Delegates commence Third SMART General Convention: “Challenge Met – But We’re Not Done.”  

This is an overview of day one of the Third SMART General Convention. More details will be included in the Fall Members’ Journal. 

On Monday, August 12, SMART General President Michael Coleman officially commenced the Third SMART General Convention, bringing delegates to order to set the course for the future of our union. Starting today and continuing through Friday, delegates heard from guest speakers, convention committees and SMART directors, and debated resolutions and amendments to the SMART Constitution.  

GP Coleman to delegates: “We are not done.” 

After SMART Local 88 (Las Vegas, Nev.) Business Manager Geremiah Robnett and TD GCA-953 General Chairperson Luke Edington delivered remarks welcoming delegates and guests to Las Vegas, SMART General President Michael Coleman took the stage to outline our union’s journey – from yesterday, to today, and until tomorrow.  

“Today, we see the fruits of our predecessors’ hard work. Today, we are a strong union. Today, we are a forward-thinking union. And today, we are a united union,” he said. 

He also looked back on the last five years — some of the most extraordinary and eventful that our two nations, let alone our union, have ever faced.   

Sheet metal locals were confronted with a potentially devastating attack on union apprenticeships when the Trump administration proposed its anti-worker Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs) rule. Meanwhile, the transportation industry faced an anti-worker administration that — among other things — conducted an all-out offensive on freight railroaders, withdrawing a proposed federal two-person crew regulation and attempting to pre-empt state 2PC laws. On top of that, there was the 2020 United States election, pitting a stridently pro-worker challenger against an anti-worker incumbent, plus provincial battles against anti-labour laws in Canada. Not to mention, Coleman added, the world-altering COVID-19 pandemic. 

“But we not only met those challenges, we exceeded all expectations,” he declared. “It took all of us. Rowing in the same direction. As General President Sellers used to say, pulling on the same rope. Working together as ONE UNION.”

SMART members mobilized to defeat the IRAPs initiative. We elected pro-union legislators who passed transformative laws that saved union pensions, created union sheet metal jobs, funded transportation infrastructure and gave Canadian members the ability to more effectively travel for work. We staffed megaprojects that spurred incredible growth at local unions across North America. And we finally won a two-person freight train crew regulation, putting rail safety and union jobs ahead of shareholder greed.  

We achieved all of that, Coleman told delegates, because we know our “why” — our reason for doing what we do. That “why” is each other: the members of this great union. And it’s because of that “why” that we aren’t finished winning for SMART members across North America. 

“General President Emeritus Sellers set us up for this moment. We MUST seize it,” Coleman said. “It is our obligation to him, it is our obligation to this organization, it is our obligation to our members, and it is our obligation to ourselves.” 

Whether it’s legislation that protects our bus and transit members from assaults or aggressive organizing to staff megaprojects, handle manufacturing demands and ensure a just transition to a green economy, Coleman emphasized the importance of keeping SMART members’ future in mind as, collectively, the convention body maps the direction our organization will take for the next five years.  

SMART is resurgent, Coleman continued. Now, we need to seize this moment. Because make no mistake, he said: Our enemies are ruthless, and they won’t stop attacking SMART members.  

“Think about why they hate us,” Coleman said. “Think about what crime they think we commit. They hate us because we fight for safety in the workplace. They hate us because we fight for the ability to live and raise our families with dignity. They hate us because we fight for the ability to retire with dignity. And when it comes time to leave this place, we fight for the ability to do that with dignity.” 

“It is going to be a fight,” he told delegates. “A fight that we didn’t choose. But if it is a fight they want, it is a fight they are going to get. But this time, we will tell them when the fight is over.” 

GST Daniel: “How will we be remembered?” 

SMART General Secretary-Treasurer John Daniel knows well the challenges faced by union workers across North America – over the last five years, and over the last several decades.   

“I’ve been a sheet metal installer, a fabricator, an instructor, an organizer, a business representative and – above all – a proud union member for over 33 years,” he told attendees. “I stand before you not just as your SMART general secretary-treasurer, but as a fellow worker – one who has walked the same paths, faced the same struggles and fought the same battles.”  

Daniel was there when the railroads sued to pre-empt Illinois’ two-person crew law, he explained. He was business manager when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, shutting the world down and casting the world into total chaos.   

“But I can say from firsthand experience, those challenges didn’t stop us in Illinois. And I know it didn’t stop anyone in this room,” he said.   

After paying tribute to his predecessor as general secretary-treasurer, SMART Director of Megaprojects Joseph Powell, Daniel detailed some of the challenges SMART members have met since 2019: “Together, we’ve stood strong and unified, proving time and again that we will not be pushed around.”  

SMART Canada has worked hard to win jobs and strong labor standards in the transition to a green economy up north, representing workers in not only sheet metal but roofing and various production sectors. Meanwhile, internal organizing and a focus on training have helped the Transportation Division both organize and retain members in the face of adverse conditions, while investments in recruitment and retention will help SMART sustain its growth.   

The financial health of the organization is stellar, Daniel said. And on the back of megaprojects and strong representation across sheet metal and transportation, SMART’s membership has increased from a little over 203,000 to 230,000.  

“Now, it is our time to decide who we are,” he declared.  

Diversity in the production and bus industries provides a model for SMART to follow as we strengthen our union through organizing and inclusion. We need to keep reaching out to people of all backgrounds in every community, Daniel said, and ensure that anyone who carries a dues receipt gets the representation they deserve.   

He also argued that SMART needs to continue investing in ourselves if we want to build on the success we have achieved. Subsidized organizers, legislative staff and programs aimed at recruiting and retaining members have been key to recent victories, Daniel told attendees – and such investment needs to continue.   

He closed by reminding attendees exactly why we are gathered in Las Vegas this week.  

“Whether it’s your first convention or your fifth, we’re all here for the same reason,” Daniel concluded. “This truly is our time. This truly is our moment. What we do now will define us.   

“How will we — how will each of you — be remembered?”  

TD President Ferguson: “We’ve weathered attacks, accomplished much and are a stronger union.” 

Newly reelected Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson addressed the union during the first day of the third SMART General Convention.  

He reflected on the challenges from his first term. There was work needed to be done to strengthen SMART by aligning the Transportation Division more closely with the sheet metal part of the union, as envisioned when the two joined forces in 2014.  

“We accomplished that, and so much more,” he said.  

The nation’s largest railroads deployed what Ferguson termed a “nuclear option” in 2019 on his second day in office. They attacked rail contracts and tried to eliminate conductors.  

“We were all united… We were ready for that fight, and, coin­cidentally, we were all convened in Cleveland, Ohio,” Ferguson said. “The railroads fought the round and guess what? It took a little while, but they found out they were going to lose that battle.  

“As of today, our crew-consist agreements are intact, not one conductor is off a train, and, unbelievably, we have a two-person crew regulation!”  

The Transportation Division stayed on offense. Rail workers gained a historic pay raise during the last national negotia­tion. For the first time in history, railroaders can claim paid sick leave. Ferguson’s administration also created visibility on Capitol Hill for issues faced by our bus and rail members.  

“Our officers, including myself, our national legislative director, and some of our state legislative directors have been called to testify — for all crafts — at the federal level including the Sur­face Transportation Board, Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration, at any number of meetings.” 

“We are getting the word out there every way we can about the issues that face us,” Ferguson continued.  

One example was the recent Bus/Transit Day on the Hill, where the Bus and Transit Assault Prevention and Safety (BTAPS) Committee and other officers met with Congress.  

One result of the visibility we’ve gained was the key role SMART-TD’s recommendation played in the Public Trans­portation Agency Safety Plans. The plans give unions equal footing with management while handling worker and pas­senger safety.  

“You know those things that you know where you were when it happened in that moment?” Ferguson said. “This was a big deal for me.”  

On Ferguson’s watch, SMART-TD became the first transpor­tation union to obtain a CRISI grant, which will be used to provide safety training for union members.  

“In addition to that, we doubled down on what we are going to do and what we have done for our bus and transit mem­bers,” Ferguson said.  

Ferguson recognized the work of General Chairperson John Ellis of GO 875, and his efforts to protect his members at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA). Through Ellis’ and other TD leaders’ efforts, oper­ators at SMART’s largest bus property will be protected by barriers and soon by a dedicated transit police force.  

Members across the transportation union are also supported on a more personal level. Plan trustees began extending Vol­untary Short-Term Disability (VSTD) benefits to TD members coping with the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic.  

Following the pandemic, investment advice from SMART leadership improved the plan’s finances to the point where members are now covered for certified voluntary drug and alcohol treatment programs from day 1.  

“That is what this union is about — taking care of one anoth­er when you have hard times,” he said. “This union is more united than ever, we are stronger than ever, and we aren’t done. We are only going to keep getting better.” 

Delegates vote to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president  

Delegates to the Third SMART General Convention voted to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president and Minn. Gov. Tim Walz for vice president in the 2024 election on Monday morning, following United States President Joe Biden’s July 21 announcement that he would end his reelection campaign. 

The resolution detailed Vice President Harris’s consistent partnership and support for union members across the U.S., including her meetings with SMART members at local union halls in Philadelphia and Boston.   

As part of the Biden-Harris administration, the vice president has been an ally in SMART’s efforts to fund public transportation, implement a two-person federal train crew regulation and rebuild our nation’s infrastructure. Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, helping create union clean-energy jobs, and helped lobby for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act – two pieces of legislation that have put SMART members to work from coast to coast.   

Together with President Biden, the resolution noted, Vice President Harris has led an administration whose actions have helped spark union organizing in the last several years, with pro-labor National Labor Relations Board appointments and the creation of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing – an initiative Harris chaired. And with the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, Harris and Biden helped protect more than one million union pensions. This included saving 1,600 Ohio sheet metal workers’ pensions from cuts and restoring their full benefits with back pay.  

Walz, meanwhile, has signed a laundry list of pro-labor laws as governor, including a state two-person crew law, a bill to put sheet metal workers on jobs improving ventilation in public schools, a huge expansion of paid family and medical leave, the largest increase in state history to the Minnesota work compensation system’s permanent partial disability fund, and much more.  

Following floor debate, delegates voted to endorse the Harris ticket by a voice vote – a testament to the vice president’s stellar record of support for SMART’s sheet metal and transportation workers.   

“Throughout her term as vice president, Kamala Harris has been laser-focused on pursuing the Biden-Harris agenda, enacting and implementing laws that prioritize the interests of union members and workers, and Governor Walz’s actions for workers and families speak for themselves,” said SMART General President Michael Coleman after the resolution vote. “Faced with the existential, anti-worker threat of another Trump presidential term, all of us at SMART know that Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are the right choices for working families – and we proved it today.”  

“This endorsement is a full-throated commitment to sending pro-labor leaders back to the White House this November,” he concluded. “I can’t wait to get started.”  

Buttigieg receives warm welcome from SMART 

United States Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had a very specific message for SMART when he spoke at our orga­nization’s Third General Convention.  

“Union jobs change the trajectory of generations.”  

Buttigieg received a warm welcome from SMART delegates, and he matched their enthusiasm with an exciting message that the continued success of America is tied directly to empowering our union workforce.  

He spoke in detail about the megaprojects he and the Biden-Harris administration have put in place in every state in the country that are keeping our sheet metal members working. On the transportation side, he discussed the Federal Railroad Ad­ministration regulation enacted this spring mandating two-per­son crews on freight trains in our country as well as the new Brightline West high-speed rail project.  

The project links Las Vegas, Nevada, to Los Angeles, California. It will provide sheet metal work for building and maintaining the tracks, stations, and infrastructure and bring jobs to the TD side with SMART crews operating the trains.  

Speaking directly to SMART-TD’s bus operators, Buttigieg point­ed out that one of the things he is proud of in his three-plus years at the DOT is that his administration worked with SMART and the Federal Transit Administration to finalize a rule forming safe­ty committees on bus properties around the country. He pointed out that our bus operators will be on these safety committees and that they will control the safety programs that come out of them. 

But, he and even the Biden-Harris administration could not have accomplished these things on their own. He gestured to the del­egates on the convention floor: “You drove that! That is what the power of organizing can do!”  

That Buttigieg made the time to address the convention of this union was exciting. To hear his message thanking our members for the vital role they play daily in the successes of his depart­ment and the Biden-Harris administration as a whole took that excitement to a new level and garnered a standing ovation.  

Union jobs and SMART jobs not only “change the trajectory of generations,” but also empower each of us to “shape a future your kids can be proud of,” he said.  

SMART is grateful Secretary Buttigieg again took his time to ad­dress our union, and it is safe to say that his message will not be forgotten to those lucky enough to have been here to hear it! 

Guest speakers praise unionists, encourage continued progress 

Throughout the day, delegates and leaders heard from various guest speakers, who offered insight, praise and motivation as SMART looks to the future.   

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler fired up delegates with a rousing speech that connected SMART members’ fights to the ongoing resurgence of the labor movement, telling SMART members and leaders: 

“Whether you’re a sheet metal worker, a bus operator, a service technician, a railroad engineer, a sign worker, a welder, a production employee — if you’re a part of this union, North America does not work without you.” 

In her remarks, Shuler discussed the still-enormous fight that working people face across the United States, recounting the experiences of workers struggling for dignity and living wages — and contrasting those experiences with the exorbitant payrolls of America’s executive class. Those executives, she explained, are the people who stand to benefit if Donald Trump gets reelected and implements his Project 2025 agenda.  

But thanks to the labor movement, Shuler said, workers across the U.S. are seeing that another way exists. Specifically shouting out the work and achievements of Local 435 in Gainesville, Florida, TD Local 1704 in Kansas City and Local 480 in Faribault, Minn. — plus victories at the national level, like the federal two-person freight train crew regulation, the work of the SMART Women’s Committee and the BE4ALL Rapid Response Protocol — she praised SMART’s work to empower the working class in the face of profit-flation and corporate greed. 

“You are setting the standard,” she declared. 

Shuler ended with a request: As November approaches, delegates, officers, families and people across the labor movement need to hit the jobsite, the phone banks and the doors to spread the word about what’s at stake in this presidential election.  

“We can be the ones who make history,” Shuler concluded. “We have the momentum. … Are you ready? Let’s do this.” 

Nevada AFL-CIO Executive Secretary-Treasurer Susie Martinez, a lifelong unionist and former Nevada Assembly member who helped win a state two-person crew law and job-creating indoor air quality legislation, also spoke to delegates. In her remarks recounting her run for Nevada state office, she noted the importance of having the labor movement on her side — both during her campaign, and as a legislator. Working closely with SMART-TD and Local 88, including Al Lopez, who she brought on stage, Martinez noted the victories she was able to win and the importance of union members running for office.  

“That two-man crew bill, they tried to pass that for many years. … We passed that bill! I was so proud.” 

And Representative Steve Horsford, an ally of SMART members and working families in Congress, delivered remarks that reiterated his support for union workers and pledged continued partnership. Horsford, who represents SMART members and working families in Nevada’s Fourth Congressional District and is also the co-chair and founder of the Congressional Labor Caucus, received a warm welcome for his stellar support for organized labor while in office.  

Horsford voted for the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, a package of legislation that saved SMART members’ pensions; created jobs building the United States’ critical infrastructure; invested in American railroads and public transit; put union sheet metal workers on clean energy jobs and much more. He also worked to fund the Brightline West high-speed rail line, creating work for SMART sheet metal and railroad workers, and has helped local unions in Nevada and beyond win funding for their training centers.  

“Thanks to the work of my colleagues and I, especially the Congressional Labor Caucus, and the advocacy of SMART, this [Brightline West] funding requires an organized workforce,” Horsford said.  

Throughout the day, delegates also heard reports from the Rules Committee, Credentials Committee, Production Committee, Roofing Committee, HVAC Service Committee and General Executive Council Committee.