Hi, I'm Colin, a Union Leader from Chicago.

I'm currently President of Local 777 of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), AFL-CIO. I'm a delegate to the Chicago Federation of Labor, a member of the National Steering Committee of the Federal Unionists Network, and a volunteer organizer with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee. I've run for national union office in the IFPTE, and I've been active in the Laborers International Union of North America (Local 29F) and the American Federation of Teachers (Local 6297 UIC GEO) in previous public-sector jobs. A fourth-generation public servant and third-generation union activist, I deeply believe in the power of worker organizing for the public good.

Media Coverage – Print & Online

Lazare, Sarah. "What It Means When Federal Union Contracts Disappear." The American Prospect & Workday Magazine, September 3, 2025. https://prospect.org/labor/trump-federal-union-contracts-nlrb-afge/ & https://workdaymagazine.org/what-it-means-when-federal-union-contracts-disappear/. 

Jamieson, Dave. "Worker Protection Agency Is Ditching Its Judges to Satisfy Trump Administration." HuffPost, August 18, 2025. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/federal-labor-relations-authority-judges-trump_n_68a3461ae4b03709c085be9c?dvq. 

Smalley, Colin. "The Trump Administration Is Trying to Silence Us. It's Only Making Us Stronger | Opinion." Newsweek, July 22, 2025. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-trying-silence-us-its-only-making-us-stronger-opinion-2101033.

Uhlmann, Natascha Elena, and Sarah Lazare. "Fight ICE. Build the Union." Labor Notes & Workday Magazine, July 8, 2025. https://labornotes.org/2025/07/fight-ice-build-union & https://workdaymagazine.org/fight-ice-build-the-union/.

Willston, Miranda, and Hannah Northey. "Federal exodus imperils Trump’s permitting goals." E&E News by POLITICO, July 2, 2025. https://www.eenews.net/articles/federal-exodus-imperils-trumps-permitting-goals/.

Beaumont, Hilary. “Trump’s Mass Federal Cuts Disrupt LA Wildfire Recovery: ‘It’s Coming Tumbling Down.’” The Guardian, May 26, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/26/trump-doge-la-wildfire-recovery. 

Jamieson, Dave. “The Last Line of Defense against Trump’s War on Federal Workers Is Fighting for Survival.” HuffPost, May 2, 2025. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-wants-to-destroy-federal-labor-unions_n_68123efce4b03207b5ba2663.

Early, Steve. “Inside the VA’s War on Unions.” The American Prospect. April 30, 2025. https://prospect.org/labor/2025-04-30-veterans-affairs-war-on-unions/.

Thier, Hadas. “A Spark of Hope from Scrappy Federal Workers.” Hammer & Hope. April 28, 2025. https://hammerandhope.org/article/trump-federal-workers-purge.

Crane, Kevin. “The Unions, the Rank and File and the Battle for Public Services in the USA: Interview with US Trade Unionist.” Counterfire. April 22, 2025. https://www.counterfire.org/article/the-unions-the-rank-and-file-and-the-battle-for-public-services-in-the-usa-interview-with-us-trade-unionist/.

Day, Meagan. “Trump Just Ripped up Federal Workers’ Union Contracts.” Jacobin, March 28, 2025. https://jacobin.com/2025/03/trump-federal-workers-union-collective-bargaining-executive-order. 

Willson, Miranda, and Hannah Northey. “‘The Hatchet’: Doge Spending Freeze Fuels Agency Chaos.” E&E News by POLITICO, March 13, 2025. https://www.eenews.net/articles/the-hatchet-doge-spending-freeze-fuels-agency-chaos/. 

Moore, Taylor. “Federal Employees Rally against ‘Billionaire Takeover’ of Government by Trump Administration.” Block Club Chicago. February 18, 2025. https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/02/18/chicago-federal-employees-rally-against-billionaire-takeover-of-government-by-trump-administration/.

Frase, Peter, and Colin Smalley. “Federal Workers Are Mobilizing against Musk’s Purge.” Jacobin, February 16, 2025. https://jacobin.com/2025/02/federal-unions-doge-musk-trump.  

Jaffe, Sarah. “Federal Workers Rise up against Musk, Trump and Drastic Cuts.” In These Times. February 14, 2025. https://perma.cc/EE8G-M54K.

Green, Erica L, Campbell Robertson, and Noam Scheiber. “Trump’s Moves to Upend Federal Bureaucracy Touch off Fear and Confusion.” New York Times, January 25, 2025. https://perma.cc/Y38G-NPBH.

Wagner, Erich. “A Union Has Filed a Complaint against a Defense Agency over Failure to Implement Biden’s Voting Leave Policy.” Government Executive, November 8, 2022. https://perma.cc/8KC4-C5Y3.

Media Coverage – Podcasts & Video

The Valley Labor Report, "Federal Labor Protections are Falling Apart, but Workers Can Still Fight Back", September 14, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf4e1e1-LIg 

My Labor Radio, "IFPTE Local 777 Colin Smalley MLR 8 31 25", August 31, 2025. https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/show/mylaborradio/id/38039455. 

The Valley Labor Report, "Union Rights are Being Stripped from Federal Workers, but They Can Still Fight Back", August 17, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGDRm7UaEyY.

WLS-TV, "Chicago federal workers use lunch hour to rally against ICE raids, citing safety", June 25, 2025.  https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-federal-workers-use-lunch-hour-protest-ice-raids-citing-safety/16848114/.

CNC3, "The Midday Newscast on CNC3", June 25, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxAhRS2y4npkySR1v1uLX3oDgTzx-nAS4S. 

Economic Update, “Federal Workers Fight Back”,  March 10, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B_hLnxR56Y.

WGN-TV, “Chicago Federal Workers Speak out against Layoffs”, February 25, 2025. https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/chicago-unions-federal-workers-cut. 

Jacobin Radio, "Resistance in the Time of Monsters w/ Colin Smalley",  February 18, 2025. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jacobin-radio-resistance-in-the-time-of-monsters-w/id791564318?i=1000693696703. 

Working People, “Dispatch from Labor Notes & Railroad Workers United Conferences (Chicago, 2024)” [at 40:03],  July 7, 2024. https://youtu.be/_fS7qQrNAJM?t=2402. 

The Valley Labor Report, “EXPLAINED: What Chevron means for Federal Workers”, July 3, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNFl9pzlQs8.

The Valley Labor Report, “Candidates for IFPTE International Executive Board Explain Their Vision”,  July 2, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZG3YERG3Ww. 

From A to Arbitration, Ep. 161, “Talking Union with Colin Smalley and Chris Dols from the IFPTE”,  June 30, 2024. https://fromatoarbitration.com/episode-161-talking-union-with-colin-smalley-and-chris-dols-from-the-ifpte/. 

The Valley Labor Report, “Corps of Engineers Employee SPEAKS OUT on Changes to Clean Water Act Enforcement”,  May 23, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW617sevXFk. 

Conference Speaking

Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) Organizing Conference: Unite & Win, June 27–29, 2025, Detroit: Presenter, "Federal Workers: How to Organize When Your Rights are Under Attack"

Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) Organizing Conference: Unite & Win, June 27–29, 2025, Detroit: Panelist, "Organizing in the Federal Sector"

Labor Notes Conference, April 19-21, 2024, Chicago: Panelist, "Strategies for Reforming International Unions"

Get in touch at president@ifpte777.org