WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above (on the left), Troy Milne - who serves as Business Manager/Financial Secretary of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 46, and the Local’s Training Director Allen Mort were in Washington, D.C. late last week to receive an honor from the National Energy Management Institute that recognized the Rochester Building Trades Union’s Joint Apprentice Training Program’s Testing, Adjusting and Balancing Program and Indoor Air Quality Program.  (SMART Local 46 Photos)

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – “I ‘couldn’t be more proud of my team,’” beamed Troy Milne, the Business Manager/Financial Secretary of Rochester’s Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 46 after his Building Trades Union was honored by the National Energy Management Institute (NEMI) for its Training Program that features highly-sought-after Testing, Adjusting and Balancing and Indoor Air Quality Programs.

Milne (pictured below, on the left) and Local 46 Training Director Allen Mort (pictured below, on the right) accepted recognition during a ceremony held late last week in Washington, D.C. where SMART held its 2023 Leadership Conference.

NEMI was created by the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association (SMACNA) and SMART in an effort to provide access to emerging markets such as Indoor Air Quality, building retrofit, commissioning and recommissioning.

NEMI’s Testing and Adjusting Balancing Bureau (TABB) is providing SMACNA Members with access to a certification process for TABB operations involving certified contractors employing certified ITI trained Technicians and certified Supervisors. 

Local 46 was honored for its promotion and adoption of International Certification Board (ICB) certifications throughout their Training Program for Apprentices, in particular TABB, and in Indoor Air Quality. 

Such certification is third-party verification that an individual possesses the knowledge, skills and abilities to do a job.  ICB-certified Professionals are recognized as the most competent, reliable and qualified in the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Industry.

“‘Even though I’m not good at receiving such an acknowledgement, it’s pretty cool’ recognition,” a modest Mort - who oversees a variety of training programs offered at the Union’s 10,000-square-foot facility in Rochester, of which about a third has been carved out for the certified training, told WNYLaborToday.com prior to heading to D.C. last week. 

Local 46, which was established in April 1899, provides the highest quality Craftsmen - who are described as pre-eminent Fabricators and Installers, to its Union/SMACNA Contractors.  

Their skills include: Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Systems; Installation, service and repair of all types of commercial, Industrial and Residential HVAC Systems; Green Building Technologies, LEEDS and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ); Testing, Adjusting, Balancing (TAB) and measuring of all types of Fluids, Processes and Mechanical Systems; Direct Digital Controls and Building Automation Systems; Architectural metal work, including metal roofing and all forms of interior and exterior metal systems; and Kitchen equipment, lockers, partitions, industrial ventilation and material handling systems.

Its through such offered education and practical, job-related training that Local 46 - which represents 425 Active and 200 Retired Members, provides a productive, responsible and skilled workforce, who offer such quality craftsmanship through cooperative efforts involving Labor-Management and State-Certified Apprenticeship Training Programs.

“It’s ‘an honor to be recognized in front of our peers.’  (Local 46’s Training Programs) are ‘banging it out of the park,’” Milne told WNYLaborToday.com prior to heading to D.C. last week.  “There are only (23) TABB Certified Labs in the U.S., ‘all run by’ SMART Locals.  That means ‘any’ (SMART Member) in the U.S. or Canada ‘can come to Rochester’ (to take advantage of what the training offers).”

Local 46 currently has 109 Apprentices in its program and is looking at bringing in another 42, said Mort, who was praised by Milne for his efforts in overseeing the Union’s training efforts.

Of those Apprentices, 28% are People of Color and 8% are Women, who Mort says are extremely interested in the skill of welding.

“There’s ‘nothing cooler than telling your friends you’re a Welder,’” Mort joked, stopping to note that there are so many career paths a SMART Member can pursue.

The average age of Local 46’s Apprentices is early 20s and the average hourly rate for a first-year Apprentice is $28.53 an hour, Mort said. 

Milne added the total hourly package for a Journeyman, which includes health benefits and a pension, is $63.52.

Over the past 12 months, Local 46 has brought on 83 new Members and organized 21 formerly Non-Union Workers, Milne said.

Getting back to the NEMI recognition for Local 46’s program and efforts, Mort said it “definitely means a lot.” 

“The last SMART Union (to be similarly recognized) as in California, in the Los Angeles area, so for Rochester ‘to be put on such a shelf is mind-blowing,’” he said.

Every Local 46 Apprentice takes the Indoor Air Quality and TABB training, which is a 750-hour program.

“Ten-percent of our Apprentices are on a TABB career path to become a Testing and Balancing Technician who assesses, balances and tunes (air filtration systems),” Mort continued.  “We can ‘only run six people through the program at a time.’  It’s ‘challenging’ because it’s (60%) applied math.  TABB starts with soft-skill training, including ‘people skills’ because you are dealing with owners, engineers, HVAC Installers and you are using certified equipment.  ‘You have to wrap a lot of info into a report with a lot of details.’”

Both Mort and Milne cite the COVID-19 Pandemic as an important factor in the way air filtration systems in buildings are now being handled, which opens the door for TABB Technicians Local 46 to continue to be trained for Union jobs of the future.

“‘Unfortunately, it took COVID’ (to see the need was there).  An (air filtration system) has to be balanced and running efficiently ‘and every single building needs testing and balance,’” Mort said.

Added Milne, who helped shepherd the TABB Program at Local 46 and said any SMART Local with more than 400 Members should be looking to add such training to its repertoire, said: “With COVID, ‘you couldn’t see’ the pathogen.  ‘You didn’t know where it was building up, especially in schools.’  There are four States in the country that have accepted Indoor Air Quality Standards in their schools and our State ‘needs to be looking at this.’”  

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: To Learn More About SMART Local 46 & Its Apprenticeship & Training Opportunities, Visit: https://www.smw46.com/