Tag: Spring 2025

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SMART Army members across North America volunteered their time, energy and donations during the holiday season, helping provide for those in need.

Local 9 (Colorado) partnered with community organization Foster Source, delivering toys to youth in foster care and spreading joy and hope to those who need it most.

SMART-TD Local 1741 members proudly continued the local’s toy collection tradition for San Francisco children and families, distributing gifts to General Hospital and a local domestic violence shelter.

Local 33 members in Toledo, Ohio, stepped up for their community, providing gifts for several families in need and gathering hams for workers who lost their jobs during the holidays after a fire destroyed their place of employment.

Local 265 members (Carol Stream, Ill.) gathered and donated gifts as part of the United States Marines Corps’ Toys for Tots program.

Local 17 members served their community at the Francis Gatehouse with the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, which helps people without adequate access to resources get the nutrition they need.

Local 40 (Rocky Hill, Conn.) apprentices helped set up and take down lighting displays for Goodwill’s Fantasy of Lights event at Lighthouse Point.

Local 83 (Albany, N.Y.) members collected gifts for those in need as part of Toys for Tots.

In an annual tradition, Local 104 members in California’s South Bay volunteered with the set up for the 2024 San Jose Christmas in the Park.

Members of SMART Local 36 in St. Louis partnered with the local SMACNA chapter to help stock food pantry shelves and supply area children’s charities with toys for those who need them.

Local 58 (Syracuse, N.Y.) apprentices volunteered to help fix bikes for the CNY Bike Giveaway event at the New York State Fairgrounds.

SMART-TD Local 0023 partnered with the nonprofit Grey Bears to serve more than 300 meals to seniors in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Local 66 (Seattle, Wash.) brought together 45 volunteers for its Christmas Blessing Holiday Meal Program, providing meals to 47 families, delivering gifts to 112 children and raising $10,400 to support the initiative.

The Local 280 SMART Army made donations at Toy Mountain 2024, a Vancouver, British Columbia-area toy drive that distributes new toys and cash donations to families in need. Local 280 provided more than $1,500 in toys.

TD supports working families nationwide

As workers and their families celebrated during the festive season, SMART-TD members across the country stepped up to ensure that those who might need a little extra help were able to experience the joy of the holiday season.

In Chicago, the members of Local 1534 worked with the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation, collecting over 100 toys and $200 worth of gift cards for children and teenagers battling cancer.

In Illinois, for the second year in a row, SMART-TD Local 445 hosted the Yuletide Food Drive in partnership with the Jamieson Food Bank in Monmouth, Ill., and the Fish Food Pantry in Galesburg, Ill. Headed up by Brothers Wes Ekstedt, Josh Gordon and Jack Girard, the local collected over 400 pounds of food and nearly $800 to distribute throughout the community.

And in Memphis, Tenn., SMART-TD Local 1557 conducted its second bike drive and secured 100 bikes for the Binghampton Development Corporation after setting a goal of just 20 the year before, which it far surpassed.

TD Local 1557 bike drive
TD Local 1534 toy drive
TD Local 445 food drive

The SMART Heroes Foundation honored sponsors and recognized recent program graduates during an appreciation reception Nov. 18 in Washington, DC. DeWalt was recognized as a gold sponsor, and it was announced the company would become a program partner for next year.

Jon Howland, DeWalt director of trade marketing, said the company’s participation in SMART Heroes is intended to help grow the trades by bringing in more women, people from underserved communities and veterans. A Navy veteran, Howland also promised if SMART Heroes was to open a third location, DeWalt would fill it with products and tools.

“Continue to fund these programs,” he urged. “They’re so important.”

SMART Heroes began in 2017 in Western Washington to provide exiting military members and recent veterans the opportunity to complete a concentrated version of their first year of sheet metal apprenticeship as the beginning to a civilian career. The second location in Colorado Springs began offering the same training in 2019. Both locations work with local military bases of all branches to aid in a successful transition into the civilian workforce.

In order to graduate, SMART Heroes participants complete a seven-week course, and upon discharge from service, they may choose to enter any of the 148 SMART apprenticeship programs in the United States. There, they are provided direct entry and advanced placement as a second-year sheet metal apprentice with corresponding wages and benefits.

The SMART Heroes program has graduated more than 600 graduates, with approximately 60% currently working in the trade and an additional 5% eligible to apply for the apprenticeship upon discharge. Two graduates — Kurtis Mancuso from SMART Local 9 in Colorado Springs and Kevin Moore from Local 66 in Western Washington — were in attendance at the reception with their instructors, Greg Daniels and Tommy Mumma, respectively.

To Moore, the camaraderie of the union is similar to that of the military.

“The veterans need this program,” he added. “All veterans need is that same environment, only without bullets flying at them.”

Mancuso found out he was going to become a father a few months before he was to be discharged from the Army. Panic set in as he wondered how he would provide for his family. Then, SMART Heroes called.

He graduated from the apprenticeship earlier this year.

“SMART Heroes was the only program that kept reaching out to me,” Mancuso said. “I am very, very thankful to the SMART Heroes program. Veterans need that. Without it, some of us don’t do very good.”

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut and U.S. Navy captain, attended the reception to show his support for the program: “It’s a model that other unions and other companies need to follow,” he said.

Mike Harris, executive director of the ITI, NEMI and SMOHIT, reminded the audience that SMART Heroes cannot continue without support.

“These veterans … this is what this program is all about,” Harris said. “But we can’t do it without the support of our sponsors who help us fund these programs.”

North America has changed frequently and drastically since sheet metal workers first began organizing more than 135 years ago. Technology, domestic politics, international trade, pandemics and industrial fluctuation have impacted our union, our industry and our two nations. But one thing remains constant: Whatever is taking place in government, politics or business, SMART members win when we organize.

Local 280 Business Manager Steve Davis detailed that fact in spring 2024, when a multi-year organizing campaign led to the workers at Evergreen Sheet Metal joining our union and growing SMART’s market share in British Columbia.

“After signing the company, there was some resentment and hard feelings, but they are now operating at more than 60 employees,” he said. “The company has embraced joining the union and is an active member of SMACNA British Columbia.”

Davis, who was elected business manager in 2024, began working as a Local 280 organizer in March 2020 — the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns worldwide. But the groundwork for the organizing campaign was set two years prior, when one of the largest nonunion plumbing companies in the area — Pitt Meadows Plumbing — purchased Evergreen, until then a small, family-owned contractor.

“Pitt Meadows had primary subbed all its sheet metal work to Local 280 signatory companies, and from 2018 to 2020, they were working with one of our union companies, All Valley Metals, at the Abbotsford Law Courts jobsite,” Davis recalled. But then, “Pitt Meadows Plumbing went on a stripping effort, recruiting about 15 of our members to quit the union to join Evergreen.”

The attack on Local 280 took place as Davis was starting his work as an organizer. Throughout 2020, he recruited 96 new members to Local 280 — and spent much of his remaining time communicating with the former members who had left the local for Evergreen.

“I constantly shared our benefits and wage increases with the Evergreen employees to ensure they were at the same levels as us,” he said. “I stripped several workers per year, with 10 leaving at the end of 2023. That is when everything started coming together. I was working with a few of their foremen who I had built trust and respect with, and we planned an organizing drive in December of 2023.”

Local 280 hit the ground running in early 2024 — and quickly ran up against a fierce union-busting campaign. After organizers visited a jobsite with union certification cards early one morning, where about 25 Evergreen workers were on site, the company caught wind — only two workers showed up at a second jobsite, where Davis had planned to get more cards signed from the 20 workers who were supposed to be present.

“Things were not looking good, as we just didn’t have the numbers,” he said.

That’s when a site supervisor from the second jobsite, an acquaintance and former Local 280 worker, contacted Davis and asked to meet for lunch. Davis asked him to set up a meeting with the Evergreen owners, initiating a two-pronged organizing approach. Davis scheduled a sit-down with Evergreen management, Local 280 and SMACNA B.C., hoping to sign the contractor more amicably. In the meantime, as the meeting approached, he kept in touch with Evergreen workers — signing seven more members to give union supporters the majority.

Evergreen rejected Local 280’s attempt at a friendly agreement, and at workers’ urging, Davis filed with the Canadian Labour Relations Board for card check certification. The company ramped up its anti-union efforts, with a foreman on site trying to convince Evergreen employees to revoke their signed cards. On January 29, 2024, Local 280 filed an unfair labour practice complaint against the company. Two days later, the Labour Relations Board granted Local 280 certification, with 64% approval. Through the workers’ strength and resilience, their union was won.

At that point, Davis said, there was the unpleasant possibility of entering arbitration for up to one year. But Local 280 met with ownership throughout February, and the two parties ended up signing a collective bargaining agreement in March 2024.

“This was the largest victory I had as an organizer,” Davis said.

Thanks to Local 280’s focus on organizing and the collective determination of Evergreen employees, a hostile, nonunion employer became a friendly signatory, bringing 60 new members into our union and reminding SMART members everywhere: Organizing is how we win.

SMART-TD kicked off 2025 with a bang, organizing two Genesee & Wyoming-owned railroad properties in the span of two weeks.

The first victory, at Wilmington Terminal Railroad, was won with a unanimous vote from railroaders who spent years dealing with a variety of anti-worker attacks.

Wilmington Terminal workers, who already live in the so-called “right-to-work” state of North Carolina, came under G & W ownership in 2005 — and found themselves facing anti-union intimidation from the get-go.

But new SMART-TD member Parker Greenough grew tired of G & W’s threats to shut down the terminal and switch the cars elsewhere if organizing talk became a reality.

“I always figured that [securing union representation] would be difficult and that it would take a long time, but we were finally ready,” Greenough said. “Enough is enough.”

“SMART has negotiated some great agreements on G & W properties,” McCray said. “These guys see that and what they’re missing out on and what a union can do for you.”

After having important conversations with coworkers, Greenough and his colleagues decided that they were ready to stand up to G & W’s endless stream of scare tactics and join a union.

There was just one problem: He didn’t know exactly where to start.

A Friday night Google search led him to SMART-TD, and he immediately made a call to the organizing department. By Monday morning, he was on the phone with General Committee 433 Vice Chair Andy Goeckner, who asked Greenough what he and his brothers needed. Authorization cards were in the mail to them that same day.

Crucial support also came from TD Local 1105 (Wilmington, N.C.) President Mike Stafford. He was present during an initial town hall on SMART-TD membership and provided invaluable help as the vote approached.

“I was shocked at how easy SMART-TD and Andy made this process,” Greenough noted. “We could tell that he was excited to be in this fight with us, and that made us even more motivated to organize.”

G & W predictably and blatantly engaged in further union busting, attempting to swing the vote against SMART-TD supporters. Management was rebuffed with a unanimous vote in favor of unionization.

Vice Chair Goeckner then walked the new members through the process of filing the correct documentation with the Department of Labor and other federal organizations.

Fellow North Carolinian Todd McCray, who hails from the CSX general committee, helped Wilmington Terminal navigate the process at the state level, a responsibility that he wasn’t required to assume.

“Todd’s not an organizer,” Goeckner pointed out. “Being from the same state and having the knowledge to make it happen, he just wanted to help his brothers secure the protection and respect that they deserve. He went above and beyond his job description to bring these guys into our SMART-TD family.”

McCray believes that the vote is a true reflection of the union difference.

“SMART has negotiated some great agreements on G & W properties,” McCray said. “These guys see that and what they’re missing out on and what a union can do for you.”

Connecticut Southern workers organize for change

Just days after their union siblings at the Wilmington Terminal Railroad, workers at Connecticut Southern Railroad — another Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary — joined SMART-TD in a nearly unanimous vote.

Connecticut Southern workers were previously under an umbrella agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLET), which benefits some (but not necessarily all) properties that it covers.

With only 15 members in train and engine service, the Connecticut Southern members often felt like they were left in the dark and didn’t have their needs fully addressed.

“Looking at our own situation, we had to say, ‘Hey, are we getting our bang for our buck?’” said Garrett Desjardins, who was the local chairperson while they were represented by the BLET.

Tired of feeling like they weren’t being heard, our new brothers reached out to SMART-TD.

GCA 687 Associate Chairperson Nick Greficz assisted with the organizing efforts.

“[Joining SMART-TD] wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction,” Greficz emphasized. “There was some apprehensiveness about the contracts in place, the longevity of the contracts, and there was some misinformation that was being spread.”

Discussions with Local Chair Matt Pietrzak from Local 352 (West Springfield, Mass.) eased many of the workers’ worries. Pietrzak knew most of TD’s new members before the switch.

“We worked side-by-side with those guys,” he said.

“I see [Pietrzak] almost every day when I’m at work,” Desjardins added. “We just met each other through doing the job, and you meet good people along the way. So it almost seemed like a no-brainer for us because our representation is right there.”

Connecticut Southern workers made a strong impression on Greficz throughout the organizing process — their professionalism and solidarity as a unit helped achieve the overwhelming victory. He specifically conveyed how proud he is of Pietrzak, who is now preparing to become an official organizer, for his leadership throughout the campaign.

“It’s a true story of organizing from the rocks, because he wasn’t an organizer,” Greficz explained. “It doesn’t matter what your title is … everybody is an organizer at the end of the day.”

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 the local filed four unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, the NLRB secured a settlement agreement with the contractor that saw PMC pay $459,758 to fired Local 20 workers.  

The campaign began when PMC started hiring sheet metal workers. As part of Local 20’s organizing efforts, Local 20 Business Manager Trent Todd explained, eight members in the local’s Youth-to-Youth program applied to work at the company — and declared their union affiliation ahead of time. Those workers were not hired by the company. However, Todd added, two members that did not announce their Local 20 membership were hired. After starting at PMC, the members stated their union affiliation, and they were fired.

Local 20 acted swiftly, filing a complaint that, according to the NLRB, “alleged that the employer unlawfully refused to hire or consider for hire eight applicants and fired two employees because they engaged in union activities, interrogated employees and promulgated an unlawful rule.”

And in December, the NLRB announced the settlement. Along with backpay, PMC agreed to cease and desist from unlawful conduct and to post, read and email a notice of employee rights to its workers.

“Every worker in this country has the right to organize a union, and we at Local 20 will always fight to defend that right,” Todd said. “I am proud of the work our organizing department performed on this campaign. PMC illegally refused to hire qualified applicants because of their union affiliation. This settlement is evidence that rank-and-file organizing has a direct impact on our industry.”

“It is unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire applicants — or fire workers — because of their support for a union,” said [NLRB] Region 25 Regional Director Patricia Nachand in the NLRB’s press release. “I’m proud of Region 25 staff for securing this strong settlement that makes whole the victims of the unfair labor practices.”

After retiring in 2024, Tom Killeen, a longtime member and officer at SMART Local 100 (Washington, DC area), embarked on a trip to Ireland and Scotland. The primary purpose of the expedition was to see family — however, Killeen’s itinerary also included a stunning monument to the industry and craftsmanship that define not just our union, but sheet metal workers worldwide.

Killeen’s cousin, renowned sculptor John McKenna, is taking the tools of our trade to a colossal level.

Clacncy, Killeen, McKenna
“The Ship Builders of Glasgow”

Since the 1990s, McKenna has forged an acclaimed career as a public artist, known for large-scale sculptures at Wimbledon, the Celtic F.C. soccer stadium, a statue of AC/DC frontman Bon Scott and various tributes to working people, including a 40-foot-tall statue of a coal miner in England.

“I always go back to people at work — it’s what I’ve made my career out of,” McKenna said. “I feel I’m making work for the public to enjoy.”

Killeen, McKenna and another cousin, Fergus Clancy, visited one of McKenna’s more recent homages to working people: “The Ship Builders of Glasgow,” a pair of 40-plus-foot figures constructed from 316 marine grade stainless steel, depicting ship builders at work.

It was important to McKenna that the sculpture — intended to honor the Port Glasgow ship building industry and overwhelmingly selected by local voters following a public proposal competition — show collective labor instead of just one worker: “two men, breaking their backs, putting hard, hot work into these ships.”

“I made these colossal figures in my studio workshop in Ayrshire,” McKenna wrote on his website. “[It] took almost eight years to create these titans to the former glorious industry of Port Glasgow, where numerous shipyards built thousands of ships which were sent all around the world. Those shipyards, now long gone, were testament to the industry of the people of the Clyde. This sculpture was my way of recognising those long gone folk who made ships that sailed to every corner of the earth.”

McKenna built the two figures, which weigh a combined total of nearly 45 tons, in sections, removing the roof of his barn-turned-studio in order to transport them to the site of the former Port Glasgow. He painstakingly designed the two figures in CAD, spending sleepless nights planning for every minute detail in the design, construction and assembly process — where the figures’ joints would hinge, spacing the two figures correctly to avoid collisions during construction, sizing the segments of each figure for transportation, creating openings for hooks to hoist pieces during assembly, etc.

The structures required a guarantee that they would last 120 years — not in a sterile, museum-like environment, but at a park near the last operational shipyard in the area, withstanding fierce seaside winds, salty air and blasts of industrial sediment. McKenna worked with a structural welder on the “skeletons” of the two figures, using a shielding gas with a flux and a mig wire to form the figures out of two-foot-diameter steel pipes. He and his team then cladded the base figures with .9-millimeter stainless steel plates, cut and folded using a guillotine shear and an eight-foot box and pan folder (known in the U.S. as a press brake). In all, there were thousands of metal sheets riveted or welded together, with hundreds of thousands of spot welds that gave the sculptures their textured, flowing look.

“When the heat of all the little welds goes in, it buckles all the metal sheets, so instead of being a very mechanical, flat, faceted sculpture, the buckles and ripples all over the surface made it more organic,” McKenna explained, adding that the very material he used to create the two figures was what workers hammered to forge ocean-spanning ships in years past: “That was the whole idea with the spot welding, bringing together the sheet metal components that the ships were built out of.”

During his visit, Killeen gave McKenna a Local 100 shirt — symbolizing simultaneously the international heritage of our union, the solidarity that bonds the world’s working people, and the artistry and craftsmanship of sheet metal workers around the globe.

“‘The Ship Builders of Glasgow’ is an incredible display of the expertise and skill sheet metal workers practice every day, from Local 100 to Scotland,” Killeen said. “I was proud to represent our union overseas, and I hope these statues serve as a reminder to all who see them of the workers who power our world.”

To learn more, visit www.johnmckenna.co.uk.