Northwest Labor Press is an independent union-supported newspaper founded in 1900. Our print version is mailed twice a month to about 45,000 members of over three dozen local unions in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Our online version has been maintained here since 1997.
Tag:
Sheet Metal Workers Local 16
Jobs
SMART 16 protests data center for dumping union contractor
HITT Construction replaced Local 16 union crews with a non-local, non-union subcontractor at the last minute.
Collective bargaining
Sheet Metal Local 16 wins $23.25 raise
Journeyman compensation will rise to $94.51 by 2027 in the contract with Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association.
Collective bargaining
Sheet metal workers ready to strike
If arbitration fails to produce a new master agreement, roughly 1,750 members at nearly 60 contractors could strike.
Training the Next Generation
They got a free education. Now they get a free degree.
Mt. Hood Community College now offers associates degrees to journeymen sheet metal workers.
Collective bargaining
Sheet Metal Local 16 votes on strike as bargaining bogs down
The master agreement with signatory contractors expired June 30, and bargaining has reached impasse. Members will take a strike vote Aug. 5.
Building our communities
Recruiting out in the community
R&B. Barbecue. And a chance at a family wage. The Community Pulse Series is meant to recruit people of color to the trades.
Culture
A QUEST FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
Interviews with 12 local construction tradeswomen reveals, no surprise: They want the same chance to succeed.
Workers Rights
360 Sheet Metal must pay $118,000 more for wage theft
The contractor stiffed its workers of $200,000 on multiple Southwest Washington public construction projects.
Collective bargaining
Strike protests lawless sheet metal employer
Workers at a Vancouver sheet metal shop have been on strike since late July, bolstered by a strike fund and solidarity from union members across trades.
Building our communities
Union holiday stockings spark angry confrontation
Sheet Metal Local 16 organizer Darrin Boyce says the company owner’s daughter was furious: The union was giving out Christmas stockings!
Jobs
A “SMART” business decision
By signing with SMART Local 16, Clint Ochampaugh gets access to the highest-skilled employees in the industry through its hiring hall.
Workers Rights
Union campaign ramps up as 360 Sheet Metal fires supporters
Sheet Metal Local 16’s relationship with the newly unionized Vancouver firm has gone from bad to worse, with legal charges multiplying.
Collective bargaining
360 Sheet Metal management: “We do not agree with the law.”
Negotiations aren’t going well at 360 Sheet Metal in Vancouver. Union leaders say the company is going through the motions in bargaining.
In Memoriam
Michael D. Smith, 1953-2021
A business representative of Sheet Metal Workers Local 16, he was involved in the lengthy CleanPak strike that began in 1998.
Union Organizing
Nowhere to go but up: Vancouver sheet metal workers win a union
Working long hours in unsafe conditions for near minimum wage, a crew of Vancouver sheet metal workers vote to unionize.
People
Sheet metal worker by day, race car driver on weekends
Sheet Metal Workers Local 16 member Chris West competes in stock car races nearly every weekend throughout the summer.
Union democracy
Sheet Metal union restructures
The new SMART Northwest Regional Council covers 9,500 members in five locals in seven states.
Union democracy
Sheet Metal Local 16 members elect first-ever female business agent
The 2,045 member local has been working to increase union market share and attract more women and minority workers.
Building our communities
Local 16’s SMART Army helps clean up Vietnam Memorial
Fourteen members of Sheet Metal Workers Local 16 spent a morning weeding, bark dusting, and doing general cleanup on the grounds.
Building our communities
Union members volunteer at fishing derby
About 2,500 kids ages 5 to 14 got to keep two fish, and every child got a Zebco rod and reel.
