Sheet Metal News
Local 435, North Florida Building Trades win big on Jacksonville Jaguars stadium
Thanks to the advocacy of SMART Local 435 and the North Florida Building and Construction Trades Council, locally hired apprentices will help build the new Jacksonville Jaguars stadium — a more than $1-billion project. “Jacksonville has not seen a project this size in decades [...]
SMART GP Coleman statement on tariffs impacting North American workers
“We need trade policies that strengthen North American industries, protect union jobs and reinforce the shared success of the United States and Canada. What we are getting instead are policies that weaken the U.S.-Canada relationship, threatening the industries that put union members to work."
Eli Baccus to lead SMART Education Department
Former local union organizer and SMART International Instructor Eli Baccus has been named director of the SMART Education Department — another step in a career dedicated to advancing the interests of union workers across North America. “Eli’s extensive experience, dedication [...]
National Careers In Trades Week spotlights opportunities in construction
To raise awareness for the abundance and evolution of trade careers, building trades unions and skilled trade associations, including SMART, the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA) and International Training Institute (ITI), have come together to launch the first national Careers In Trades Week, April 7-11, 2025.
Department of Defense halts PLAs on construction projects
Project labor agreements, or PLAs, represent one of the greatest achievements of the unionized construction industry, benefiting taxpayers, contractors, union members AND nonunion workers alike. PLAs have been lifting working families into the middle class for generations — e [...]
SMART Education Department classes bring members together to strengthen our union
As 2025 gets fully underway, bringing with it a new set of challenges across the United States and Canada, the SMART Education Department continues to offer classes to SMART members and officers — helping local unions better represent members, and strengthening our union. The [...]
“Organizing is our lifeblood:” Benson details the role every member plays in strengthening SMART
“We’re seeing growth like we’ve never seen before,” said SMART Director of Organizing Jason Benson during a recent interview. In more than 25 years of union membership, Benson couldn’t have dreamed of experiencing anything quite like the last five years. Domestic infra [...]
Local 20 reaches settlement agreement, highlights anti-union behavior in Indianapolis
SMART Local 20’s Youth-to-Youth program paid dividends in Indianapolis, Ind., in early December 2024, where members and officers worked to highlight alleged anti-union behavior and win hundreds of thousands in backpay from Performance Mechanical Contracting, Inc (PMC). After [...]