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 Halifax and across mainland Nova Scotia, 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 agreements Local 409 bargains for mainland Nova Scotia, through the accredited multi-employer structure administered by the Nova Scotia Construction Labour Relations Association. They are documents, they are enforceable, and copies are held at the hall.
Work comes through a hall that knows the signatory contractors across the province, 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.
When something goes wrong there is a grievance procedure with steps and time limits, and a steward on the job who knows how to use it.
03
The ticket
An apprenticeship that ends in Red Seal certification, and upgrading afterwards that the member does not pay for.
The sheet metal apprenticeship combines paid on-the-job hours with in-school terms and ends in provincial certification and the interprovincial Red Seal, which travels to every province in the country.
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.
Architectural sheet metal and cladding is its own discipline within the trade, and it is work this local is known for.
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