I want to wish you and your families a very happy holiday season.
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or practice your own tradition, this is a meaningful time. I hope all of you are able to spend these days with loved ones.
The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.
The labor movement has been resurgent in recent years, with working people organizing like they haven’t in decades and union approval ratings close to all-time highs. That includes in our industries: More than ever, Americans and Canadians realize just how crucial SMART members are to our two nations. They understand the importance of the workers who manufacture and install HVAC systems and who help maintain the quality of the air we breathe. They finally recognize the essential work performed by freight railroaders and public transit operators. And they see the true value of our collective power: We are the workers fighting to raise the standard of living for our neighbors and communities.
With that foundation, we made history over the last 12 months.
We put members to work on megaprojects across the United States and Canada. We negotiated strong contracts across industries and trades. We fabricated HVAC systems for hospitals, chip plants and more. We won a nationwide two-person train crew rule. And we grew as a union, bringing in tens of thousands of new SMART members.
The truth is this, sisters and brothers: Our two nations simply don’t work without sheet metal and transportation workers, whether we’re helping build new schools or bringing freight from coast to coast. I want to thank you for all that you do — every single day.
The holiday season means different things to different people. But at its core, I believe it’s about our common humanity. As union members, that is one of our core values; the idea that every working person deserves safety, fair pay, a secure retirement and a life with dignity, and that we will organize together to win those rights.
That principle — our solidarity — will guide us in the future. As we close out 2024 and head into 2025, we will continue to stand united, to organize and to have each other’s backs.
Again, happy holidays from me, my family and the SMART General Executive Council. Enjoy the season, and please stay safe.
I want to wish all of you and your families a very happy Thanksgiving, from myself, General Secretary-Treasurer John Daniel and the entire SMART General Executive Council.
Today is a day to gather with those we hold dear. From the essential workers who manufacture, build and install the HVAC systems that keep our air clean and healthy, to the railroaders and transit operators who literally keep our supply chain moving — and who, even today, are transporting passengers and freight where they need to be — we know just how valuable these moments are.
Everyone has their different traditions on days like today. Many of us gather to eat turkey and stuffing with family and friends; others may practice different observations. But no matter what you choose to do, I hope you keep in mind a spirit of fellowship, unity and our common humanity.
For me, Thanksgiving is especially welcome in the wake of election season. Politics can so often feel divisive, and these days, elections are used by the rich and powerful to try and pit us against one another. Today and every day, please remember one thing: As union members, we are each other’s family. We have each other’s backs. No matter what’s taking place in the political arena, our solidarity is by far the most important principle we can uphold.
Organized labor has changed history time and again, and we did it through our unbreakable unity. All of us should be proud to be trade unionists; to be part of a collective movement to better the lives of working-class people from coast to coast.
I want to thank each one of you for the invaluable contributions you make to our union, our labor movement and our nation.
Again, happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the holiday, and please stay safe.
This is an overview of day four of the Third SMART General Convention. More details will be included in the Fall Members’ Journal.
Delegates to the 3rd SMART General Convention continued their work on Thursday, August 15, hearing from convention committees and SMART department directors on the state of our union, conducting convention business and hearing from guest speakers who remarked on the importance of solidarity as we move forward.
Helms demonstrates how solidarity strengthens our union
Thursday’s guest speakers came to Las Vegas from organizations that SMART has closely allied with for years.
SMART Convention delegates gave a warm welcome to Helmets to Hardhats Executive Director Martin Helms. SMART has partnered with Helmets to Hardhats, which works to bring United States military veterans into the unionized building trades, for more than 20 years.
In his remarks, Helms thanked SMART for playing its part by participating in Helmets to Hardhats and with programs like SMART Heroes — which offers accelerated first-year apprenticeship training to those exiting the U.S. military — while urging members to keep up the work. SMART had the third-highest number of “known successful transitions” (Helmets to Hardhats applicants who successfully begin their career in the building trades) in 2023, and is on pace to garner even more interest in 2024. Helms implored any delegates present who aren’t already working with Helmets to Hardhats to get involved.
“SMART and Helmets to Hardhats are amazing teams,” he concluded. “Thank you for the last two decades of collaboration. I am motivated by what the future holds, and the H2H team looks forward to working with each one of you to increase our veteran recruitment. Thank you, God bless, and let’s continue to build America!”
SMACNA leaders: Progress can only come through partnership
Convention delegates heard from SMACNA President Carol Duncan and CEO Aaron Hilger on Thursday, August 15, with both speakers extolling the virtues of partnership in the unionized sheet metal industry at a time when enthusiasm for organized labor is skyrocketing.
“The power of progress and collaboration [is] shaping our industry’s future,” Duncan told delegates.
During her Thursday morning remarks, Duncan overviewed the important, trailblazing work SMART members and leaders are performing to make sure the unionized sheet metal industry is positioned for growth. Only by working together on initiatives like recruitment and retention, Belonging and Excellence for All and beyond, she told delegates, can union contractors and members make sure those projects are completed by high-road signatory employers and workers.
“It is crucial that our jobsites, shops, and offices are places where everyone feels safe,” Duncan said. “We all share the responsibility to speak up when something seems off and to support one another. Creating an environment where everyone feels welcome is key to attracting and keeping the best talent in the market.”
Hilger took the podium on Thursday afternoon, speaking to the convention crowd about four challenges met by SMART and SMACNA in the last several years — and the work that still needs to be done.
The first challenge: The BE4ALL initiative and our organizations’ broader focus on making the unionized sheet metal industry more welcoming and inclusive of all. Another: Strengthening government relations at the state and local level, winning legislation and ordinances that create work for SMART locals and SMACNA chapters.
That challenge, Hilger went on, relates directly to the third challenge that SMART and SMACNA worked together to meet: indoor air quality work. The pandemic revealed to the North American public just how important proper ventilation is to staying healthy and safe. Now, he said, local unions and contractors need to collaborate intensely to increase IAQ market share.
Finally, Hilger discussed the ongoing opportunity and difficulty posed by the surge of megaprojects across North America, with 260 being actively tracked by the SMART-SMACNA megaprojects task force. Union sheet metal contractors and workers are staffing those projects — an enormous victory. Now, he said, we need to keep up the good work and continue staffing our core work.
“It’s a wonderful time to be a union contractor and a union member,” he concluded. “Thank you for your partnership as we continue to work together.”
Financial report details strength, opportunity
SMART General Secretary-Treasurer John Daniel, Controller Warren May and SMART-TD Director of Administration Matt Dolin delivered a report on the financial state of the union, validated by an independent auditor to ensure transparency and accountability at every step. Daniel overviewed SMART’s meticulous financial processes before May and Dolin presented — in great detail — the union’s finances, which show significant growth and stellar overall health.
SMART’s assets are more than six times greater than its liabilities. Daniel noted that this strong position is one we need to build on to ensure further success, with May presenting what the union’s five-year financial projection would look like with and without a per capita increase.
“Together, we will build a future our members and their families deserve,” Daniel said.
This will be May’s final convention, as the steward of SMART’s financial department is set to retire at the end of 2024. General Secretary-Treasurer Daniel thanked May for his tireless work and thoughtful administration, calling him “instrumental” to SMART’s success.
“His expertise and dedication have been invaluable to SMART,” Daniel said. “His contributions to our organization have been significant, and we owe him a great deal of gratitude.”
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve this great International,” May told delegates.
Director reports chart our progress, lay out roadmap of the future
SMART Director of OrganizingJason Benson provided delegates with an overview of the department’s structure before detailing the challenges our union has met through organizing: recruiting, organizing nonunion workers, engaging in job actions to flip nonunion projects to signatory status, and much more. Over the last five years, there have been more than 29,000 new members organized into SMART, Benson said.
Greg HynesPaul PimentelJared CassityJason Benson
He also offered a preview of the work we have yet to do, with billions of dollars of work coming down the pipeline.
“The future is bright,” Benson said. “As General President Emeritus Sellers used to say, this is generational growth. If we don’t take advantage of it, shame on us.”
National Energy Management Institute (NEMI) Administrator Lisa Davis presented to delegates on the work the fund has pursued since 2019, including developing new resources for affiliates and updates to Testing, Adjusting and Balancing Bureau (TABB) certifications. Davis also explained how NEMI has helped local unions and regional councils win policy and regulatory victories across the United States, creating more work for sheet metal members, as well as efforts to turn back attacks on our fire life safety and indoor air quality work jurisdiction.
“The demand for a skilled, trained and certified workforce is increasing, and we are meeting that challenge,” Davis said.
Nick GreficzLisa DavisKen Colombo
SMART-TD Organizer Nick Greficz (TD Local 278) presented the Transportation Division Organizing Department’s report. The report included a breakdown of the success TD’s organizing has experienced in the recent past and the importance of continued growth for the strength of our union. Methodologies to achieve this growth included the continued implementation of tools such as the Action Builder platform and the organizer portal on SMART’s website.
Brother Greficz summed up his vision: “Success is the result of dedication, commitment and the collective participation of everyone involved. Every member, local officer and general committee officer is an organizer!”
Over the last several years, the SMART Governmental Affairs Department has partnered with pro-union legislators and federal officials to pass and implement policies that benefit SMART members and working families. After thanking staff members Tiffany Finck-Haynes, Ben Donnelly-Fine, Shareka Bannerman, Angela Watson and Jackie Meisner, Department Director Steve Dodd presented to delegates on the progress that has been made in the last several years — and the dangerous, anti-union policies members can expect from a second Trump administration.
“I know you’ve heard all week long about the damages that [Donald Trump] did when he was in office,” Dodd declared. “What we have now is an unbelievable situation like we’ve never had in our lives … you better fight like hell for your country and do whatever you can to get Kamala Harris in office in November.”
Transportation Division National Legislative Director Greg Hynes (TD Local 1081) and Alternate Legislative Director Jared Cassity (TD Local 1377) presented their departmental report to the convention delegates. Their report emphasized the department’s efforts to engage the membership in advocating for SMART-TD legislation. Multiple bills currently in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are pivotal to freight rail members’ safety and quality of life.
Brother Cassity summed up the spirit of the Legislative Department when he said, “We need you together, we need you collected, and we need you fighting!”
Delegates also heard continued reports from a variety of convention committees, including the Constitution Committee, Union Label Committee, Organizing Committee and Industrial Automotive Committee.
This is an overview of day three of the Third SMART General Convention. More details will be included in the Fall Members’ Journal.
Delegates to the Third SMART General Convention reelected Michael Coleman of Local 33 (Cleveland, Ohio) as the union’s general president on Wednesday, August 14, by acclamation.
“I nominate a person I respect, a person who puts the advancement of SMART before himself,” said SMART General President Emeritus Joseph Sellers Jr., whose nomination was seconded by delegates from across the SMART sheet metal and Transportation Divisions.
General President Emeritus Sellers nominates Coleman, surrounded by delegates from SMART-TD.
Delegates also elected John Daniel of Local 265 (Carol Stream, Ill.) as general secretary-treasurer, by acclamation, and voted 11 general vice presidents onto the SMART General Executive Council (GEC).
Local 265 Business Manager Matt Gugala nominated Daniel for general secretary-treasurer, touting his leadership, open-mindedness, collaborative attitude and success at Local 265. Daniel also received seconds from across the union and from all corners of North America.
“I’m not advocating for John because he deserves it. I’m advocating for John because we, this union, deserve John Daniel as our GST,” Gugala said.
Coleman and Daniel were joined by SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson, who was reelected on Sunday during the Third Transportation Division Convention.
Coleman dedicated his acceptance speech to giving thanks. Along with Local 33, its members and leaders, he paid tribute to Assistants to the General President Darrell Robert and Tom Wiant, as well as General President Emeritus Sellers — for his leadership, for how he positioned SMART, for his friendship and for his mentorship. He also thanked General Secretary-Treasurer Daniel and Transportation Division President Ferguson, who he hailed as trailblazing leaders and even better friends, along with a variety of other union members, leaders, and sisters and brothers.
He ended by giving heartfelt thanks to his family, including his son, Nick, and his wife, Liz, before expressing his gratitude for the delegates gathered at the convention.
“I want you to know how humbled and honored I am to have your vote,” Coleman said. “I will never back down from anybody, and I will fight tooth and nail for each and every single one of you and your members.”
Daniel thanked his home local, Local 265, and gave his sincere thanks to the many union members and leaders — retired officers, current members and beyond – who molded the man he is today. He also declared his unwavering commitment to serving every member, in every craft, in every industry that our union represents. Reiterating a recurring convention theme, he vowed to fight on members’ behalf to grow and strengthen SMART and the labor movement.
“Together, we are unstoppable,” he concluded. “Let us build a union that stands for every member.”
Transportation Division President Ferguson used his acceptance speech to thank his wife and family, TD office staff in Cleveland, UTUIA staff, retiring TD General Counsel Kevin Brodar and Ferguson’s deceased mentor, former Local 313 Chair Herm Boruta. He also remarked on the incredible solidarity on display:
“I will never forget General President Emeritus Joseph Sellers making the nomination for Mike Coleman, with all those TD local numbers behind him,” he said.
Like Coleman, Ferguson concluded his remarks by thanking convention delegates.
“The greatest honor I have is to give a thank you to each and every one of you delegates. Thank you for your dedication and your love of this union.”
SMART General President Emeritus Sellers swore in the newly elected officers. Wednesday’s elected general vice presidents are: Derek Evans, first GVP; Arthur Tolentino, second GVP; Rick Werner, third GVP; Bill Kenyon, fourth GVP; Robert Butler, fifth GVP; Ray Reasons, sixth GVP; Lance Deyette, seventh GVP; Thomas De Bartolo, eighth GVP; Jason Pedersen, ninth GVP; Stephen Langley, 10th GVP and Matthew Fairbanks, 11th GVP.
From the elections that took place Sunday, Sellers swore in TD President-elect Jeremy Ferguson, National Legislative Director Greg Hynes and Rail Vice Presidents Brent Leonard, Chad Adams, Jamie Modesitt and Alvy Hughes.
The terms of all the newly elected officers begin on October 1, 2024.
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.
Rep. Susie Lee with Nevada SMART members
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.
Cecilia Lopez (TD Local 1701) presents the Transit and Bus Committee report.
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.
Compensation Committee Chair Tom De BartoloCompensation Committee Sec. Matt FairbanksDirector of Wellness and Mental Health Support Chris Carlough
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.
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.”
Delegates to the Third SMART General ConventionLuke Edington
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.
SMART GST John Daniel
“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.
Jose Manso (Local 30) presents during the Roofing Committee’s reportA delegate stands at the mic during debate
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.”
Nev. AFL-CIO Exec. Secretary-Treasurer Susie Martinez with Al Lopez, Local 88
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.
Derek Evans, Local 540Art Tolentino, Local 293Ray Reasons, Local 36Steve Langley, Local 85Joe Cook, Local 219Russell Bartash, SMART NERC
SMART General President Michael Coleman addressed attendees at the SMART Transportation Division National Training Seminar (NTS) in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 9th, reiterating the solidarity that powers our union and committing himself fully to winning the pay, dignity, safety and protections SMART-TD members deserve.
“We stand for our members, and we will fight to the bitter end for the membership,” he declared to a fired-up SMART-TD audience.
GP Coleman: “You have the ‘why’”
Coleman readily told NTS attendees that, after 40 years as a union sheet metal worker and union officer, he was less familiar with the transportation side of SMART when he first joined the International in 2019. But having worked alongside SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson and his team since, including the SMART-TD legislative staff in Washington, DC, he told attendees: “I’m proud to stand up here with all of you under the banner of SMART, because that’s who we are. We are one union. And make no mistake about it … we are stronger for it.”
Coleman attended various breakout sessions during the NTS’s first day, hearing about the fights SMART-TD officers are embroiled in across the United States.
“There was an overarching message,” he said. “And that is: We are in a fight, and we are in a fight every single day. But I’ll tell you this. After witnessing what I’ve witnessed, there’s not another group that I would rather go into a fight with than this group right here and our brothers and sisters on the sheet metal side.”
The reason? Because SMART has our “why;” our reason for fighting. Coleman referred to the writing of author Simon Sinek, whose theory of a “golden circle” of leadership posits that organizations and leaders are constantly dealing with the “what” — the results they achieve — the “how” — how they achieve those results — and, most importantly, the “why” — the reason that “what” and “how” even exist.
Our “why” is the members, Coleman said. And that “why” is more powerful than any reason our enemies could have.
Representing SMART members through thick and thin
SMART-TD fights on behalf of its members day in and day out, Coleman told attendees. And the attacks are relentless.
It was only two years ago that the freight rail carriers said, on the record, that “labor does not contribute to profits.”
Management is slow to react to threats on operator safety and rarely takes the expertise of local unions into account when searching for solutions to violence on public transit.
Billionaire shareholders constantly seek to undermine working conditions and safe staffing in their pursuit of “efficiency” and profit in the transportation industry.
“I ask you – it’s a simple question – what is our crime?” Coleman posed to NTS attendees. “[Is it] that we fight for safety and dignity in the workplace? … Is it that we worry about our members and their families, and we make sure that they can provide a decent living, a home, and raise their family with dignity? Is that the crime? Or is it because when it comes time for us to retire, we want to be able to retire with some dignity as well?”
Recently, he added, SMART-TD hasn’t only battled entities like the Class I railroad carriers. Even other figures and organizations within rail labor have taken to disrupting the coordination and solidarity so desperately needed in national rail contract negotiations.
“President Ferguson and I are on the same page: We don’t want this fight. We do not want this fight. We want to join forces and fight those enemies I talked about before,” he said.
The challenges in our path make events like the NTS even more important. With trainings at the national and regional level, SMART-TD union officers can equip themselves with the tools and knowledge needed to represent members to the fullest, whether negotiating strong bus contracts, winning railroaders back pay or bargaining on attendance policies and paid sick leave.
“We will win,” Coleman concluded, “because of you. Because of us. We’re going to outthink them. We’re going to outwork them. And most importantly, we’re going to out-why them, because that’s what we stand for. We stand for our members. … I appreciate every single one of you for doing that every single day.”
On behalf of myself and the SMART General Executive Council, I’d like to wish all of you a very happy Fourth of July. No matter where you are or how you’re observing the holiday, I hope all of you can take the time to relax with family and friends and enjoy the well-deserved fruits of your labor.
Independence Day is more than just a day marking the birth of our nation; it’s a celebration of the principles that define us. And within both SMART and the labor movement, the founding ideas of our nation are the very same as the values that we hold dear. Freedom. Democracy. Solidarity with our fellow workers — no matter who they are, what they believe, where they come from.
In our union, whether you work on the railroad, in public transportation, as a sheet metal worker, in manufacturing or beyond, we live out those values on a daily basis. When sheet metal workers construct the battery plants powering our union’s future, they are serving our country’s next generation. When production workers build commercial HVAC units for hospitals, office buildings and schools, they are helping keep families across our nation safe. When railroaders transport freight from one corner of the country to the other, they literally keep our economy moving. And when our bus and transit workers welcome passengers on board, they are ensuring that their fellow Americans make it wherever they need to be — work, school, home, you name it.
I’m so proud to be your union brother. You are the people who build, move and maintain our nation. And as we look ahead, we all have a further role to play in securing our country’s future.
It’s no secret that the last few years have been extraordinarily eventful ones for SMART. Laws that have been passed since 2021 are starting to impact our industries, leading to huge projects in Arizona, Kentucky, Tennessee, Idaho and well beyond. Our railroaders just won a massive victory with the Federal Railroad Administration’s recently announced two-person crew regulation. And pro-union appointees in the federal government have implemented policies that benefit our union, including updating prevailing wage regulations.
So this Independence Day, as you reflect on the progress we’ve made, I hope you’ll also join me in committing to the progress ahead. Let’s organize. Let’s bring new members into our union. Let’s vote for pro-union lawmakers this November. And let’s continue to stand together, in strong solidarity, to win the pay, benefits and protections that we all deserve.
I’d like to close by paying tribute to the generations of Americans who have given the ultimate sacrifice to uphold our freedoms and maintain our independence. Your courage will never be forgotten.
Once again, happy Fourth of July – please stay safe, and enjoy the holiday.
Happy Canada Day from myself and the SMART General Executive Council. Wherever you are today, in cities and towns across the provinces and territories, I hope you can take the time to relax with friends and family.
Canada Day commemorates the day of Canada’s Confederation in 1867. And since that day — even before it — unionists in the labour movement have been bravely organizing, striving to lift the working and living conditions of all Canadians.
Union sheet metal workers and roofers have been an integral part of the nation’s progress throughout its history. And today, SMART Canada members have just as vital a role to play, whether building the green-energy economy of our sustainable future or helping bring new members into our trades.
The Government of Canada has set its sights on achieving a net-zero-emissions society by 2050. It’s an ambitious and important goal, and it’s one that you — sheet metal workers and roofers — are going to make happen. Whether installing green roofs that help reduce carbon emissions or improving the energy efficiency of building envelopes in schools, office buildings and new housing, our members will be critical to the Canada of tomorrow.
We are already seeing the benefits of a worker-first green transition, such as the NextStar EV battery plant project in southwestern Ontario. I’m proud to say that SMART Canada is seizing on these opportunities to lift more families into the better life that we provide: recruiting new members, organizing nonunion workers and spreading the word far and wide about careers in our trades. As I mentioned earlier, Canada’s rich history is intertwined with the story of the union movement. Our bright future will be as well, and it is incumbent on all of us to be organizers; to help our fellow workers achieve the freedom and dignity of a union career, and to welcome every single person — no matter who they are — into our union.
Lastly, as you celebrate Canada Day with loved ones, I hope you’ll join me in honouring the generations of Canadians who have given the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms and democracy.
Happy Canada Day. Enjoy the holiday, and please stay safe!
DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson, and SMART General President Michael Coleman.
The 2023 SMART Leadership Conference concluded Wednesday, Aug. 2. The joint session featured a wide variety of pro-labor speakers and allies from Congress, the Biden administration and beyond, demonstrating the strength of our union’s relationships as we work to seize this moment of opportunity.
SMART Army award winners honored for practicing union values
Each year, SMART awards the Joseph J. Nigro SMART Army award to local union members who dedicate themselves to building their local SMART Armies and serving their union – and their communities.
A SMART-TD member and two sheet metal members from Canada and California were the latest honorees to be recognized by General President Michael Coleman.
TD Local 1409 SMART Army Award winner Dan Bonawitz
The first recipient, SMART-TD Local 1409’s (Kansas City, Kansas) Dan Bonawitz, Jr., accepted the honor with modesty, and he admitted he had some embarrassment at being singled out for his activism in safety, organizing for our union and helping honor fallen heroes.
The TD National Safety Team Alternate Director for the East Region and local legislative representative declared that it’s not an individual honor, but one that came as a result of the support system that the union provides, from his local level on up to the national headquarters.
“Nothing happens without an entire army, an entire team. I may be the schmuck up here speaking before you, but this is a collective effort,” he said, running down a long list of local, state and national officers and staff who helped reinforce and uplift his efforts.
GP Coleman presented Bonawitz with a railroad spike to symbolize his constant efforts to promote safety and bring together members of his local union.
Next, Coleman introduced sheet metal award winners Jeff Lind of SM Local 280 (British Columbia, Canada), and Manuel Zapata of SM Local 105 (Los Angeles, Calif.)
SMART Local 280 SMART Army Award winner Jeff Lind
Lind, who helped create and craft the Local 280 SMART Army, has made the SMART Army both a place for members to come together and a place of service. Among the projects were the fabrication of metal tables for the local Meals on Wheels, volunteering for events like the Terry Fox Run for cancer research and much more.
“It’s an honor to accept this award, but really this is all about the membership of Local 280,” Lind said, thanking local leadership, his fellow Local 280 sisters and brothers and the members and leaders of SMART Canada.
Zapata, a longtime servant of Local 105, is the creator and leader of Autism Spectrum Athletics, a community organization in Los Angeles that provides a safe space for kids and families to play and socialize.
The organization started with 30 kids — it now has more than 140 participants playing sports including baseball, basketball, bowling, flag football and soccer.
“Brother Zapata exemplifies the values of our organization,” Coleman said.
“It’s an honor to be here, I’m truly humbled to be given this award. As a sheet metal worker, I’m as proud as I can be,” Zapata said, thanking Local 105, his wife and children while accepting his award.
SMART Local 105 SMART Army Award winner Manuel Zapata
Following the SMART Army award presentation, SM Local 100 Business Manager Richie Labille joined GP Coleman for a truly inspiring announcement and demonstration of our union’s solidarity.
“I am proud to announce that the Maryland Special Olympics will receive $173,582 from us,” Coleman declared.
As a token of appreciation, Special Olympics of Maryland Global Ambassador and Coach Tim Gowen presented General President Coleman and Labille with medals.
Visitors from Congress, Biden administration Cabinet
The joint session’s first visitor was pro-labor U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, who has worked to prioritize infrastructure funding and union jobs at the state and federal levels.
“I’ve been with you all along, you’ve been with me all along, so we have a very good partnership,” Dean said.
Dean, who is in her third term representing Pennsylvania’s fourth district, noted the extraordinary opportunity at hand to invest in America and do so by using union labor. Dean was instrumental in passing three transformation laws over the last several years: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Those laws, she explained, will define America’s future: Updating our country’s infrastructure to build climate resiliency, investing in manufacturing to meet the demands of modern technology and more. Union labor, she said, will be essential for implementing all the investments in that federal legislation.
Congresswoman Madeleine Dean
“These huge investments are reaching communities across the country, and that’s where we work with you,” she said.
“Those three bills are important to our nation and to how we will leave the world,” she added. “Your devotion to country, to your families is and has been good for America. It inspires me and my own work. I am grateful for the continued strength and contribution of America’s labor unions as we reimagine and reinvest in America’s future.”
Next, GP Coleman and Transportation Division President Jeremy R. Ferguson welcomed U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for the Leadership Conference’s first-ever “fireside chat,” during which the secretary answered questions from both presidents, engaging in a candid conversation on how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests in transportation and union jobs; how our bus and transit operators need better on-the-job protections; and more.
Buttigieg described the test that faces both the Department of Transportation and the labor movement as funding continues to flow in from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Passing the bill was one thing, he noted, but implementing and performing the work is the key. It’s an opportunity to reverse decades of disinvestment in our country and an opportunity to put skilled tradespeople to work.
Secretary Buttigieg with members of Local 20, Indiana TD SLD Kenny Edwards and Michigan TD SLD Don Roach.
“Part of the idea was to create good-paying union jobs that are going to be the foundation of middle-class lives and livelihoods in the years ahead,” Buttigieg said. “This is a big test. Getting the bill done was one test. Now the bill got passed and the president signed it, we spent most of the last year expanding on these programs, including 45 major programs just at the DOT alone — some of them multi-billion-dollar programs.”
Coleman also asked Buttigieg about the work being created by federal funding – HVAC retrofitting, indoor air quality and more – and which organizations local unions should get in touch with to secure that work.
Federal funding from agencies like the Department of Transportation is often implemented by local bodies, from state governments to local airport authorities, and Buttigieg said that DOT is working closely with fellow agencies, like the Department of Labor and the EPA, to ensure that federal funding is creating good-paying, union jobs for SMART members.
“America is expecting a lot from all of us. Not only from this administration, but from the skilled trades in order to actually get these things done,” Buttigieg said. “This is an infrastructure decade, which means people can plan a career and plan to educate their kids and buy that house, and in that sense, we’re just getting started.”
President Ferguson asked Buttigieg about the ever-expanding length of trains on the railroad, and what DOT is doing to mitigate the effects of that, especially after a ProPublica and InvestigateTV report showed videos of children risking their lives, moving between and crawling under stopped trains to get to school.
“You can’t help but notice these trains, two miles long … three miles long, four miles long,” Buttigieg said. “Common sense tells you this is going to have an impact.”
To measure just what sort of impact, DOT is putting resources toward data collection and improving or eliminating rail crossings and more, Buttigieg said.
FRA also has resumed work on implementing a two-person crew law, opting not to wait for Congress to act but to undertake the steps available at the federal agency level to procure information for any future rulemaking and/or enforcement, he added.
Incidents involving attacks on SMART bus members in North Carolina and California – and on other unionized transit workers and bus operators – have escalated in their ferocity and frequency. Ferguson asked Buttigieg to describe what steps DOT is taking to protect bus and transit operators nationwide.
“The definition of an essential worker is one who makes it possible for other essential workers to get to work,” Buttigieg said. “We counted on transit operators in a way that was very visible during the first days of COVID. None of these assaults are acceptable.”
DOT, Buttigieg said, is working with local transit agencies and helping develop a regulatory process that would empower workers in the process of developing safety protocols that protect operators.
“It is a danger to the operators, it’s a danger to the traveling public,” Buttigieg said. “We are not going to let this go until there are zero assaults.”
Finally, Ferguson read a question submitted by a SMART-TD member, who asked what DOT is doing to gather information from workers and to address safety concerns on the railroad.
Buttigieg, noting that the last presidential administration’s rulemaking process included scant input from workers, urged the Transportation Division and its members to continue taking advantage of procedural measures like public commenting on notices of proposed rulemaking. He also listed steps DOT is taking to ensure commitment from the Class I carriers to participate in the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (3CRS) and to enforce that commitment, and said his agency has been ordered to actively seek labor’s input through open dialogue.
“All of that connective tissue in an administration that, not that I wouldn’t do this anyway, has very clear directions from the very top to make sure we never miss an opportunity to get the input, the views and concerns of workers into all of our processes, official and informal, so we really understand safety from the people who have the most at stake and the people who know the best,” he said.
Educating future workers
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona spoke next, addressing how the Department of Education partnered with SMART on issues like indoor air quality and reopening schools in the midst of the pandemic. He also talked about how the Department of Education is shifting focus away from the idea that a four-year undergraduate degree is the only path forward for young people.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona
“Union workers don’t just get the job done. They get the job done right. That’s because union workers are highly skilled workers,” Cardona said.
Echoing Rep. Dean, Cardona pointed out that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act are creating millions of jobs, including for SMART members, and the country is going to need skilled people to fill them.
“We have a job tsunami on the horizon. Career opportunities that will support families, strengthen communities, and fuel America’s competitiveness for decades to come,” he said. “If we don’t prepare our young people for these careers – then shame on us! If we don’t fundamentally change our high schools to make sure we have pathways to these high skill-high paying careers, then we are failing our kids.”
SMART, Cardona noted, is already doing the work by partnering with high schools and CTEs everywhere from Idaho to Georgia to bring young people into the trade.
Cardona pledged to lead a Department of Education that partners with organized labor to continue that progress; that creates pipelines into the trades that benefit SMART, students and communities as they work to transform U.S. high schools and treat trade education and college as options of equal weight to grow a future career.
Labor secretaries past and current
Former U.S. Labor Secretary and National Hockey League Players Association Executive Director Marty Walsh next received a warm welcome as a fellow member of the labor movement. Walsh gave two shout-outs to start his speech: General President Emeritus Joseph Sellers, and Local 17 President Robert Butler, who, Walsh said, “has been with me in every race I’ve ever run.”
Former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh
He also offered his condolences for the passing of General Vice President John D. Whitaker III and TD General Chairperson Gerald Wallace, noting that any loss to our union family is a tragic one.
Walsh then got into the meat of his speech, which focused primarily on one theme: Elections have consequences. There’s nothing more important, he said, than making sure elected officials support union workers, understand our value, understand what we do and act on our behalf. That’s how pro-labor policy is made – and that’s how we create an economy that works for SMART members.
“The labor movement is the greatest force for economic justice that’s ever existed,” Walsh said.
As Labor Secretary, he added, he was proud to work for a pro-labor administration in President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The American Rescue Plan, he said, put working families back on the job and reopened the economy. While the last presidential administration talked about passing an infrastructure bill, this one actually did it with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The CHIPS Act is bringing manufacturing back home – when fully implemented, Walsh noted, it will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. And the Inflation Reduction Act is creating green energy jobs to combat the climate crisis and lower costs for working families.
All of that can only happen, he reiterated, when unions work with pro-labor elected officials to make it happen.
“We stand on the shoulders of the founders of our local unions,” Walsh said. “It’s our obligation to continue what they started so the next generation has the same opportunity. That’s why elections matter.”
During his time as labor secretary, Walsh said, the Department of Labor worked to make sure labor protections, the right to join a union, project labor agreements and pathways to the trades were included in federal investments.
“We’re investing in today’s union jobs. We’re investing in tomorrow’s union jobs, and we’re investing in our retirees as well,” Walsh said.
Unemployment has been brought down to levels not seen since the 1960s. That strategy is part of a move away from decades of trickle-down economics, replaced by an economy built from the bottom up and the middle out, he said.
“We didn’t get a drop of the trickle,” Walsh said. “And only because organized labor was able to save what was left of the middle class, otherwise we wouldn’t have a middle class in this country.”
Now, he said, union members need to spread the message far and wide – both to their communities and to their fellow members – to make sure working families are voting for candidates who act on their behalf.
Finally, he talked about the importance of confirming Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su.
“I want you to know that she has your back, just like I had your back. Brothers and sisters, I will always stand with you,” he concluded.
Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su
Su was next up in the joint session, with GP Coleman declaring: “We will not rest until she has won her confirmation as labor secretary in the U.S. Senate.”
Su stated that she was here, with SMART and in her place at the Department of Labor, to finish the good work that she and Secretary Walsh started. To demonstrate the importance of a union career, she told the story of recently retired Local 28 member Leah Rambo, who now works in the Department of Labor Women’s Bureau.
“Leah’s career as a SMART sheet metalworker gave her a life she couldn’t have imagined for herself — homeownership, pension, a pathway to middle class,” Su said. “Today, I am so proud to work alongside Leah at the Department of Labor, where she is part of our women’s bureau and pays it forward every single day by making sure we are connecting people, including women, to jobs across the country.”
As the entire theme of this conference demonstrates, these are historic times, she said. But federal investments don’t turn into good, union jobs by accident – that’s the work that the Department of Labor and unions like SMART must perform to build an economy that is truly pro-worker.
At the DOL, Su said, that takes several forms. First — empowering and educating workers in everything the department does, putting workers at the center of the agenda, supporting workers’ rights to organize and the collective bargaining process.
“We see workers’ ability to demand more at the bargaining table not as a threat, but as a critical tool to advance and build a strong economy,” she said.
Second — equity. Embedding equity in everything the department does, including in the federal investments going out.
Third — Enforcement. Using every tool available at the DOL to combat wage theft, protect pensions, and more. Part of that work, Su noted, is having the department update Davis-Bacon laws, for the first time in 40 years.
“Marty started that, now we’re going to finish it,” she declared.
Su’s mission, she said, is to fundamentally change the American workforce so that everyone can get ahead; so that every community has the opportunity to gain a pathway into the middle class.
“We need to build the bridge from poverty to prosperity … the bridge that families need to the middle class,” she said. “This is our time, this is your time, so let’s build together.”
Commerce and climate crisis poised to define future jobs
Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves
Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves visited the joint session to update attendees on the work that the Department of Commerce is doing to help create an economy for and by working people.
“There’s great things happening all across the country,” he said. “As you all know, the work of you and your members is integral to the infrastructure of our country.”
The Biden administration’s “Investing in America” agenda is making the once-in-a-generation investments that we should have been making for decades, Graves said.
“We believe that SMART members are going to be at the forefront of that work.”
Most people think of the Department of Commerce as the Department of Business. Under this administration, he explained, it’s the “Department of People, Communities, and American Workers.” Along with Secretary Raimondo, Graves added, he is working to distribute billions of dollars in federal funding with the goal of American competitiveness – so SMART members, union workers and communities thrive. CHIPS funding alone, he noted, will spur hundreds of billions of dollars in private capital investment, creating thousands of union jobs and sparking the recruitment and retention of a diverse skilled workforce.
“The construction jobs we’re going to create are going to change lives.”
Under President Biden’s direction, he said, the Department of Commerce is calling on companies and contractors to work with unions, requiring companies to submit workforce development plans that allow workers the freedom to organize.
“Every project using these funds needs to pay prevailing wages,” Graves declared, adding that the Department of Commerce will continue to work with SMART moving ahead. “Thank you for your leadership, thank you for your partnership, and thank you for pushing us.”
White House Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi
The joint session’s final speaker was White House Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, who discussed the progress that SMART has made in making it known that green jobs – like those in energy efficiency and public transit – are real jobs and good, union jobs that tackle the climate crisis while bringing people into the middle class.
“This is the essential part of the transformation that we seek,” he said. “We’ve got the solutions – now we’ve got the workers that will build those electric buses that will hit the road across the country. … It’s because of your membership that we’re able to get that done, not just in a way that deploys that technology, but in a way that builds it in the United States.”
If we only go from a dirty energy economy to a clean energy economy, we will have missed the moment, Zaidi said. We can’t just lift ourselves to a clean energy economy. This has to be a moment where we lift up the middle class and inspire a manufacturing renaissance.
“Folks, we’re doing that,” he declared, citing the 800,000 manufacturing jobs created by the Biden administration. “You all are the engine that’s driving us forward to not just a strong economy, but a clean energy economy.”
There are huge workforce needs in the clean energy space, Zaidi said, pointing to the work that SMART is doing to diversify and expand the pool of workers being brought into our union.
By growing the labor movement and combating the climate crisis simultaneously, he concluded, we can create a green energy future that works for all.
“I’m so optimistic about our chances, because you are the ones on the front lines.”
Then, for the last time, sheet metal and Transportation Division union leaders parted ways, bringing an end to joint activity at a productive and educational leadership conference.
