The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART) is a North American labor union headquartered in Washington, DC, which was chartered by the AFL–CIO in 2013.

The Division's 500 local unions organize conductors, brakemen, switch men, ground service personnel, locomotive engineers, hostlers, and railroad yard masters, as well as bus drivers and mechanics.

Union pioneers from Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown; Memphis; Omaha; Peoria; and Kansas City, Missouri, they organized to "elevate" the trade, advance craftsmanship, and improve wages and conditions.

In the late 19th century assortment work – tinware that included household goods, cutlery, and cans, for instance – moved from shop to factory, and machine operators replaced apprentice-trained journeymen on the job.

In bustling cities like Chicago, on the other hand, where skyscrapers were transforming the skyline and building trades councils maintained high standards, local unions concentrated on taking care of their own.

Now per capita taxes, not local assessments, would finance a strike defense fund, and a formal dues stamp system would be implemented to protect the membership – and the international union – from careless or corrupt financial secretaries.

But can makers and other low-waged factory workers, did not fare so well, despite the IA's effort to organize "provisional" locals that charged lower dues and initiation fees.

Building trades workers were embroiled in a costly jurisdictional war with the Carpenters to install metal doors, window sashes, and trim (that had once been made of wood).

By 1925 the system was cooling New York City's Rivoli Theater, and within a few years air conditioners were being installed in restaurants, railroad cars, and department stores.

The introduction of air-conditioning systems promised to expand employment opportunities for SMWIA members, but it was not enough to counteract the economic crisis that erupted when the economy collapsed in 1929.

When winter weather put a stop to "outside work," for instance, journeymen could spend their time "inside" fabricating products like roof ventilators and louvers.

Whether they were hardened by the boom-and-bust cycles of the construction industry or the tough fights to win middle-class wages and benefits, they were no more inclined to "organize thoroughly" in the 1950s and ‘60s, when work was plentiful, than big-city unions had been when the IA first started out.

That strategy was more promising in the 1970s than ever before, thanks to the availability of a wide range of prefabricated materials, new labor-saving technologies, and a steady supply of semi-skilled workers who had been shut out of unions for years.

Aiming to lower crew costs without undermining skill, the SFUA incorporated a new category of classified workers, or helpers, in 1991, and, beginning in the 1970s, contract addendums for residential, light commercial, and other less-organized markets.

The shift from steam to diesel locomotives threatened the work of firemen who stoked the fireboxes and tended the boilers that produced steam power; the automatic handling and dispatching of freight cars jeopardized employment for yardmen; the increasing use of computers limited opportunities for railway clerks; and the development of air transportation and the interstate highway system significantly cut into private railroad transportation and the rail freight industry.

As competition increased, and efficiency and productivity became industry watchwords, the craft union's power to counterbalance cost-cutting measures declined, an economic and political shift well-illustrated by government sanctioned decisions in Canada (in 1958) and the US (in 1963) to eliminate firemen jobs on diesel engines in freight and yard service.

Indeed, after eight months of discussion, it was clear that craft autonomy would have to be the starting point for any proposed merger: Each of the founding unions reserved the right to veto a national agreement if their members objected to terms.

With that hurdle out of the way, the merger group met in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on August 19, 1968, to announce "a historic unity plan" to launch what would be called the United Transportation Union, or UTU.

Support was not unanimous – a minority on the ORC's committee initially opposed the plan and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (which counted 40,000 members) declined an early invitation to join ranks.

But since the vast majority of BRT, ORC, SUNA, and BLF&E officials had signed off on the merger by late October 1968, the agreement went out to rank-and-file members for final approval.

Marking significant change in employment trends, the group dropped the word "Ladies" in 1999 and offered membership to spouses of female UTU members.

But, the industry's continued financial decline, and especially the 1970 collapse of the Penn Central, undermined union strategies: While the UTU helped organize the Congress of Railway Unions, in 1969, to lobby for protective legislation and coordinate collective-bargaining efforts, and called a series of selective strikes to protest the findings of a Presidential Mediation board in 1971, railroad executives and the federal government were working to streamline the industry and cut costs, particularly labor costs.

In the process, thousands of miles of unprofitable track were abandoned and railroads were permitted to change rates and service obligations more easily than in the past, a trend that continued after the passage of the Staggers Rail Act of 1980.

Acknowledging the impact of bankruptcies, mergers, and deregulation, President Fred Hardin noted that "Today's railroad union leader must cooperate with management."

Tensions continued to increase after another merger attempt failed in 2001 and the BLE joined the Teamsters in 2004 as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen – and in the process expanded its jurisdiction to cover conductors, brakemen, and other railroad workers.

So before any real progress could be made the UTU would have to cut the number vice presidents to lower expenses and raise per capita taxes to match SMWIA rates.

And they acknowledged that the merger agreement had been negotiated in a spirit of good will with the firm conviction that unity between the Sheet Metal Workers and the UTU would bring "fresh strength" to their industries and their political and community-related efforts.

From the SMWIA's point of view, the issue was not democracy but breach of contract: The merger agreement had made it clear from the start that the SMART constitution did not exist at the time of the ratification vote.

It was always understood to be the product of conforming the SMWIA and the UTU constitutions – and if the two sides had not been able to come to terms on an issue like craft autonomy, for instance, the agreement included an arbitration process.

The UTU president agreed: "It is now time to move forward – discussing with the SMWIA the rights and traditions of both organizations, and to collaborate constructively in finding the most efficient and equitable means of resolving any further outstanding differences.