AFL-CIO Blog

  • Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: SMART
    Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: SMART AFL-CIO Next up in our series that takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates is the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers. Name of Union: International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Mission: To advocate for fairness in the workplace, excellence at work and opportunity for all working families. Current Leadership of Union: Joseph Sellers Jr., a second-generation sheet metal worker, serves as the general president of SMART. He began his career as an apprentice in 1980 at Local 19 in Philadelphia. In 1994, he was elected to the local's executive board and was appointed as training coordinator in 1996. He later served as business representative, president and business manager of Local 19. In 2009, Sellers was elected as SMART's 11th general vice president. He became general secretary-treasurer in 2011 and was re-elected in 2014. He became general president in 2015. During his time in office, Sellers has "developed and led special campaigns to increase outreach and awareness for construction, production and transportation industries members, union industry officials and policy makers on key issues including pensions, health care, and apprenticeships." He "implemented and continues to lead enhancements to the union’s information technology, professional skills training and lifelong learning curricula." Richard McClees serves as general secretary-treasurer and John Previsich serves as transportation division president. SMART also has 15 vice presidents with various areas of responsibility. Current Number of Members: 216,000 Members Work As: Sheet metal workers, service technicians, bus operators, engineers, conductors, sign manufacturing and installers, welders, HVAC technicians, production employees and more. Industries Represented: Sheet metal production and installation, HVAC service, air, rail, bus and other mass transit, among many others. History: The history of this organization begins in the second half of the 19th century, with the founding of several unions that were forerunners of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association (SMWIA) and the United Transportation Union (UTU), which later joined together to form SMART. In 1888, SMWIA formed and by 1901, the union had grown to more than 5,500 members from 108 locals in the United States and Canada. In 1899, SMWIA first received a charter from the American Federation of Labor. In 1922, SMWIA railroad shop members launched one of the biggest strikes in U.S. history, when 400,000 workers walked off the job. After a federal injunction shut down strike support activities, the action ultimately failed. But the seeds were laid for future collective action and success. SMWIA continued to grow, particularly as many smaller unions in the industry came on board to help expand the power of their members . By 1925, membership had risen to 24,000 from more than 440 locals. Over the ensuing decades, sheet metal workers rose to prominence. In 1927, members from Local 206 in San Diego built a major part of the Spirit of St. Louis, which Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic. During World War II, members were secretly part of the team that developed the atomic bomb. After the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, SMART members in the building trades helped search for survivors and SMART transportation workers evacuated as many people as possible from the danger zone. In 1969, the UTU was officially formed with the merger of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen and the Switchmen's Union of North America. And in 2008, UTU and SMWIA merged to become the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART). Current Campaigns/Community Efforts: SMART has numerous teams focused on member safety. The SMART Action Network gives members and supporters opportunities to make a difference on important issues with opportunities to take action on numerous issues and events as a rapid response network. SMART's Product and Services directory helps people find union-made in America products and services within the sheet metal industry. SMART also has the SMART Army that  engages members in local communities and events in order to build and promote members’ role in local communities while furthering an understanding of the values of the labor movement. SMART publishes The Member's Journal and the SMART TD News to provide news and additional resources related to the industry. Learn More: Website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 07/02/2019 - 15:40 — Jul 2
  • Union Member Brings Unemployment Benefit Increase Bill to Governor’s Desk
    Union Member Brings Unemployment Benefit Increase Bill to Governor’s Desk Delaware General Assembly Delaware Gov. John Carney signed a bill Sunday that raises the region’s lowest unemployment benefit. Under the bill, the maximum weekly payment will rise from $330 to $400—a long-overdue increase since the last update in 2002.    The bill was marshaled through the General Assembly by Rep. Ed Osienski, a member of Sprinkler Fitters Local Union 669.  “The unemployment benefit provides a vital lifeline to residents who find themselves out of work due to no fault of their own. The bills don’t stop coming in, even if the pay does,” Osienski said after the bill was signed. “It’s troubling that we have not increased this weekly benefit since 2002, which has made it more difficult for Delawareans to make ends meet during these times when they’re most in need of this assistance.”   The Delaware AFL-CIO worked with Osienski and other allies on the bill, which passed unanimously in both the House and Senate. The increase was the first in 17 years and comes long after the recession of 2008 and 2009. The high jobless rate at that time left no room for an increase. This victory comes on the heels of several other legislative wins that the Delaware AFL-CIO has achieved by working with union members elected to state office. Earlier achievements this year include expanding collective bargaining rights and worker training programs. Tim Schlittner Tue, 07/02/2019 - 11:14 — Jul 2
  • Pride Month Profiles: Joni Christian
    Pride Month Profiles: Joni Christian GenderIdentityWatch For Pride Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ Americans who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Our next profile is Joni Christian. When she was growing up as a boy, Joni Christian used to pray that God would change her into a girl. At the age of 26, Joni's prayers came true and with the help of hormone therapy and surgery, she became the woman she always knew she was. At the time of her surgery, Christian was an assembly line worker at the General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio. She also was a member of the UAW. Leading up to her surgery, Christian was undergoing hormone treatment, but she had kept the transition quiet at work and people had no idea that she was about to come out. When she returned, she dropped her birth name and introduced herself as Joni Christian.  The reaction was not positive. Her workplace became hostile and supervisors were transphobic. She was met with ridicule and sarcasm, and people shunned her. Women at the plant circulated a petition to keep her out of women's restrooms. Men stared at her and subjected her to cruel remarks. She responded by going to her UAW local and using her legal services benefit to sue GM for invasion of privacy. The company settled with her, and her workplace improved significantly. The president of the local, Gary Briner, was very supportive. About Christian's experience, Briner said:
    We had only started having women working on the line in 1971, and we had to get tough then with how some of the men were acting. So, women alone were a scarcity, let alone what Joni was doing. Some of the workers were acting like animals. But there were other brothers who were pretty embarrassed. She was paying dues, she had the right to do whatever she wanted.
    After winning the lawsuit, Christian remained at GM for 30 more years, and she retired in 1999 with a pension. Since then, she has been active in trans causes and in her church. She said that her union was vital in the happy outcome:
    Returning to work after undergoing gender reassignment surgery was challenging. I would've been fired, if not for the union. The union respected me as a person, even if some of the members didn't approve of me. I learned that an injury to one was an injury to all....
    Christian said that both her job at GM and her membership in UAW gave her the opportunity to become who she truly was:
    The company provided the paycheck that enabled me to pay for medical treatment, and the union protected me from being fired or discriminated against on the job. The union respected me as a union person even if some of the members didn’t approve of me.
    Christian's activism was driven by a simple idea:
    Not everyone has a union, but everyone deserves to have confidence that whatever their gender expression is, they should be able to get up and go to work without fearing that their livelihood will be taken from them.
    The situation at the time was a lonely one. No one in her plant was openly LGBTQ 40 years ago. Since then, GM has evolved and now offers diversity programs and sensitivity training. The UAW has done even more to promote equality, but there is still work to be done.  Christian has a message about the future aimed at LGBTQ youth:
    The world is coming to an understanding that God’s beautiful humanity is very diverse. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are telling the world that we are part of all societies and will settle for nothing less than respect. When we tell the next generation that it really does get better, we have to stand up and tell our stories so that their stories will be respected as well.
    Joni Christian stood up for herself and her gender identity at a time when the country was openly hostile to LGBTQ Americans. Not only did she use the tools at her disposal—her union and the legal system—to improve her own life, but Christian set a precedent and served as an example for those who now follow in her footsteps. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 06/28/2019 - 12:06 Tags: LGBTQ Rights     — Jun 28
  • Labor Activist Wins Primary Election for White Plains Common Council
    Labor Activist Wins Primary Election for White Plains Common Council Westchester-Putnam Counties Central Labor Body Jenn Puja (IUOE), a labor activist and organizer, won her primary race for White Plains Common Council in New York this week. Puja, along with two other labor-endorsed candidates, advanced to the general election in November. Puja received strong labor backing, including from Operating Engineers (IUOE) General President James T. Callahan, and thanked all unions for their work once the primary results were in. Puja said, “There’s a first for everything. This is the first time the primary has ever been in June. This was the first time I’ve ever run for office, ever. I’m overwhelmed, and I’m proud of the people-powered, grassroots, positive campaign that we’ve all run.” If elected in November, Puja will be the youngest woman ever elected to the Common Council. Puja is the labor council director for the Westchester-Putnam (N.Y.) Central Labor Body. She was born into a union family and has fully committed herself to the advancement of the union movement. She saw this election as an opportunity to increase her impact fighting for working people in White Plains and around the region.  Puja is proud to stand with her union brothers and sisters to support them with their local labor issues on picket lines, at rallies and behind the scenes. As an organizer, she has affiliated dozens of new locals as she cultivates coalition partners throughout Westchester and Putnam Counties.  Tim Schlittner Fri, 06/28/2019 - 09:51 — Jun 28
  • What You Need to Know About CEO Pay: The Working People Weekly List
    What You Need to Know About CEO Pay: The Working People Weekly List AFL-CIO Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List. 12 Facts You Need to Know from the 2019 AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch Report: "The AFL-CIO this week released its annual Executive Paywatch report. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler discussed the federation’s findings during a call with reporters, highlighting the continuing pay inequity between workers and CEOs, discussing the impact of the Trump administration’s tax law on executive compensation and pointing out some of the worst offenders among major corporations." International Labor Organization Fights Gender-Based Workplace Violence and Harassment: Eight years ago, women union leaders and activists began campaigning for the International Labor Organization to tackle gender-based violence and harassment at work. Last week, at the ILO’s100th anniversary, workers, governments and employers voted overwhelmingly to approve a binding Convention on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work." Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Machinists: "Next up in our series that takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates is the Machinists." AFL-CIO Trade Tour: Demand Better in New NAFTA: "AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA) hosted a series of town hall meetings in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan this week, where he talked with working people about NAFTA and what working families need from a new deal." Pride Month Profiles: Jeanne Laberge and Ruth Jacobsen: "For Pride Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ Americans who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Our next profile is Jeanne Laberge and Ruth Jacobsen." Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Heat and Frost Insulators: "Next up in our series that takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates is the Heat and Frost Insulators (HFIU)." Hundreds of Thousands Demand, 'No Vote On NAFTA 2.0 Until It Is Fixed': "'Last week workers in Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Akron, Dayton, Cleveland and Detroit told me to bring back a message to D.C. that the new NAFTA is not good enough,' said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. 'People are hurting and searching for answers. They refuse to support another trade agreement that doesn’t account for their needs. Working people are ready to turn the page on NAFTA and end the era of outsourcing. It is time for negotiators to go back to the table and hammer out an agreement that is good for working people.'" CEOs Made 287 Times More Money Last Year than Their Workers Did: "After years of kicking and screaming, corporate executives have finally released pay data on what their CEO makes versus their median worker. Unsurprisingly, the gap is obscene. The average chief executive of an S&P 500 company earned 287 times more than their median employee last year, according to an analysis of the new federal data released Tuesday by the AFL-CIO labor federation." Trumka in Ohio: Fix Trade Pact: "Speaking to some 200 union activists here June 18, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called for renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement to stop the ongoing tidal wave of plant closings. The shutdowns unleashed by the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have continued as recently as last March when General Motors closed its auto assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio. Trumka said NAFTA has caused elimination of almost one million jobs, destroying the lives of workers and their families, who lost homes, wages, pensions and  their entire way of life as communities were disrupted across the land. U.S. corporations, driven by greed for higher profits, often relocated plants to Mexico where U.S. companies pay little or no taxes, workers are paid much lower wages and goods they produce are exported to the U.S. without tariffs." In Montana, AFL-CIO President Talks About the Future of Coal: "Rich Trumka, the president of the country’s largest union federation, the AFL-CIO, was in Montana for the state’s convention in Missoula last week. The federation represents many workers in Montana’s troubled coal industry. Trumka is a third-generation miner. The Pennsylvania native can’t accept that workers, like those in Colstrip, are getting squeezed out of their jobs. 'We sent a person to the moon and brought them back. We can’t figure out how to burn a lump of coal, cleanly? I just refuse to believe that,' he says." AFL-CIO President Says 'Useless’ Trump Trade Deal Hurts Workers: "AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said a renegotiated trade deal between the United States and its neighbors will 'suck jobs' from America if stronger enforcement language isn’t included. President Donald Trump said the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement has 'tremendous union support' at the White House Thursday, but Trumka encouraged workers in the largest federation of American unions to oppose the deal as written. In a fiery speech, Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber said the USMCA is a 'bulls--t, non-enforceable, bad for workers trade agreement.'" Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 06/27/2019 - 14:30 — Jun 27