Author: paul

Safety isn’t a second thought in the unionized sheet metal and air conditioning industry—it has to be a way of life, or death could be a consequence. SMOHIT works with professionals inside and outside the industry to create a safety culture that will benefit all apprentices and journeymen. Recipients of SMOHIT’s 2014 Safety Awards demonstrate the organization’s commitment to bringing those inside and outside the industry together to prevent workplace injuries and illness.
Doctors David Hinkamp and Laura Welch are physicians who partner with SMOHIT to keep workers in good medical condition, while the staff at Sheet Metal Local 28 in Jamaica, New York, works to educate workers on safety and keep their authorizations current. On the contractor side, Jeff Sullivan, safety manager for The Brandt Companies LLC in Dallas, works with Sheet Metal Local 68 to keep employees updated and in compliance with safety standards. Obie Torres, a sheet metal instructor for more than 40 years, has spent his retirement making sure future sheet metal workers know how to stay alive and injury-free on the job site. Don Gallion, outside sales representative for Fasteners Inc. in Las Vegas, provides training and demonstrations on fall protection, scaffolding, proper use of ladders and body harnesses, OSHA, and more.
“It’s inspiring to see what people are doing across the country to ensure our sheet metal workers are safe on the job site and go home to their families every night,” said SMOHIT Administrator Randy Krocka. “These awards shine a light on the excellent work to create a safety culture and the people—from those educating our members to the medical professionals conducting screenings—who go above and beyond to make sure that happens.”
Nominees are selected on the basis of providing exemplary training methodology, outreach activities, wellness activities, research, outstanding program development and implementation, any innovative health and/or safety initiatives, or by using SMOHIT training curricula to create a safety culture within the unionized sheet metal and air conditioning industry.
Hinkamp, co-director of the health in the arts program at University of Illinois, Chicago Hospital School of Public Health, has worked in occupational and environmental health since 1982. When he began working with SMOHIT 25 years ago, the idea was to find clinics to screen workers in major cities for asbestos exposure. Today, Hinkamp travels to 25 cities more than eight to ten weeks out of the year to bring screening services to locals throughout the country, so they don’t have to rely on a clinic.
Members should be screened every five years. Through screenings, other illnesses can be detected, allowing doctors to refer patients to local specialists.
“It’s better to be able to provide top-notch services regardless of where [members] come from,” Hinkamp said. “This program, although it’s focused on asbestos—looks at the whole cardio/respiratory system. Members who take advantage of this program are aware of the importance of these health tools. This is an important program many other organizations have let drop, but it’s the one sheet metal workers have worked hard to preserve.”
Welch has been working as a medical consultant with SMOHIT since 1988, also in the screening program. Her job, however, is to identify physicians, analyze results, and present findings to the SMOHIT board of trustees. A recent retiree from the Center of Construction Research, Training and Safety, Welch knows how to identify health and safety risks on a job site, and more importantly, how to fix them.
“That’s my role in life, my work, to prevent sheet metal workers from hurting their shoulders and backs. Working with SMOHIT has been great because they’re trying to better the health and safety of the workers,” she said. “I love sheet metal workers. Of all the construction trades, they’re my favorite. They’re wonderfully nice people. They show up early. They’re very appreciative. At the local unions, they’re looking out for their members.”
In 1988, 40% of sheet metal workers over age 55 had scarring on their lungs from asbestos exposure. Today, less than 3% of sheet metal workers younger than 60 have scarring, Welch said. This is because workers have been educated to say “no” if contractors want them to perform work that would expose them to asbestos. Educating contractors and workers has been an ongoing effort that’s paying off. Out of 16 construction trades, only the sheet metal workers and one other have a safety organization supported by the union, Welch added.
The next step is to have sheet metal workers fill out a detailed questionnaire when they come in for their screening and breathing test, so Welch can see who is in danger of emphysema due to dust and welding fume exposure.
“I really think it’s improved the health and safety to have SMOHIT there, working with the contractors,” Welch said. “The union supported SMOHIT, which educated people. Sheet metal workers stopped being exposed to asbestos when that wasn’t the case for other trades. And the union stood behind them.”
Evidence of SMOHIT and contractors working together is apparent at The Brandt Companies, where Sullivan has been the safety manager for five years. Also an apprentice instructor for OSHA 10 and 30 at Local 68 in Dallas, Sullivan uses personal experience to keep employees in check. One reality check is to have them write down a message they’d like him to deliver to their families “if they do something dumb and die,” he said.
“I make it personal. The union is a brotherhood, and I don’t like to see my brothers and sisters in pain. A childhood friend of mine died in a construction accident from a fall. If there’s anything I can do to keep them living longer, I’m all about that,” Sullivan added. “I love life. I love seeing my union brothers with their wives and kids. You can’t see them if they’re not safe. There are too many things in this industry that can take your life in a split second.”
The days of doing things the wrong way because a contractor wanted to take shortcuts are rarer than even a decade ago.
“I see the whole construction industry changing. General contractors require so much more safety training,” Sullivan said. If an employee is caught breaking the rules, they are suspended from the job site. For a fall protection- related infraction, workers are sent home for three days. “It’s easier to get them to see we need to take an extra 10 to 15 minutes rather than losing an employee because the general contractor sent him home for a safety violation. They also don’t want a fatality associated with their job site.”
For Local 28 in New York and for Obie Torres, safety instructor for Local 67 in Austin, Texas, teaching safety starts at the beginning when workers are apprentices. Local 28 expanded its OSHA program and made sure all full-time instructors were properly trained in OSHA 500. More than 2,000 members participated in evening OSHA classes this year, while apprentices earned their certificates of completion during the day.
“I’ve been steadily trying to increase safety training since I came into this position. Consistently over the last three years, the goal has been to get all the full-time instructors OSHA-trained and ramp up the crew at night to teach all the members in order to keep up with the industry needs,” said Leah Rambo, Local 28 training coordinator. “Our goal is to make safety part of the culture. For it to be part of the culture, you have to bombard them with it. We want our members to go home every day after work.”
In addition to OSHA classes, Local 28 offers four-hour scaffolding and GHS/ HazCom courses.
“We try to stay ahead of the game, so our members never have to turn down work because they don’t have the proper training,” Rambo added. “A safer worker is a better worker. People do a better job when they feel safe on the job. They go home with their fingers and their lives.”
Torres, a retiree, has a passion for safety and for empowering apprentices with knowledge.
“I’ve had near misses and accidents before certain safety measure were in place,” Torres said. “I’ve been fortunate I’ve never had a serious accident. Back then, working in the shop, you handled sheet metal all day long. I was fortunate I never lost a finger. Things we didn’t do back then are now habit. It has to become a habit like putting on your pants in the morning. And they know they have to take care of their safety equipment. If they do all that, they don’t have to think about it.”
He uses his expertise to empower students to spot safety hazards at work and share them. This turns apprentices into safety champions on their job sites and pushes them to look deeper and pay attention to details.
“It’s not going to be perfect,” he said. “We’re always going to have accidents, but it does get better from one generation to the next.”
Each year, the SMOHIT Safety Awards remind members that our safety culture is growing and that it’s come a long way.
“It is members trying to preserve the health of the members in their community,” Hinkamp said. “It’s people looking out for their colleagues.”
For additional information about the SMOHIT Safety Awards, or any of the programs highlighted here, visit www.smohit.org or call 703-739-7130.

Custom-Bilt Metals is a manufacturer of metal roofing panels, gutters and downspouts. Unemployed Sheet Metal Local 105 member Jonathan Ruiz sought employment at Custom-Bilt Metals under Local 105’s salting program. Brother Ruiz realized that the workers were not satisfied with their current working conditions and began talking to the workers about how they could better their working conditions if they collectively formed a union. During this time, Brother Ruiz was in constant contact with Local 105 Organizer Ryan Collins, who helped facilitate a series of meetings between the workers at Custom-Bilt and organizers from the local.
Collins was joined by SMART International Organizer Manny Gonzalez, who held weekly meetings with the workers from Custom-Bilt Metals to discuss forming a union at their workplace. The workers explained their struggles to the organizers, stating that they were unable to make any progress on their own with the company. Together, they decided to try forming a union through SMART.
In mid-September Collins and Gonzalez presented the company’s manager with a recognition demand letter. The company declined. An election petition was then immediately filed with the National Labor Relations Board.
Between the filing of the NLRB petition and reaching a stipulated agreement for an election date, the company hired a union-busting firm and legal representation. The employees were bombarded with anti-union hand bills, captive audience meetings, and one-on-one meetings with the union busters. The company attorney even classified an employee as a supervisor and then proceeded to stack the deck against the vote by adding two anti-union secretaries to the bargaining unit.
The union agreed to these terms with the NLRB, knowing that they still had a solid majority of votes. The company’s strategy was to delay the election date until January or February 2015. On October 29, 2014, the employees sent a clear message to the company that although the company tried to stack the deck against the workers and forced them to endure the propaganda the union busters had presented them, the majority of the workers still want to be represented and voted for SMART.
Since the workers’ union win, the company has eliminated one union supporter’s position, with no other work available. An amicable severance package was negotiated on behalf of the employee. Both parties are now in negotiations, and we will keep members informed as to the status of those negotiations as they develop.

Organizing in Amarillo, Texas, has been a success thanks to the hard work of Charles Thomas, Sheet Metal Local 49 President, Vice President of Metal Trades of Amarillo, Texas, and 30-year Local 49 member. Brother Thomas has been an employees of the Pantex Nuclear Facility in Amarillo for over 13 years and currently holds the elected position of Vice President of the Metal Trades Council in that facility.
Thomas understands that certain employees in the facility are not represented by any union, and do not see raises on a regular basis. When the new company that took over the contract at Pantex passed on new health care increases to the unrepresented workers, this was the spark Brother Thomas needed to get authorization cards signed. After filing for an NLRB election for some 24 planners and schedulers, and three meetings later with the unit, Thomas went to the election and won.
Winning this election on August 6, 2014, has made the company quite nervous, as there are some 300 employees in this plant who are not represented. Charles Thomas and Local 49 are committed to organizing at Pantex, and Thomas has the full support of his Business Manager, Vince Alvarado, and Subsidized Organizer Isaiah Zemke, both of whom have made themselves available whenever needed.
At this writing Thomas has not yet negotiated a contract, as the company will not agree to a first meeting date. The entire Metal Trades contract expires in February 2015. According to Brother Alvardo, “We will continue to stand for what is right for these workers and will not rest until each and every one of them receives the representation they deserve.”

In a 5-2 vote, the Canadian Supreme Court has reaffirmed that a worker’s right to strike is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  The court ruled “that the right to strike is an essential part of the collective bargaining process in Canada’s system of labor relations.”  The court also ruled that while governments have the right to limit the right to strike for workers who perform essential services, “they should not limit this right more than necessary.”
The ruling comes in response to the Saskatchewan Federation of Labor’s legal challenge of a 2008 provincial law that limited who could and could not strike.  Opponents of the law argued that the Saskatchewan government hoped the legislation would allow the government to unilaterally determine who was essential and who was not.  The legislation did not include any type of dispute resolution process and was handcuffed by the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board.
This decision comes on the heels of a decision from the Canadian Supreme Court that reaffirmed the right to collectively bargain.  The landmark case centered around the Mounted Police Associations of Ontario, which won the fight against legislation that previously barred RCMP officers from from forming a union.
These decisions are perfectly summed up by Supreme Court Justice Abella who noted that clearly the arc bends increasingly towards workplace justice.
 

MichCanSka is an international snowmobiling charity ride from Michigan, through Canada and to Alaska that benefits the Diabetes Research Institute, a world leader in cure-focused diabetes research.  Labeled the “Iditarod of Snowmobiling,” the event is the brainchild of Bill Bradfield of Cadillac, MI, a retired 50-year sheet metal worker and Vietnam veteran who has type 2 diabetes.  In 2010, the group rode from Michigan to Alaska through five states, five provinces, 4,000 miles and four time zones. The median age of those that participated was 62 and the 54 riders raised $102,000.00 for Diabetes Research. Since then they have collectively ridden 440,000 miles from Tok, Alaska to the Atlantic Ocean to the little town of Perce, Quebec. The 2014 ride in Quebec was 3,131 miles long.
This year, Bradfield has organized a new trip that will start on February 5th with four days in Michigan, four days in Ontario, one day off, then a flight to Norway and a six day
ride through Norway, Sweden, and Finland. On February 21st they are scheduled to cross the Finland border and go into Russia for four days of riding, some of it to be done north of the Arctic Circle to the remote Russian village of Murmansk. On February 24th, they will conclude in St. Petersburg, Russia.
“It is my passion of a lifetime to raise awareness of the need for future research for this dreaded disease,” said Bradfield, who has been snowmobiling for 41 years.  Throughout his career as a Union sheet metal worker, Bradfield has been raising funds and awareness about diabetes, a chronic disease that impacts our families.
“It gave me a tremendous feeling of gratitude being able to help people less fortunate than myself, not knowing that someday I too would be stricken with this horrible disease,” he said.
Some participants have diabetes.  Others are riding in honor or in memory of a loved one with diabetes.  Maintaining a distance of 200 miles per day, participants set out in three groups each, launching their rides a day apart.
According to Bradfield, “Vietnam veterans have saying, all gave some and some gave all.” He continued that “I consider myself fortunate that I did not give all. I have been a fighter all my life for one cause or another and see no reason to change now. So I will continue to fight for a cure for diabetes and hopefully it will make a difference for me and others that fight on the same battlefield.”
Visit the group’s website at www.michcanska.com to follow their activities and find out how you too can contribute to this worthy cause.

The BMWED/SMART-Mechanical bargaining coalition met for the first time with the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC) yesterday at the NCCC’s offices in Crystal City, Virginia. The parties reviewed and discussed in general terms their respective “Section 6 notices” seeking changes to existing agreements.
The parties both pledged to work diligently to reach a voluntary agreement. The next bargaining session is scheduled for February 24 and 25, 2015 at the NCCC offices. The topic of bargaining will be healthcare issues. Prior to that meeting, the parties will present agreed upon questions to their respective healthcare experts who will provide answers to the bargaining committees prior to the February meeting. The parties believe this process will allow the bargaining committee maximum time at the bargaining table to focus on crafting an agreement acceptable to all parties.
Updates will be provided after each bargaining session.

In the biggest policy boost to Union organizing in decades, the National Labor Relations Board issued a long-awaited final rule speeding up the union election process.  This rule comes after years of legal challenges to the Obama Administrations attempts at leveling the play8ing field for Union members and for workers looking to form a Union at work.
This new rule will require companies to postpone virtually all litigation over the eligibility of employees until after workers vote on whether or not they wish to form a Union.  This will stop management from engaging in a series of stall tactics that have been used for decades to slow down and ultimately swamp union organizing drives.
Regional NLRB directors will be given the authority to rule that litigation that delays an election is unnecessary until after an election has taken place.  The regulation will eliminate a previously-required 25-day period between the time an election is ordered and the election itself.
It will also require employers to add personal email addresses and phone numbers to lists of workers eligible they are required to provide during an election.  An NLRB decision from that same week in mid-December prohibits employers from denying union supporters from the ability to use company email for organizing purposes.