It’s time to take action for your family and your union

Over the summer, thousands of delegates, staff, leaders and guests gathered in Las Vegas, Nev., for our union’s Third General Convention. We spent Monday through Friday in session, with our TD brothers and sisters convening for their convention the previous Sunday — working to consider and pass various resolutions, amendments and other motions that will strengthen this union for the long haul.

I am immensely proud of the delegates you elected to represent you at this convention; the solidarity on display inspired everyone who had the chance to witness it. Now, it’s time to get to work.

“All of us want what’s right for our families, our jobs and our union. So please join me in taking action to secure our future this November.

As union members, we know the most important thing for our well-being is each other. But we also know that outside forces, particularly anti-labor politicians, will stop at nothing to constrict and even entirely get rid of our ability to do just that. For that reason, your elected convention delegates made the important decision to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for vice president in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Just like every other election season, there is a lot of noise out there right now, brothers and sisters, and a lot of powerful people and corporations doing their best to keep us distracted. But throughout our country’s history, one thing has always been true: The laws and policies that strengthen the labor movement always benefit our country.

Vice President Harris and Governor Walz want to help your union grow, create more jobs for SMART members and uplift working families. Their actions prove it. Vice President Harris’s tie-breaking votes to pass the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act saved union members’ pensions and invested in the jobs of our future. As Minnesota governor, Walz passed a state two-person crew law, an air ventilation program to put sheet metal members to work, funded Amtrak, expanded prevailing wage, banned anti-union captive audience meetings, and became the first and only governor in the nation to legislate yardmasters’ hours of service.

Harris’s and Walz’s actions speak louder than words. They stood, and they continue to stand, with SMART members and our families.

The other candidate in this election has an anti-union record that imitates the robber-barons of the past, with plans to outdo himself. His administration rescinded a proposed two-person crew rule, tried to gut union apprenticeships with Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs, prioritized tax cuts for the wealthy over job-creating laws for SMART members — I could go on and on. And his Project 2025 agenda details his intent to attack us even more in the future.

Brothers and sisters, I know we don’t agree on everything in the political arena. But one thing I’m absolutely, 100% certain of is this: All of us want what’s right for our families, our jobs and our union. So please join me in taking action to secure our future this November.

In solidarity,

SMART General President Michael Coleman