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Appreciation from the wife of a Union Member
With the Right to Work Bill being in the news lately I feel the need to show my appreciation to Local 36.
We were a young couple having our first child when my husband joined Local 36 Sheet Metal Union. My husband and I did not have a college education. It was not something we thought we could succeed with at that time of our lives.
My husband and I were married at the young age of 19. We worked hard but with the expected arrival of our first child when we were 25 he knew he needed a better education in order to make a better living.
He was on the list to become an apprentice with Local 36. It was scary because at that time he was driving a truck. Driving was a good job but he was not going to advance financially at that job and we had to think more about the future.
It was shortly after our first son was born that he got the call to become an apprentice with the Sheet Metal Union.
What did this mean to us…
1. He took a huge cut in pay at that time knowing that he would be in better shape once he was a Journeyman.
2. He would be able to get a great education in the industry.
3. It would take years of classes and studying.
4. He would be employed in a great job and if the company he was with did not have work he would be put on the list and the union would help place him with another company to work.
5. He would be able to work hard knowing that he had fair pay and if he worked overtime he would be compensated fairly.
6. We would know that we had great insurance for our growing family.
7. He would know that if there were any reason something was not handled fairly he would have the union to go to in order to remedy the situation if needed.
8. He has had great benefits that have helped us to plan for our retirement future.
What did this mean to the construction industry…
1. The industry had the help of the Union to find workers for the jobs they needed to fill.
2. The contractors would have a source to find well educated qualified workers to work on the construction sites.
What did this mean to the average American…
1. The building we would either live in or visit on a daily basis were safe for us because they were built by well educated workers that were taught with safety in mind. Safety for all.
2. Because the workers made a fair salary they would be able to afford to purchase things like homes, cars, clothes, go on vacations, provide for their children, buy appliances for their home and so so so much more. This is good for America as other industries and companies can also prosper.
My husband and I are about to celebrate our 37th anniversary and I had never been worried about our livelihood thanks to the hard work of my husband and the support of Local 36, Sheet Metal Union.
Unfortunately I am now scared for our future and the future of all union workers. The unions have done so so much to improve the working conditions for all union members and now I fear that many will suffer and work harder for much less pay. I also fear that their safety as well as the average American’s safety will be jeopardized if the workers are not trained well. Without proper training how will the industry retain the quality standards we have now. This really does scare me.
I can not say enough about how WONDERFUL our life has been because my husband was a Union Worker. It has been a hard life because he had to work hard but he has received a great education and continuing education as well as extremely fair pay and benefits.
THANK YOU LOCAL 36
I can not understand why this needs to change.

President Donald J. Trump addressed participants at the 2017 North American Building Trades Union Conference in Washington, DC. This follows an earlier meeting with General President Sellers and other Building Trades leaders. You can view coverage here. 

General President Sellers discusses his series of visits to hear from members about the issues important to them.  This includes recent visits to Local 100 members at Cove Point in Maryland, Local 441 members at Ingalls Shipyard in Mississippi, Local 15 members at Johnson Controls in Largo, FL and members employed at three contractors performing work at the new Mercedes Benz Stadium currently being built for the Atlanta Falcons.

One year ago today, on March 23, 2016, 600 dedicated Nabisco workers in Chicago were given pink
slips by Mondelēz/Nabisco and told their jobs were being sent to Mexico. We stand in solidarity with the BCTGM Nabisco 600 workers and pledge to fight the outsourcing of American jobs!
Please view and share the video below:
 

 

To those outside the industry, sheet metal work may seem like a man’s world. Internally, journeywomen are thriving, and although the percentage of female apprentices is at 4.2 percent, that’s double what it was only two years ago, according to the International Training Institute (ITI).
Nationally, the construction industry in general is made up of 3 percent women, according to Chicago Women in Trades.
Partnerships and affiliations with women’s trade groups such as Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. in Portland; Chicago Women in Trades; Nontraditional Employment for Women in New York; and Building Pathways in Boston have helped training coordinators introduce women to a trade many love but fewer know much about.
Connie Ashbrook, founder and executive director of Oregon Tradeswomen, has worked with Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 16 in Portland since 1996. Together, they’ve increased the female apprenticeship percentage to 9 percent.
“If it wasn’t for Oregon Tradeswomen, I would be at 2 to 3 percent females,” said Kevin Roth, training coordinator for Local No.16. “It is the key to our success.”
Through the organization, women are introduced to many building trades in the area through a free, seven-week pre-apprenticeship class held four times a year. Participants are educated on the skills it takes to apply for a building trades apprenticeship, including the physicality of being an “industrial athlete,” Ashbrook said.
“It gives them a head start. Doing the physical fitness training helps them understand they’ll be sore for a while, but it’s OK. They’ll be fine and get over it,” she added. “They have the confidence to know it’ll improve. If it’s too heavy for a woman, it’s likely too heavy for a man, too.”
Carly Rush, 34, a second-year apprentice at Local No. 16, and Leah Jenkins, 42, a journeywoman, both found — and fell in love with ­— their sheet metal careers through Oregon Tradeswoman.
A mother of two young daughters, Rush’s first taste of hands-on work was in middle school, and even though she loved it, like many women, she was unaware of the career possibilities.
“I remember that being the one time I really enjoyed going to school,” she said. “I wish I would have had someone to encourage me in that direction. I wish someone would have pointed out in school how functional math is. I wish I knew how things worked when I was younger. I would’ve gotten started in something like this sooner.”
After admittedly hating most jobs in her life after less than a year, Rush said she actually enjoys getting up every morning to go to work at Alliant Systems, for which she installs commercial ductwork.
“This is the first job where I don’t mind getting up and going to work,” Rush said. “I don’t hate going to work anymore.”
There is no stigma. There are no outlandish expectations. The fact Rush is a woman, she said, doesn’t change anything on the job site. In fact, it’s not a big deal or a factor of her everyday life on the job. It’s more about attitude than gender, she said.
“No one has ever made me feel like I can’t do something because I’m a girl. I was more afraid they wouldn’t want me around because I don’t know how to do everything yet, but that wasn’t the case, either,” Rush said. “They only care about your work. If you’re willing to do the work, and work your hardest, you’ll fit in. It’s been a good experience for me.”
Jenkins, a journeywoman for eight years, agreed: “I don’t think many women want it to be a big deal,” she said. “People just want to be a part of the team and do a good job.”
For the last 12 years — most of her career — she has been a part of the team at Streimer Sheet Metal in the fabrication shop, which hosts tours for Oregon Tradeswomen.
“It’s a blast to have kids and young girls come in,” Jenkins said. “We make something and have a lot of fun. I know I was excited to see a female sheet metal worker whenever I saw one. It made me think, ‘Maybe I can do this. Maybe this is accessible to me.’”
Until Oregon Tradeswomen, Jenkins didn’t know much about the trade. Upon her introduction, working with metal was more attractive to her than any other trade.
“I enjoy the work. I enjoy the labor. I enjoy building things,” she said. “As far as my experience, it’s brought me out of my shell. I had a sense it was a diverse trade, and it is. The opportunities are really out there.”
Opportunities for women are what sheet metal training coordinators across the country and women’s trade organizations are trying to spotlight.
In addition to hosting education workshops and tours of the facility in hopes of enticing additional female interest, Roth works to bring in female training instructors as well as create a culture where men and women can thrive.
“The apprentices get the real story,” Roth said of bringing in female instructors. “It’s a female relating to a female. She can speak from experience.”
Last fall, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded a contract to Chicago Women in Trades’ National Center for Women’s Equity in Apprenticeship and Employment as part of a $20.4 million initiative to expand apprenticeship opportunities in the United States. The grant emphasizes expanding apprenticeship opportunities for women, people of color and other underrepresented populations. The Center will work with 10 organizations, which includes nearly every staffed tradeswomen’s organization in the country.
The project is led by Chicago Women in Trades and Oregon Tradeswomen and includes partnerships such as with the ITI to help attract and retain female apprentices in more than 150 training centers across the country.
Jayne Vellinga, executive director for Chicago Women in Trades, said she has two goals: make sure women are informed and prepared for opportunities and make opportunities available for women. This includes making sure training directors, for instance, have the tools available for recruitment and retention.
“Women know very little about these careers. They don’t hear about it in school,” Vellinga said. “If they go to a temp agency, they don’t hear about it there, either.”
The partnership not only helps organizations introduce women to the trades, it helps build strong apprenticeship classes across the nation.
“This initiative will help us to reach even more women, from those interested in working in the trade to those who have yet to hear the sheet metal building trade is even an option for them,” said James Page, ITI administrator. “A diversified workforce makes us a strong workforce, and apprenticeship is a tried and true method to not only learn a skilled trade, but to invest in a person’s future. The ITI looks forward to working with this initiative to help build careers and change lives.”

Legislation introduced in January by Senator Jeff Flake, (R-AZ) would eliminate the Davis-Bacon Act’s prevailing wage language on specific federal infrastructure projects.
The Davis-Bacon Act, passed in 1931, requires that certain workers, predominantly those employed in the building trades, be paid a prevailing wage.
The point of the Davis Bacon Act was to make sure that Federal money is spent to invest in communities and does not drive down wages.  Repealing prevailing wages will undermine good jobs and the wages that strengthen the American economy.
Contact your Senators to urge them to vote NO to Senator Flake’s repeal of Davis-Bacon on these federally funded projects.
Click here to take action

Click on image to view video

In his February 2017 message, General President Sellers discusses his recent meeting with President Trump and White House officials along with the battle being waged in the states and on the national level over a new round of right to work laws and attacks on Davis Bacon.
Video

Following a vote of the employees at its Lancaster, California factory, Build Your Dreams (BYD) recognized SMART Sheet Metal Local 105 (LA-area) as the exclusive collective bargaining representative for its employees in negotiations. This vote, often called a “card-check,” is an important step towards unionization.

Left to right: Madeline Janis, Executive Director of Jobs to Move America; James White, Director of Organizing at SMART; BYD Senior Vice President Macy Neshati; Attorney Rob Parris; Luther Medina, Business Manager of SMART Local 105.

“BYD is one of the few companies today creating manufacturing jobs in the U.S. We have tripled in size in the last 18 months, with orders for our advanced technology zero-emission coaches, buses, and trucks coming in from across the country. As a result, we will continue to grow and expand our facility in Lancaster and look to add more manufacturing jobs in the near future,” said Stella Li, President of BYD America.
James White, SMART’s Director of Organizing, agreed, saying “It’s clear that BYD is here for the long haul, and we’re glad to see them stand with us in support of their workers. BYD has demonstrated a strong desire from the beginning to always provide the best environment for its workers, and we are pleased to have them as a willing and engaging partner.”
The unionization process began last summer when SMART Local 105 and BYD signed a neutrality agreement giving the union the right to begin speaking with employees. Following the card-check, SMART and a group of elected representatives from BYD factory staff will survey employee goals and begin contract negotiations with BYD management.
“Too many manufacturing employers fight unionization efforts, but a strong relationship between management and labor means more growth, good jobs, and, ultimately, a better product,” said Madeline Janis, Executive Director of the transit workers advocacy group Jobs to Move America. “I want to thank BYD for engaging in this process in good faith, and look forward to seeing a strong contract take effect.”
SMART Local 105 Business Manager Luther Medina welcomed BYD workers to SMART noting that “this is a great day for the southern California transportation production industry. Local 105 has always been on the cusp of new technology and practices and look forward to pushing forward again as we lead our industry into the 21st century.”
The BYD factory in Lancaster, California currently employs more than 400 local people, and with a planned expansion nearly complete, that number is expected to triple over the next three years.

Who’s behind right-to-work?

Ignoring the facts about “right-to-work,” far-right politicians across the country are promoting these deceptive policies as payback to their Big Business donors. By weakening workers’ ability to have a say about their job, right to work weakens unions’ ability to serve as an advocate for all workers and a check against corporate greed.
Without solid evidence to back their claims, the politicians advancing right-to-work legislation depend on a coordinated network of extremist right-wing groups to provide resources, research, and an echo chamber that pave the way for right to work.

The most well-known of these cash-flush special interest groups include the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the National Right to Work Committee. Read on to learn more about the groups working overtime to make every state a right-to-work state.

ALEC

Right to work has gained some momentum as result of the collusion between Big Business and allied lawmakers involved in ALEC, an established conservative group backed by corporate special interests that peddles influence with state legislators. While much of its work has gone on behind closed doors, several media outlets and the Center for Media and Democracy have recently exposed how ALEC operates, peeling back the curtain on the significant political influence it wields at the state level. ALEC gives companies and politicians a shared role in developing its legislative prototypes, which are then introduced in copycat fashion by its members in legislatures nationwide. As part of its extremist agenda, ALEC and its members aim to limit the rights of workers and their unions through initiatives such as right to work. Check out Progress Missouri’s ALEC exposé, which reveals just how similar Missouri’s proposed right-to-work bill is to ALEC’s draft legislation.
In the ultimate irony, ALEC gives corporations a voice and a vote in order to rob workers of theirs. ALEC’s leadership and membership include executives from corporations like Comcast and Walmart that are notorious for their low-wage, anti-worker business practices.  ALEC is also tied to heavy hitters in the Tea Party movement, like the billionaire Koch brothers, who channel their vast wealth to far-right groups and politicians and helped orchestrate Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s repeal of public employees’ collective bargaining rights.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

As the nation’s most powerful lobbying group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made right to work one of its top priorities. The U.S. Chamber and its state affiliates have issued misleading reports, launched PR blitzes, and used their lobbying muscle to advance right-to-work legislation across the country. Like ALEC, corporations funnel money to the prominent lobbying force to promote their agenda in Congress and in the states. The U.S. Chamber has been campaigning against unions, fair labor practices, increases in the minimum wage, and legal protections for America’s workers for nearly a century.
While the Chamber advocates that workers benefiting from a union contract should not have to pay the union any fees, the Chamber does not appear to hold itself to the same standards. Click here to view a local Chamber’s double standard on right to work, which surfaced when the area’s union Building Trades Council inquired whether it would be possible to be a member of the Chamber but not pay dues. The Chamber responded that “It would be against Chamber by-laws and policy to consider any organization or business a member without dues being paid. The vast majority of the Chamber’s annual revenues come from member dues, and it would be unfair to the other members to allow an organization not paying dues to be included in member benefits.”
For more about the U.S. Chamber, click here.

National Right to Work

The National Right to Work Committee and its legal arm, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, are longtime proponents of right to work. The group claims to be a “worker advocate,” but an examination of its press releases issued between 2003 and 2005 showed no reference to any attempt to improve benefits or working conditions for workers; and only one mention of increasing wages. Meanwhile, the organization continuously pushes reports with outdated and flawed information to advance right to work. National Right to Work refuses to disclose its donors. However, like ALEC, the group has connections to the ultra-conservative Koch brothers.
For more about National Right to Work, click here.

What About Corporations?

In addition to hiding behind these special-interest groups, thanks to Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, corporations have significant leeway to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to influence elections and policy—without having to disclose their role. Since that landmark decision, record sums of money have been spent by outside groups to scale back protections for workers, and it is no coincidence that right to work has recently gained momentum.
Despite the challenges of tracking specific businesses and donors that are involved in promoting right to work, it’s clear that those behind these efforts have deep pockets. In 2012, Indiana’s airwaves were flooded with ads for right to work featuring top Republican lawmakers, who refused to share how the ads were funded. Public records reveal that the Indiana Opportunity Fund, a group founded by Republican activist Jim Bopp, spent $600,000 on ad buys. With laws granting anonymity to his donors, Bopp wouldn’t disclose where the money came from.

VOLUNTEERS CLEAN VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL WALL
Volunteering is an important form of member action—giving back to our communities and building a positive image. Even the simplest tasks, however, can be deeply significant.
Such was the case a few months ago when a group of members—retirees, veterans and staff from SM Local 100 (Washington, D.C.) and International officials—came out in force to wash the historic Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
The cleaning is done year-round by groups who join a long waiting list for a chance to do this solemn work. This SMART crew joined other volunteers well before the sun came up before tourists began arriving for the day.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, often called “The Wall that Heals,” displays the names of the more than 58,000 service members who gave their lives in service during the Vietnam Conflict. The gradually heightening east and west walls form a wide, 125-degree angle ‘V’ in a total span of nearly 500 feet. The memorial also includes “The Three Servicemen” statue and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial.
With more than 3 million visitors each year paying their respects at the wall, this volunteer maintenance is a small but vital way for SMART to give thanks to the very special group whose names are inscribed.