Las Vegas sheet metal union grows membership, wins better pay for Nevada workers

Throughout the state of Nevada, SMART Local 88 (Las Vegas) is organizing to grow its membership, strengthen union contractors and create more opportunities for members. That organizing has paid off, with the local recruiting sheet metal workers from nonunion competitors to meet ongoing workforce demands in Northern Nevada’s Reno area, home of SMART Local 26.

When SMART local unions work to bring new members into the unionized sheet metal trade, it isn’t just about growing the strength of our union. It’s about making life better for those workers and their families — and it helps current members by growing the strength of unionized contractors.

Local 88, under Business Manager Geremiah Robnett’s leadership, has demonstrated that union difference clearly. In the last two months, the local’s Organizing Department of Alfonso Lopez and Robert Diaz has signed up 15 new journeypersons from larger nonunion contractors in the region. These are foremen and workers that the local has known for years, maintaining constant contact through jobsite visits and referrals.

These newly organized Local 88 members are increasing their incomes in the range of $8-12 per hour solely on base hourly wages, with another $30 an hour in benefits that include Health & Welfare for their entire families, plus Tri-State and International pension plans.

Organizing new members to take on work in the Reno area — specifically from contractors who drive down wages in Southern Nevada — benefits the workforce for the entire state. It also helps level the playing field between union contractors and the bad-faith employers who consistently drive down area pay and working standards.

That’s why we organize!