After 40 years in the Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 80 — from an apprentice to foremen, business agent then business manager — Mark Saba has paid his dues as a leader in the industry. From his experience on shop floors, he naturally carries the point of view of a journeyman. But now as executive director of SMACNA Detroit, Saba is tasked with advancing the interests of the contractor.

Over 40 years, Gentlemen Sheet Metal Ltd. in Brooklyn, New York, has built a reputation as a small but mighty sheet metal shop that values great work first. The shop’s focus on renovations has mostly kept it from having to swim in the big, new construction pool and protected it from labor shortages and rising material costs. But the tide is already turning.

I’ve been thinking about the issue lately, as the “#MeToo” movement has enveloped politics and popular culture. From corporate boardrooms to Hollywood movie sets, sexual harassment in the workplace has become a topic of discussion and debate.

 Joseph Nigro, a career sheet metal works employee with Boston-based Local 17, said health issues led to his decision to retire.  

 It joins 15 other unions and environmental groups — including the sheet metal products making Sheet Metal Workers union — that are part of the alliance. 

 “Establishing a climate task force is an important step forward that will help better prepare and protect communities for the effects of climate change,” said D. Michael Langford, national president of the Utility Workers Union of America.