Find Qualified Workforce
Find a qualified and trained workforce along with and State Registered Apprentices.
Industry Trainings
We offer specific training, such as Foreman Training for Apprentices and Journeyman.
Increase Profitability
Contractors will save on costs related to recruitment advertising, insurance and administrative costs.
Health and Benefits
Full Family Health Insurance for all employees, also available for office staff, access to PLA work, and much more.
.
Why Become A Signatory Contractor?
Our members receive the best training in the region, making them the most skilled workers available. Local 55’s state-of-the-art training centers provide certified apprenticeship and upgrade programs, helping to ensure our members remain the area’s best-trained workforce.
Sheet Metal Workers Local 55 provides our signatory contractors with a qualified workforce ready to complete projects on time and on budget.
Talent Recruitment
Sheet Metal Workers Local 55 recruits the most capable apprenticeship candidates and journey-worker members into our ranks, which allows us to provide our signatory contractors with the best available workforce.
Our contractors employ quality craftsmen who are drug-tested and safety-trained by OSHA standards. This rigorous training helps our contractors to lower their costs by reducing the number of accidents. Workforce training also increases productivity because our members are trained to do the job the right way the first time.
Benefits Compensation
Quality wages, healthcare and retirement plans offered to our members are unmatched in the industry and allow our members to focus on their work, not worrying about taking care of their family. Great benefits help Local 55 members maintain a high morale on the jobsite.
If you are a Sheet Metal Contractor and are interested in partnering with the SMART Local 55, please fill out the form using the link below and our business representative will be in touch with you.
Contractor Advantages
Find Manpower
- Hire and layoff based on your job needs
- Access to a pool of qualified workers available any time
- Access to State Registered Apprentices that are trained specifically for our industry
- Lower worker’s compensation rates
- Turnover costs are much less, no need to retrain new workers
Become More Profitable
- Crew costs are set for the duration of the contract
- Recruitment Cost Savings: call the union hall to easily find manpower
- OSHA safety trained manpower will reduce your insurance cost
- Uniformed benefits, lower your administrative cost
Market Assistance
- Joint advertising for your company through our website and/or special promotions
- Industry certifications available (SMACNA, TABB, Etc,) to help get jobs
- Project labor Agreement (PLA) work: As a signatory contractor you have the ability to bid this work using the same wage rates as the other bidders
- Labor Management Cooperation Committees (LMCC): Working together to address your concerns
Apprentice & Journeyman training
- Apprentice training for Commercial and Residential Fabrication & Installation, and other Industry-specific training
- Access to Journeyman courses to improve workers performance
- Sheet metal workers trained in our school are the future supervision and money makers on your crew
- Union trained workers are able to cut crew costs due to their higher productivity
- Union sheet metal workers are trained to industry standards in all aspects of our trade
Easy Recruitment
- Save money on newspaper ads and other advertising expenses
- Office personnel can spend their time on more productive tasks
- Union sheet metal worker’s skills are more rounded than the skills of their non-union counterparts
- Instead of carrying manpower through slow times, a contractor can send an employee back to the hiring hall knowing that equally qualified manpower will be available the next time it is needed
- The local supplies its contractors with a motivated workforce
- Our members get the job done on time and under budget
- The local has proven moneymakers
Safety
- Each Apprentice turned out of our accredited union Apprentice program as a Journeyman is certified with an OSHA 30 hour card
- Union shops typically have lower worker’s compensation rates
- The JATC offers continuing education and safety training to all members
- The union pays for drug testing before a member is sent to work for a contractor
Benefits Administration
- The local administers the benefits for its members, therefore, lowering the administrative overhead costs for the contractor
- Time and money savings for the contractor by not having to shop for benefits on the open market
- All benefits paid by the employer are tax deductible
- The Local carries the liabilities for the benefit funds equating to less liability for your company
Manpower Retention
- Worker retention is higher in union shops due to wage equality in the union contract
- Employees are less likely to leave thanks to favorable benefits and working conditions
- Unilateral skills directly relate to higher team morale
Business Partners
- SMACNA, which is the contractor’s representative, provides business management classes through their annual SMACNA University courses
- Access to business and community groups for networking
- National Energy Management Institute (NEMI)
- International Training Institute (ITI)
- HVAC Expertise
- Testing, Adjusting, and Balancing Bureau (TABB)
Collective Bargaining Agreement advantages
- 3rd party dispute resolution language.
- Management Rights Clause
- No Strike Clause
Contractor Cost Proposal Sheet
This proposal sheet compares estimated project cost using editable assumptions for wages, benefits, productivity, rework, callbacks, safety, compliance, crew size, organizing support, and equity fund offsets.
Compare the real cost of union and non-union labor
Use editable assumptions to compare labor package, productivity, rework, callbacks, injuries, compliance costs, crew size, apprentice/trainee utilization, organizational trust support, and equity fund offsets.
Calculator Inputs
All values can be editedCrew size multiplies baseline hours before productivity, safety, support, and equity calculations are applied.
Commercial construction uses apprentice rates. Residential construction uses trainee rates. The calculator applies a maximum 1 journeyman to 1 apprentice/trainee ratio based on crew size.
Open shop baseline is modeled at 100% of baseline hours.
Non-union baseline default is indexed at 100%. The union default is modeled 31% lower based on ICI/OCS reporting that lost-time injury claims are 31% lower on unionized building-trade construction jobs than in non-union environments. Source: Ontario Construction Secretariat / ICI Construction, 2018.
Autofills journeyman wage and fringe by area and selected work type. Apprentice and trainee rates are stored in the same editable rate table in the code. Fringe is calculated as total package minus hourly wage. Source: SMART Local 55 Organizing, 2025–2026.
IPA reported union labor projects had 14% better productivity than open-shop projects overall. The default 87.7% reflects 100 ÷ 1.14, meaning fewer labor hours are needed for the same baseline work. Source: Independent Project Analysis, 2023.
Default is 69% of the non-union baseline, reflecting ICI/OCS reporting that lost-time injury claims are 31% lower on unionized building-trade construction jobs. Source: Ontario Construction Secretariat / ICI Construction, 2018.
These funds may be available to contractors that are signatory with SMART Local 55.
Call SMART Local 55 to review possible support for specific bids, manpower needs, or organizing targets.
Equity funds are modeled as a direct positive offset to the union-side net cost.
Use this tool as an estimating model. Formal proposals should be checked against actual payroll data, workers’ compensation data, contract terms, bid requirements, scope, schedule, travel, manpower availability, and applicable trust or fund rules.
Results
Live comparisonEstimated union advantage
$0 per baseline hour
| Cost Category | Non-Union | Union | Difference |
|---|
Hire Our Skilled Members Today
Please fill in the fields below and one of our business representatives will contact you!
