Why go union
Put it
in writing.
SMART, the union the trade still knows as the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association, has organized this work for over a century. Here is what that means for a sheet metal worker or roofer in Newfoundland and Labrador, and what it costs to work without it.
01
Working without it
Non-union sheet metal and roofing work carries risks that do not appear on the first paycheque.
Layoffs come without notice and without recall rights. Hours get disputed after the fact. Raising a safety concern can quietly become a reason not to be called back, and there is no procedure that says otherwise. When the job ends, everything attached to it ends too.
That is not about any single employer being unreasonable. It is what happens when terms are set one worker at a time, with nothing in writing that binds both sides.
02
What membership is
A written agreement, a hall that knows the contractors, and a procedure when something goes wrong.
Wages, hours and conditions come from the collective agreement, bargained through the Construction Labour Relations Association for the province rather than employer by employer. It is a document, it is enforceable, and members can read it in the members’ area.
Work comes through a hall that knows the signatory contractors across Newfoundland and Labrador, and through the inter-local referral system when it is busier elsewhere. Members carry their standing with them instead of starting over with every employer.
Benefits and pension are administered through BPA Atlantic, funded by employer contributions on the hours worked rather than deducted from take-home pay.
03
The ticket
A 7,200-hour apprenticeship ending in provincial certification and the interprovincial Red Seal.
The sheet metal apprenticeship runs 7,200 hours, combining paid on-the-job time with in-school terms, and ends in provincial certification and the Red Seal, which travels to every province in the country.
In-school training is delivered through the provincial system, with apprenticeship and certification administered by the Apprenticeship and Trades Certification Division. Beyond the ticket, members upgrade through SMART’s International Training Institute and through courses run out of the hall, including the safety certifications sites ask for before anyone sets foot on them.
04
Why we organize
Standard wages and conditions across the province protect the contractors who already meet them.
A contractor who trains apprentices, pays the agreement and runs a safe job should not lose work to one who does none of it. Standardized terms take that out of the bidding, so the job is won on skill and productivity rather than on what can be cut.
That is the argument for organizing this trade, and the International has pursued it since long before it was called SMART. The Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association, SMWIA, took that name in 1924 and merged with the United Transportation Union in 2008 to become SMART. Older members still say SMWIA, and they mean this union.
Talk to us before you decide.
There is no obligation and no cost to ask. Conversations about organizing a shop are kept confidential, and that includes the fact that you called.
Business Manager