Delegates continue their work on day two of the Third SMART General Convention

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

Committees, department directors and delegates to the Third SMART General Convention continued their work on Tuesday, August 17. With guest speakers paying tribute to our union’s strength and resolutions aimed at securing our collective future, the day demonstrated the commitment of delegates to seize this pivotal moment of opportunity. 

McGarvey to delegates: “What we do will impact future generations” 

North America’s Building Trades Unions President Sean McGarvey has spent decades working alongside SMART members and leaders to win progress for workers in the legislative, organizing and economic development arenas. In his Monday speech to delegates at the Third SMART General Convention, McGarvey took time to note the victories we have won together — and emphasized that we cannot stop pushing. 

“With these wins and significant investments coming online, we must capture as much work as possible,” he declared. “We must be intentional about recruiting and retaining the next generation of unionized building trades workers and growing our contractor base.” 

SMART members made incredible progress in the last several years. Under the Biden-Harris administration, McGarvey said, labor standards in pro-union laws and unprecedented investment in the United States’ core infrastructure created opportunities for building trades workers that once seemed unthinkable — not to mention the administration’s actions to strengthen Davis-Bacon prevailing wages and pension reform in the American Rescue Plan Act.  

In turn, he added, unions like SMART have been able to expand their focus on organizing, recruiting and retaining workers from all communities and bring our neighbors — people of color, the justice-involved, veterans and more — into our best-of-class apprenticeship programs. He specifically credited the SMART Belonging and Excellence for All (BE4ALL) initiative, Women’s Committee and director of special projects Louise Medina for their work to make the building trades welcoming to all, especially in this crucial moment. 

Now, as election 2024 approaches, the rubber meets the road, McGarvey said. Our ability to build, organize, grow and keep members on the jobsite rests largely on who takes office in November. Referencing Project 2025 and the ABC-endorsed Trump administration’s previous efforts to gut building trades unions — with Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs being just one example — he highlighted the importance of putting pro-union lawmakers in office.  

“We are on the cusp of an Infrastructure Decade,” McGarvey told delegates. “You helped us get here, and we need you more than ever between now and November to prevent a hostile administration from taking away all of the gains we made by meeting the challenges placed in front of us.” 

Nevada Rep. Lee pledges continued partnership with SMART  

On the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 13, delegates heard from Congresswoman Susie Lee of Nevada’s Third District — a pro-union legislator whose votes have benefited SMART members in Nevada and beyond.  

“It’s always great to be with my brothers and sisters in the house of labor — in the city of labor,” Lee told delegates. “Las Vegas is known as entertainment capital of the world, but what we also should be known as is a town built by labor, run by labor, and because of labor we will continue to be strong.” 

As she explained to delegates, it’s been a crazy five years for everyone in the United States — including SMART.  

“We won some tough fights,” she said.  

Lee grew up in a steel town — Canton, Ohio — where she witnessed first-hand the life-changing power of a union job, as well as the devastating effects of offshoring, attacks on the labor movement and divestment in American manufacturing.  

“When I fight for worker protections, for PLAs, for pensions, for worker safety, for two-person train crews, let me tell you — it’s personal to me,” she said. 

That’s why Lee cast major votes for the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act in Congress, she explained. Those laws have funded projects like the Brightline West high-speed rail line, set to create 140,000 new, good-paying union jobs, putting SMART sheet metal and transportation members to work.  

But, she emphasized again and again, our work together isn’t finished. We need to pass the Railway Safety Act, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and the No Tax Breaks for Union-Busting Act 

“What are we doing subsidizing companies that are trying to be union-busters?” Lee said. “I don’t get it.”  

Lee concluded by vowing to continue partnering with SMART to win for workers, from Southern Nevada to the rest of our country.  

“The fight is never over,” she declared. 

USA’s Ingram touts solidarity, service and the great outdoors 

Across the United States, SMART sheet metal and Transportation Division members have worked with the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) to conserve wildlife, connect with local communities and, of course, enjoy the great outdoors — whether hunting, fishing or hiking. 

In remarks to delegates, USA Executive Director and CEO Walt Ingram expounded on the important relationships that the USA-SMART partnership helps create — and how it helps SMART take on a variety of challenges. Foremost among those is bringing members together in true solidarity. 

“We’re a member engagement for you at your local unions, and I want to encourage you to take advantage of that,” Ingram said.  

SMART is one of the largest union affiliates in the USA. And when SMART members work with the USA to engage their communities, via clay shoots, service projects, Take Kids Fishing Day events and the like, communities start to see the true meaning of union solidarity in real time. Ingram spotlighted SMART’s work on conservation projects, specifically recent ones involving Local 55 in Burbank, Washington; Local 85 at Lake Allatoona in Atlanta, Georgia; and an all-tradeswomen event at Tradeswomen Build Nations 2023.  

Those conservation projects, Ingram said, change members’ lives, change local communities and change some members’ perceptions of their union. 

“I urge you to get involved,” he concluded. 

TruHearing’s Rosander-Powell presents on keeping members healthy 

Thirty percent of workers exposed to loud noises at work have hearing loss, according to Michelle Rosander-Powell, TruHearing national sales director for labor. Rosander presented to SMART convention delegates on Tuesday, August 13, on how SMART and TruHearing have partnered — and can continue to partner — to offer members lower-cost treatment options for hearing loss.  

“Your union benefits make a huge difference — you provide allowances to your members to help them get hearing aids — but we want to stretch your dollars to help your members get the best hearing aid technology for the lowest price,” she said. 

Committees and directors continue their reports  

Delegates heard reports from a variety of committees throughout the day, such as the Constitution, Resolutions, Credentials, Wellness and Mental Health Resources, Rail and Airline, Compensation, Transit and Bus, Apprenticeship, Grievances and Appeals and the Rules Committees. SMART department directors also presented to delegates, overviewing progress made in the department of wellness and mental health support, the Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust, pension funds and the Canadian Affairs Department. Finally, delegates heard, discussed and voted on proposed amendments and resolutions. 

BE4ALL, RISE, Women’s Committees meet to forge a stronger union 

Following the first day of proceedings at SMART’s Third General Convention, members of the SMART Belonging and Excellence for All (BE4ALL); Representation, Integrity, Support, Empowerment (RISE); and Women’s Committees came together for a celebration of progress and comradery — and a recommitment to their important work moving forward.  

While differing in their specific missions, each of the committees broadly focus on strengthening SMART by making our union a more welcoming and inclusive place for all members. Each committee works with current members, local union and regional council officers, International staff and potential new members on recruitment, retention, empowerment and solidarity within SMART, all of which are key to our continued success.  

In Las Vegas, members arrived from the furthest reaches of our union — everywhere from Vancouver to Ontario, San Francisco to Atlanta — to engage in this important committee work. General President Michael Coleman and General Secretary-Treasurer John Daniel met with committee members for an open question-and-answer session; attendees also had the chance to open up to one another and forge deeper bonds of comradery.