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Prince George’s (PG) County in Maryland is currently considering a project labor agreement (PLA) for the county’s blueprint schools program, which will use a public-private partnership model for more than $1 billion in school construction in the county. The PLA, which has faced opposition from entities like the Association of Builders and Contractors, would be crucial for local SMART members and working families, particularly those from historically underserved communities.   

SMART News was on the scene as SMART members, local building trades workers and allies rallied in Greenbelt, Maryland on February 15th for a town hall hosted by PG County At-Large Councilmember Mel Franklin, Jr. on the school construction project. Brandishing signs that read “Local Jobs for Local Residents,” “Union Jobs = Quality Jobs” and more, workers from SMART, IUPAT DC 51, Plumbers Local 5, Mid-Atlantic Carpenters union, Steamfitters Local 602, Iron Workers Local 5 and pro-labor advocates made their voices heard on the need for a PLA.

Watch coverage of the rally for a project labor agreement in Prince George’s County on SMART News

“I’m a Prince George’s resident, and I may have done one job in Prince George’s County in over a decade,” SMART Local 100 (Washington, DC-area) member and PG County resident Antonio Palmer explained to SMART News. “We want to be able to have an equal opportunity, as Prince George’s County union members, to be able to work within the county.”

“Everyone deserves a wage that can sustain a family here in Prince George’s County,” Progressive Maryland Executive Director Larry Stafford, Jr. told the crowd ahead of the town hall. “And that applies to our school construction!”

“One of the greatest ways we can protect Prince George’s County residents is through a Project Labor Agreement,” added PG County Councilmember Edward P. Burroughs III.

During the town hall, multiple union workers conveyed the importance of PLAs to Councilmember Franklin and Jason Washington, director of the PG County Public Schools Office of Alternative Infrastructure Planning and Development. Workers stressed that merely having prevailing wage on public school construction isn’t enough – by using a project labor agreement, the county can better ensure fair pay, local hiring provisions and fight back against worker misclassification. Additionally, some added, putting local union members to work on local schools sends a strong message to PG County students who are interested in the trades.

“It’s really huge that we have this, because it helps bring the work and the money right back into Prince George’s County,” said SMART Local 100 member and PG County resident Victor Champion.

“I’ve been travelling to Virginia for over 17 years to work,” added Local 100 member and PG County resident Warren Hackley. “I think we should have a fair opportunity to work within the Prince George’s County area.”

Local 17 (Boston) sheet metal worker Adrian Mobley took her time entering the trade. She originally attended college on a full-ride soccer scholarship; after leaving to take care of her father, she became a nursing assistant for nine years. But that all changed when she entered the Building Pathways pre-apprenticeship program and met Local 17’s Shamaiah Turner.

“She’s awesome. She is a great mentor,” Mobley explained during a Women In Construction Week 2023 video profile. “She came in and talked to my class, [and] just seeing her and how passionate she was – I was like, ‘you know what? I want to be like her. I can do that.’”

Women In Construction Week 2023 profile video on Local 17 member Adrian Mobley

The SMART video team followed Mobley through a typical workday, starting with her 5:40 a.m. commute and ending around 2:30 in the afternoon. She’s currently working on the South Station Terminal project in Boston, installing various pieces of duct. That project, she said, is indicative of what she enjoys about her sheet metal career.

“What I love about doing sheet metal is, honestly, driving past a building that I worked on and being proud, saying: Wow, I did that,” Mobley explained. “I love the welding aspect of it as well … putting the duct up, gunking, sealing, everything that comes with [sheet metal.] The camaraderie on the job … it’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s different.”

She also pointed out the outsized impact that her union membership has made on her personal life. Mobley worked for several different agencies throughout her tenure as a nonunion nursing assistant, and she never had the financial security to move out of her parents’ house. Even worse, none of those companies provided her with health or dental benefits. That all changed, Mobley noted, when she joined Local 17.

“I got into the union, and I stacked: saved money, saved, saved, and now I have a two-bedroom condo and I’m loving it. So I thank the union for that,” she said.

Along with the benefits of her SMART membership and her favorite parts about sheet metal work, Mobley discussed her experience as an apprentice, Tradeswomen Build Nations 2018 and more. She concluded her profile with a word of advice to the SMART sheet metal sisters of tomorrow:

“If a woman approached me right now wanting to get into sheet metal, I would tell her go for it. If you see me doing it, you can do it. I saw another woman doing it, and I convinced myself I could do it.”

On February 28, President Biden announced his intent to nominate current Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. In response, SMART issued the following statement:  

“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. 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.   

“No matter her title or role, Su works to ensure safer workplaces and stronger protections for all. 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. 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.”   

On February 28, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representatives Bobby Scott and Brian Fitzpatrick reintroduced the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act. In response, SMART issued the following statement:

“Today, we at SMART join Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Reps. Bobby Scott (Va.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) in their call to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. 

“It’s no secret that workers in unions have higher wages, better benefits and safer working conditions. But due to outdated labor laws, too many workers across this country face employer interference in their efforts to organize, unionize and collectively bargain. Those bad faith employers break the law and rake in record profits, while many working people can barely support their families. 

“The PRO Act would fully restore the right of workers to form a union and bargain collectively and ensure dignity and fair treatment for all. It’s time for us to hold corporations accountable for union-busting and for the law to work for working people.”

An image of the TSMC chip plant project in Phoenix, Arizona
Construction on the TSMC chip plant in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo courtesy of TSMC.

SMART released the latest episode of the Talking SMART podcast on February 23, featuring a discussion with SMART Director of Organizing Darrell Roberts, Local 265 President/Business Manager and SMART 11th General Vice President John Daniel and SASMI Executive Director Ken Colombo about new travel benefits and incentives available to sheet metal members.

A wave of new megaprojects – or projects valued at over $1 billion – is creating unprecedented job opportunities for SMART sheet metal workers across the United States and Canada, as well as driving new changes and growth in the benefits available to SMART members.

To meet the ongoing demand for sheet metal workers, SMART and SASMI are coordinating to expand travel incentives and benefits available to SMART sheet metal workers who are willing to travel for work, and the International is developing resources to help local unions organize to secure more work for SMART members.

Throughout the conversation, Roberts underscored how the large volume of pending work presents huge growth and organizing opportunities for SMART, as well as challenges for locals in terms of staffing these large projects.

“We’re going to have areas where we have megaprojects where the local will be impacted severely,” he explained. “We could see membership growing double to triple what their current membership needs are currently.”

Colombo, meanwhile, detailed the new and increased financial incentives for SMART sheet metal workers willing to travel for work. The SASMI travel benefit has been increased to a maximum of $1,800, up from the previous travel incentive of a maximum of $1,125. In addition, non-SASMI members will now be eligible for traveler incentives, providing they are dispatched to a job that has SASMI in the collective bargaining agreement.

Daniel emphasized how megaprojects and new work stemming from infrastructure legislation are driving SMART to innovate to meet workforce needs across our two nations – both by expanding travel benefits and by working to bring members of all backgrounds into our union.

“Our absolute need to grow, paired with the megaprojects, the infrastructure spending, that’s going to create the opportunity for us to meet the numbers that we need moving forward,” Daniel noted. “And it’s also going to drive us to evolve as an organization.”

At the end of this episode, SMART General President Joseph Sellers joined a SMART Local 24 (northern Ohio) member for a wide-ranging conversation about megaprojects, traveler opportunities and how members can get involved with the union.

Return to Talking SMART index page.

Talking SMART is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network — working people’s voices, broadcasting worldwide 24 hours a day.

Megaprojects in the News

SMART sheet metal locals across the country mobilized for the first-ever Belonging and Excellence for ALL (BE4ALL) toy drive in December 2022, which served the dual purpose of distributing gifts to those in need and spreading the word about our union’s best-kept secret: the benefits of a career in the unionized sheet metal industry.

“One of the initiatives that we decided to get involved in this year was to start a toy drive, or at least partner with our locals and our contractor industry partners that are already involved in toy drives,” said SMART International Organizer and BE4ALL Committee member Josh Garner in an interview with SMART News. “We wanted to provide them with a gift tag that has a QR code on it that takes the recipient of these gifts to a landing page where they can learn about what it is to become a sheet metal worker, they can learn about our trade, they can learn about our industries.”

Watch Garner discuss the BE4ALL toy drive on SMART News

The BE4ALL Committee designed a template for the gift tag, which included the QR code linking to a website designed to appeal to prospective sheet metal workers of all ages. Locals then requested either printed tags or emailed templates to be printed on Avery labels and affixed to gifts. Additionally, locals and contractors were encouraged to collect union-made, construction-themed toys, maintaining a cohesive theme for the event.

Garner explained that, as union members, SMART sheet metal workers are already involved in the community, giving back via their essential labor and through year-round community service. The BE4ALL toy drive offered the opportunity to further those service efforts while providing more information to the general public on what sheet metal workers actually do.

“We have a lot of young parents who may be looking for that opportunity to provide a better life for their families, their children,” he told SMART News. “This gives us an opportunity to bring awareness to our industry, to our trade, and hopefully pay it forward and pass those opportunities on to other individuals as well.”

The principles of solidarity and lifting people up are core to SMART and the labor movement at large. The BE4ALL toy drive embodied those values and demonstrated the fact that all workers benefit when we act to support one another.

“When you’re able to be involved in an initiative like this toy drive and you’re able to give back – there’s not a better feeling, there really isn’t,” Garner added.

As temperatures drop during cold and flu season, and Covid infections continue to pose public health challenges, it’s more important than ever to have proper ventilation in schools, offices and other buildings – and SMART sheet metal members are the highly skilled workers with the qualifications and expertise to perform that work. In Washington state, Local 66 members like fourth-year TAB apprentice Kelsy Sturzen are hard at work ensuring the quality of the air breathed by local students.

“I am one of the people that goes through and makes sure that all of the air coming out of the equipment matches what the engineers have designed for that space,” Sturzen said in a recent interview with SMART News. “We make sure that the equipment is working properly, controlling properly, so that we have the proper air changes per hour.”

Learn more about Sturzen’s journey in the trade and her work on air quality in schools.

Sturzen, who works at signatory contractor Holaday-Parks, Inc., spent the eight years prior to her apprenticeship working as the childcare director at the Boys & Girls Club of King County, Washington – a job she entered immediately after graduating from Central Washington College. Eventually, though, she needed a change, and her husband suggested the apprenticeship program at Local 66. Since then, Sturzen has loved life as a tradesperson.

“What I like about the work is that on any given day it can change,” she explained. “There’s always a surprise, there’s always a new problem to overcome. Some days it’s physical, some days it’s not – it’s never the same day.”

Sturzen, the first female technician Holaday-Parks has hired, is currently working on a tenant improvement project at a local elementary school. Indoor air quality has always been vitally important for the health and wellbeing of Americans, especially children, but that area of work has risen in profile since the onset of the pandemic. Now that Americans are fully returning to schools, offices and other public gathering areas, it’s vital that air is circulated in those spaces.

“I would tell a parent whose child was going to an elementary school that I was working on that the importance of the quality of their air realistically goes along with the quality of the education that they want their child to have,” Sturzen told SMART News. “[Poor] quality of air impedes your ability to think clearly, just like [not] getting enough sleep or [not] getting the proper nutrition. Breathing quality air and knowing that you’re in an environment where you can breathe easily and safely is an important fact to know.”

“It gives me a sense of fulfillment knowing that people are breathing a little bit easier because of the job that we’re doing,” she added. “[We’re] making sure that they come into a space where they know that they’re being taken care of.”

Unprecedented infrastructure investment continues to create jobs for SMART sheet metal workers across the country. That includes Connecticut, where a project labor agreement is putting SMART Local 40 sheet metal members to work at Bradley International Airport.

“It’s a fantastic thing. We have a bunch of different people, not only from my local but overall in the Connecticut building trades, doing the background work, talking to the right folks so that we can go in there and make good, living wages” said Local 40 journeyperson Manny Heredia in an interview with SMART News.

Watch Nimmons and Heredia discuss new work for members on SMART News.

The jobs Local 40 members will perform are part of approximately $230 million of work on the airport, which will see a total overhaul of the airport’s baggage handling area. Approximately $20 million of that amount is from federal infrastructure legislation, which included strong hiring incentives that benefit union members.

“We’re going to do energy efficient upgrades to the terminal, HVAC improvements which will include indoor air quality, MERV 13 or better air filters because it is an airport where everyone’s coming in, with all the airborne illnesses we’ve had,” Local 40 Regional Manager John Nimmons told SMART News.

“We are becoming a go-to trade, because people are realizing these buildings do need to have great ventilation systems,” Heredia added.

In the past, Nimmons explained, any renovations on Bradley International Airport would likely have been performed by nonunion workers. However, current Governor Ned Lamont sought the support of the Connecticut Building Trades during both of his election campaigns, and in return, he has acted in support of union workers.

“We now get to reap the benefits of jobs going our way with just the stroke of the governor’s pen,” Nimmons added. “All four years of our apprenticeship classes are full – we’re actively recruiting journeypersons and apprentices. The workload we have under project labor agreements, public and private in the state of Connecticut, looks very good over the next two-and-a-half to three years.”

SMART members across the United States and Canada are the frontline workers helping to build a sustainable future – from roofers installing green roofs to meet net zero goal in Canada, to transit workers helping reduce automobile emissions, to sheet metal workers constructing LEED-certified buildings across our two nations. In a recent interview with Climate Jobs National Resource Center (NRC) New York, SMART Local 28 (New York City) draftsman/sketcher Kandice Rogers, an 11-year union member, detailed the crucial role SMART workers play – and will continue to play – in the fight against climate breakdown.

“As the climate crisis continues to worsen, it’ll be our job [as union members] to make sure that people can continue to live in the spaces they want to live in,” she said in the interview.

Rogers originally applied for the Local 28 apprenticeship program on the advice of her best friend’s dad, a union member himself. She had graduated college with an architecture degree but found herself trying to enter the workforce during the Great Recession, when there were simply no jobs. So, after completing a pre-apprenticeship program, she entered the union, starting in HVAC duct installation before moving to the sketching department.

“Before coming into this work, I had no idea what it meant being union,” Rogers told Climate Jobs NRC. “Now, I can’t imagine a life without being a union member. Being a union member has allowed me to have job security. I was able to buy a home, start a family, and have a comfortable life because I’m a union member. If I had known about [apprenticeships] in high school, I would have come straight here, but I’m just glad I’m here now.”

Rogers said she experienced the growing ramifications of climate change back in her installation days, when inordinately high temperatures sent her to the hospital with heat-induced dehydration. As volatile weather conditions continue to increase, she pointed out, working conditions – particularly for construction workers – will deteriorate correspondingly.

In the interview, Climate Jobs NRC pointed out that a number of New York unions are “organizing to make public schools safer, healthier, and carbon-free by upgrading HVAC systems.” Rogers elaborated on the importance of that effort for the students of today as well as future generations.

“We have new technology now, things like Heat Recovery Systems, that help recycle the air and reduce the energy use of these HVAC systems,” she explained. “We can reduce the spread of Covid and other airborne viruses, lower the carbon footprint of these buildings, and reduce energy costs all at the same time now. We’ll need HVAC to survive whatever changes are happening to our climate.”

“Ultimately, as a mom, I want my son to be able to go to places like school without getting sick,” she added.

Tradeswomen Build Nations (TWBN) is the largest conference of tradeswomen in the world, created by North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) to help women in the construction industry achieve access, opportunity and equity at work. From October 28–30, 2022, more than 3,100 tradeswomen from across North America gathered in Las Vegas to share experiences and best practices with fellow tradeswomen, learn about new programs and opportunities in the industry, and to engage with top leaders from government, industry and the 15 largest international building trades unions.

The three-day conference featured two formal plenary sessions, a banner parade on the Las Vegas strip and over a dozen workshops on a range of topics addressing unique and critical issues faced by tradeswomen in the workforce.

The plenaries included powerful keynote speeches and remarks from NABTU President Sean McGarvey, U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, U.S. Labor Relations Manager Allison Ziogas, Las Vegas Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, IUBAC International President Tim Driscoll, U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon and a host of others

Over 300 SMART sisters and allies attended the conference and participated in workshops covering a wide range of topics.

The “Women in Union Leadership” workshop was led by a panel of women in leadership positions across several unions, including Alicia Mijares from SM Local 104 (northern California). Panelists shared how they became leaders in the field, on committees and working in business managers’ offices. Each panelist outlined their journey, challenges, growth, highlights and recommendations for those in attendance.

Annet Del Rosario, a foreperson and member of SM Local 206 in San Diego, was part of a group of panelists discussing “Lean-In Circles For Women in the Trades.” Lean-in circles are comprised of small groups of women who come together to support each other and learn new skills — and help women amplify their power. The interactive workshop prompted attendees to connect with each other and learn how to advocate for themselves at work.

“…the energy in this room is unparalleled. All of these attendees are dedicated trade unionists and the lifeblood of our future. It is my privilege and honor to stand here with my sisters who are forging a path forward for our organization.” – SMART GP Joseph Sellers

“How to Be a Male Ally in the Construction Industry” was designed specifically for men attending the conference. It featured an all-male panel which discussed the crucial role male allies play in promoting gender equality at work. Attendees learned how to better advocate for tradeswomen, help improve jobsite environments and increase diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the construction industry.

Another panel discussed childcare strategies for women working in the trades. Childcare has served as a barrier to many women looking to establish a career in construction. With labor shortages present across the construction industry, attendees focused on how the unionized trades could take the lead on tackling this issue and open careers to a greater number of participants.

For the unionized share of the construction industry to thrive, everyone must have a seat at the table — women, young workers, veterans and historically marginalized communities — and that can only be accomplished through inclusion and solidarity. A session on that topic, featuring panelists from the IBEW, covered how these populations are an asset within the workforce. Workshop participants learned best practices for garnering the support of local union and national leadership, overcoming obstacles and building an environment where a culture of inclusiveness can expand.

According to SMART General President Joseph Sellers, who attended TWBN with SMART General Secretary-Treasurer Joseph Powell, “the energy in this room is unparalleled. All of these attendees are dedicated trade unionists and the lifeblood of our future.”

“It is my privilege and honor to stand here with my sisters who are forging a path forward for our organization,” he added.