{"id":243660,"date":"2026-04-10T14:14:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T14:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/243660\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T14:14:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T14:14:07","slug":"coordination-proactive-organizing-help-local-49-prepare-for-opportunities-in-texas-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/243660\/","title":{"rendered":"Coordination, proactive organizing help Local 49 prepare for opportunities in Texas, New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Construction is booming in the American Southwest, with current and upcoming projects popping up steadily in New Mexico and Texas. Thanks to the proactive work of SMART International staff and <a href=\"https:\/\/smwlu49.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Local 49<\/a>, union sheet metal workers and local community members are set to benefit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver the past several months, we have focused on proactively identifying and positioning Local 49 ahead of upcoming work opportunities across the Lubbock and Amarillo, Texas, and New Mexico markets,\u201d said SMART International Organizer Willy Solorzano. \u201cWorking alongside Local 49 officers Erick Corona and Roy Privitt, we have taken a coordinated approach to tracking megaprojects, conducting site visits and gathering accurate, real-time information to stay ahead of workforce demands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-87647\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Local-49-Organizing-Success-Childress-Texas-1024x768.jpg\"\/><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Local-49-Organizing-Success-Childress-Texas-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-87647\"  \/>A project in Childress, Texas<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/tag\/megaprojects\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"5148\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Megaprojects<\/a> create enormous opportunity for SMART sheet metal workers, but they can also present challenges for local unions and signatory contractors. To meet those challenges, staff have been out in the field, maintaining consistent communication to identify projects in early stages, monitor those projects\u2019 progress and prepare accordingly. This has helped SMART stay organized, maintain up-to-date project tracking and stay ready for any upcoming opportunities. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a result of this approach, Local 49 staff has successfully met workforce needs on current projects without issues. All workforce requests have been filled in a timely manner, and work continues to move forward smoothly with no disruptions,\u201d said Solorzano. \u201cThe ability to anticipate demands and maintain a ready workforce has played a key role in this success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What that means in practice: Local 49 members are taking on the existing work that these projects demand, and the local is positioning itself for growth \u2014 and more job opportunities \u2014 in the future. That is why we organize!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Construction is booming in the American Southwest, with current and upcoming projects popping up steadily in New Mexico&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[93112,93113,93114,27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-243660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-local-49","9":"tag-organize","10":"tag-organizing","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-texas-headlines","13":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}