After years of discussions, lawsuits and delays, the Sheet
Metal Workers and United Transportation Union completed their proposed merger
Nov. 30.
In a joint letter posted on the union’s website, UTU
President Mike Futhey Jr. and Sheet Metal Workers President Joseph Nigro said
it was “time to heal our wounds and embark jointly on a productive and
successful future.”
Many observers did not expect the merger to happen. After
being approved by members of the UTU and Sheet Metal Workers union officials in
2007, a group of transportation union members filed a federal lawsuit to stop
the merger, claiming they were not made aware of potential problems between the
two unions’ constitutions before their votes. A judge put the merger on hold pending its resolution.
Futhey had publicly declared it “dead” in 2009.
The new union is known as the International Association
of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers and goes by the acronym
“SMART.”
