When the public school that housed SMART Sheet Metal Local No. 4’s training center abruptly closed last spring, the program — and the union — were at a bit of a loss. In the end, the experience proved to be a blessing in disguise.
Through a partnership with the local school district, Local No. 4’s training center was housed inside a public adult training center that was closed due to a school district consolidation. Local No. 4 had to move all equipment and materials out of the building quickly, regroup and figure out a next step.
The union hall, housed in a 7,500-square-foot building, wasn’t large enough to take on the training center as a whole; however, there was space for classes. To accommodate the situation and to maintain apprenticeship progression in the program, the curriculum was front-loaded to give students all their coursework in hopes they would find a building in time to allow apprentices to complete their fabrication shop requirements for the year. During that time, students completed training in reading blueprints, plans and specifications and the 30-hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) course, said John Williams, business manager for Local No. 4.
In August 2016, Local No. 4 found a new, 12,500-square-foot building — one that could not only house the training program, but the union hall as well. The International Training Institute (ITI), the education arm of the unionized sheet metal, air conditioning and welding industry, sent out the mobile welding trailer, so apprentices could complete their welding classes and any certifications in the interim.
“The idea is to keep training moving forward no matter the circumstances, so the ITI was happy to help keep these apprentices current on their skills,” said Mike Harris, ITI program director. “The mobile welding trailer was created for situations much like this one, and it’s serving its purpose well until Local No. 4’s welding lab is complete.”
The new warehouse-style building allowed for large pieces of equipment to be moved in immediately, so apprentices could get started on their fabrication shop curriculum and renovations could begin simultaneously. Welding and computer labs as well as plans for CNC machines and other technology are in the works. It’s a blank slate, Williams said.
“The great thing about having a new facility is we can upgrade our training to the future of our industry,” Williams added. “At the other building, we had our hands tied. Now, we have a new facility with plenty of space in the union hall area to have classes while we’re renovating everything.”
There is also space to offer continuing education classes to journeypersons and, once renovations are complete, bring in potential apprentices for tours as part of recruitment efforts. One of the goals is to use the new center and union hall to teach apprentices and get them experience to help supplement the workforce when members retire.
“We can build it the way we want it, to suit our needs. There are so many possibilities,” Williams said. “The goal is to turn out more than you retire. That’s not happening. We’re looking over the next five to 10 years, and the eligibility for retirement is going to exceed the number of apprentices. This new building will help us attract new apprentices and continue to educate our current workforce.”
Local 4 members are excited and have a reason to be. Once the renovation is complete, the training center will far exceed previous accommodations, Williams said.
Author: paul
In this video, General President Sellers discusses SMART operations directed at hurricane relief for members affected by recent hurricanes.
This includes the dispersal of approximately $500,000 (to date) in cash and material relief contributions to affected sheet metal and transportation members;
an immediate mobilization of volunteer members and local unions across the U.S. and Canada to deliver needed material to affected members (Thus includes box fans, dehumidifiers, bleach, food and diapers among other items);
SASMI trustees came together to allowed the Plan to make a special benefit payment to members who lost wages due to Hurricane Harvey and then a week later Irma. The resolution allowed SASMI to make a benefit payable for up to 40 hours of pay, and;
A dedicated grief and trauma counselor for affected SMART members at (877) 884-6227. For further updates regarding our disaster relief efforts, visit our disaster relief page.
Please contact your Business Manager or General Chairman immediately if you have suffered a loss or been affected by these natural disasters.
When the economy crashed, many Detroit residents had to search for any job that could pay the immediate bills instead of a promising career that could provide a future. Building trades unions and their affiliated contractor associations stepped up with the Access for All program (accessforalldetroit.com) to help individuals seeking a career in construction find a pathway to success.
That investment is paying off now that Detroit’s economy has turned around, and there is unprecedented demand for skilled union construction workers, according to CASS Sheet Metal President Glenn Parvin.
“We want to create a better Detroit and create more opportunities for residents,” he said.
Parvin is a board member for the sheet metal apprenticeship training center sponsored by the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 80 and contractors of the Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association (SMACNA) Metropolitan Detroit Chapter.
Access for All is a nine-week, 270-hour training program that prepares participants for successful entry into construction apprenticeships and employment in the skilled trades. It covers workplace essential skills, such as safety, financial coaching, mentoring and teamwork; teaches basic construction skills, such as how to read a tape measure and blueprints; and provides a refresher on math and algebra skills. Students also work on a simulated construction site.
“Many Access for All participants come from poverty and several are homeless, so we have to start with the basics.” said Don O’Connell, administrator for Access for All.
In the past four years, more than 100 individuals have enrolled and 80 percent have completed the program. Of those, 91 percent are employed, 81 percent have industry-related employment, and 67 percent entered into apprenticeships.
SMART Local 80 has welcomed several Access for All graduates into the program.
“These students are very energetic and optimistic,” said Sam Velez, a sheet metal journeyman and architectural instructor at the training center. “Their training allows them to be quickly placed with contractors.”
Velez is enthusiastic about the program.
“Access for All is giving opportunities to candidates who want to work hard,” he said, “and it gives us the opportunities to employ good workers.”
A majority of commercial builders and contractors in the United States plan to employ more workers in the coming months – assuming they can find them. In fact, 61 percent of contractors maintain they are having a difficult time finding workers to man projects with skilled workers. This comes from a report by USG which is unique in that it dooes not just tabulate numbers but measures the outlook of leading figures in the construction contracting and end user sectors.
Canada is formally demanding, in talks on a new NAFTA agreement, that any such pact force the U.S. to eliminate so-called right-to-work laws.
During the 2016 U.S. campaign, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump labeled NAFTA “the worst trade pact ever signed” and vowed to dump it. That promise helped him gain a 50-50 split among unionists and their families in key Great Lakes industrial states. By narrowly carrying Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Trump wound up in the White House.
But once there, he decided to renegotiate, not dump, NAFTA, with what he says is the objective to help U.S. workers. The current NAFTA hasn’t. U.S. unions say Trump has adopted only a few pro-worker NAFTA negotiating goals, out of a 47-page detailed list presented during pre-talks hearings.
Instead of Trump, Canadian negotiators have begun pushing hard to eliminate U.S. based right to work laws which have served to deteriorate wage rates and living standards for workers in the United States. This has in turn harmed workers in Canada as well, along with those in the free to bargain states, where employers have used the existence of lower right to work labor standards to drive down wages and benefits for working families.
A Gallup Poll released on Labor Day weekend found that 61% of American adults approve of organized labor — the highest percentage since 2003, when approval was at 65%.
The 2017 approval rate is up 5 percentage points from last year and 13 points above the all-time low of 48% in 2009.
Americans have normally shown significant support for unions throughout most of the 20th and 21st centuries, regardless of what prevailing ideologies existed at the time.
The approval rating was 71% in 1930, and it peaked in the 1950s at 75%.
Among political parties, 81% of Democrats now approve of unions with 42% of Republicans in agreement
More Americans, 39%, want unions to have greater influence nationally, the poll found. That’s the highest figure recorded in the past two decades.
A new Labor Day report unveiled today by the AFL-CIO shows that working people are working more and taking less time with their families. The report is based on findings from a national survey conducted for the AFL-CIO by the polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, and was produced in collaboration with the Economic Policy Institute and the Labor Project for Working Families.
More than half of Americans surveyed said they were working more holidays and weekends than ever, and 43% said they brought work home at least one night a week. Union members are more likely to receive Labor Day off and overtime pay compared with their nonunion counterparts. Sixty-six percent of union members receive overtime pay on Labor Day, compared with 38% of nonunion members. Women, often the primary caregivers in their families, are less likely than men to report access to paid time off—68% vs. 74%.
The majority of American workers credit labor unions for many of the benefits they receive.
Additionally, 72% of those surveyed said they thought unions were either very or somewhat responsible for working people having paid time off on Labor Day and other holidays.
Fifty-four percent of workers would join a union tomorrow if given the option. This includes 41% of Republicans surveyed. Respondents also expressed major concern that weakening unions could hurt workers’ benefits in the future.
Click here for a link to the report.
Last week, the Alliance for Industrial Efficiency published a profile of a sheet metal journeyman from Local 12 in Pittsburgh who now works for Ductmate Industries. You can view the profile here: http://alliance4industrialefficiency.org/energy-efficiency-lifechanging-career-move/
Business Manager Warren Faust of SMART Sheet Metal Local 44 gave United States Senator Bob Casey a demonstration on the SMART, Label It, Scan It, Report It App during a recent visit to the Local 44 union hall in Scranton, PA. Senator Casey inquired on the difference between the yellow and blue label and was impressed by the app and how it affords our members a tool to insure our products are built by our Brother and Sister members as well as wage equalized.
Thanks to Marx Sheet Metal for fabricating the yellow labeled items as well as Arrow United for fabricating the blue labeled items. After the demonstration a round table discussion was held on how trade deals impact labor unions and American jobs / workers. SMART Local 44 hosted this event with various labor unions and their representatives participating.
There’s not just one best practice where market recovery and expansion are concerned. To And the right answer takes someone who has worked in the local marketplace and is skilled at creating solutions tailored to special needs. It takes someone who has talked with a multitude of business managers, contractors, and chapter executives across the country and who understands what has worked and what hasn’t.
Michael E. Gaffney, who taught at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, is that person. He will share his insights and strategies on expanding your market during the keynote opening session at the 2018 Partners in Progress Conference, February 13-14, 2018, in Orlando, Fla. After more than a year of working on the SMACNA/SMART Workforce Development Project, Mr. Gaffney is ready to share his insights and strategies on sustaining and expanding your market.
In addition to the general session, he will teach a special track of breakout sessions isolating special best practices designed to be responsive to a changed market environment. For over two decades, Mr. Gaffney has teamed with SMACNA and SMART to work with local parties in developing meaningful labor relations and improved bargaining relationships. For the last 18 months, SMART and SMACNA commissioned him to assist pilot labor/management groups in the Washington, D.C., Houston, Texas, and Atlanta areas to create market solutions tailored to addressing their special needs for maintaining and expanding market share.
Earlier this year, Mr. Gaffney also moderated a workshop where more than 14 different areas of the country discussed and learned from each other how to approach market recovery efforts. Whether it be creating a separate workforce or using the existing one, Mr. Gaffney fleshed out what groundwork, structure, and follow-through labor and management must engage in to be
successful in keeping markets that may be threatened by non-union competition and how to recover those that have been lost.
Now he brings it all together at the upcoming Partners in Progress Conference where he will share industry ideas and best practices for market share advancement. To hear Michael Gaffney
and other great speakers address our industry’s needs, plan to attend the Partners in Progress Conference, Feb. 13-14, 2018, in Orlando, Fla.
The conference takes place at the recently renovated Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace and will focus on communication, commitment, and deliverables. Contractors, chapter executives, and
future leaders will all and something valuable in this two-day program. With a streamlined format, the conference promises to be even better than in the past.
Registration opens Sept. 5, 2017. For more information and to register, visit www.pinp.org/pinp18/ #pinp18