SMART Army members from Sheet Metal Locals 124 and 270 joined the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA), Oklahoma AFL-CIO, Oklahoma State Building Trades and a crowd of more than 250 gathered at Nichols Park in Henryetta, Oklahoma, to celebrate the park’s restoration through the Union Sportsman’s Alliance’s Work Boots on the Ground (WBG) conservation program.
Prior to the dedication, volunteers completed one final project at Nichols Park, installing a new pavilion roof. The dedication event featured a family fishing day that was full of educational activities where a free lunch was served to union members and their families.
Nearly $13,000 was raised for the Nichols Park restoration project at the USA’s Oklahoma AFL-CIO Conservation Dinner held in Tulsa in October 2016. Using funds for materials and equipment, Locals 124 and 270 were part of a group effort that saw more than 1,325 work hours invested to make major improvements to the park.
Projects included replacing the pavilion roof, improved lighting, the replacement and refurbishment of park benches and picnic tables, the clearing of overgrown areas, and replacement of an unsafe fishing pier with an ADA compliant floating pier.
“What was done in a few hours by the Unions would have taken months for the city crews to complete or even begin to accomplish,” said Henryetta Mayor Jennifer Clason. “The fishing dock would have been years out, if even on the radar due to the dilapidated infrastructure our city faces.”
As a result of this project, Mayor Clason signed a proclamation declaring September 30th “Union Day” in Henryetta, Oklahoma.
“The public should know that Unions unite for common goals and advocate for workers in both the public and private sector,” concluded Mayor Clason.
Author: paul
Our Union becomes stronger when we reach out to our local communities to forge new partnerships while we strengthen existing coalitions. By doing this we raise our visibility and improve our image among
the voters, community leaders, and politicians whose support we count on for the change we make to ensure new projects, new PLAs, workplace and job site standards and influence within the communities we live and work in.
There is no better way to do this, together as one Union, than through our inaugural Month of Community Action which will be held this coming April. Events are being planned from coast to coast initiated and developed by local unions.
We will be cleaning up parks, building and repainting new facilities for local youth sports leagues, planting trees and giving our time to groups and causes and families who will in turn stand with us in the future, right in the neighborhoods we live.
Keep in mind that members who sign SMART Army cards and participate in SMART Army activities will be eligible to receive a SMART Army t-shirt. Contact your local union for more information.
On February 28, 2018, Ron Batory was sworn in as Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. Representing SMART General President Joe Sellers is Steve Dodd, director of government affairs, who is pictured with Ron Batory.
Batory has more than 45 years of rail industry experience and most recently served as president and chief operating officer of Conrail. Batory joined the company in 1998 as vice president-operations and was appointed COO in 2004. He retired from Conrail last year.
Before that, he was president of the Belt Railway Co. of Chicago. Batory also spent more than 20 years working for both 
eastern and western Class Is, in addition to assisting a court-appointed trustee’s oversight of a regional railroad bankruptcy.
According to GP Sellers, “We are pleased to have Ron Batory as the administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).” He added that, “Ron Batory is knowledgeable and experienced in the railroad industry. We look forward to collaborating with him on PTC and other safety initiatives.”
SMART General President Joseph Sellers, Jr. will be joined by SMACNA President Jack Knox as they kick off the 2018 Partners In Progress Conference.
This is an exceptional opportunity for labor and management in the sheet metal industry to build on their relationship, share information, and learn new and innovative strategies to work together for a stronger industry while securing future job opportunities for union members and signatory employers.
Topics discussed will be capturing more projects and work opportunities in emerging industries, secure growth in areas such as the architectural and roofing sector and ensure training meets industry needs in localities across the United States and Canada.
Attendees will also hear presentations on how best to work together to raise industry and workplace standards. A focus will be given to addressing the opioid crisis with guidelines to help those affected for union leaders and signatory employers.
Attendees are encouraged to live tweet the conference using the #PINP18 hashtag.
A member and leader at SMART Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 33 has been tapped as president of the Toledo (OH) City Council.
Matt Cherry, who represents District 2, received 11 of 12 votes from his counterparts on the city council to become its new leader.
The president runs biweekly City Council meetings, sets the council agenda and appoints chairmen to its committees. He also serves as first in line to become Major in case the current Major became incapacitated.
Cherry, who is 37 years of age, is a long time Business Representative and member of Local 33.
SMART Sheet Metal Workers Local 105 was presented with a Los Angeles County Scroll along with Jobs to Move America and a coalition of organizations, in recognition of their collaborative efforts in the adoption of the U.S. Employment Plan Policy at LA Metro.
The U.S. Employment Plan includes three types of policy tools that will benefit workers in Los Angeles County. These includue the following:
Disclosure: requires transit vehicle manufacturers disclose the number and quality of U.S. jobs.
Evaluation: provides a system of voluntary price credits and scoring to help evaluate the quality of proposals submitted under the plan.
Compliance & Implementation: contract and enforcement language that ensures transparency and accountability of U.S. jobs commitments on a contract.
President/Business Manager Luther Medina accepted the scroll on behalf of Local 105. He was accompanied by Local 105 Organizer Willy Solorzano and International Organizer Manny Gonzalez.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board of Directors unanimously adopted a motion to establish an agency-wide Good Jobs and Equity Policy that will cover billions of dollars of taxpayer-purchased trains, buses, and equipment last night. The motion was introduced by Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis and included five co-authors from the Board: Los Angeles City Los Angeles City Mayor and Metro Chair Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, Councilmember Paul Krekorian, Duarte Mayor John Fasana, and Metro Director Jacqueline Dupont-Walker.
Under this new policy, for future train, bus, and related equipment purchases, Metro will apply the U.S. Employment Plan to all projects above $100 million to incentivize companies bidding on Metro contracts to create and retain high-quality jobs, partner with community and labor organizations to apprenticeship programs, and hire individuals facing barriers to employment.
“As the Secretary of Labor under President Obama, I have a deep and steadfast commitment to maximizing job creation and career development, with a special emphasis on providing employment to low-income residents and those facing barriers to employment,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Hilda L. Solis. “It is exciting to kick start this new year with new jobs for county residents. This policy helps achieve equitable outcomes throughout the region. Thank you to our partners and the Metro Board for making this policy a reality.”
Remarking on the USEP’s emphasis on opportunities for returning citizens, veterans, single parents, and other groups facing challenges to obtaining gainful employment, Pastor Amos Young, director of Community and Government Affairs for Project Caring and Sharing Family Services, said, “This Good Jobs and Equity policy prioritizes workers who are facing multiple, significant barriers to employment. We look forward to continuing to work with Metro, and our coalition, to ensure that clients of PCS Family Services and job seekers who have difficulty securing employment, can benefit from these opportunities.”
Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data on changes in union membership from 2016 to 2017. It was good news for workers, as the total number of union members grew by 262,000 in 2017. Three-fourths of these gains (198,000) were among workers aged 34 and under, who account for less than 40 percent of total employment.
Traditionally, younger workers have been less likely than older workers to be a member of union. In 2017 about 7.7 percent of workers 16–34 were members of a union, compared with 12.6 percent of workers age 35 and older. Last year, of the 858,000 net new jobs for workers under age 35, almost one in four (23 percent) was a union job.
Snips Magazine talked to SMART’s Charles Mulcahy about how SMART is providing career paths for transitioning military personnel through the SMART Heroes program.
You can view the interview here: https://www.snipsmag.com/videos?bctid=5663454414001
By Courtney Miller (Union Sportsmen’s Alliance)
Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) member Lindsay Lanning was flipping through her SMART Journal when the words “Stalking Your Dream Hunt?” caught her attention. It was a page about the USA and Carhartt Ultimate Elk Hunt Sweepstakes—a trip to honor the American worker by awarding one union member and a guest with a guided, five-day elk hunt in New Mexico’s Gila National Forest, valued at approximately $22,000.
“You can’t win if you don’t play,” she thought as she entered.
As a member of SMART TD Local 1629, Lindsay’s job primarily consists of switching cars in the rail yard using a remote control box to control the locomotives, but she also loads and unloads an auto facility.
“Railroad unions are the oldest unions, and my union is very important to me,” Lindsay said. “The union is constantly negotiating and fighting for things like our pay, healthcare and laws to keep two-person crews. The union also protects us from unlawful termination due to injury, they guarantee due process and investigations before any discipline, and they fight for lost wages.”
Lindsay learned that her union benefits go well beyond the workplace when she was selected as the grand prize winner of the USA/Carhartt sweepstakes from nearly 5,000 entrants. The hunt was an amazing opportunity that got even better when Lindsay made an unexpected discovery about the outfitter.
“When I won the hunt, I contacted a long-time family friend, Danny Parker, who lives in Chino Valley, Arizona, to ask if he knew the guides with Big Chino Guide Service,” Lindsay said. “To my surprise, he said he knew them well; he grew up with the owner, JP, and watched JP’s boys, who are now the main guides, grow up.”
Lindsay chose to bring her father Dana Lanning of Phoenix, Arizona, on the hunt with her. Dana was a member of Operating Engineers Local 428 for more than 30 years and is currently a member of Electrical Workers Local 769.
When Lindsay learned Parker would be helping on the hunt, she asked if her brother, Dalton, could tag along too. Dalton is in the Air Force and, until recently, was stationed out of the country, causing him to miss many family hunts. With the help of Parker, that was made possible for the Lanning family.
During the five-day hunt, Lindsay’s father and brother took turns joining her in the field. Whoever wasn’t with her, the guide and the camera crew, glassed with Parker and the other guide on a different ridge.
“Ultimately, bringing home meat and enjoying quality family time outdoors are the most important things about hunting to our family, and we never expect to bring home a trophy,” Lindsay said. “This New Mexico hunt differed greatly in that we saw elk every day but could pass them up in hopes of finding a bigger bull.”
By luck of the draw, it was Lindsay’s brother’s turn to go with her and their guide to a blind overlooking a water hole where a nice bull had been spotted. It was the last evening of the hunt, and they were waiting as patiently as they could.
“We had one cameraman on the left end, a guide in the middle, and myself on the right end with the muzzleloader on a tripod in front of me,” Lindsay said. “We were all sitting on the ground in this small blind. My brother sat right behind us, leaning against a tree.”
The wind was in their favor as they quietly watched the water hole. And then it happened. Dalton caught sight of giant antlers coming from behind the left side of the blind.
“My heart immediately began pounding out of my ears, and I was certain the elk could hear it,” Lindsay said. “We all sat perfectly still, frozen in awe of this magnificent creature, cautiously making his way to the water hole in front of us.”
The elk made it far enough for a 45-degree angle shot to Lindsay’s left, but she couldn’t move the gun in his direction or he would see it.
“Whether the elk winded us, saw us or just got nervous, he turned and bolted straight back to where he came from, completely opposite of where I was positioned,” Lindsay said.
The guide jumped up and whistled in an attempt to stop the bull, while simultaneously grabbing the gun and repositioning it straight left through the blind.
“Miraculously, the bull stopped, and I was able to get down in the scope and take a shot—right between the guide and the camera guy!” Lindsay said.
The bull took off, but only a few seconds later, Lindsay’s brother said he heard him crash.
“Had Dalton not spotted the bull out of the corner of his eye and alerted us early, we could have easily blown our cover,” Lindsay said.
Lindsay had never seen her brother so excited before. Her dad and the rest of the crew arrived within 10 minutes to join in the celebrating.
Aside from going home with elk meat for the freezer, Lindsay and her family were treated to free gear from several companies including Carhartt, Burris Optics, Flambeau Outdoors, Buck Knives and Thompson/Center Arms.
While this may have been Lindsay’s first time hunting with a muzzleloader, it was not her first time big game hunting. She began putting in for junior elk hunts when she was around 12-years-old, and got her first cow tag at age 15. Lindsay has one cow elk to her name from a hunt seven years ago, and now she can proudly add a bull to the list.
“I owe my hunting background to my dad,” Lindsay said. “As far back as I can remember, my dad would go hunting with his brothers or friends, and I was always so excited to see what was in the back of the truck when he came home!”
In their earliest hunting experiences, Lindsay and her brother played the role of bird dogs. Their dad would hunt dove and quail while they ran around picking up the birds and shotgun shells.
Being the grand prize winner of the USA and Carhartt Ultimate Elk Hunt Sweepstakes provided the perfect opportunity for Lindsay to experience an amazing elk hunt with two of the most important people in her life.
“This hunt was a once in a lifetime opportunity and something we never would have treated ourselves to, at least not without winning the lottery,” Lindsay said. “We owe the biggest thanks to Union Sportsmen’s Alliance and Carhartt for organizing this hunt and to Big Chino Outfitters. Without their extensive knowledge and sense of dedication to my father, brother and I, we wouldn’t have brought down the awesome bull elk.”