The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) advised its local unions that off‐site fabrication for National Maintenance Agreement (NMA) jobs is not subject to the NMA grievance procedures. SMACNA agrees with SMART’s analysis of this issue.
As SMART noted, a contractor performing work on‐site with an approved NMA Site Extension Request (SER) can be grieved by the craft who approved the SER. This contractor may or may not be signed to the SFUA but, by virtue of signing the NMA and having an approved SER, is subject to the NMA grievance procedure for work performed on‐site. The NMA grievance procedure is the exclusive means of dispute resolution; therefore the SFUA Article X grievance procedure is not applicable for on‐site disputes.
SMART asked the National Maintenance Agreement Policy Committee (NMAPC) whether the NMA grievance procedure is applicable to off‐site fabrication performed by a contractor signed to both the SFUA and the NMA. By letter dated April 24, 2015, the NMAPC stated that the NMA is limited to work performed onsite and that work performed off‐site, such as fabrication, which will be installed on the NMA jobsite, is not subject to the NMA grievance procedure.
Therefore, the contractor who is signatory to the SFUA and performing fabrication off‐site for a NMA project is subject to the terms and conditions of the SFUA, including Article 2 (sub‐contracting fabrication), Article 8 (equalization to higher jobsite wage package) and Article 10 (grievance procedure). In other words, the NMA does not supersede contractual obligations with respect to work not covered by the NMA.
SMART’s letter to its business managers and the NMAPC correspondence can be viewed below. For questions regarding applicability of SFUA grievance procedures, please contact SMACNA’s Labor Relations staff.
NMA Grievance Procedure for Offsite Fabrication
content reviewed 2/2021
