the Central Indiana Labor Council. Most importantly, Scott committed himself fully to the membership, both of Local 20 and across North America.

“Our union has lost a true leader in the sheet metal industry,” said SMART General President Michael Coleman. “Scott’s unwavering commitment to our members, and his friendship, will never be forgotten.”

SMART Local 20 (Indianapolis, Ind.) sister Tori Barth has been working in sheet metal for 10 years, with the last four spent as a union welder and fabricator. She looks forward to all the places the union sheet metal trade will take her in the future, she says – and she can’t wait to advance her skill set along the way. Learn more in her sister story.

Local 20 member Tori Barth welding.

What unique strengths do you bring to your trade?

I’m always willing/wanting to learn more, and I am determined to do my best while learning new skills.

What do you love to do when you are not at work?

Spend time with my kids and family, as much as possible.

Goals in the future — any ambitions or changes to your career, growth or education?

Starting classes to become a journeyperson and learning more in this trade as a sheet metal worker.

What surprised you about your trade?

How capable I am in a field that is still majority men.

What do you find frustrating about your job/trade?

There will always be men that don’t think you belong and don’t want you to be successful. So the hardest part is having to prove myself when I know I’m capable but others don’t think that.

How did you get into SMART?

I joined the union because my old boss left my last job, and I followed him for a better opportunity.

Tool you can’t live without?

Vise grips.

What do you think about Tradeswomen Build Nations?

I think it’s needed. Yes, places are more diverse than ever – but they can always be better. Showing women in the trades and women being successful is only going to help this cause

The Belonging and Excellence for All (BE4ALL) initiative launched in December 2021. BE4ALL envisions a diverse, inclusive and unionized sheet metal industry that is welcoming and fosters belonging for all. The work of the BE4ALL Committee is a human endeavor, helping individuals take pride in the work they do and value the contributions, humanity and dignity of all. It also includes a business side, where workers and contractors come together to achieve the highest standards of performance and excellence in their technical skills and crafts.

When SMART, SMACNA and the International Training Institute (ITI) launched BE4ALL, the three organizations wanted the effort to be more than just words on a piece of paper. It was important that the initiative be backed by research and best practices. To that end, as BE4ALL moves into 2024, here are five reasons why this work is important. These are also the reasons why now, more than ever, is the time for this work.

1. A sense of belonging

Employees who feel a strong sense of belonging in the workplace work harder, are more productive, stay longer at their job and come into work more often. An article from the Harvard Business Review cites research that investigated the role of belonging at work. The results showed that when employees felt a strong sense of belonging, there was:

  • A 56% increase in job performance
  • A 50% drop in turnover risk
  • A 75% reduction in sick days

2. Financial incentives

That same article states that for a 10,000-person company, this would result in an annual savings of $52 million. Employees with a strong sense of belonging also saw a 167% increase in their willingness to recommend their company to others, and received more raises and promotions.

3. Attract and retain talent

An article in the Wall Street Journal titled “The Business Case for More Diversity” reported on research conducted on companies in the S&P 500 index, looking at the age and ethnicity of each company’s workforce, the percentage of women in leadership roles, whether the company has diversity and inclusion programs in place for employees, and the makeup of the board. The research showed that the 20 most diverse firms were able to attract and retain talent and were more financially successful over the long term.

4. Diverse leadership leads to greater innovation

A 2018 study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) suggests that increasing the diversity of leadership teams leads to greater innovation and improved financial performance. People who come from different backgrounds and life experiences bring different solutions to the same problem, increasing the odds of success.

The BCG study found that companies that report above-average diversity on their management teams also reported innovation revenue that was 19 percentage points higher than that of companies with below average leadership diversity (45% of total revenue versus 25%).

A 2016 article from the Harvard Business Review supports the BCG study with a survey of company performance that revealed businesses run by culturally diverse leadership teams were more likely to develop new products than those with homogenous leadership. Harvard Business Review suggests that “enriching your team with representatives of different genders, races, and nationalities is key for boosting your company’s joint intellectual potential.”

5. Overall workplace performance and culture

The business case for diversity in the workplace is strong. Demonstrated benefits include:

  • The ability to attract a talented workforce
  • The ability to reach a wider, more diverse audience
  • Increased creativity and innovation
  • Better decision making and problem solving
  • Greater cultural and language competencies
  • Saving money on recruitment and training
  • Lower turnover rate
  • Lower rate of absent workers
  • Lower rate of discrimination lawsuits

Please join us in making the vision for BE4ALL a reality. There are four simple ways you can do this.

1 — Visit the BE4ALL webpage to learn more about the initiative.

2 — Attend a Learning Journey session (or watch a recording of a past session by visiting the SMART Resources webpage).

3 — View the BE4ALL Calendar to learn more about dates of historic and cultural significance to our members.

4 — Read and utilize the tips and tools contained in the four BE4ALL Toolbox Talks, also on the SMART Resources webpage.

For more information, please contact SMART Director of Special Projects Louise Medina at lmedina@smart-union.org.

Throughout the summer of 2023, more than 300 high school students and recent graduates participated in the Heavy Metal Summer Experience (HMSE), a free summer camp that introduces them to jobs and careers in the unionized building trades.

At signatory contractor R.F. Knox in Atlanta in June, SMART Local 85 journeyperson Antonio Albarran walked students through creating a sheet metal dustpan. He demonstrated a laser cutter, showed them how to measure and cut flat metal, how to bend it on a press, and how to drill holes for attaching the dustpan handle.

“They’re coming into an actual work environment,” said Albarran. “So, yeah, it is different for them. It does get a little bit loud, it is a little bit hot. But they get the actual experience.”

Students relished the opportunity to get that real-world experience, as well as an introduction to the range of work done in a sheet metal fabrication shop.

“Tuesday was my first time welding, so I thought that was really cool,” said Lizbeth Chavez, who attends Osborne High School in Marietta, Ga. “And we got to do things from scratch. So, that was fun.”

“I learned how to bend sheet metal,” said Allison Flores, who also attends Osborne High School. “I’ve never worked with sheet metal before.”

The project is the brainchild of Angie Simon, past SMACNA national president and recently retired from Western Allied Mechanical, headquartered just north of San Jose, Calif. As SMACNA president, Simon said she would often hear from union contractors that workforce development and recruitment were top problems.

“They would always say, ‘We don’t have enough people, we’re worried about the future.’ So, I started challenging contractors to stop thinking that somebody was going to take care of it for them, and it was time for them to get some skin in the game.”

In 2021, Western Allied teamed up with the Hermanson Company in Washington state and piloted two six-week-long summer career exploration camps, with the intention of replicating the program across the United States.

The project grew from 28 students in two locations in 2021, to more than 170 students in 2022. In the summer of 2023 — now incorporated as a 501c(3) — HMSE enrolled 325 students in 21 locations, including 10 states and one Canadian province.

“I’m very interested. I want to pursue this as a career,” said Nicholas Brown, who participated in the program at R.F. Knox in Atlanta and attends Osborne High School. “I knew they were going to have welding, and I’m really passionate about that. But I was also interested in learning about the other stuff, like sheet metal and ductwork.”

R.F. Knox Safety Director and Local 85 journeyperson Bill Kessler says an emphasis on safety is integrated into all aspects of the camp. From classroom instruction to specific tools and techniques, he works to ensure students learn best practices for avoiding workplace hazards, while having fun along the way.

“They’re making something that they can use at home and they’re proud of it,” said Kessler. “And the enthusiasm on the first day was ‘Wow! Isn’t this cool!’ And every one of them looked at me and smiled and said ‘Yeah, this is cool.’”

As part of the Belonging and Excellence for ALL (BE4ALL) Committee’s fall challenge, Anthony LaBeau, an eight-year member out of Local 104 (Northern California) recently shared how his life changed when he joined SMART:

Northern California sheet metal worker Anthony LaBeau

“I was 24, working dead-end restaurant jobs for six years when I first heard about any trade unions. I went home and researched anything I could find about the trades. I narrowed it down to pipe fitters and sheet metal, and my decision was made after I attended a trade fair where I met the sheet metal workers and we made mini tool trays. I was instantly intrigued and had this feeling that I was born to do this. After I went through the application process, I was called into action as a service technician and immediately started work installing and servicing residential equipment in track and custom homes.

“It was a bit of a culture shock coming from a completely different industry, but my union family put me at ease. I had no construction skills, no college education, and not a dollar to my name when I started, but the promise of on-the-job training, raises every six months, benefits, and a great retirement was all I needed to continue on this path. Once I fully learned about everything this trade consists of, I decided to pursue further education and become a building trades sheet metal worker.

“I made a lot of quality friends on the jobs and in the classes I’ve attended in the last eight years and am scheduled to be a journeyperson next month. Since starting in 2015 I’ve been able to support a family of my own and live comfortably while doing it. If I had never attended that workshop or met another sheet metal union member, I may never be where I am today. Building America with the quality craftsmanship that we learn and providing for my wife and two kids brings me the most pride and give me the greatest sense of fulfillment.”

Since 2018, Local 5 (east Tennessee) sheet metal members have been hard at work on one of the largest construction projects in the history of the state — and one of vital importance to the country at-large. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Uranium Processing Facility, according to the U.S.

Department of Energy, “will provide new floor space and consist of processing capabilities for enriched uranium casting, oxide production, and salvage and accountability operations to support the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, defense nuclear nonproliferation and naval reactors.”

“This project continues to employ over 200 sheet metal workers from four separate contractors: CNS/UPF, Apollo Mechanical, Kalkrueth Sheet Metal and Geiger Brothers, with various support from CNS/Direct Hire,” explained Local 5 Business Manager and SMART General Vice President Chris Griffey. “The first sheet metal workers were hired in late 2018 and continue on the same project five years later. Many apprentices have topped out on this single project, and it’s expected to have a couple more years left until completion.”

SMART General President Michael Coleman and former General President Joseph Sellers visited the project in 2023, witnessing first-hand the skill and expertise of our brothers and sisters on a project that not only represents a huge investment in national security, but also improved worker safety, energy efficiency and consumption.

“Our sisters and brothers worked diligently throughout the pandemic,” Griffey added. “There’s no more a patriotic project, in my opinion.”

In July, SMART Local 104 (northern California) partnered with the Construction Trades Workforce Initiative (CTWI), gathering with 42 elected officials to watch 54 talented MC3 graduates dive deep into our craft. The event helped demonstrate the strong connection between education and practical application, particularly for those in underrepresented and disadvantaged communities.