The SMART Army showed out in force for kids in Bradley County, Tennessee, last October: Local 5 members partnered with the local chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, building 30 beds for children who need a safe place to sleep.
SHP’s mission is that “no kid sleeps on the floor in our town” — with the help of Local 5, that dream moved one step closer towards reality.
“The nonprofit was very pleased and wants to partner with us again,” reported Local 5 Organizer Hunter Gossett.
Union workers from SMART Local 85 (Atlanta, Ga.), IBEW Local 613, IUPAT DC 77 and UA Local 72 joined the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers for a transformative community service project in June, replacing the aging Blockhouse Boat Ramp dock at Lake Allatoona. The successful “Unions Unite” event concluded months of organizing by Local 85 apprentice Dyana Lee, whose dedicated unionism helped make the project a historic one.
“We ended up having over 30 volunteers on site day of, and almost 20 people assisting me behind the scenes to create a $70,000 volunteer event,” Lee explained. “It was one of the largest union volunteer events in Atlanta history, with multiple trades coming together to build and better something for our community while creating a sense of solidarity among union brothers and sisters of Atlanta.”
“Thanks to Dyana’s hard work and determination, this project was a huge success,” added Local 85 Business Manager and SMART General Vice President Steve Langley.
Lee, who recently completed the first year of her apprenticeship, started getting active in her local in January 2023: attending Local 85 Women’s Committee meetings and taking on responsibilities within the committee at the request of chair and Local 85 President Jan Chappell. But the inspiration for a cross-trades, solidarity-driven community service event was sparked in earnest during the 2023 Tradeswomen Build Nations (TWBN) conference in Washington, DC. Lee attended the TWBN all-tradeswomen hike sponsored by the USA, learning about the organization’s conservation and restoration efforts through its Work Boots on the Ground program.
“While I was at the conference, I was inspired by the community, strength and solidarity shown between different trades,” she said. “I took the lessons I learned at TWBN and decided that I would like to spearhead a project in Atlanta to bring people from multiple trades together to give back to our community and start to foster that sense of unitedness between tradespeople.
“With the full support of my local and my mentor, Jan Chappell, I reached out to the USA to start the ball rolling on this idea.”
Lee met with USA Conservation Coordinator Cody Campbell, who walked her through the steps needed to create the type of project she envisioned. Lee then started organizing: attending meetings at other locals in Atlanta, talking to tradespeople at jobsites and eventually contacting Atlanta & North Georgia Building Trades Business Manager Randy Beall (a member of Local 85) to help connect her to other local unions. All told, she spent six months networking with potential volunteers, also delivering a speech at the USA’s Atlanta fundraising dinner to rally her union brothers and sisters to the cause.
In the meantime, Lee and Campbell worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to identify a project, eventually landing on the replacement of the courtesy dock at Blockhouse Boat Ramp. The old dock only had a few mooring points for community members, leading to traffic, congestion and safety concerns, and it was no longer ADA-compliant – restricting the number of people that could use the dock and limiting accessibility.
With the project decided, Lee doubled down on her organizing, successfully recruiting dozens of volunteers from other trades. On the day of the project, the skilled volunteer force gathered at 7 a.m., with work starting at 7:45.
“The temperature was 88 degrees at 6 a.m., and the humidity was off the charts,” said Lee. “However, that didn’t stop my determined team from getting the job done, not only well, but fast.”
The new, accessible boat dock will benefit Atlanta community members for years to come. But to Lee, the impact extended to the worksite, where she said the sense of cross-trade community she was working to foster started to have tangible outcomes. On her job, for example, she started to see workers from different trades gathering for lunch each day, and the environment began to feel more positive and supportive – everyone had each other’s back.
“My goal in organizing and creating the first annual Unions Unite event was to take that first step to building that for every jobsite, for every local,” Lee noted. “This sense of community won’t just create more amicable jobsites; it will help to break down the stigma of being a union member in the eyes of the city, showing that union culture includes a sense of belonging and acceptance for everyone.”
Moving forward, Lee is working with the Georgia Building Trades to collaborate with some of the tradeswomen she met through the Unions Unite event to create a Georgia Building Trades Women’s Committee. She sees that effort as part of a greater endeavor to strengthen and grow the labor movement in Atlanta — and beyond.
“I want the young adults to know that there’s a place for them with us, no matter the trade they go into,” Lee declared. “We are all brothers and sisters; united we stand, divided we fall.”
On Saturday, August 10, the Local 38 (Westchester and Rockland Counties, N.Y.) SMART Army held its first Annual Benefit Car Show for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation — an organization that, since 9/11, has worked to provide “mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children and … [build] specially-adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders,” among other efforts. The event brought in approximately 200 spectators to view the cars and take a tour of Local 38’s union hall and training center, and raised more than $5,000 for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
As part of Women in Construction Week 2024, the SMART Women’s Committee called on union members to take part in a day of community service during the month of March, demonstrating the power of solidarity and spreading the word about the union sheet metal trade. And from coast to coast, SMART sisters answered the call.
Local 206 (San Diego) members, Building Trades Sisters, tradeswomen and allies taught an APR class at Southwestern College some hands-on skills making tissue boxes and picture frames!
Local 206 members pictured: Annet Del Rosario, Tatjana Sebro, Demetria Gamble, Kacey Grierson and Belen Martinez.
Local 63 (Springfield, Mass.) volunteered at Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen in Chicopee on March 29, 2024. From left to right: Brandie Benoit, Rebecca Sturtevant, Deb St. Peter and Rachel Murphy.
Local 2 (Kansas City) sisters celebrated Women in Construction Week by performing repairs at a local Youth Resilience Center, showing the meaning of union solidarity and the fulfilling careers available in our trade.
On March 16th, for their 2024 Women in Construction Week Service Project, Local 17’s Women’s Committee, the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston and Girls at Work worked with 15 young women aged 8–18 and their Big Sisters to build picnic tables for organizations in the Boston area. Volunteers included seven SMART sisters, one husband and five other tradeswomen from the Electricians, Elevator Constructors, Plumbers and Carpenters unions.
“At the end of the day, we raised $11,830 from individual donors, contractors and unions,” said Local 17 Business Development Rep. Shamaiah Turner. “We built six picnic tables. Three tables were donated to the Brookview House, which is a charity focused on getting homeless women and children stabilized. Three tables were also donated to Boston elementary schools that work with the United Way. One of the successes of the day was working with a 14-year-old who is a freshman at a vocational school. She was thinking of doing a criminal justice or nursing track. At the end of the project, she stated that she was going to also consider metal fabrication.”
Members of the Local 27 (Southern New Jersey) SMART Army volunteered their time to benefit their community last spring, taking part in the 2024 Cumberland County Improvement Authority trash hunt. Thank you to the members who participated: Peter Kesnig, Mike Mendez, John Manera, Gavin Williams, Malcolm Hill, Jeffrey Brown, Pat Derbyshire, Matt Johnson, Bob Whittaker, Joe Ashner, Don Cooper, Mark Weatherby and Jaden Shepard.
Every year in April, the Klineline Kids Fishing Derby brings approximately 3,000 children, families and friends — around 10,000 people from across Southwest Washington and greater Portland, Oregon — to Salmon Creek Park/ Klineline Pond in Vancouver, Washington. Over two days, children of all backgrounds, including low-income and under-privileged kids and children with disabilities, learn about fishing and water safety, play outside and experience all that the natural world has to offer.
And for the last 15 years or so, SMART Local 16 and Northwest Regional Council (NWRC) members have played a crucial role in making the derby a success. That continued in 2024, with SMART volunteers doing their part to help kids across the region enjoy two days of fishing.
“I have been involved with the organization for close to 20 years, since my five children were under the age of 14,” said Local 16 Business Representative Dustin Hysmith. “They are all in their late twenties and early thirties. The event had such an effect on one of my children that he is now a commercial fisherman.”
After taking part personally, Hysmith helped get Local 16 and other area building trades involved in the fishing derby, eventually expanding to include other members of the NWRC and SMART Local 66 (Seattle, Wash.). He has worked to bring industry partners into the festivities: During this year’s derby, signatory contractor JH Kelly signed on as a sponsor, and union printer Hollywood Impress donated 1,000 cookbooks and 3,450 three-by-five name and timeslot cards. In previous years, SMART contractors fabricated many of the fish cleaning stations, all part of facilitating the largest event of its kind in Washington state.
But it’s the SMART Army members who make the biggest difference.
“Local 16 members have been pivotal in stringing the more than 3,000 fishing poles every year, putting together the 20 fishing racks, helping with setup and tear-down, staffing our outreach booth and — most popular — helping the kids catch fish,” Hysmith explained.
SMART members’ display of service and solidarity is rewarded every year when the thousands of fishing derby attendees get to experience the various activities and prizes available throughout the weekend. Friday is special needs day, Hysmith said, open to all those with a disability, regardless of age. Saturday is for all kids ages 5-14, with a $5 entry fee granting participants a free fishing pole, a T-shirt, the chance to catch two fish, entry in a drawing to win a bicycle or scooter, a goodie bag and much more. Plus, there’s button making, building activities, face painting, free ice cream and shaved ice — and no one’s turning any kids away, Hysmith added.
“The largest fish of the hour gets a tackle box full of lures, fishing supplies and a trophy. Second and third place get trophies. The smallest fish of the hour gets a coupon to Papa Murphy’s Pizza for a free pizza, because the fish is not big enough to feed the family,” he said.
The critical part SMART members play in the Klineline Kids Fishing Derby demonstrates for all attendees that union members are part of the fabric of communities across the country, and it shows that solidarity is more than just a word for union workers — it’s a principle. As a bonus, the Local 16 outreach booth stands throughout both days to give interested parents and guardians more information about our union and our trade.
On March 26, 2024, Local 18 (Wisconsin) members, family and friends attended the local’s eighth annual blood drive/SMART Army event at the union hall. Local 18 provided fresh grilled brats — cooked by retiree and SMART Army award-winner Kevin Turner — and refreshments to all who donated or attempted to donate. Twenty-three donations were made that day, potentially helping 53 people in need.
“We can’t say enough about how impressed we are by the support by our neighbors, members, family and friends to come out to donate to Local 18’s blood drive under the direction of the Versiti Blood Center,” said Local 18 Business Representative Steuart Wilson.
Union workers from SMART Local 85 (Atlanta, Ga.), IBEW Local 613, IUPAT DC 77 and UA Local 72 joined the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers for a transformative community service project in June, replacing the aging Blockhouse Boat Ramp dock at Lake Allatoona. The successful “Unions Unite” event concluded months of organizing by Local 85 apprentice Dyana Lee, whose dedicated unionism helped make the project a historic one.
“We ended up having over 30 volunteers on site day of, and almost 20 people assisting me behind the scenes to create a $70,000 volunteer event,” Lee explained. “It was one of the largest union volunteer events in Atlanta history, with multiple trades coming together to build and better something for our community while creating a sense of solidarity among union brothers and sisters of Atlanta.”
“Thanks to Dyana’s hard work and determination, this project was a huge success,” added Local 85 Business Manager and SMART General Vice President Steve Langley.
Lee, who recently completed the first year of her apprenticeship, started getting active in her local in January 2023: attending Local 85 Women’s Committee meetings and taking on responsibilities within the committee at the request of chair and Local 85 President Jan Chappell. But the inspiration for a cross-trades, solidarity-driven community service event was sparked in earnest during the 2023 Tradeswomen Build Nations (TWBN) conference in Washington, DC. Lee attended the TWBN all-tradeswomen hike sponsored by the USA, learning about the organization’s conservation and restoration efforts through its Work Boots on the Ground program.
“While I was at the conference, I was inspired by the community, strength and solidarity shown between different trades,” she said. “I took the lessons I learned at TWBN and decided that I would like to spearhead a project in Atlanta to bring people from multiple trades together to give back to our community and start to foster that sense of unitedness between tradespeople.
“With the full support of my local and my mentor, Jan Chappell, I reached out to the USA to start the ball rolling on this idea.”
Lee met with USA Conservation Coordinator Cody Campbell, who walked her through the steps needed to create the type of project she envisioned. Lee then started organizing: attending meetings at other locals in Atlanta, talking to tradespeople at jobsites and eventually contacting Atlanta & North Georgia Building Trades Business Manager Randy Beall (a member of Local 85) to help connect her to other local unions. All told, she spent six months networking with potential volunteers, also delivering a speech at the USA’s Atlanta fundraising dinner to rally her union brothers and sisters to the cause.
In the meantime, Lee and Campbell worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to identify a project, eventually landing on the replacement of the courtesy dock at Blockhouse Boat Ramp. The old dock only had a few mooring points for community members, leading to traffic, congestion and safety concerns, and it was no longer ADA-compliant – restricting the number of people that could use the dock and limiting accessibility.
With the project decided, Lee doubled down on her organizing, successfully recruiting dozens of volunteers from other trades. On the day of the project, the skilled volunteer force gathered at 7 a.m., with work starting at 7:45.
“The temperature was 88 degrees at 6 a.m., and the humidity was off the charts,” said Lee. “However, that didn’t stop my determined team from getting the job done, not only well, but fast.”
The new, accessible boat dock will benefit Atlanta community members for years to come. But to Lee, the impact extended to the worksite, where she said the sense of cross-trade community she was working to foster started to have tangible outcomes. On her job, for example, she started to see workers from different trades gathering for lunch each day, and the environment began to feel more positive and supportive – everyone had each other’s back.
“My goal in organizing and creating the first annual Unions Unite event was to take that first step to building that for every jobsite, for every local,” Lee noted. “This sense of community won’t just create more amicable jobsites; it will help to break down the stigma of being a union member in the eyes of the city, showing that union culture includes a sense of belonging and acceptance for everyone.”
Moving forward, Lee is working with the Georgia Building Trades to collaborate with some of the tradeswomen she met through the Unions Unite event to create a Georgia Building Trades Women’s Committee. She sees that effort as part of a greater endeavor to strengthen and grow the labor movement in Atlanta — and beyond.
“I want the young adults to know that there’s a place for them with us, no matter the trade they go into,” Lee declared. “We are all brothers and sisters; united we stand, divided we fall.”
Donald Ratzel, a proud Local 80 (Detroit, Michigan) member of 56 years, continues to stay active in his local union: attending union meetings, supporting his brothers and sisters and participating in Local 80’s annual Dollars Against Diabetes (DAD’s) Day events.
Donald Ratzel (left) with Local 80 Business Manager Tim Mulligan
DAD’s Day is a North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) campaign to raise money to find a cure for diabetes. Every year, Local 80 holds a golf outing to support DAD’s Day, contributing to the collective fundraising efforts of SMART locals and building trades unions across North America. So far, the campaign has donated more than $57 million to the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami, Florida.
Thank you, Brother Ratzel, for your dedication to your local and to the ongoing effort to cure diabetes!
During the 2023 holiday season, SM Local 49 (Albuquerque, New Mexico) members gave their time, funds and food donations in a demonstration of union solidarity, helping the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy (ASLA) gather and distribute food to kids who rely on school meals — but can’t access that crucial nutrition source during breaks.
Local 49 officers and members joined ASLA staff and students to both donate food and load up trucks for delivery.
“Building better communities — that’s our mission with the SMART Army, and it is vital as a local that if we can, we should assist the community we live in,” explained Local 49 Business Manager Isaiah Zemke. “Thank you to our membership for assisting the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy with food donations. The academy’s staff is amazing and hustles to make efforts to help those kids eat.”
“Our families are truly very lucky to have the support of the union and the whole community, and the [ASLA] Honey Badgers appreciate your support,” an academy staff member told Zemke in a video shared to the local’s Facebook page.
The academy is nationally unique in that it serves students who are deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing within the same environment, said ASLA Executive Director Raphael Martinez. In its 15 years of existence, the academy has quickly become a local staple, Martinez added — making it a natural partner for Local 49, another organization rooted in the community.
While the connection between ASLA and the local happened on short notice — funds to provide food for ASLA were approved by Local 49 only one week before the donation event — the effort was a success.
“We look forward to doing this again next year,” concluded Zemke.
