‘Together,
we do it better’ Joint advocacy efforts can boost chances for success. By Michael McConnell
In 2019,
after years of effort, Local 49 and SMACNA of New Mexico officials finally saw the fire life safety bill they had been supporting signed into law by the governor. In addition to improving public safety, it would mean more work for members of both groups. A few years earlier in Pittsburgh, SMACNA of Western Pennsylvania and Local 12 built a fire simulation room to show council members just how quickly a fire can spread through an HVAC system. The result? A new fire life safety ordinance—and more work for association contractors and the Local. And in the 1990s, when Precision Air Balance Co. Inc. President Karen Fox discovered that California schools were shutting down vocational education programs—eliminating opportunities to promote construction careers to students—she
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worked with union officials to stop it. Those are just three examples of what SMART and SMACNA can accomplish when they advocate together on important issues. Officials with both organizations point out that management and labor on the same side can boost appeal to Republican and Democratic lawmakers, improving the chances of a bill’s passage. For example, SMACNA and SMART officials credit bipartisan appeal for the success they’ve had enacting laws requiring training and certification to inspect fire and smoke dampers. New Mexico was first to pass a statewide law that added vital requirements to the state’s fire code. The law mandates that the dampers and smoke control systems in apartments and public buildings be inspected and tested to National Fire Protection Association standards.
