Each year on May 1st, working people all over the world celebrate May Day, or International Workers’ Day.
While Labor Day is celebrated in September in the United States and Canada, International Workers’ Day is an official public holiday in countries ranging from Denmark and France to Nepal. But despite its international character, the modern origins of May Day are very American, dating back to the 19th-century fight for an eight-hour workday.
1886 engraving depicting the Haymarket affair
The fight for workers’ rights
Workers across North America know one simple fact to be true: There are eight hours in the workday. Of course, SMART members often work far more than eight hours in a day — from TD members working long shifts on the rails to sheet metal workers pulling six twelves to get a job over the line. But eight hours still makes a difference: It’s the foundation for the 40-hour workweek and, as a result, the principle that governs when most North American workers get overtime pay.
That principle — eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep, eight hours for whatever we want to do in our free time — was won in blood.
In the 1800s, as the industrial revolution changed the entire world, workers were crammed into factories, working long days (10 to 16 hours or more) in dangerous conditions for low pay. Unions organized in response. In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada — which preceded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) — passed a resolution stating that by May 1, 1886, a single day’s labor would only be eight hours. As the deadline approached, workers organized work stoppages in 1886 with the slogan “Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will!”
In Chicago, these demonstrations helped trigger a domino effect with global impact. In May 1886, police killed at least two people after opening fire on striking workers at a McCormick Harvesting Machine Company Plant. The next day, workers rallied at Haymarket Square in protest. When police stormed the crowd, the peaceful protest quickly became violent: A bomb was thrown and a shootout erupted, killing multiple police officers and workers. The events would become known as the Haymarket Affair.
Eight protesters were arrested afterwards. According to UCLA, “The ensuing trial was considered by many to be unfair and resulted in the execution of seven of the eight men.” And the international outrage that followed helped lead to the modern iteration of May Day/International Workers’ Day.
The forgotten history of the eight-hour workday
The eight-hour workday was not officially law in the United States until 1938, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act into law.
But despite the 50 years in between the Haymarket Affair and this major victory for workers, the two events are in no way unrelated: The fight that started in the 1880s led directly to a win in the 1930s.
Worker victories are very rarely won overnight. SMART members know this well — we learned it from the long journey to a federal two-person crew regulation, the ongoing push for labor law that truly supports American workers, the fight against so-called “right to work” in states like Michigan, and other battles. These fights took decades to win; many are still being fought. But the fact that we have legally required overtime pay is proof that these battles are worth waging, and that our solidarity will win out in the end.
Today, most Americans are unaware of the history of May Day. In fact, most Americans likely don’t know the reason they have an eight-hour workday or two days off every week — just like they are probably unaware that unions lift pay and living standards nationwide to this day.
That’s why, on May 1 and throughout the year, it’s more important than ever that we reclaim our history.
In April 2026, SMART members and workers across the United States experienced the kind of month that can define entire lives. Foreign policy decisions and chaos at the national level sent gas and diesel prices spiking. Conflict abroad affected the construction industry. And in the backdrop, Election Day 2026 marched steadily closer, bringing with it the usual ads, commercials and mailers.
In the middle of all that activity, SMART leaders and fellow building trades officers gathered in Washington, DC, April 19-22, for the annual North America’s Building Trades Unions Legislative Conference: attending plenary sessions, breakout workshops and meeting with elected leaders on Capitol Hill.
The conference theme, “A Deal’s A Deal,” reflected core principles of our nation and our movement.
First, the building trades will always provide a path forward for working people nationwide; that’s the deal we make for our communities and members.
Second, the workers who build the United States deserve to be supported by the people elected to represent them: no more broken promises, canceled projects and ripped-up contracts.
That’s the deal SMART members are owed, and the one that union leaders work tirelessly to secure.
SMART leaders hear from politicians, build knowledge in workshops
NABTU President Sean McGarvey, a longtime ally of SMART members across North America, spoke about the stakes of that deal in his keynote address on Tuesday, April 21. McGarvey minced no words talking about the crisis American workers face today: contracts and commitments getting walked back, uncertainty, shifting goalposts. In other words, deals getting broken.
“At a time when too many forget their own signature, the building trades are here to remind America: A deal is a deal,” McGarvey said.
Canceled construction projects — from Flint, Michigan, to ports nationwide— are attacks on the jobs and livelihoods of SMART members and fellow working Americans. They undermine communities, and they slow our nation’s progress. But despite these challenges, McGarvey said, the building trades continue to look forward. Whether expanding pre-apprenticeship programs, aggressively recruiting veterans into our trades, using mechanisms like the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust to fund union-built affordable housing developments, or working overtime to reduce overdose and suicide deaths in the construction industry, SMART and fellow building trades unions are fighting tirelessly to support members and communities nationwide.
“This is what unity and solidarity looks like,” McGarvey said, after telling attendees that overdose deaths in the construction industry dropped nearly 30% in one year. “This is what the building trades do … when we all come together, we make each other’s lives better.”
There is no use sugarcoating the challenges we face. Decisions made at the federal level have thrown the construction industry into disarray, sent prices skyrocketing and squeezed working Americans. That’s why organized labor is more important than ever, McGarvey concluded.
“Our movement has seen moments like this before … and every single time, the building trades rose to the occasion,” he said, adding: “We built this nation before, and we’ll build it again.”
Along with McGarvey, union leaders also heard from Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, who focused her remarks on the growing presence of artificial intelligence and advanced technology in our work, our industries and our personal lives. Union members don’t want to be constantly surveilled by AI programs, or have their jobs threatened by technology. We also don’t want to stop forward progress for our country.
Chang Suh of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment TrustAFL-CIO President Liz Shuler
What we want, she said, is for working people to build the economy of the future.
We want technology to help working-class Americans, not force them into unemployment. We want data centers built with project labor agreements and community benefit agreements in place — creating good, union jobs and ensuring that communities aren’t subsidizing corporate profits at the expense of the places they call home.
“We are at the most important fork in the road our economy has faced in 100 years,” Shuler said. “Are we going to put workers in the driver’s seat to decide our future?”
She concluded: “Labor is going to lead again.”
SMART leaders advocate tirelessly in the halls of power, bringing members’ voices to politicians regardless of political party. On Tuesday, elected leaders returned the favor: NABTU attendees heard from New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Representative Greg Casar of Texas.
Sen. Schatz
Holding a range of positions and representing vastly different geographic areas, the political speakers talked about different topics in their remarks. But there were consistent throughlines. First, recognizing the failures of both political parties to truly support workers by creating jobs, lowering prices and building housing, among other examples. Second, the importance of keeping the promises our country and its leaders have made to working people: making sure deals are followed through, not abandoned on the campaign trail.
“Workers are getting screwed every single day, so we need to fight back with everything we have — and win,” said Senator Schatz. “The best way to support the building trades is to actually build things.”
Representative Casar agreed.
“If you make this country run, you should have a union wage and the ability to retire and take care of your kids,” he said in his remarks.
“In Washington, every single day, rich and powerful people wake up like it’s their job to pit working people against each other. They do it because they want to rob us blind,” Casar added. “That’s our money created by our labor.”
While the plenary session offered the opportunity to hear directly from elected members of Congress, afternoon workshops were just as valuable.
SMART leaders and fellow attendees attended breakout sessions on data center construction and the importance of winning the work; updates on White House, agency, and congressional initiatives affecting multiemployer pension and health plans; investing in union-built affordable housing through the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust; and much more. Whether workshops focused on artificial intelligence training, peer mental health support, benefits for veterans or any of the other topics available, there was one common theme: working proactively and innovatively to secure the future for union building trades workers.
Wednesday speakers demonstrate bipartisan support
As SMART General President Michael Coleman has said repeatedly, our union’s issues aren’t Red or Blue — they are about improving the lives of SMART members and their families. During the final day of the NABTU Legislative Conference, that principle was put on display, with elected officials and candidates from across the political spectrum speaking to attendees about the issues that matter to building trades workers. Union leaders heard from Congressmen Seth Magaziner, Mike Lawler and Brian Fizpatrick.
Congressman FitzpatrickCongressman Magaziner
Republican Rep. Fitzpatrick has been a longtime friend of the union building trades, oftentimes bucking his party leadership in order to support SMART members and working families. Fitzpatrick helped draft one of several pro-worker laws passed under the Biden administration, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to help put SMART members to work building our country.
“Infrastructure is not separate from American strength. Infrastructure is American strength,” he emphasized.
On the morning of his NABTU remarks, Fitzpatrick introduced a bill to revive Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, which would create jobs for SMART members.
Fitzpatrick was joined at NABTU by fellow Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who has also prioritized several pro-worker votes despite the majority of his party doing the opposite — including the Protect America’s Workforce Act to restore collective bargaining for federal workers. The presence of Lawler and Fitzpatrick alongside Rhode Island’s Rep. Magaziner, a Democrat, demonstrated that our union will work with any leader, regardless of party, on behalf of SMART members.
“Thank God that in our free country, workers can join together and achieve power. Organized labor built this country, and organized labor will save this country,” Magaziner said. “We need to build again.”
Senator SlotkinGovernor SherrillDelegate Melissa Wells
The plenary session ended in fitting fashion: with a spotlight on building trades brothers and sisters who have stepped up to serve working people in elected office (or who are currently running for office). Attendees heard from Maryland State Delegate Melissa Wells, former Alaska State Senator and current candidate for governor Click Bishop, Canton, Ohio, Mayor William Sherer, Oak Creek Mayor and Wisconsin Assembly candidate Dan Bukiewicz, and Jason Shedlock, president of the Maine Building Trades and candidate for Maine House.
All of these leaders are proud union members, working to bring the voice of building trades workers to the halls of power.
“If we don’t start treating the halls of power like the rat jobsites that they are, nothing will ever change for us,” Shedlock bellowed.
SMART reception honors top PAL locals, welcomes candidates
Each year, SMART holds a reception during the NABTU Legislative Conference to honor the top 31 local unions with the highest donations, per capita, to the Political Action League (PAL). During the 2026 reception, SMART also heard from candidates seeking office: Illinois candidate for Congress Donna Miller and House of Representatives candidate Shannon Taylor of Virginia.
Shannon TaylorDonna Miller
SMART engages with officeholders and candidates early and often for one reason: to ensure their support for our members and their families. During their remarks to SMART leaders, Miller and Taylor pledged to do exactly that.
The top 31 PAL locals:
Local 434 (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Local 27 (Southern New Jersey)
Local 66 (Seattle, Wash.)
Local 71 (Buffalo, New York)
Local 265 (DuPage County, Illinois)
Local 112 (Elmira, New York)
Local 17 (Eastern Mass.)
Local 22 (Union, Morris, Somerset, Sussex Counties, N.J.)
Organizing is the foundation of the labor movement, and it remains the key to SMART’s health and strength to this day. Bringing unorganized workers into our union is how we grow union density, maintain the health of our funds and build our strength at the bargaining table.
For that reason, the SMART Education Department held its Bottom-Up Organizing class in St. Louis, Mo., during the week of April 13, 2026. The class focuses on developing practical competency in the process and skills required to successfully run bottom-up organizing campaigns.
Participants worked in small “local union” teams in a comprehensive role-play that mimicked a bottom-up campaign throughout the entire week. Each fictional local union worked as an organizing team and role-played the workers at the companies — Coleman Sheet Metal and Daniel Fabrication — based on character backgrounds provided for the simulation.
Each team was ranked by their performance in a mock union election at the end of the class. The fictional Local 2 group — Scott Olson (Local 18), Juan Amaya (Local 28), John Gjokaj (Local 38), Kyle Determan (Local 263) and Joe Watters (Local 285) — was the top local in the class based on highest election win percentage.
“Participants were very engaged in the role-play and were observed organizing each other outside of class time,” said SMART Director of Education Eli Baccus. “Everyone did a fantastic job working with their groups and playing their parts. Well done, everyone!”
SMART General President Michael Coleman joined the United States Congressional Labor Caucus on April 15, 2026, to bring the voice of SMART members to Congress.
The Congressional Labor Caucus is co-chaired by Representatives Mark Pocan, Donald Norcross, Debbie Dingell and Steven Horsford. The caucus has more than 120 members of Congress working to protect workers’ rights, to advance the priorities of workers and the labor movement, and to connect legislators directly with workers and unions.
From rail safety legislation to investments in infrastructure, elected representatives have a real impact on SMART members nationwide — which is why it’s important that they hear from us directly. In his meeting with congressmembers and staff, General President Coleman discussed the importance of strengthening and expanding registered apprenticeships, rail and transit operator safety, the need to pass laws that create jobs for sheet metal workers, and more.
“[Registered apprenticeships] build a strong pipeline of skilled workers for in-demand industries while opening the door to high-paying careers without student debt,” Rep. Pocan said on X after the meeting. “Expanding access to apprenticeships is how we create opportunities for every American, and I will continue to support these critical programs.”
Bringing member priorities directly to the people who represent them: That’s leadership in action!
Good partnerships in the union sheet metal industry don’t happen by accident. They’re built the same way anything worth a damn is built: with time, trust and hard work.
That’s exactly how things got rolling between Local 12 (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Avalotis Corporation.
Back on October 14, 2025, Local 12 Business Manager Geoff Foringer connected the local with Chris Avalotis, owner of Avalotis Corp. Chris isn’t new to the skilled trades, and he knew what he was looking for. Avalotis Corp started as a family painting business more almost 60 years ago, in 1967. In the decades since, the company has grown into a multi-trade operation, taking on jobs across the country.
During the conversation with Foringer, Chris made it clear what he needed: skilled workers who could deliver on architectural work at a higher level. While his company was already performing that work, he saw something different in what Local 12 brings to the table.
About a week after the first meeting between Avalotis and Local 12, the conversation moved from the phone to the field.
On October 23, Foringer and Local 12’s Chris Weist sat down with Avalotis reps to talk shop — what Local 12 can do, where the local fits, and how SMART can help Avalotis get the job done right. The focus was simple: show the company the value of trained, union sheet metal workers when it comes to architectural applications.
The foundation was set for the potential partnership to grow.
“During this meeting, we outlined how Local 12 could serve as a strategic partner and addressed questions regarding our capabilities,” said Weist. “Avalotis expressed strong interest and requested a follow-up visit to tour the training center and learn more about our programs. Plans were made to prepare a contract in anticipation of that visit, with the goal of executing it at that time.”
Of course, like any job, there were a few starts and stops.
On November 11, 2025, Chris reached out to say they’d reconnect after Thanksgiving. That was no problem for Local 12. The lines stayed open: calls, emails and steady communication, “allowing both parties to further develop the relationship and build mutual trust between Local 12 and Avalotis Corporation,” Weist said.
That’s how trust gets built in this business.
Fast forward to March 9, 2026. Business Agent Joe Schueler and Weist met with Chris and Art Avalotis for a full facility tour and to talk next steps. What came out of that meeting was big:
Avalotis is working nationwide
They’re planning to partner with SMART sheet metal locals across multiple regions
They’re actively looking to bring in more union workers
And it wasn’t just talk. The company is already looking to put Local 12 members to work, starting with a roofing project in Aliquippa, said Weist. On top of that, the company is feeling good about landing insulation and lagging work at a huge project near Homer City, which could mean even more opportunities for SMART sheet metal workers.
All the groundwork paid off on April 6, 2026. Art Avalotis sat down with Foringer and Business Agents Schueler, Dave Boyd and Kodee Bailey to make it official, signing the contract with Local 12.
With ink on paper, the conversation shifted to where it belongs: putting members to work.
Plans are already underway to staff upcoming projects, both locally and nationwide, getting Local 12 members on the job and expanding opportunities across the board. That means:
More job opportunities
Travel work potential
Stronger union presence across multiple jobsites
Work that matches our training and skill level
When contractors recognize the value of union labor, everybody wins. And this partnership? It’s just getting started.
Construction is booming in the American Southwest, with current and upcoming projects popping up steadily in New Mexico and Texas. Thanks to the proactive work of SMART International staff and Local 49, union sheet metal workers and local community members are set to benefit.
“Over the past several months, we have focused on proactively identifying and positioning Local 49 ahead of upcoming work opportunities across the Lubbock and Amarillo, Texas, and New Mexico markets,” said SMART International Organizer Willy Solorzano. “Working alongside Local 49 officers Erick Corona and Roy Privitt, we have taken a coordinated approach to tracking megaprojects, conducting site visits and gathering accurate, real-time information to stay ahead of workforce demands.”
A project in Childress, Texas
Megaprojects create enormous opportunity for SMART sheet metal workers, but they can also present challenges for local unions and signatory contractors. To meet those challenges, staff have been out in the field, maintaining consistent communication to identify projects in early stages, monitor those projects’ progress and prepare accordingly. This has helped SMART stay organized, maintain up-to-date project tracking and stay ready for any upcoming opportunities.
“As a result of this approach, Local 49 staff has successfully met workforce needs on current projects without issues. All workforce requests have been filled in a timely manner, and work continues to move forward smoothly with no disruptions,” said Solorzano. “The ability to anticipate demands and maintain a ready workforce has played a key role in this success.”
What that means in practice: Local 49 members are taking on the existing work that these projects demand, and the local is positioning itself for growth — and more job opportunities — in the future. That is why we organize!
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.
We hear about anxiety, stress and burnout all the time, but loneliness — the feeling of being cut off or unseen, even when surrounded by others — has become one of the most serious public health challenges of our time, and it’s hitting working people hard. Loneliness impacts every element of a person’s life, from their happiness at home to their ability to do their job.
To help us understand the loneliness epidemic and what we can do about it, we’re joined by Dr. Michael Barnes, head of the Michael Barnes Family Institute and a member of SMART Local 15. Dr. Barnes works with SMART to assist members with mental health, substance abuse and peer support, including initiatives like the SMART MAP, and he is a leading expert in his field. In this episode, he discusses resources available to SMART members and the importance of putting solidarity into practice in order to help members feel less alone. SMART membership can be an antidote to loneliness, as long as we ALL work to make sure our brothers and sisters feel welcomed in our union.
“We can be the answer to loneliness for a lot of people, but we can also be the opposite of that,” Barnes said. “People do care, and it is our responsibility to self-assess. If we’re lonely, if we’re struggling, there are services. It’s a matter of having the courage to ask. … The other side of that is for individuals who don’t have risks to recognize that they don’t have to have a PHD to help someone.”
This season of Talking SMART focuses exclusively on mental health and the resources available to SMART members. Make sure to subscribe on your preferred podcast program.
Talking SMART brings listeners the voice, stories and power of SMART union members across North America. Members are invited to send feedback and questions to info@smart-union.org.
SMART membership changes lives — not just for members, but for entire families. Local 399 (South Carolina) member Fabian Campos is a powerful example.
Fabian Campos, right, with his son, a Local 399 apprentice
On May 30, 2025, Brother Campos walked into the SMART Local 399 office to complete an application and interview. At the time, he was nearing the end of a nonunion apprenticeship program in Columbia, South Carolina. Despite having several years of verified experience — including time as a jobsite superintendent in New York — Campos had been placed into an apprenticeship program that did not reflect his skill level.
Like many hardworking Americans nationwide, he accepted this situation out of necessity, determined to support his family even as he earned wages that fell short of meeting their needs.
The unfairness of the situation brought him to the local, where during his interview, it quickly became clear that Campos’s experience and capabilities aligned with the qualifications of a journeyperson. We discussed the opportunities available through SMART Local 399 not only for Fabian but also for his son — including fair wages, comprehensive benefits and a clear pathway for advancement.
The realization of the union difference made an immediate and profound impact. Overcome with emotion, Fabian expressed deep gratitude, recognizing that this opportunity represented a turning point for his family.
Since joining Local 399, Brother Campos has excelled. He is now serving as a foreman on one of our largest projects, demonstrating leadership, skill and professionalism on the jobsite. His son has also joined the apprenticeship program and is actively building his own future within the trade.
Fabian has fully embraced union membership, going above and beyond to give back. He volunteers his time to help organize, teach, translate and mentor others. He has enrolled in every available training class and consistently attends union meetings, embodying SMART’s values of commitment and brother/sisterhood.
Brother Campos’s story is a testament to the life-changing impact of opportunity, fairness and solidarity; in other words, the impact of union membership. Through SMART Local 399, one family’s future has been transformed, and a new leader has emerged to help uplift others.
SMART membership changes lives for:
Members
Families
Communities
Through the power of collectively bargained pay, benefits and apprenticeship programs that provide pathways into middle-class careers.
Back in spring 2025, SMART Local 435 and organized labor announced a landmark victory in Jacksonville, Florida. Thanks to the unrelenting advocacy of Local 435 and the North Florida Building and Construction Trades Council, in a campaign led by Business Manager Lance Fout, the $1.4 billion Jacksonville Jaguars stadium renovation project included mandatory apprenticeship and local hiring requirements for the stadium and future city-funded developments.
“This is a first in Jacksonville, and hopefully a trend we can continue,” Fout said at the time.
Lance Fout, Local 435 and building trades workers lobbied for pro-worker provisions on the new Jaguars stadium.
Members mobilize in support of local careers
The campaign started when the stadium project was first announced. Fout, Local 435 and the building trades maintained a constant presence in the halls of power, working to ensure public investment by the city of Jacksonville benefited the local community. Together with fellow union building trades workers, Fout and Local 435 held several rallies, urging the city council to include apprenticeship and local hire requirements in the stadium deal, and turned out more than 100 union members to attend a town hall meeting with Mayor Deegan and Jaguars President Mark Lamping. Members continued to mobilize for future meetings.
This visible show of solidarity and direct engagement with city officials successfully moved the needle from simple interest to legislative action, with the inclusion of the apprenticeship and local hire requirements in the final stadium deal.
But the work didn’t stop there. To implement those requirements, Local 435 led the charge in securing a commitment for up to $675,000 in funding to support union apprenticeship programs in Jacksonville. These robust training programs do more than staff a jobsite; they will transform temporary construction roles into decades-long, middle-class careers for the residents of Duval County.
Construction of the stadium has since started, with union sheet metal contractors already awarded the critical HVAC ductwork and exterior architectural applications. Now, as the project scales toward its 2027 peak intensity and 2028 completion, it serves as a blueprint for how organized labor can secure the future of cities across the United States. Enormous projects can work for the communities in which those projects are built — as long as they create good, well-paying jobs for local community members.
Fout put it simply when he testified to the Jacksonville City Council: “When we drive by these major projects, we want to see Duval County license plates. Apprenticeship changes lives.”
Thanks to the work of Local 435 and the North Florida labor movement, union apprenticeships will change more and more lives in the county as the “Stadium of the Future” comes to fruition.
Great work, brothers and sisters!
Success Summary:
Policy Victory: Established mandatory apprenticeship and local hiring requirements for city-funded projects.
Training Investment: Secured a commitment for up to $675,000 to expand and support union apprenticeship programs in Jacksonville.
Collective Mobilization: Maintained a consistent presence of 50+ building trades members (primarily Local 435) at public meetings.
Secured Work Scope: Union contractors officially awarded the HVAC ductwork and exterior architectural metal contracts.
Project Timeline: Construction is underway, peaking in 2027 with a scheduled completion in 2028.
