SMART General President Michael Coleman often says that our solidarity is our greatest strength. Local 10 members in Mankato, Minnesota, proved that in April 2026, going on strike and winning much-needed gains and guarantees around health care.
Jones Metal, Inc. in Mankato is a production shop that employs 42 Local 10 members. In 2016, according to Business Manager and President Matt Fairbanks, “there was a production health plan that ended up going bankrupt, and the company didn’t go out and buy a health plan. They just decided to give the employees a stipend, a weekly stipend for health coverage.”
That was 10 years ago. When bargaining came around in April 2026, the stipend amount provided by the company hadn’t changed — despite the rising costs of health insurance.
“That stipend was part of the contract in 2013 and they have not raised that stipend or contributed to a health care plan for these employees for the last 13 years,” SMART Local 10 Financial Secretary-Treasurer Jason Damman told the Mankato Free Press in April.
Amid a time of spiking costs — and with huge increases in insurance rates coming down the pipe in Minnesota, according to the state Department of Commerce — members at Jones Metal went to the bargaining table seeking some relief for their families. Instead, Local 10 reported, the company proposed sticking with the same stipend for another three years.
Members responded by voting down the offer and authorizing a strike the same day.
Solidarity, community support prove pivotal
Local 10 put our union’s values on display as Jones Metal workers hit the picket line. The local’s entire Minnesota staff temporarily relocated to Mankato, a city in Southern Minnesota, for almost two full weeks. The local applied for and received assistance from the International’s strike fund, helping members get by for the duration of the strike. The state AFL-CIO, local building trades and SMART International Organizer Dan Kortte walked the line alongside members all day, nearly every single day, maintaining strength and unity through the blustery Minnesota springtime.
“It’s a lot to go on strike. It’s a ton of work,” Fairbanks said. “And it went off as seamlessly as a strike could go off.”
Especially crucial to Local 10’s success, Fairbanks explained, was the community support that members received in Mankato. Even though the region is known as a nonunion area, locals showed up for the Jones Metal workers, showcasing the fact that SMART members are not just essential workers but essential parts of communities across North America.
“The support that we had from the community — driving by and honking, coming and walking the line with us, dropping off food and water, and things like that — it kept the members’ spirits upbeat, knowing that people cared, and that really helped,” Fairbanks said.
Power in unity
Despite the multiple days on the picket line, Local 10 members at Jones Metal stayed strong and unified throughout their strike. They never wavered in their demands; in fact, Fairbanks noted, they were ready to keep striking to win what they deserved.
Ultimately, that wasn’t necessary. In the agreement eventually ratified by the members, the company agreed to provide more money as part of their health care stipend — and, crucially, to establish a company health care plan by the end of the agreement.
“I know they’re going to start working on that fairly quick and hopefully have that in place long before the four-year agreement is over,” said Fairbanks.
Perhaps most important is the message that the members sent the company.
“The message sent is that you need to supply health care for people that show up and do work for you every day,” Fairbanks concluded. “It’s a human thing: having health care, making sure that your families are covered.”
From a frozen stipend amount dating back to the 2010s, to the imminent creation of a company health plan. That’s the power of solidarity!