Author: paul

SASMI will provide all eligible and qualified participants unable to work during any part of the remaining 2020A Stabilization Period due to exposure to COVID-19, displaced from employment as a result of COVID-19, or who have voluntarily removed themselves from the workforce in response to COVID-19 with a special emergency benefit. The details of the benefit and application forms can be found on our website at www.sasmi.org. Generally, the benefit will be equal to one week of wages as defined in their CBA (usually forty (40) hours) of journeypersons pay, or derivative thereof, in any month (March, April, May and June) in which a member as a direct effect of COVID-19 is displaced, quarantined or voluntarily removed from the workforce and does not receive wages from their employer for at least one week.
This payment(s) will not affect your qualification or eligibility for unemployment or underemployment benefits to which you may be entitled to for the 2020 A-Period and will not be counted against those benefits. The benefit, however, will count as a benefit received in determining, in the future, whether you have met the 200% rule and in determining severance and retiree HCRA benefits.
Later this week members will be able to make application via our website (www.sasmi.org). Once there, use the link labeled “COVID-19”. All questions must be answered in order to be considered for this benefit. Once submitted, SASMI will validate your qualifications for this benefit including, as appropriate, contacting your Local Union Representative or Employer.
Due to staffs limited office availability during this time and to expedite payment we will temporarily only be able to process ACH payments to a member’s bank. Benefits that need to be paid by check may be delayed.

SMART takes all threats to members and the general public seriously and stands ready to assist those in our communities when dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Canadian Public Health Agency (PHA) have been responding to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19), and have confirmed that the virus has infected a growing group of people in North America.
SMART members, including those working on job sites, production shops, bus and transit operators along with those work on the freight railroads, interact with the public on a daily basis and are at a heightened risk of contracting communicable diseases.
This requires that each member be vigilant, be prepared and come together.
COVID-19 symptoms are like those of influenza (Examples include fever, cough and shortness of breath), and the current outbreak is occurring during a season when respiratory illnesses from influenza and other viruses exist. Symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after initial exposure. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), that people who are most at risk for hospitalization/ severe symptoms are either people over age 65 with weakened immune systems due to age, or those who have underlying chronic diseases such as COPD and hypertension.
SMART is monitoring the situation and will continue to communicate with members as developments progress.
Visit the SMART Emergency Legislative Alert page for updates on the impact of the legislative and regulatory response to the COVID-19 crisis on members as well as links to available government resources. 
TD members: Report COVID-19 protocols not being followed
Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson’s statement to members regarding COVID-19.

On February 24, the Trump Administration requested $2.5 billion from Congress in emergency funding to address the COVID-19 pandemic.  At the end of the process, the bill came to $7.8 billion in emergency spending with the bulk of funding to Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control for state and local preparedness.
It also included Public funding to cover the cost of testing for the virus along with $300 million to make any future vaccine (when it is available) accessible to Americans regardless of an individual’s ability to pay.
A portion of the bill, added by Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY), includes $500 million is for “Medicare telehealth mandatory spending, which would allow Medicare providers to furnish telemedicine services to seniors.” Source.
The bill passed the Senate by a 96–1 vote on March 5th.  The focus of the bill was on funding some of the health and emergency preparedness to combat the virus with future bills fashioned or being constructed to address the human and financial toll on American families.
The bill can be read at this link in its entirety.
 
 
 
 
 

SMART Sheet Metal Local 276 in Victoria, BC has been working with a local organization called Hero Work.  Hero Work brings together companies and workers to perform “Radical Renovations” on buildings that house charities.
Most local charities devote all their finances and efforts to provide for those less fortunate and quite often are in less than desirable buildings that require upgrades. Hero work has completed more than two million dollars in renovations on charity buildings since 2011. This project for PEERS, who help marginalized workers in the sex industry, was Local 276’s second project with Hero Work.
Lewis Sheet Metal provided all the fans, duct and fittings and Associated Sheet Metal provided the stainless steel for back splash in the kitchen.
Local 276 Business Manager Jason Pedersen noted that “this type of work is something members enjoy doing as we show our value to our local communities and build alliances that keep us central to what happens locally.  I am proud of our Local’s work in the Victoria community and look forward to the partnerships we will continue to build into the future.”