Category: Fall 2023
General Committee 2 Convention demonstrates democracy, solidarity
On June 28 and 29, General Committee 2 held its second General Convention in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The first such convention held since the merger of General Committees 1 and 2, this marked an important milestone: honoring and enacting the Railroad, Mechanical and Enginee [...]
Department of Labor updates prevailing wage regulations in win for SMART members and building trades workers
On August 8, United States Vice President Kamala Harris and Acting Secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL) Julie Su announced the publication of a rule that updates the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, strengthening prevailing wage regulations and raising pay standards for SM [...]
SMART-TD, RME members secure paid sick leave for rail workers at Union Pacific
The oldest railroad in the nation has finally realized that people get sick. About 6,000 SMART Transportation Division conductors and trainmen and 75 SMART Rail, Mechanical and Engineering (RME) Department workers have secured paid sick leave from Union Pacific after voting t [...]
Ray Reasons appointed 11th General Vice President
Ray D. Reasons II was appointed SMART 11th General Vice President on August 1, 2023, following the retirement of Tim Carter. Reasons began his career as an apprentice with Local 36 (St. Louis, Mo.) in 1994 and was initiated as a journeyperson in January of 2000. Throughout hi [...]
Jason Benson continues sheet metal career as SMART director of organizing
Jason Benson began his position as SMART director of organizing on June 29, 2023, following Darrell Roberts’ move to assistant to the general president. Benson began his career in the sheet metal trade in November of 1999 as a pre-apprentice working for Bright Sheet Metal in [...]
Joseph J. Nigro Award winners recognized for SMART Army solidarity
The Joseph J. Nigro SMART Army Service Award — given each year to selected sheet metal and Transportation Division members — is a recognition of the winners’ solidarity and dedication to their union, their SMART brothers and sisters and their communities. This year’s winners [...]
SMOHIT expands mental health helpline service
The Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust (SMOHIT) Helpline, available 24 hours a day at 877-884-6227 to SMART members and their immediate families, was put in place long before COVID-19 disrupted the world. The idea for the hotline emerged when stressors from an un [...]
SMART Leadership Conference draws dozens of guest speakers to demonstrate: “This is our time”
SMART leaders across sheet metal and the Transportation Division gathered in Washington, DC, from July 31–August 2 for the second annual SMART Leadership Conference. With a conference theme of “This is Our Time,” attendees convened to make sure SMART seizes this moment of unp [...]