RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Congratulations to the newly retired members of SMART Local 100!

Donald W. Dressler

Paul M. Golway

Kenneth P. Hamby

Angelo T. Sykes

Edward T. Whalen

Joseph Sellers Jr., General President of SMART since 2015, retired on May 31, 2023. Sellers has served as a member of SMART since 1980, when he began his apprenticeship in Philadelphia’s Local 19. He carried on a family tradition after his father, who was a member of SMART for 55 years.

During his tenure as President, Sellers led and advocated for recruitment programs to grow and strengthen our membership, as well as overseeing technological advancements in our trade. He championed the BE4ALL Committee and the I Got Your Back campaign, increasing diversity and helping to remove obstacles for underprivileged members.

In his retirement announcement, Sellers thanked all SMART members, saying, “It will always be the greatest honor to have represented the women and men who embody the highest level of professionalism and expertise in our industries. Their selfless dedication was on display when our countries needed them most: They are the essential workers who carried our nations through the global pandemic. They were on the job every day, working on new construction, retrofitting buildings into pop-up hospitals, redesigning hospital configurations, manufacturing much-needed equipment, ensuring the transportation of people and goods, and keeping our supply chain intact and our buildings and schools safe during a tenuous time in our history.”

Michael Coleman, a SMART member since 1985, succeeds Sellers as General President on June 1st

FOR MORE INFORMATION, SCAN THE QR CODE

TALKING SMART PODCAST: FIGHTING FOR FREIGHT RAIL SAFETY

Talking SMART, the official podcast of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, has devoted its most recent episode to rail safety in the wake of the East Palestine, Ohio derailment disaster.

On February 3rd, almost 50 Norfolk Southern train cars derailed, spilling vinyl chloride and other chemicals and forcing widespread evacuations and the declaration of a state of emergency by East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway.

In the latest Talking SMART episode, SMART-TD Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity and SMART-TD Government Affairs Representative Daniel Banks discuss what this disaster shows about the importance of hiring Union rail workers, as well as the issues inherent to Precision Scheduled Railroading, a practice which may allow scheduling reliability, but only at the cost of crew fatigue and an increased chance of derailment.

On their efforts to lobby for the passing of rail safety legislation at state and national levels, Cassity said, it comes to combating the railroads, what I need is membership engagement, membership interest, membership participation…we need the members to win this fight. The Union is the voice of many, but we need the many voices to be speaking as one to be effective here.”

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE EFFORTS AND HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED, LISTEN TO TALKING SMART HERE:

Contractor Of The Year Honorable

MENTION

Rochelle Bonty of SMART Local 36 took a leap that paid off big. In 2020, after being laid off due to the pandemic, she took her sheet metal career into her own hands and started her own business. It’s called RMB Mechanical, and it started out with HVAC duct cleaning. Bonty shrewdly realized that COVID-19 meant that indoor air quality would become more important than ever, and the business took off from there.

Bonty is no stranger to trailblazing, though. She was the first Black woman to enter the Local 36 apprenticeship program. Now, she’s a member of the National Association of Women in Construction, a program mentor with St. Louis Building Union Diversity, and just became the first-ever Black woman to be a board member of SMACNA St. Louis.

Bonty’s efforts are now earning her the honors she deserves. In April, the Missouri Women in Trades gave her an honorable mention in the Contractor of the Year Category. Rochelle Bonty is setting an inspiring example for women and people of color in the trades.

FOR MORE, READ HER INTERVIEW WITH THE LABOR TRIBUNE!

Photo Contest

Each quarter, Local 100 hosts a photo contest for our members. Have a great shot of you or your Union family on the job? Send it to us at Info@Smart100.org along with your name and the names of anyone in the photo. Your picture could be displayed in the next newsletter! Here’s a gallery of past photos for inspiration: