Sheet Metal Workers are part of the building and construction trades. In shops we layout, fabricate, and assemble sheet metal products; in the field we install these sheet metal products in buildings and on construction projects.

Our work includes (but is not limited to) heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC), as well as moisture control (gutters, flashing, etc.). We fabricate and install sheet metal products in the following areas:

Architectural Kitchen Equipment
Blowpipe Systems Light Commercial
Chutes and Hoppers Lockers & Shelving
Clean Room Ventilation Metal Lagging
Commercial Buildings Metal Roofs
Controls Production
Conveyors Residential
Decking and Siding Service
Expansion Joints Ship Yard
Fabrication Sight Screens
Fire Stop Testing, Adjusting, & Balancing (TAB)
Industrial  Toilet Partitions
Signs

We also provide service technicians for commercial, industrial, and residential HVAC needs; as well as Testing, Adjusting, and Balancing (TAB) specialists for today's closed system buildings. Some of the skills that we train for include the following:

CAD & newer generations of computer driven technologies
Bench Layout
Computer Layout
Metal Roofs and Architectural Gutter and Trim including copper
Field Layout
Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
Installing Clean Room Ventilation for High-Tech Computer and Electronics Industries
Moisture Control (Gutter and Flashing) (Commercial, Residential, and Industrial)
Orbital Welding
Soldering
Trigonometry Function/Calculator Layout
Welding - Certified Testing Facility through AWS (American Welding Society)
Through our upgrade training, over the years we have earned the reputation of no call-backs and “DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!”
 

Sheet metal work is a highly respected trade... 
Local Union No. 19 serves 23 counties in Pennsylvania (Adams, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bucks, Centre, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Mifflin, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, Philadelphia & York), 4 counties in New Jersey Building Trades (Camden, Gloucester, Salem & Warren) 5 counties in New Jersey Sign Division (Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Hunterdon & Mercer), and the entire state of Delaware.  We were established on December 10, 1887, and are 4300 Union members strong! 

We believe in being on the cutting edge of technology, to better serve our customers and our union members.  Therefore, we are committed to keeping up with advances being made in our industry.  This allows us use the most modern methods and equipment, in order to provide the best possible service. 

Did you know...
Our contractors have assisted in the completion of over 100,000 new homes in the last 5 years?
Schools, libraries, and other public buildings are constructed with the help of Sheet Metal Workers?
The Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 offers an award winning 4 year apprentice training program 
that annually produces some of the top trainees in the country!

Why choose a Union Local No. 19 Sheet Metal Worker?
Good sheet metal workers are true craftsmen and women.  Each one is required to have been fully trained in a wide variety of disciplines...and to use these talents, both mental and physical, on a daily basis.  This assures you of getting a skilled professional, worthy of the respect the Sheet Metal Industry has proudly earned.

How do I find out more about a career in the Sheet Metal Industry?
The majority of our students complete the training and go on to have productive careers in the construction industry.  If you would like to find out more about the Apprentice program, and the opportunity for an exciting career in the Sheet Metal Industry, CLICK HERE.

Early years of the SMWIA

With the metal product industries becoming increasingly active in the mid 1800’s, many young people began to turn their craft into a trade. The small owned shops were run by relatives, neighbors, and close associations building small and cooperative relationships eventually leading into the establishment of craftsmanship and togetherness which continues in the city’s labor force today. In the late 1800’s, the working conditions for trade workers became excruciating with many hours and low pay. Risking their jobs, these men began protesting and establishing unions nationally including Local 19 having its charter signed on December 10, 1887 with the established name of The Metal Roofers, Tin Plate and Sheet Iron Workers Protective Association and a participation of less than fifty members.

The first minutes recorded for Local 19 were on August 13, 1900 and the first recorded election was held on October 26, 1900 where notable figure James McGerry become the clerk of elections, Michael Sheil was elected to the presidency, and John Steveline became Recording Secretary. With more detailed notes beginning the following year, evidence shows that thirty-one new members joined the Local within that year. Meetings then began to be regulated after 1903 and the merger into the International. Through brief documentations of the meetings held in 1903, it shows that a group of members were sent to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to attend a conciliatory convention. At this convention it is said that the number “19” was assigned to the local and that they joined with other locals to merge into the already-existing Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers International Alliance.

With advertisements in German newspapers such as The Times of North America and Tagsblatt, membership within the local reached nearly one thousand at the end of World War I. With the strike in 1921 membership dropped to two hundred, increased after, and then quickly went back down to two hundred during the Great Depression. After this rough time memberships continued to increase with the attraction of employment opportunities and substantial wage and fringe benefits. Although membership numbers were not given to union workers until 1903 and even then only journeyman were given one, there was still a long list of men who stayed members for long periods of time.

In 1924, Local 19 received a second charter issued by the International Association known as The Sheet Metal Workers International Association. Between the years of 1903 to 1982 in order to create larger and stronger locals, Local 19’s jurisdiction extended to covering about twenty eight counties.