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On February 23, 2026, workers at SPX Cooling Technologies, LLC in Springfield, Missouri, voted to ratify their first contract as SMART members. The three-year agreement includes a $1,500 ratification bonus, wage increases of over 11%, the preservation of health and retiree benefits and just cause protection against unfair discipline.

The victory came from workers who were organized to stand together and utilize labor’s oldest and most powerful weapon: the strike! On two different instances in November 2025, SPX workers struck, first for one day to protest the company’s removal of low-rise chairs from the workplace, and then once more for two days to protest the company’s hostile and callous response.

“We went to the picket line. We had our signs out there. We let the company know that this is not acceptable to us,” said SPX employee and SMART Local 208 member Andrew Stracke.

“The majority of our shop is looking for union representation”

SPX Cooling Tech employees at the Springfield facility, which opened in 2024, manufacture cooling towers and air-cooled heat exchangers; cooling towers, in particular, are in high demand as investment increases in data centers. The components that SPX employees manufacture are vital for the continued boom in data center construction.

Workers started to talk about organizing in response to various issues in the shop. Stracke, a Local 208 negotiating committee member who has worked at SPX since 2024, alleged instances of favoritism, different wage rates for different people, inconsistent discipline policies and more.

“I was actually the one that placed the call to [a union] office up in St. Louis,” Stracke recalled. “And I felt like the first thing I told them was, ‘look, the majority of our shop is looking for union representation.’”

“Me and Andrew, we were just kind of talking with each other one day about, you know, the unfair working conditions that we were experiencing at the time at the shop. We were just kind of trying to figure out what we could do about it. It was just regular old employees,” added fellow SPX worker and negotiating committee member Wyatt King. “One employee by yourself, you know, you’re not going to have a lot of weight behind you, but when you organize into a union, you can actually address unfair working conditions and unfair wages.”

Members demand a change

The workers at SPX Cooling Technologies in Springfield overwhelmingly elected SMART Local 208 to represent them in a July 2025 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election.

But despite the workers’ strong support for the union, SPX initially opposed their organizing. The day after workers won their election, management took away the low-rise chairs that workers used on the job, forcing them to work on their knees.

“I was just astonished … everybody was just kind of like, ‘well, you know, it’s clear retaliation towards electing a union to represent us,’” said King. “I mean, some of those guys in the shop are 60 years old working on the concrete, on their knees all day.”

On Friday, November 7, workers engaged in a one-day grievance strike over the removal of chairs. The strike was covered by the Springfield News-Leader newspaper.

“Any concerns that we’ve raised, whether it’s about chairs, retaliation, harassment, intimidation — they’ve just stonewalled us on all of it. There’re no discussions,” SMART Central States Regional Production Council Organizer Richard Harris said in an article in the News-Leader. “We should be able to sit down and talk about these issues and resolve them. We shouldn’t have to resort to this.”

Workers attempted to serve their strike notice on an SPX supervisor. But the supervisor refused to meet with them. Instead, a woman workers identified as the supervisor’s wife pulled up to the picket line in a white sedan with two anti-union signs taped to her back windows. One read: “F**k the Union.” The other: “Do what lil b*tches do best while down on your knees!!!” She proceeded to drive back and forth in front of the picket line, shouting profanities at the workers and threatening to have them arrested.

The week after the strike, workers submitted a harassment complaint with SPX’s General Counsel in Charlotte, N.C., regarding the signs. The complaint was signed by nearly everybody in the shop. In the meantime, management continued to threaten workers for participating in the strike. One worker who took part in the strike was verbally reprimanded for “not walking with a purpose.” 

Unsatisfied with SPX’s handling of their harassment complaint, workers struck a second time on November 24 and 25. Picket signs read: “Walk with purpose! We strike today!”

Direct action gets the goods

Seasoned union leaders know how difficult first contract campaigns are. The legal consequences for bargaining in bad faith are next to nothing — a notice posting and promise not to do it again — so many employers adopt a strategy of endless delay. According to recent studies, 63% of first contracts fail to settle in one year, and 43% are still unresolved after two. The average time from NLRB certification to first contract — if one is ever reached — is 465 days!

How, then, did SPX workers manage to win their first contract in under six months? By recognizing the structural power they have within the data center economy, and by taking direct action to resolve their grievances. The strikes had an immediate effect on SPX’s demeanor at the bargaining table. Company representatives freely admitted the top priority was getting units assembled and out the door, which the strikes interfered with. Before the strikes, the company was agreeing to meet to bargain once every six weeks; after the strikes, the parties were meeting six days per month.

Collective strength and common ground

In the following months, Local 208 members say, the workers stood strong. And when they voted to ratify their first contract as SMART members, their agreement included a clause requiring the company to provide low-rise chairs.

“We’ve held so many meetings with the bargaining unit, and the participation has been outstanding,” said Stracke. “We have a really high percentage of people that work in the facility that are completely on board. They’re completely invested, they’re excited to see what working with this union and negotiating a contract, what could come of it. And already we have seen the union step up whenever they needed to step up, and give us answers when we need answers.”

In turn, the negotiating committee reports, the relationship between workers, Local 208 and management has started to improve.

“I think we’re in the middle of establishing a great line of communication and work relationships between the company, the employees and the union, and hopefully, this is a relationship that we’re able to keep going even beyond our first contract,” said Logan Hirst, SPX worker and Local 208 negotiating committee member.  

Other members of the negotiating committee are similarly optimistic about the road ahead — largely because, as SMART members, they’re not just individuals at work anymore. They’re part of something bigger.

“We’re not just bringing up our complaints to management, and they just do whatever they want with it. We actually have a voice, we have a lot of weight behind us now, and they actually have to listen to us,” said King. “They have to negotiate fairly. … We’re all standing together to make real change in our workplace.”

The SMART difference:
  • Workers at SPX Cooling Technologies, LLC in Springfield, Missouri, voted to ratify their first contract as SMART members in February.
  • The three-year agreement includes a $1,500 ratification bonus, wage increases of over 11%, the preservation of health and retiree benefits and just cause protection against unfair discipline.
  • On two different instances in November 2025, SPX workers struck, first for one day to protest the company’s removal of low-rise chairs from the workplace, and then once more for two days to protest the company’s hostile and callous response.
  • The average time from NLRB certification to first contract — if one is ever reached — is 465 days. SPX workers won their first contract in under six months.

On February 23, 2026, workers at SPX Cooling Technologies, LLC in Springfield, Missouri, voted to ratify their first contract as SMART members. The three-year agreement includes a $1,500 ratification bonus, wage increases of over 11%, the preservation of health and retiree benefits and just cause protection against unfair discipline.

The victory came from workers who were organized to stand together and utilize labor’s oldest and most powerful weapon: the strike! On two different instances in November 2025, SPX workers struck, first for one day to protest the company’s removal of low-rise chairs from the workplace, and then once more for two days to protest the company’s hostile and callous response.

“We went to the picket line. We had our signs out there. We let the company know that this is not acceptable to us,” said SPX employee and SMART Local 208 member Andrew Stracke.

“The majority of our shop is looking for union representation”

SPX Cooling Tech employees at the Springfield facility, which opened in 2024, manufacture cooling towers and air-cooled heat exchangers; cooling towers, in particular, are in high demand as investment increases in data centers. The components that SPX employees manufacture are vital for the continued boom in data center construction.

Workers started to talk about organizing in response to various issues in the shop. Stracke, a Local 208 negotiating committee member who has worked at SPX since 2024, alleged instances of favoritism, different wage rates for different people, inconsistent discipline policies and more.

“I was actually the one that placed the call to [a union] office up in St. Louis,” Stracke recalled. “And I felt like the first thing I told them was, ‘look, the majority of our shop is looking for union representation.’”

“Me and Andrew, we were just kind of talking with each other one day about, you know, the unfair working conditions that we were experiencing at the time at the shop. We were just kind of trying to figure out what we could do about it. It was just regular old employees,” added fellow SPX worker and negotiating committee member Wyatt King. “One employee by yourself, you know, you’re not going to have a lot of weight behind you, but when you organize into a union, you can actually address unfair working conditions and unfair wages.”

Members demand a change

The workers at SPX Cooling Technologies in Springfield overwhelmingly elected SMART Local 208 to represent them in a July 2025 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election.

But despite the workers’ strong support for the union, SPX initially opposed their organizing. The day after workers won their election, management took away the low-rise chairs that workers used on the job, forcing them to work on their knees.

“I was just astonished … everybody was just kind of like, ‘well, you know, it’s clear retaliation towards electing a union to represent us,’” said King. “I mean, some of those guys in the shop are 60 years old working on the concrete, on their knees all day.”

On Friday, November 7, workers engaged in a one-day grievance strike over the removal of chairs. The strike was covered by the Springfield News-Leader newspaper.

“Any concerns that we’ve raised, whether it’s about chairs, retaliation, harassment, intimidation — they’ve just stonewalled us on all of it. There’re no discussions,” SMART Central States Regional Production Council Organizer Richard Harris said in an article in the News-Leader. “We should be able to sit down and talk about these issues and resolve them. We shouldn’t have to resort to this.”

Workers attempted to serve their strike notice on an SPX supervisor. But the supervisor refused to meet with them. Instead, a woman workers identified as the supervisor’s wife pulled up to the picket line in a white sedan with two anti-union signs taped to her back windows. One read: “F**k the Union.” The other: “Do what lil b*tches do best while down on your knees!!!” She proceeded to drive back and forth in front of the picket line, shouting profanities at the workers and threatening to have them arrested.

The week after the strike, workers submitted a harassment complaint with SPX’s General Counsel in Charlotte, N.C., regarding the signs. The complaint was signed by nearly everybody in the shop. In the meantime, management continued to threaten workers for participating in the strike. One worker who took part in the strike was verbally reprimanded for “not walking with a purpose.” 

Unsatisfied with SPX’s handling of their harassment complaint, workers struck a second time on November 24 and 25. Picket signs read: “Walk with purpose! We strike today!”

Direct action gets the goods

Seasoned union leaders know how difficult first contract campaigns are. The legal consequences for bargaining in bad faith are next to nothing — a notice posting and promise not to do it again — so many employers adopt a strategy of endless delay. According to recent studies, 63% of first contracts fail to settle in one year, and 43% are still unresolved after two. The average time from NLRB certification to first contract — if one is ever reached — is 465 days!

How, then, did SPX workers manage to win their first contract in under six months? By recognizing the structural power they have within the data center economy, and by taking direct action to resolve their grievances. The strikes had an immediate effect on SPX’s demeanor at the bargaining table. Company representatives freely admitted the top priority was getting units assembled and out the door, which the strikes interfered with. Before the strikes, the company was agreeing to meet to bargain once every six weeks; after the strikes, the parties were meeting six days per month.

Collective strength and common ground

In the following months, Local 208 members say, the workers stood strong. And when they voted to ratify their first contract as SMART members, their agreement included a clause requiring the company to provide low-rise chairs.

“We’ve held so many meetings with the bargaining unit, and the participation has been outstanding,” said Stracke. “We have a really high percentage of people that work in the facility that are completely on board. They’re completely invested, they’re excited to see what working with this union and negotiating a contract, what could come of it. And already we have seen the union step up whenever they needed to step up, and give us answers when we need answers.”

In turn, the negotiating committee reports, the relationship between workers, Local 208 and management has started to improve.

“I think we’re in the middle of establishing a great line of communication and work relationships between the company, the employees and the union, and hopefully, this is a relationship that we’re able to keep going even beyond our first contract,” said Logan Hirst, SPX worker and Local 208 negotiating committee member.  

Other members of the negotiating committee are similarly optimistic about the road ahead — largely because, as SMART members, they’re not just individuals at work anymore. They’re part of something bigger.

“We’re not just bringing up our complaints to management, and they just do whatever they want with it. We actually have a voice, we have a lot of weight behind us now, and they actually have to listen to us,” said King. “They have to negotiate fairly. … We’re all standing together to make real change in our workplace.”

The SMART difference:
  • Workers at SPX Cooling Technologies, LLC in Springfield, Missouri, voted to ratify their first contract as SMART members in February.
  • The three-year agreement includes a $1,500 ratification bonus, wage increases of over 11%, the preservation of health and retiree benefits and just cause protection against unfair discipline.
  • On two different instances in November 2025, SPX workers struck, first for one day to protest the company’s removal of low-rise chairs from the workplace, and then once more for two days to protest the company’s hostile and callous response.
  • The average time from NLRB certification to first contract — if one is ever reached — is 465 days. SPX workers won their first contract in under six months.

Following a successful organizing campaign against union-busting opposition, SMART Local 16 members at Vancouver, Washington-based 360 Sheet Metal are now on strike, protesting unfair labor practices and a refusal to come to the bargaining table by management. Workers have been striking since late July, with Local 16 filing charges that 360 Sheet Metal “retaliated against pro-union workers by giving them isolating work assignments, making unilateral changes without bargaining, surveilling workers, and firing at least one union supporter,” according to Northwest Labor Press.

As reported by Local 16 organizer Matt Haines in the summer issue of the SMART Members’ Journal, 360 Sheet Metal almost exclusively builds custom ductwork and pays workers just above the minimum wage – plus, the company is currently under investigation by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries for repeat violations of state prevailing wage law. After a hard-fought battle to form a union, the workers won their National Labor Relations Board election in April 2022. Since then, however, the company has refused to offer workers a contract – and in mid-August, management grew even more hostile. From Northwest Labor Press:

“Strikers say … they were notified they’re eligible for COBRA health coverage on account of their ‘termination.’ If they were in fact terminated, that too would be a violation of federal law, which protects the right to strike and makes it unlawful to permanently replace workers when they’re on strike to protest unfair labor practices.”

Not only is 360 Sheet Metal violating labor law, the company is undermining workers’ rights to union representation, fair wages, dignity on the job and the ability to support their families. Despite these flagrant attacks, however, Local 16 members are refusing to back down, and the labor movement is standing with them. Every morning, striking SMART members have picketed 360 Sheet Metal from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with members of the Ironworkers, Cement Masons, Insulators, Drywall Finishers and Laborers walking the picket line in solidarity. Teamsters working at UPS have refused to cross the picket line, and C-TRAN bus drivers with ATU Local 757 have honked and displayed messages of strength and unity.

SMART condemns 360 Sheet Metal’s anti-union activity in the strongest possible terms, and we stand in complete, unwavering solidarity with Local 16 members on the picket line.

An open letter from the office of SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Earlier today, I advised our Rail General Chairpersons involved in national bargaining that the cooling-off period after our release by the NMB will be ending Monday, July 18, at 12:01 a.m., and if a Presidential Emergency Board is not appointed by then, there will be the opportunity to engage in self-help. A copy of that letter can be found here.

According to the governing provisions of the SMART Constitution, a strike action over a national contract dispute must first be approved by a two-thirds vote of the affected General Chairpersons. This method, which has been carefully written and democratically required by our delegates, provides a quick and effective way to obtain strike authority from our members. As noted in my letter, our General Committees have so far shown unanimous support for exercising our right to legally strike, if and when the opportunity presents itself. This result does not come as a surprise, given the railroads’ abysmal treatment of our members over the last 2+ years, and their ongoing refusal to make any move toward a contract that is even remotely worthy of your consideration in a ratification vote.

As noted in my letter to our General Chairpersons, this approval does not automatically constitute authorization to engage in a strike. Final authorization will come in a separate notice from this office, and will be widely distributed using every communication tool available to us. The earliest this office could issue that notice could be on or after 12:01 a.m. on Monday, July 18, 2022. However, if President Biden establishes a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) prior to this date, which is generally expected under these circumstances, no strike authorization can be issued during the PEB process.

With that being said, preparation for the possibility of a strike is well under way. We will soon be distributing materials to all affected SMART-TD Locals, which will include explicit detailed instructions. We will also be electronically distributing picketing materials so our members may choose which signs they want to display. This method of distribution provides the added benefit of avoiding any potential delays that might result from mass printing and mailing these materials from a central location.

Your national negotiating team is more determined than ever to obtain a contract that provides the fair compensation, meaningful improvements in quality of life, and better healthcare that we rightfully expect and deserve. To the carriers and their media pundits who are trying to cast us in a negative light: Your bogus rhetoric might resonate with the hedge fund managers, Wall Street investors, and billionaire cronies you cater to, but the hard-working people who earn you your all-time record-breaking profits aren’t buying it. Make no mistake, we are prepared and willing to exercise every legal option available under the Railway Labor Act to achieve our goals.

Fraternally,

Jeremy R. Ferguson
President, Transportation Division

Chicago-area auto mechanics are back to work this morning after a seven-week strike. Members of Local 701 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) was on strike against 130 new car dealerships across the city. The mechanics of the local ratified a new four-year contract that addresses many of the union’s key issues.
Click here to read more from IAM.

NJ TransitIn an article published by the Asbury Park Press, SMART TD General Chairperson (GCA 610) Steve Burkert said that he is still hopeful that a deal will be struck between New Jersey Transit (NJT) and the Rail Labor Coalition. NJT and the Rail Labor Coalition have already had two Presidential Emergency Boards (PEB) assigned by President Obama to work out an agreement. Both PEBs’ findings supported the Rail Labor Coalition’s stance. However, since the PEBs’ recommendations are non-binding, NJT has been dragging its feet in adopting the PEBs’ recommendations to provide a workable contract. The Rail Labor Coalition, which represents 17 unions, including SMART, and 4,200 union members has authorized a strike on March 13, if a deal can not be reached. NJT has also threatened a lockout on the same date. Click here to read the full story.

cp-logo-240Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. began operating a reduced freight schedule run by its managers on Feb. 15, after talks on a new contract broke down and more than 3,000 train engineers and conductors walked off the job.

Canada’s No. 2 railway and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference failed to agree on terms including on scheduling and rest time. The railway reached a deal with a second union, Unifor, which represents safety and maintenance workers.

Read the complete story at Reuters.

anthony_Simon_web
Simon

The International Association of Sheet, Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers and its allied unions on the Long Island Rail Road invite members of organized labor and their family, friends and supporters to a “LIRR Labor Rally” on Saturday, June 21, at 11 a.m. at the Massapequa Train Station.
SMART Transportation Division GO 505 General Chairperson Anthony Simon said the purpose of the rally is to demonstrate the resolve of affected LIRR employees in achieving the recommendations of Presidential Emergency Board 245.
In a ruling delivered May 20, PEB 245 found decisively in favor of the unions in their ongoing dispute with New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority over wages, work rules and pension reforms.
In its report, the board notes that “the lack of notice and bargaining on substantial issues in the Carrier’s final offer is of significant concern … The Unions’ final offer, on the other hand, represents a reasonable balance addressing the priorities of both parties … It is noteworthy that the Unions’ assertion that real wage increases for LIRR employees, absent inflation, have not increased at all since 1991, was not challenged by the Carrier.”
The PEB report set in motion a final 60-day cooling off period. If no agreement is reached during that time, SMART and the other unions are legally allowed to strike July 19 under provisions of the Railway Labor Act.
However, Simon told New York’s Newsday May 27 that SMART would be willing to extend by 60 days, or until mid-September, any strike on the railroad.
“Our members care about Long Island and its economy,” said Simon, adding that a strike could harm summer tourism-based businesses. “All we would need is the MTA to mutually agree on the extension.”
SMART’s coalition partners include the Transportation Communications Union, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers-Service Employees International Union.
To print a rally flyer, click here.
Show your support here: http://www.keeplongislandmoving.net
See also: LIRR workers urge management, Cuomo to help delay strike deadline

SEPTA_logo_150pxNearly 99 percent of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) members working for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) have voted to authorize a strike when a mandatory 30-day cooling off period under the Railway Labor Act ends in less than two weeks, BLET officials announced this morning.

Locomotive engineers could walk off the job or be locked out by SEPTA at 12:01 a.m. on June 14 unless President Barack Obama intervenes and appoints a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB), according to a BLET press release. A PEB would delay a strike or lockout, and would investigate and issue a report and recommendations concerning a dispute in negotiations, union officials said.

Read the complete story at Progressive Railroading.

CN_red_logoTORONTO – Canadian National Railway Co said on Wednesday that the union representing roughly 3,000 of its train conductors and yard operation workers in Canada has given the company notice of its intention to strike as early as Saturday.

The strike notice comes just days after the tentative labor contract reached last year with CN, Canada’s largest rail operator, was rejected by union members.

Read the complete story at InForum.