SMART released the latest episode of SMART News on Tuesday, May 2. Episode eight features videos on organized labor’s success repealing so-called right-to-work in Michigan; SMART Heroes reaching the 500th graduate milestone; victories against wage theft in Virginia and Washington; SMART-TD’s rail safety efforts in the U.S. Senate; SMART members’ retirement security; and much more.
SMART Local 80 Business Manager Tim Mulligan detailed the “travesty” of Michigan Republicans passing right-to-work legislation and taking prevailing wage away from union members in the Wolverine State; he also explained how organized labor worked with pro-worker elected officials to restore full collective bargaining power and prevailing wage in March of this year.
“Local 80, 7, 292 and actually our Transportation Division, we came together as one to get rid of right-to-work,” Mulligan told SMART News. “The repeal of right-to-work and the reinstatement of prevailing wage is so important for Michigan as a state.”
Later in the episode, International Training Institute Administrator Michael Harris and SMART Heroes graduates Kevin Moore and Sean Thompson spoke about the impact that SMART Heroes has had on their lives – as well as the other 500 military servicemembers and recent veterans the program has graduated over the last five years.
“I was honestly a little bit shocked at the level of camaraderie and brotherhood [in the union], that mimicked what I had in the [service],” said U.S. Army veteran Moore.
In other segments, SMART locals detailed recent victories on behalf of workers harmed by wage theft and worker misclassification; SMART-TD Ohio State Legislative Director Clyde Whitaker testified for rail safety in front of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee; Local 24 members highlighted enormous megaprojects and job opportunities in central Ohio; and members in Maryland and Canada talked about their work serving their neighbors during the SMART Army’s month of community action in April.
“I wasn’t quite sure that I, during my working career, would have the opportunity to see a green zone National Pension Fund,” Sellers said in his interview with SMART News. “That was a really good process for us.”
SMART members from across the United States and Canada gathered in Washington, DC on April 25th and 26th for the 2023 North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) Legislative Conference. Throughout the week, workers and elected union leaders came together to push for legislation that prioritizes workers, as well as hear from elected officials, industry stakeholders and others.
The April 25th plenary session began with a keynote address from NABTU President Sean McGarvey, who introduced and emphasized the 2023 conference theme: “Empowering the Infrastructure Generation.”
Unprecedented investment – spurred by pro-worker federal legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and more – is creating tens of thousands of jobs and sparking the renewal of America’s infrastructure. This presents opportunity for the workers of today and tomorrow, McGarvey said, and it’s vital that unions push for legislation like the National Apprenticeship Act to ensure we can train the workforce to meet demand and bring workers of all backgrounds – rural, urban, women, people of color, the formerly incarcerated, veterans and more – into unions like SMART.
“Our model makes sure workers aren’t just trained for a project, but equipped with the highest skillsets for a long and meaningful career,” McGarvey explained. “This is our time to make sure we are building the opportunity pipeline to maximize private investment with public dollars and reach communities large and small.”
McGarvey was followed by various pro-worker officials, including former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin. Walsh discussed his time working with the Biden administration and the importance of making our voices heard in the halls of power – and the need to spread the word about how pro-labor elected officials are benefiting working families.
Former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh speaks at the 2023 NABTU Legislative Conference
“Who you vote for has consequences,” Walsh said. “This is how we restore and expand access to the middle class in this country: through good, union jobs.”
Following Walsh, NABTU Legislative Conference attendees were joined by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who has overseen a transformative pro-worker shift in the Prairie State – including the passage of the Workers’ Rights Amendment, project labor agreements on more than 1,000 construction projects, a $50 million Illinois Works pre-apprenticeship program and the passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, a pro-worker clean energy law that covers climate infrastructure projects with project labor agreements.
“Workers’ rights are gaining strength,” Pritzker declared. “Supporting workers’ rights is about investing in Illinois’ most precious resource, our nation’s most precious resource: our people.”
Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin speaks at the NABTU Legislative ConferenceNABTU President Sean McGarvey speaks at the NABTU Legislative Conference.
Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin has been a steadfast advocate for the union apprenticeship model, recognizing the potential unions have to lift workers of all backgrounds into the middle class. She explained the continued significance of union apprenticeships as policy and technology shift the way the world works, and declared to conference attendees her intent to continue the fight to reauthorize the National Apprenticeship Act.
“There’s one tried and true method that has lasted and stood the test of time, and that’s apprenticeships,” Baldwin said.
The day concluded with a fiery address from President Joe Biden, who took the stage hours after announcing his run for reelection. Throughout his speech, Biden focused on the steps taken by his administration to create an American economy that grows from the bottom up and the middle out – and emphasized that “we need to finish the job.”
“I learned a long time ago: There’s labor, and then there’s UNION labor,” he declared.
Biden explained how his administration’s pro-worker agenda has led to the passage of laws including the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Together these laws helped protect multiemployer pension plans; invested heavily in HVAC, energy efficiency, production, transit, rail infrastructure and other SMART sectors; created more than 800,000 manufacturing jobs; capped insulin copays at $35 per month for those covered by Medicare; and much more. The president also referred to his executive order requiring project labor agreements on federal projects that cost more than $35 million – a policy that amounts to an investment in union labor.
“I’ve said it many times: Wall Street didn’t build America. The middle class built America, and unions built the middle class,” Biden said.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker speaks at the NABTU Legislative ConferencePresident Joe Biden addresses the NABTU Legislative Conference
“For decades, trickle-down economics hollowed out the middle class. America rewarded wealth, not work. … As jobs were lost, something else was lost as well: a sense of pride, a notion of who you are, a sense of self-worth, earning your way,” he added. “My economic plan is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America, and that’s what we’re doing: rebuilding America.”
The April 26th plenary saw remarks from a range of bipartisan speakers, including Rep. Nikki Budzinski, Republican Congressmen Don Bacon and Brian Fitzpatrick, Senator Raphael Warnock, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and others. Once again, the focus was firmly on the future – and how unions like SMART need to ensure we meet the workforce demands of this moment for generations to come. From making sure people of all backgrounds have pathways into union apprenticeships, to passing legislation that helps fund ever-evolving apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, now is the time to secure our future.
“Thank you for building the strongest and most robust country in the world,” Bacon said during his speech. “You deserve fair wages for a hard day’s work, pensions when you retire and safety at work.”
“You are at the center of America,” Warnock added during his remarks. “We need to hear your voices and countless efforts you’ve made to build this country. As you continue beating that drum, I will keep looking for every opportunity I can to stand up and protect our working people.”
Following the speaking agenda, SMART members joined representatives from the rest of the building trades on Capitol Hill to lobby for legislation that benefits our members.
“At the NABTU Legislative Conference, I had a first-hand view of the way that conditions for the working class have changed under the Biden administration and a Congress filled with pro-worker candidates,” SMART General President Joseph Sellers said. “We will continue to push for pro-labor policies that put our members to work and lift working families up.”
SMART members have been on the forefront of green union jobs for decades. Buildings account for about 40% of total energy use in the United States, with more than 35% of the energy generated in the U.S. used to operate buildings’ HVAC systems. SMART’s manufacturing members produce energy efficient air movement equipment, heating and cooling machinery and insulated duct systems. Across our two nations, these production workers build dedicated outside air systems (DOAS) units, rooftop units, water-source heat pumps, underfloor air distribution systems and chilled beams – all designed to increase energy efficiency and keep our buildings running smoothly. These green, leading-edge technologies are not only designed and manufactured by SMART members; our union sheet metal workers install the products as well.
A SMART production member at work at BYD in Los Angeles.A SMART member installs HVAC ductwork.
Members of the SMART Transportation Division are also doing their part to reduce harmful pollution, particularly in the transit sector. Whether moving passengers from point A to point B on electric buses in California or bringing citizens to work on commuter rail systems in Chicago, New Jersey and beyond, TD workers are helping accomplish the dual achievement of reducing automobile emissions and efficiently and safely transporting Americans to their destinations. And at BYD in Los Angeles, the sheet metal and transportation sectors combine, as SMART Local 105 members help manufacture electric busses for local communities.
“Whether schools, hospitals, offices or apartment buildings, SMART workers are helping reduce energy output and keeping our nations working in cleaner, healthier ways,” said SMART General President Joseph Sellers, Jr. “These green union jobs are vital for our countries and our membership.”
SMART Local 0023 members working for Santa Cruz Metro.
“The transition to net-zero is a once-in-a-lifetime economic shift, not seen since the industrial revolution, and it is absolutely vital that this work is performed by union members,” noted SMART Director of Canadian Affairs Chris Paswisty. “Whether retrofitting buildings across Canada to increase energy efficiency, performing indoor air quality work or installing green roofs, the incentives included in the 2023 Federal Budget will put our members’ labour in high demand, creating green union jobs.”
The electric vehicle industry has proven to be fertile ground for SMART, with hundreds of members currently working to build EV battery factories in states like Kentucky and Ohio. But the burgeoning sector also presents a warning – unlike the “Big Three” automakers of old, many electric vehicle manufacturers are extremely nonunion. That’s why SMART members and locals must do more than merely take on the green energy work of today, Sellers added. Labor needs to organize and engage lawmakers to ensure the economy of tomorrow works for future generations.
“There was once a time when green energy goals were at odds with the labor movement. But SMART sheet metal and transportation workers know the importance of ensuring the jobs of the future are good, family-sustaining, green union jobs,” he explained. “Across our two nations, SMART members and local unions must push our communities to adopt green energy policies with strong labor standards attached – from decarbonizing schools in Rhode Island to installing green roofing technology in Canada. We will continue bringing workers into our union to meet these new workforce needs, and work with our elected officials to make this transition to green energy with union labor.”
Local 36 sheet metal worker-owner Rochelle Bonty was recognized by the Missouri Women in Trades (MOWIT) in early April, when she earned an honorable mention in MOWIT’s 2022 Contractor of the Year category. Bonty, the first Black woman in the Local 36 apprenticeship program, started her business – RMB Mechanical, a Local 36 signatory contractor – in 2020.
“I wanted to open my own business for my family, for the industry because the number of MBE/WBE [minority business enterprise/woman business enterprise] businesses are few, and for others who look like me so they can be inspired to do the same,” Bonty told the Labor Tribune. “It’s hard, but others need to see it’s not impossible.”
Bonty entered the sheet metal trade out of a love for working with her hands and the desire to create something out of nothing; “I enjoy seeing the process of renovation and preserving the history of the city I grew up in,” she said. In 2020, that love for her craft spurred her to become a union signatory sheet metal contractor. She had been working at Ball Park Village for Clay Piping systems when the pandemic started – she was laid off, and although she returned to her previous employer, she began researching the process of starting one’s own business. Given the emphasis the pandemic has placed on indoor air quality, she immediately thought of HVAC duct cleaning.
“For me, that was the simplest thing to start, and I didn’t need as much money as opposed to taking on a major HVAC contract,” she told the Tribune. “I started making calls to businesses and asking if they needed their air ducts cleaned.”
After contacting the St. Louis Development Corporation, they offered her a grant for air duct cleaning.
“That was my first contract,” she added.
Since then, Bonty’s trailblazing career has moved forward at breakneck speed. She recently became the first Black woman to serve on the board of SMACNA St. Louis, and she has aimed to inspire more women and high school graduates to join the trades via her work as a member of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) St. Louis chapter and as a St. Louis Building Union Diversity (BUD) program mentor. Such efforts are especially significant as SMART aims to strengthen our union by organizing, recruiting and retaining workers from across all backgrounds.
“I wasn’t sure if I could [have a career in the trades], but I did,” she said. “I hope to be an example for others so they can overcome their doubts and fears and do things uncommonly in the construction industry.”
Former Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh (left) and Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su. No official affiliation with or endorsement from the Department of Labor. Photo Credit: Department of Labor Alyson Fligg
From trafficked garment workers to misclassified truck drivers, from future union apprentices to business owners who abide by the law, the record is clear: Current Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su is the right choice to lead the U.S. Department of Labor. She has a proven track record of acting on working families’ behalf – not just talking the talk – dating back to her days as a human rights lawyer.
Su began her career as an attorney working for a small nonprofit called the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, where she made headlines for a groundbreaking federal lawsuit filed on behalf of 72 Thai garment workers who were forced to work 18 hours a day in sweatshop conditions in El Monte, California. The lawsuit resulted in more than $4 million in restitution for the workers; it also kickstarted Su’s career-long dedication to fighting against wage theft and worker exploitation.
“For decades Julie Su has fought tirelessly for the rights of working people, from her time as a civil rights attorney, to her tenure as California labor secretary, to her current position as United States deputy secretary of labor,” SMART General President Joseph Sellers remarked at the time of Su’s nomination for labor secretary. “No matter her title or role, Su works to ensure safer workplaces and stronger protections for all.”
Su’s time as labor commissioner and then labor secretary of California demonstrates her commitment to fighting on behalf of SMART members and workers everywhere. She worked diligently to expand apprenticeship programs for California workers who chose not to attend college, and her relentless crusade against wage theft – including California’s “Wage Theft Is a Crime” campaign – led to countless workers receiving the pay they deserve. (It also rewarded employers who follow the law by cracking down on those who would exploit their way to bigger profits.) Su also recognized the pervasive, anti-worker threat posed by misclassification, filing suits against employers who categorized workers as independent contractors and deprived them of better pay, benefits and the ability to form a union.
“Workers of all walks of life have benefited from her advocacy, particularly her fierce struggle against worker misclassification and wage theft – two issues that are rampant in the construction industry,” Sellers added.
As much as Su has focused on enforcing labor laws and holding bad-faith employers accountable, she has done just as much to expand opportunities and position the working class for a favorable future. As leader of California’s Future of Work Commission, Su spearheaded the state’s initiative to ensure workers come first in the face of future technology and policy developments. And most recently, Su worked as former Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh’s right hand in spurring record job growth, nullifying the Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs) scheme, investing in registered apprenticeships and pursuing pro-labor policies that protect workers from issues like heat exposure and create good, family-sustaining, union jobs. Her emphasis on the union apprenticeship model is one that, once she is confirmed as secretary of labor, could benefit SMART for generations.
President Joe Biden looks on as Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su delivers remarks on her nomination as Secretary of Labor, Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
“Registered apprenticeship is one of the innovative and time-tested superhighways in the workforce development infrastructure, particularly for communities who have been excluded from good jobs for far too long,” Su said in 2022.
With Su and Walsh at the head of the Department of Labor, the United States’ economy experienced unprecedented growth, including the addition of 12.6 million jobs and the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years. This success, as well as years of working with employers and employees alike to pursue mutual prosperity, has led to Su’s nomination being endorsed by business groups like Small Business Majority and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, as well as labor unions like SMART, North America’s Building Trades Unions, the United Mine Workers of America, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and many more.
“She has demonstrated her willingness to stand with workers and SMART members since joining the Department of Labor, helping spearhead this administration’s focus on building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out,” Sellers concluded in his statement. “We look forward to working with her to advance the interests of our members and the working class, and we urge the Senate to swiftly confirm Julie Su as United States secretary of labor.”
For Chris Carlough, SMART Member Assistance Program (MAP) coordinator, the mission to help improve union workers’ mental health is personal.
“I’ve been working with the SMART MAP program for probably about 10 years or so,” Carlough said during an interview with SMART News. “It’s important to me because I’m a guy that’s in recovery from drugs and alcohol, and I see the importance of talking about some of the issues – because people don’t like to talk about mental health.”
Watch Chris Carlough discuss SMART MAP and mental health.
The SMART MAP offers mental health awareness and action training, enabling SMART mentors to provide support for members struggling with substance use disorder or mental health issues. The trainings are led by Carlough, who is working to build a compassionate, peer-based support system for members and their families. Carlough brings his own experience in recovery to reach a vulnerable population with a “tough-guy” mentality.
“These trainings start with construction workers who are rough and tumble, who push some of those emotions down,” Carlough said. “‘Rub some dirt on it, pull yourself up.’ And at the end of these trainings, we have members saying they’re going to start doing therapy…and starting to work on some self-care stuff.”
“A construction worker in this sense is more vulnerable to suicide than they are to the dangers of an actual construction site,” Carlough said. “When we saw that, we realized we needed to talk about this more.”
Through the SMART MAP program, Carlough strives to increase dialogue, reduce the stigma, and get people the resources they need.
“We’ve been able to pivot over the last few years to peer training,” Carlough said, “which is getting to our rank and file, people on the jobsite or in the shop, and really empowering them to go out there and be peer advocates for their members and getting people to be comfortable to have uncomfortable conversations.”
This important mental health work is being recognized. SMART and SMOHIT received the union award for Mental Health Visionary at the inaugural Construction Working Minds Summit in 2022. In addition, Local 33’s (northern Ohio) Eli Baccus won a Mental Health Champion award in 2022, and Local 18’s (Wisconsin) Craig Holzem is the winner of the same award for 2023.
This work is ongoing and relies on the involvement of all SMART members. Those interested in participating can reach out to their business manager, who can then contact SMOHIT.
Thanks to the efforts of SMART Local 104 and other union members across Northern California, workers in cities like Vallejo stand to benefit from the better wages, local hire provisions and strong apprenticeship standards guaranteed by a project labor agreement. These victories, part of Local 104’s ongoing Campaign for Jobs, demonstrate the power unions have to effect real change for working families when rank-and-file members stand together.
A citywide project labor agreement (PLA) is a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement between a city and a local building and construction trades council that governs the terms and conditions of public works projects, protecting taxpayer money by providing projects that are built on-budget and on-time with the use of local and skilled workers. In other words, PLAs help put union members to work, provide greater apprenticeship opportunities for the union members of the future, and keep local jobs in local communities.
“We often refer to PLAs as “Prevailing wages, Local hire and Apprenticeship,” Local 104 wrote in its recent members’ journal. “They promote apprentice opportunities and ensure that workers’ wages and benefits are protected.”
Local 104 members pose for a picture at the Vallejo City Council meeting after rallying for a citywide project labor agreement and union jobs in Northern California.
On January 17th, 2023, the city of Vallejo, Calif. brought forward a workshop for residents and city officials to discuss PLAs and the possibility of a future citywide project labor agreement. Local 104 Vallejo residents showed up in force with their fellow workers, where they spoke to the benefits of PLAs on local communities, workers, families and economies. The end result: The Vallejo City Council voted to begin PLA negotiations with the Napa/Solano Counties Building Trades Council.
“PLAs will create more local apprenticeship opportunities in the city of Vallejo, and Vallejo is well-deserving of a PLA because we have a lot of union members who live here and raise their families here,” said Local 104 Business Representative Alicia Mijares. “Because of members turning out, we were able to sway the council and deliver this to a formal negotiation. Thank you to the members of Local 104 who came out and made a difference!”
The Vallejo victory is only the latest in an ongoing string of labor agreements for Local 104 members. In October 2022, more than 30 Local 104 members joined the Sacramento Building Trades to support a citywide Community Workforce and Training Agreement (CWTA) for the city of Elk Grove. The Sacramento Building Trades had previously tried to secure an agreement with the city without success – but when a CWTA on the Sky River Casino project in Elk Grove delivered a finished project earlier than projected and under budget, the city realized the effectiveness and efficiency of trained, skilled, union labor. As SMART members and union workers looked on, the Elk Grove City Council voted 4-1 in favor of a citywide CWTA.
One month earlier, Local 104 members gathered with San Joaquin Building Trades workers to pack the Lathrop City Council meeting and call for a CWTA on an upcoming city of Lathrop corporation yard. And once again, the solidarity of organized labor proved decisive: The Lathrop City Council voted unanimously to approve the CWTA, which will cover new construction of a maintenance facility, evidence storage facility and a new office building for the city, creating more union jobs in northern California.
“While Local 104 continues to fight for labor agreements across the map, we’d like to thank every member and ally that showed up in support of the efforts mentioned, as well as any and all Campaign for Jobs actions to secure hours of work for our members,” the local concluded.
March 6-11 was Women in Construction Week – an annual celebration of women in the industry and, for SMART, the sisters who strengthen our union. With two profile videos, a photo contest, a kids art contest and a happy hour at the end of the week, SMART spent Women in Construction Week 2023 highlighting the achievements of women in the unionized sheet metal industry and showcasing the life-changing careers available to women across the United States and Canada.
“Women in Construction Week is a great opportunity to get more women members connected each year and more involved with their union,” SMART Women’s Committee Chair Vanessa Carman (Local 66) told SMART News. “It was great to see new sisters and allies attend and show their support.”
Watch: SMART sisters discuss Women in Construction Week.
SMART News interviewed sisters Korri Bus of Local 16 (Portland, Ore.) and Tatjana Sebro of Local 206 (San Diego, Calif.) about their personal experiences with Women in Construction Week and the union. For Bus, Women in Construction Week plays an important role in showing tradeswomen that even if they’re the only woman on the jobsite, they’re never alone.
“It highlights all the other women who have blazed the trail for us,” she said. “Growing up in the trades, when I was a baby apprentice, I didn’t have other women that I worked around, so I didn’t really get to connect with any of them, learn from them, be mentored by any of them, understand any of the struggles that they were also dealing with. So I think it’s really neat that we all get to come together and be celebrated … knowing that there are other women in our trade kicking butt and taking names.”
Two such trailblazing women, Shamaiah Turner of Local 17 (Boston) and Leah Rambo of Local 28 (New York City), earned the spotlight for new career advancements. Turner recently transitioned from the field into union representation, becoming a business development representative for the SMART Northeast Regional Council. And in March, Rambo retired from Local 28 to become deputy director of the executive team of the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau. Both women provide a strong example for the union sheet metal workers of the future.
Providing opportunity for women in construction
For unions like SMART, part of the aim of Women in Construction Week is to promote the value of entering the union building trades. Numerousstudies demonstrate that unionized women earn better pay and benefits than their nonunion counterparts. For that reason, it’s important to increase awareness of the unionized sheet metal trade and how women can get involved. Sebro emphasized that Women in Construction Week helps expand knowledge of the role women play in our union and our trade, as well as the obstacles many face in their journey.
“Sometimes people don’t really understand some of the struggles and the barriers that we go through as women in the trades, so to be able to have a whole week highlighted is definitely liberating for me,” she said.
The SMART sisters of Local 206 participated in a photoshoot with fellow trades sisters, sponsored by the IBEW Local 569 and hosted at the Ironworkers Local 229 union hall. For Sebro, that represented the type of sisterhood and solidarity that has helped her throughout her career – and that, as a new journeyperson, she hopes to pass on to the next generation.
“I want to continue to move mountains and to just keep rising and to bring people with me,” she declared.
Firefighters on the scene of the fiery derailment in Raymond, Minnesota.
Media outlets and elected officials continue to spotlight rail safety in the wake of derailments in East Palestine, Ohio, Raymond, Minn. and states across the country. That makes it even more crucial for SMART members, families and allies to get involved in the fight for rail safety laws, SMART-TD Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity told SMART News.
“The best way for members to get involved is to use the Action Center on our website – you go on there and you can write your representatives and let them know what your concerns are,” Cassity said. “We need everyone on board here; it’s going to take actual peer pressure and constituent pressure on our elected officials to get stuff moving and get things done.”
Watch Cassity discuss ongoing efforts to pass rail safety laws on SMART News.
The Norfolk Southern disaster showed the nation what SMART-TD members have been saying for years: precision scheduled railroading (PSR) is bad for workers, communities and the environment. Now, the heightened scrutiny has presented an opportunity for rail labor to push for new safety regulation. At the federal level, that has taken the form of the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023, legislation that includes a nationwide mandate for well-trained two-person crews on all freight trains; restrictions on train length and weight; regulations on the installation, frequency, upkeep and response to wayside defect detectors; speed restrictions; drastically increased fines for rail companies and management employees who do not adhere to rail safety protocols; and much more.
“Unfortunately, precision scheduled railroading has taken a toll, and the railroads can no longer hide behind what they’ve done to railroading. The dangers are out there for all to see, and East Palestine is proof of that,” Cassity said during his SMART News appearance. “This piece of legislation speaks to stuff that we need desperately to improve rail safety, like crew size issues, train length issues, train makeup issues, defect detector issues. It puts in place legislation that we need to start seeing the changes to put an end to PSR.”
“State Legislative Boards and State Legislative Directors are actively pursuing legislation in their states that are on the same level or in the same vein of what we’re doing federally,” Cassity said. “So our members need to reach out and contact their state directors to see what they can do to help … so [politicians] can see the support and feel the need, the desperate need that we have from our workforce to keep each other safe.”
Members looking to get involved in the fight for rail safety can text “Rail Safety” to 67336 (message and data rates may apply).
Construction on the TSMC chip plant in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo courtesy of TSMC.
New chip plant megaprojects continue to create jobs for SMART sheet metal workers across North America – including in Arizona, where huge projects have led to unprecedented job growth and a boom in the membership of SM Local 259 (Phoenix, Ariz.)
“We’ve been able to increase our membership. In 2017-18, we had 500 members, and we currently have about 850, so it’s created a lot of organizing opportunities for us,” said Jeff Holly, Local 359 business manager and financial secretary-treasurer, during a recent interview with SMART News. “All of our funds are super healthy – health and welfare, pension funds, down to general fund activity at the hall. … It’s helped out the membership a lot.”
In Chandler, Ariz., an Intel chip plant is expected to employ more than 300 sheet metal workers at its peak and continue for two to three years. And in Phoenix, Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) – the world’s largest manufacturer of advanced microchips – is building its first major U.S. production site, more than tripling its initial planned investment. The project currently employs over 400 sheet metal workers and is expected to last for three to five years.
Watch Jeff Holly’s interview on the Arizona chip plant projects on SMART News.
These chip plant projects specifically benefit SMART sheet metal workers, Holly explained.
“Everything’s got to be super clean, there’s a lot of filtration that goes into [chip plant construction] – a lot of scrubber work, exhaust, so they’re fairly labor intensive for sheet metal workers,” he said. “Most of the duct they’re using is rather large, so it ends up [requiring] more people than we used to use.”
The chip plant projects in Arizona mirror similar developments across the continent, including in Ohio, upstate New York and more. Like in Arizona, such projects provide opportunities not only for SMART sheet metal workers, but for locals aiming to organize, grow their membership and expand their market share. And while the Arizona chip plants were underway before the passage of labor-friendly legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, Holly told SMART News that such laws will benefit SMART members moving forward.
“Since the CHIPS Act was enacted,” he said “we’re looking at the possibility of having our first large-scale project labor agreement being signed out at the TSMC project, which is something that the Arizona State Building Trades has never had really any success [with]. Even though these weren’t planned when these acts were enacted, I think they’re going to pay dividends in the very near future.”
Whether chip plants, data centers, electric vehicle battery plants or infrastructure jobs, megaprojects are expected to continue breaking ground across the United States and Canada in the near future. Members interested in traveling to work these jobs should visit the Sheet Metal Job Bank for more information.
