A little known fight, which could endanger the lives of thousands and even entire cities, is being led by S.M.A.R.T. (the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation workers) representing 44,000 workers. The fight is in regards to trains running with just one person. Now just think of a massive, two-mile long train loaded with tar sands or other corrosive chemicals running through your town with only one person at the helm. What if that person had a heart attack, got injured or fell asleep?
Trains used to run with a crew of five in the 1970s. Now it is just with a two-member crew, which is unsafe when you look at the derailments and explosions we’ve been having; in one 47 people were killed and most of the town Lac-Megantic, Quebec was destroyed after government officials had granted the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway a special dispensation to run with a one-man crew to save costs. This is an example of irresponsible greed at the expense of lives of the crew member and the general population.
The Sheet Metal Union, which I am a member, merged with S.M.A.R.T. last year and this is the union’s biggest test of its strength and the union will have to win this fight for the sheet Metal S.M.A.R.T. union and its employees. There is no alternative for one-man crews are just unacceptable. It is a safety issue. Also, the oil tank cars are unsafe, which just exacerbates the problem.
This is a fight for everyone who rides on a train, lives in a city with a railway system or who drives across railroad tracks with in a vehicle or a school bus driving your children or grandchildren to school and back. It is everyone’s fight at this point. We need to support S.M.A.R.T. in its efforts to at least keep a two-man crew on trains.
As a retired Sheet Metal organizer, I am very hopeful and proud of our union for taking on this fight. This is why we need unions—to fight for safety of everyone.
In 2026 unions worldwide must educate and expand their memberships or face certain death. We need to educate our workers to understand that the republican party does not care about, does not deserve their support or votes and only cares about the billionaires. The GOP is their enemy and not their friends. The GOP and billionaires are the workers’ enemy. They want the workers’ sweat and blood for as cheap as they can get it. These greedy people and their insatiable appetite for more leaving us with much less will not stop until we’re forced to work for scraps and fighting each other for the pittance. They will not invite you to golf with them or go hunting or to dinner with them. In fact, they are always in pursuit of ways to destroy our unions and the way of life we’ve obtain by being union. One way they are doing this is to use the court system, especially the lop-sided Supreme Court, to take away our union rights and to get more states to vote for The Right to Work, which leaves work...
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