@smart-union
The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers: fighting to protect and raise the living standards of more than 230,000 sheet metal and transportation workers in the U.S. and Canada.
Over 20 years ago, Sister Sandra Pineda (Local 1563, El Monte, Calif.) began working as a bus operator for LACMTA as a single mother supporting her three daughters. What started out as a job has grown into two decades of service, solidarity and leadership: www.smart-union.org/a-legacy-of-...
Watch as she details her journey in the trade, some of her proudest accomplishments, her experience turning out as an apprentice the same year she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and more: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wWq...
As Women in Construction Week rolls on, we're proud to spotlight Local 104 (Northern California) sister Rita Magner. A 34-year member of our union, Rita helped pave the way for countless sisters to follow in her footsteps as a proud sheet metal worker.
That's solidarity in action!
In recent negotiations, Colorado Pacific Rio Grande Railroad sought concessions from SMART-TD Local 204. But members held firm and secured an agreement that preserves base earnings while increasing effective hourly pay and improving overtime opportunities: www.smart-union.org/notches-chan...
#WomeninConstructionWeek spotlight: Local 17 (Boston) sister Renee talks about her balancing career, what she values about her work, how she got into the trade and more!
"I always wanted a job with a positive impact on society, and a job that matters," she said.
youtu.be/185PD7Fa1Io?...
Stay tuned throughout the week for video profiles and this year's happy hour drink!
Welcome to Women in Construction Week 2026!
This week, SMART is sharing resources, honoring our union sisters blazing trails in the industry, and gathering with fellow sisters and allies for a virtual happy hour on March 6. (RSVP: smart-meeting-on.zoom.us/meeting/regi...)
"We actually have a voice, we have a lot of weight behind us now. ... We're all standing together to make real change in our workplace."
On February 23, 2026, workers at SPX Cooling Technologies in Springfield, Missouri, voted to ratify their first contract as SMART members. Watch several of the workers tell the story of how they organized to join Local 208.
youtu.be/2hrIgMT3n48?...
“Rail safety isn’t a Red issue or a Blue issue. It’s about keeping our country and our members safe and secure."
Senators Jon Husted and Maria Cantwell have introduced the Railway Safety Act of 2026. Read SMART General President Michael Coleman's response: www.smart-union.org/general-pres...
HUGE NEWS: More than three years after the devastating East Palestine derailment, the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2026 aims to enact major reforms born out of the lessons learned from this disaster.
www.smart-union.org/bipartisan-r...
In an interview conducted shortly before his passing, Local 218 member Renato Favero talked about his extraordinary 102-year life, including 84 years in our union. Brother Favero was a World War II veteran, proud SMART sheet metal worker, and a beloved family man: youtu.be/i1oCnVXB-KI?...
The Partners in Progress conference wrapped up on Wednesday, sending sheet metal leaders home with connections, knowledge and strategies for the future. Throughout the conference, one theme remained constant: We can only secure the future of the unionized sheet metal industry TOGETHER.
Rail carriers and transit agencies have shifted injury and safety hazard reporting out of crew rooms and into less accessible digital systems. SMART-TD is aiming to restore real-time hazard awareness and empower members and local officers to protect one another: www.smart-union.org/safety-start...
Sheet metal industry leaders are gathering in Orlando, Florida, this week to secure the future of the UNION sheet metal trade.
“As long as we keep working together, I’m personally confident this industry’s best days are still ahead.” - GP Coleman
#PinP26
Happy Lunar New year to all who celebrate!
Happy #PresidentsDay from SMART!
“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” — President Abraham Lincoln
“When a pullback system fails, when a shove goes wrong, when equipment ends up on the ground, it’s not the BNSF executives getting hurt or fired.
“It’s us.”
🚨 🚨 🚨 BNSF has gone to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) asking for a waiver that should set off alarms for every yard employee working Remote Control Operations (RCO): www.smart-union.org/bnsf-seeks-d...
This bill would benefit communities, building owners and the sheet metal workers who perform this work. Thank you, congressmen, for supporting SMART members!
Yesterday, @beyer.house.gov and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick reintroduced the Airborne Act: a bipartisan bill that would incentivize building owners to conduct indoor air quality (IAQ) assessments and upgrade their ventilation and air filtration systems.
beyer.house.gov/news/documen...
NOW ONLINE: The Winter 2025-2026 SMART Members' Journal, featuring messages from International leadership, a Labor/Labour Day photo gallery, an analysis on the decades-long war on working people, local union news and much more!
View individual articles here: www.smart-union.org/category/mem...
It's been 3 years since the East Palestine derailment. Where is rail safety reform?
The labor and civil rights movements have always been intertwined. Learn more by revisiting this 2023 Learning Journey celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. — featuring Dave Dennis, a Civil Rights veteran and one of the original Freedom Riders.
www.beforall.org/resources/ma...
A veteran Louisiana railroader dismantles the myth that safety mandates hurt efficiency, arguing from lived experience that federal rail safety rules exist because companies repeatedly choose profit over people when left to police themselves: www.smart-union.org/rail-safety-...
In KY, SMART members -- many of them military veterans -- are working on a project that means something special: a new VA Medical Center. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwfD...
"I can [give back] the best way that I know how … make sure that me and my fellow veterans, we all have a nice hospital here."
"I didn't see any light … at the end of the tunnel," Garringer said. "[But] we're not in a tunnel anymore. And we realized we're not in this alone."
SMART-TD Brother David Garringer lost his leg to a horrific injury on the job, ending his career and changing his family's life for good. In response, sheet metal Local 71 mobilized, building a custom wheelchair ramp for Brother Garringer's home: youtu.be/-Io2M_qCJlw?...
"This cannot stand. We cannot have government agents killing people in the street. We cannot have people afraid to go to work because of what’s happening outside their doors. We cannot sit back and let government agencies dictate the everyday lives of working people without facing any consequences."