Local 265 (DuPage County, Ill.) recognized Robert Flynn and his three sons for 200 years of combined service at its recent service award ceremony.
Robert joined Local 265 in 1954 after proudly serving in the U.S. Navy for four years on the SS New Jersey during the Korean War. In July 1963, Robert was elected as financial treasurer. In 1967, he became business agent/financial secretary, and in 1979, he was elected to business manager. In 1986, Robert was appointed as international representative, where he worked until his retirement in 1992.
Robert received his 70-year service award. Patrick received a 50-year service award, and Thomas and Timothy received 40-year service awards for a combined total of 200 years of service.
SM Local 265 (DuPage County, Ill.) members proudly demonstrated the spirit of union solidarity in late October, when they volunteered to deliver toys with DuPage County Toys for Tots.
“A huge thank you to Local 265 Sheet Metal Workers!” Toys for Tots wrote on Facebook. “After a long work day, they volunteered their time and energy to help us at Santa’s Workshop with a large delivery. Thank you for making magic happen!”
The U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots mission is to spread cheer to all during the holiday season, collecting and distributing toys to children who may otherwise go without gifts. SMART commends our Local 265 brothers and sisters for taking part in this great cause!
Blue Chilton began his sheet metal career in January 1951, and after completing a three-year apprenticeship program became a journeyperson on November 1, 1955. His first job assignment was with Carrier Corp.
Chilton served his membership working for various union contractors, including Shelton Cheek, Stephenson & Associates and Mallory & Evans, and was a foreman on most projects he worked on. He completed his sheet metal career working for Stephenson & Associates, retiring on June 1, 1988. Chilton is 90 years young and continues to work with sheet metal and other metal material, making yard art, signs and sculptures in his home shop. He has donated sculptures to the city of Rutledge and other organizations.
Thomas W. Wade Jr. – 70-year pin recipient
Thomas Wade began his sheet metal career on November 11, 1951. His first job assignment was with LD Herndon in Columbus, Georgia; he began his apprenticeship shortly thereafter but was drafted into the Army in 1953 and served in Korea until his return home in January 1955. In September 1955, he married his wife, Shirley, and they settled into family life. He then returned to the sheet metal apprenticeship program, graduating in June 1958. Wade worked for various sheet metal shops over his career, retiring from MacAbee Corporation in Birmingham Alabama.
Wade is 91 years young. He and Shirley are gardening enthusiasts; they raise fruit trees, flowers and enjoy working together in their green house.
60-year pin recipients: Michael Cannon, Billy Cleveland, James Marshall, Ronald Nelson
50-year pin recipients: Melvin Boggs, Danny Cawley, Ronald Chase, Darrell Flanigan, Wayne Gregory, David Hanley Sr., Billy Hillhouse, Charles Kangeter, Lawrence Lester Jr., Timothy Milam, Kenneth Norton, Johnny Rich, Douglas Robertson, Jerry Sherman, James Towery, Ronald Whatley
40-year pin recipients: Matthew Allen, Grady Bagwell, James Barwick, Jerry Coleman, Sandy Curry, Donald Daniel, Michael Davis, Eddie Entrekin, John Gafnea, Fred Gaskin, Glenn Gentry, Lawrence Gilmer, David Herrin, James Hill, Hames Houston, William Jarvis Jr., Bobby Jones, Ronnie Jordan, Michael Kelley, Paul Mathew, Michael Mays, Billy McClung, James McCullough, Neil Moore, Robert Murray, Timothy Perren, Douglas Polley, Joel Portwood Jr., Philip Shadix, Eric Sinclair, Chadwick Smith, Jack Smith Jr., Stanley Swinford, Frank Tyner, Jerry Whatley, George Wilson
25-year pin recipients: Victor Aristizabal, Jonatan Arriola, Charlie Ayers, Gary Baker, Richard Beall, scott Bryson, David Chestnut, Tim Clark, Darnell Cole Sr., James Cook, Tim Davenport, Michael Day, Marie Dinh, Brian Ferguson, Delbert Frazee III, Brian Ginn, Daniel Griffith, William Hughes, James Jackson III, Joel Johnson, Philip Mancuso, Wilford Martin, Craig Mauney, Kevin Murphy, Carl Napierala, Michael Newman, Sang Nguyen, Phi Nguyen, Bill Olah, Godfrey Powdar, John Reynolds, James Roderick, Anthony Sims, Lan Tran, Hue Tran, Kiet Trinh, Ernest Underwood Jr., Eric Wood
15-year pin recipients: Yisela Aguilar, Jon Allred, John Apessos, Samuel Bass, Clifford Bateman, Devon Bookal, Rodney Burke, Robert Bussell, Jacob Byrd, Caleb Case, Walter Cliett, Oscar Collum Jr., Chris Conkel, Kenneth Cook, James Cooley III, Jay Core, Diane Crowell, Reginald Davis, Richard Denney, Douglas Dixon, Duy Doan, William Duffy, Todd Eddy, Clark Felker, Nathan Forrister, Curtis Frazer, Thomas Freeman, Jaime Freshwater, Stanley Gibson Jr., Steven Gilbert, Mark Giles, Collin Grant, Jeremy Hardy, Napoleon Hernandez Barret, Lester Hood, Kenneth Huitt, Milandus Jackson, Gregory Jones, Frank Karastury Jr., Gregory King, Jason Knight, Chester Leckner III, Luz Martinez, Robert Martiny, Cody Mathis, Steven Mazurowski, Larry Minniefield, Christopher Money, Gary Morrow, Bradley Nesbit, Kelly O’Neil, John Owens, Traci Payne, William Pearson III, Staughton Sebastian, Wallace Seegar, James Shaddix Jr., Brandon Shadix, Robert Shorts, Jesse Sosebee, Joel Thrailkill, Terry Towles, James Travis III, Rodger Watkins, Dorothy Wigfall, Gregory Williams, Richard Wilson, Forrest Zuercher
President Biden delivered his second State of the Union address on February 7, 2023 – outlining the ways in which the Biden administration’s economic plan is delivering results for working families. SMART issued the following statement in response:
“On the campaign trail and during his first State of the Union speech last year, President Biden made big promises: substantial infrastructure investment for the first time in decades, the return of manufacturing to America, and an economy that works from the bottom up and the middle out, not the top down. Now, two years after the president’s inauguration, we can say that the Biden administration is delivering on those promises.
“President Biden signed legislation like the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act into law: saving hundreds of thousands of union pensions, providing the most significant investments into our country’s infrastructure and semiconductor production in generations, and making the largest American investment in clean energy ever. These investments have already put thousands of SMART sheet metal members to work, and they will drastically improve the health and working conditions of our Transportation Division members across sectors.
“Since President Biden took office, more than 200 companies have announced private investment in manufacturing, utilities and energy to the tune of $700 billion, across all 50 states. Our members are already working these jobs, from solar panel production facilities in New York to data centers in Arizona.
“And after two years of President Biden’s agenda, the American economy has created more than 12 million jobs, with an unemployment rate of 3.4% – a 54-year low.
“But, as the president made clear in this year’s State of the Union, there is more work to do. We look forward to working with Congress and this administration to end the anti-worker corporate scheme that is Precision Scheduled Railroading. And we call on Congress to pass a billionaire minimum tax, which will finally see the one percent pay their fair share and ease the damaging impact of inflation for working families; expand the Child Tax Credit, which will lift more children and families out of poverty; extend the Inflation Reduction Act’s price cap on insulin to all Americans; and pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which will make it easier for workers to form a union.”
The U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau appointed SMART Local 28’s Leah Rambo as deputy director of its executive team in early February. In response, SMART issued the following statement:
“The U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau does important work lifting up our sisters who strengthen our economy, our industry and our union – and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion across the trades. We celebrate the Bureau’s appointment of Leah Rambo from SMART Local 28 (New York City) as a deputy director on its executive team. As the director of training for Local 28 and a member of our SMART International Women’s Committee, Leah has worked tirelessly to recruit and retain an increasing number of women and ensure safe, quality work and training environments.
“Thanks to unprecedented investments in our infrastructure, megaprojects continue to come in across the country. We all have a responsibility to make sure women in our communities have access to the good, family-sustaining union jobs and the benefits our union and industries provide. We know Leah will be a dedicated advocate in the efforts to expand opportunities for women and their families.”
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is infusing $292 million into the completion of the Hudson Tunnel modernization project, which will rehabilitate the old North River Tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey, build a new tunnel and improve reliability for the 200,000 passengers who traverse the tunnel each weekday. President Biden visited New York City to champion the project on January 31, 2023, where he noted that this phase of the project will create 72,000 jobs.
“Yesterday in Baltimore, I announced that we’re building [the B&P Tunnel project] under the new project labor agreement. And we’re making sure there is [a PLA] here as well,” Biden said. “The agreement contractors and unions put in place … before construction begins to ensure major projects are handled with well-trained, highly skilled union workers that resolve disputes ahead of time, ensuring safer work sites, avoiding disruptions and work stoppages that can cause expensive and extensive delays down the line.”
Funding for the modernization project faltered under the previous president’s administration. But thanks to the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021, construction can resume in earnest for this crucial phase of the project. This alone will put tens of thousands of union members to work – and once the tunnel has been fully modernized, it will vastly improve the working conditions for SMART Transportation Division members working for Amtrak and regional transit systems.
“Since the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’ve seen time and again how important critical infrastructure projects are for our members – both the sheet metal members who work on these projects, and the transit workers who keep our country moving every day,” said SMART General President Joseph Sellers. “We applaud the pro-labor leadership of Congress and the Biden administration in putting these funds directly towards projects that benefit working people.”
The Northeast Corridor accounts for approximately 20% of the United States economy’s GDP. “If this line shuts down for just one day it would cost our economy $100 million,” Biden said. “And the current Hudson River rail tunnel can be a major chokepoint.”
“This is one of the biggest, most consequential projects in the country,” he added. “But we finally have the money, and we’re going to get it done.”
In addition to New York and Baltimore, the AP reports, infrastructure law funding will spur work on the Brent Spence Bridge, which connects Kentucky and Ohio; the Calcasieu River Bridge in Louisiana; a commuter rail project in Illinois; the Alligator River Bridge in North Carolina; a transit and highway plan in California; and roadways in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Mississippi.
“Funding from this law – along with renewed investment from private companies – is creating a level of opportunity across our country that is almost unheard of,” SMART Director of Organizing Darrell Roberts remarked. “Our members are ready to take on this work, and we as an organization are ready to bring in new members and elevate the working class throughout this nation.”
Amtrak officials joined representatives from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the state of Maryland, SMART TD Alt. National Legislative Director Jared Cassity and President Biden to kick off the first phase of the B&P Tunnel Replacement Program in Baltimore. The Civil War-era tunnel will be replaced by the brand-new Frederick Douglass Tunnel, increasing service reliability, capacity and speed from 30 mph to a peak of 110 mph. Not only will this save commuters time on the largest rail bottleneck between Washington, DC and New Jersey; thanks to a new project labor agreement (PLA), both SMART sheet metal workers and SMART Transportation Division members working at Amtrak stand to benefit for years to come.
“The sorely needed replacement of the B&P Tunnel represents one of the largest infrastructure projects in the region,” said SMART General President Joseph Sellers. “It will improve the lives of Amtrak riders and the SMART TD members who work those trains, and the PLA covering the project will ensure the job is completed by highly skilled workers – lifting local communities up in the process. Our members look forward to applying their professionalism and craft to this vital work.”
The PLA, negotiated by Amtrak and the Baltimore-DC Building and Construction Trades Council, will cover the replacement of the Warwick Bridge and is the first of its kind under a 2021 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Amtrak and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU). The MOU will apply to Amtrak’s major civil engineering projects moving forward, including the remaining phases of the B&P Tunnel Replacement Program, and will help put SMART sheet metal members to work on critical infrastructure jobs across the country.
Once completed, the new Frederick Douglass Tunnel will vastly improve the lives and working conditions of SMART TD Amtrak workers.
The B&P Tunnel is Amtrak’s oldest tunnel on the Northeast Corridor and, according to an Amtrak media release, a single point of failure for both MARC and Amtrak trains. The 1.4-mile tunnel connects Baltimore to Washington, DC, and endures a range of age-related maladies, including excessive water infiltration, structural deterioration and delays that impact more than 10% of trains during the week. All of this not only impacts the lives of commuters; it complicates the work SMART TD members perform on a daily basis.
Now, thanks to the receipt of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – as well as a $450 million contribution from the state of Maryland, which will combine with Amtrak’s intended commitment of approximately $750 million – Amtrak workers can look forward to performing their duties with significantly less hassle.
“As the workers who safely transport passengers to their destinations every day, SMART TD members know better than anyone how vital it is for our rail infrastructure to be up-to-date and geared towards safety,” Cassity said. “The B&P Tunnel replacement will benefit commuters and Amtrak workers for generations to come, and we applaud Amtrak, the state of Maryland and the federal government for pursuing it.”
A new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) estimates that misclassified construction workers lose out on as much as $16,729 per year in income and job benefits compared with what they would have earned as employees. The study, which broadly focuses on worker misclassification across multiple industries, not only demonstrates the economic cost faced by workers when their employer denies their basic rights on the job; it also reaffirms the need for the United States Congress to pass pro-worker laws like the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.
Worker misclassification is one of the more common ways bad-faith employers deprive workers of their rights and fair compensation. By incorrectly classifying an employee as an independent contractor, employers deprive workers of, among other things:
Overtime wage and hour protections;
The right to earn a minimum wage;
Eligibility to participate in state and federal unemployment insurance systems or qualify for workers’ compensation insurance;
National Labor Relations Act protections that guarantee workers’ rights to form a union and bargain collectively for better pay and benefits.
“Contractors who misclassify their employees aren’t just depriving those workers of pay, benefits and protections; they are actively bringing down the wages and working conditions in local areas, and exploiting working families in order to strengthen their market share – taking jobs from SMART members in the process.”
The EPI study analyzed the 11 professions most likely to be misclassified by employers, including home health aides, landscapers, truck drivers, janitors and nail salon workers. (Notably, the analysis pointed out, “people of color and immigrant workers are more likely to be in occupations where misclassification is common.”) For construction workers, the disparities for misclassified workers – especially when compared to the wages and benefits negotiated in a union contract – could mean the difference between a family-sustaining career and living paycheck to paycheck.
“According to our calculations, illegal misclassification costs the typical construction worker between $10,177 and $16,729 per year,” the EPI wrote in its study. “These estimates are both conservative because we have not attempted to place a monetary value on the worker’s loss, when misclassified as an independent contractor, of rights guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act, including the possibility of union representation.”
The EPI added: “Policymakers should establish or expand the use of a strong, uniform protective legal test for determining employee status and pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would make it harder for employers to misclassify employees in order to prevent them from forming a union and bargaining collectively.”
The devastating effects of worker misclassification demonstrate how important it is that SMART members and locals work to bring unorganized workers into the union.
“Contractors who misclassify their employees aren’t just depriving those workers of pay, benefits and protections; they are actively bringing down the wages and working conditions in local areas, and exploiting working families in order to strengthen their market share – taking jobs from SMART members in the process,” said SMART General President Joseph Sellers. “By fighting against misclassification and bringing those workers into SMART, we lift all workers up – including our current and future members.”
The White House, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The outlook for union labor and working families in America has improved drastically in the last 21 months.
From 2016–2020, workers fought against an onslaught of anti-labor policies, executive orders, personnel appointments and more:
Anti-worker government actions, 2016–2020
1.The previous administration and Congress refused to include union pension protection in COVID-19 relief bills.
2.The previous president attempted to devalue SMART/union apprenticeships through expanded management-devised Industry- Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs).
3.The previous president’s FRA administrator refused to implement two-person crew rules and attempted to override state laws with an imposed one-person crew standard.
4.Anti-worker figures were appointed to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), including Peter Robb — a management-side labor lawyer — as general counsel.
5. The former NLRB made it more difficult for workers to picket a subcontractor.
6.The former NLRB held that employers can legally monitor or search employees’ personal vehicles on company premises.
7.The former NLRB issued a decision making it easier for employers to restrict employees’ rights to talk to their coworkers about their union during work time, including asking a coworker to join the union, asking a coworker to vote to strike or asking a coworker to vote to ratify a contract.
8.The former NLRB proposed a rule questioning whether building trades union agreements properly recognize the union as majority representative — even when the agreements contain language that recognizes the union as majority representative. This proposed rule would make it easier for contractors to walk away from the contract after it expires without attempting to negotiate a new agreement.
9.The previous president signed an executive order that threatened funding for Social Security.
10. The previous president’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) responded to the pandemic with temporary guidance that removed most employer responsibility to investigate or record workplace-related coronavirus cases in non-healthcare workplaces — including for essential sheet metal, rail and bus workers.
11.The previous president’s signature law, the Tax Cut and Jobs Acts (TCJA), encouraged offshoring of both paper profits and real production of U.S. multinational companies – hurting workers.
12. The previous president recommended vetoing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act if it reached his desk.
13.The previous president proposed a 2020 budget that would have cut Department of Labor (DOL) funding and eliminated the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a public-private partnership that helps small- and medium-sized manufacturers (and their workers) compete.
14.The previous administration encouraged firms to misclassify employees as independent contractors, lowering workplace standards and putting union jobs in jeopardy.
15.The previous administration rescinded a rule that required large employers or employers of workers in dangerous occupations to submit detailed logs of workplace injuries and illnesses for OSHA to publish online — making it harder to regulate and prevent further injuries.
16.By revoking an earlier rule, the previous administration made it easier for contractors who violate basic labor and employment laws to be awarded contracts paid for by taxpayer dollars.
17.The former NLRB gave employers more power to prevent organizers and off-duty employees from talking with employees at the workplace, during nonwork time, about forming a union.
18.The previous president’s DOL proposed a rule that would make it easier for employers to use the “fluctuating workweek” method, which better allows companies to avoid paying their workers overtime.
19.The previous administration rolled back child labor laws that regulated teenage use of operator-driven power lifts without supervision.
20. The previous administration proposed a paid parental-only leave plan that would force workers to cut into their Social Security benefits to fund their paid parental leave.
21.The previous administration announced a program that allowed employers who violate wage and hour laws to avoid paying penalties by volunteering to investigate themselves.
22.The previous administration weakened workplace safety protections for offshore drilling workers by eliminating a requirement for third-party inspections of safety measures and equipment, making key safeguards optional and allowing for industry self-policing.
23.The previous administration eliminated workers’ ability to choose who to form a union with, enhancing employers’ ability to manipulate bargaining units by adding in workers they feel would oppose the union.
24.The previous administration and Congress constantly attempted to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, which helps provide better healthcare for families of SMART members.
25.The previous administration delayed and weakened a mine inspection rule, allowing employers to send miners in before inspections are finished and letting operators not record hazardous conditions if they correct them “promptly.”
26.The previous president said he “loved right-to-work,” and his Justice Department successfully argued to make it the standard policy for government employees.
In the 2020 election, working people made their voice heard at the ballot box — and since then, the outlook for SMART members has changed for the better, as your union has constantly pushed the current administration to act on behalf of workers.
Pro-worker government actions, January 2021–Present
1.The current Congress and president passed the American Rescue Plan into law, which jumpstarted the U.S. economy, provided billions of dollars in union pension relief, invested billions into reopening schools and indoor air quality, and allocated $100 million to OSHA for worker safety.
2.The current Congress and president passed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, which will help cut healthcare prices for working families, fight climate change and hold the one percent accountable to pay their fair share in taxes. The IRA invests heavily in green energy infrastructure, with strong labor standards ensuring that SMART sheet metal workers will be in demand for this work.
3.The current Congress and president passed the CHIPS and Science Act, which invests in the U.S. semiconductor industry and American-made manufacturing. SMART sheet metal workers are uniquely qualified for the good, union jobs (constructing and maintaining semiconductor facilities) this legislation will create.
4.The current president and Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will rebuild our country’s crumbling infrastructure. Along with huge investments in traditional infrastructure like our nation’s railroad and public transportation systems, the law focuses on the industries in which SMART members work — like indoor air quality, energy efficiency and more — providing an enormous number of new jobs in the future.
5.The current House of Representatives passed the National Apprenticeship Act of 2021, which invests in registered apprenticeships while cutting federal funding for anti-union IRAPs. If this bill passes the Senate, the current president will sign it into law.
6.The current president appointed Marty Walsh, a lifetime union member and former president of the Boston Building Trades, to lead the U.S. Department of Labor.
7.The current president appointed Amit Bose as FRA administrator. Bose has consistently welcomed SMART TD to the table and listened to our concerns and perspective on matters that would impact SMART members.
8.Bose’s FRA proposed long overdue federal two-person crew regulations, which would provide much-needed safety and job assurances to our members.
9.Within hours of taking office, the current president fired Peter Robb, the most anti-union general counsel in the NLRB’s history, and appointed a pro-worker NLRB, including Jennifer Abruzzo — formerly the Special Counsel for Strategic Initiatives at the Communications Workers of America — as general counsel.
10.NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo issued a memo urging the NLRB to outlaw anti-union captive audience meetings.
11.NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo has proposed requiring employers to recognize a union once a majority of workers sign pro-union cards, rather than forcing workers to seek recognition via NLRB election or other, more complicated methods.
12.NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo has declared that college athletes have the right to organize, as do immigrant workers in the United States.
13.In its first major decision, the NLRB found that employers violate federal labor law by barring workers from wearing pro-union buttons or other apparel, enshrining workers’ rights to wear pro-worker gear on the job.
14.The current president appointed Doug Parker — former staff attorney for the United Mine Workers of America and executive director of Worksafe, an organization that advocates for workers in the Bay Area — as director of OSHA, returning the agency to its pro-worker role.
15.The current president appointed Jessica Looman, formerly the executive director of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council, to lead the DOL Wage and Hour Division.
16.The current president issued an executive order repealing the former administration’s IRAP initiative, putting to bed one of the most serious threats the union building trades have faced.
17.The current president approved the environmental impact statement for the Hudson Tunnel Project and restored nearly $1 billion for California High Speed Rail, all of which was blocked by the previous administration. These projects would provide more jobs for SMART members.
18.The FRA released a new fatigue rule that “requires certain railroads to develop and implement a Fatigue Risk Management Program as one component of the railroads’ larger railroad safety risk reduction programs.”
19.The current administration’s OSHA announced a National Emphasis Program (NEP) related to heat and workplace safety. The NEP will prioritize inspections on hot days, target high-risk industries (including construction) and develop a federal rule to protect workers from heat-related illnesses.
20.For the first time in 40 years, the DOL announced a proposed rule updating and strengthening Davis- Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) prevailing wage regulations.
21.The current White House launched the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge to encourage buildings to improve ventilation. The recommendations specifically noted that skilled, trained and certified workers (SMART members) should perform this work.
22.The current president signed an executive order strengthening Buy American provisions, requiring federal bodies to buy more American-made products and invest in domestic manufacturing.
23.The current president signed an executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15/hour.
24.The current president signed an executive order that gives workers the federally protected ability to refuse dangerous work.
25.The current president signed an executive order establishing the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, which released 70 recommendations to promote worker organizing and collective bargaining.
26.The current president signed an executive order requiring project labor agreements on large federal projects (costing $35 million or more).
27.The current administration announced over $386 million in consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program funds to 46 projects in 32 states and the District of Columbia — an investment in rail workers’ safety.
28.In August 2022, the White House launched an initiative to promote better air in buildings, linking to the SMART website for guidance from the experts in this field — a tacit endorsement of SMART workers as the experts qualified to perform indoor air quality work.
29.The current president has openly sided with workers seeking to unionize at Amazon, sought the input of SMART and other unions in relation to construction, transportation and other impactful policy areas, and signed executive orders repealing anti-union rules of the previous administration.
30.The current president initiated student loan debt relief for working families, removing a key barrier for workers and their children as they seek to enter the middle class.
31.Current president and Congress passed and signed the PACT Act, to support veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the first Gulf War, the Vietnam War and a host of smaller deployments across the globe in between those campaigns who suffered from exposure to chemicals and other toxins.
Make no mistake: In the United States, the upcoming midterm election is vitally important to the advancement of the pro-worker agenda. Normally this would sound cliché, but all it takes is a look at current events to understand what our country is facing. Our jobs, our democracy and our families’ futures are on the line, and the decisions that will be made in the coming two years will determine our success moving forward.
The members of our union have made historic progress in the past 21 months. Instead of a cold shoulder for labor and our interests, we now have open door access in the Oval Office and in Congress, giving us a voice on decisions that affect the lives of workers and their families. We now have a seat at the table; we are able to advocate for your livelihood on matters of policy and planning. This new access has paid off. Time after time, our allies in Congress and the current administration did more than elicit words of support; they acted on your priorities as union men and women.
In fact, no administration or Congress since the 1930s has accomplished so much working with labor in so little time. Since January 2021, we have seen the elimination of the Cadillac tax on members’ and retirees’ health care; the strengthening of multiemployer retirement programs and retirement security; the reintroduction of a two-person crew rule that would make the rule of two a federal regulation; and a historic infrastructure package that goes beyond funds for roads and bridges, directing federal resources to critical rail infrastructure improvements — with a real safety review and operator protections — as well as cleaner and safer building indoor air quality (IAQ) work, all of which will deliver thousands of jobs to SMART members. Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs), introduced by the previous administration to undermine our long-standing registered apprenticeship programs, were eliminated. This new administration and Congress prioritized a pro-organizing initiative to ensure that workers looking to form a union and strengthen your collective bargaining power were met with serious support.
The members of our union have made historic progress in the past 21 months.
All of these substantial advances were made because of the work we put in to support pro-labor elected officials from both parties. That includes officials like Don Bacon, a Republican member of Congress from Nebraska who stands with SMART members on the issues that matter to working families, as well as Tim Ryan — a long-time proworker candidate who never forgot his blue-collar values and has spent his career standing up for workers. We don’t look at party label — we look to support those who do more than just promise; who act on our behalf.
Unfortunately, there are special interests who are looking to reverse our gains. A network of anti-worker groups and corporations are quietly funding and assisting those opposed to our values. They want a return to the days when workers had no say in the direction of this nation, and they see themselves as the sole arbiters of what is best for us, our families and our jobs. They care only about their own profit and power. We cannot hand the reins back over to them; we cannot let them rule over our lives and dictate our families’ futures.
We have come far in only 21 months – and we still have ground to cover as we work to make sure working families are prioritized in the halls of power. I urge you to vote on November 8th to secure your future by locking in the gains we have made.
