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From May 15–19, 2023, the SMART Recruitment and Retention Council — along with the Roofing and Building Enclosure and Production and Sign Councils — met in Memphis, Tennessee, where SMART leaders from across the United States and Canada reviewed and planned out activities for the year and beyond.

With the continent-wide need for workers at a generational high, now is the time for locals to recruit new members and apprentices for upcoming megaprojects in both nations. Lauren Sugarman and Lark Jackson from Chicago Women in the Trades discussed recruitment strategies to build a diverse pool of potential members to strengthen the union. Tiffany Finck-Haynes from the SMART Government Affairs Department gave an overview of federal funding available to local JATCs to assist with recruitment and retention of members from across all ethnic and gender backgrounds.

Darrell Roberts, SMART’s assistant to the general president, and Josh Garner from the SMART International Organizing Department led a presentation on recruitment tactics, while SMART-TD Chief of Staff Jerry Gibson led a discussion on recruitment and retention and its unique role in the industries the SMART Transportation Division represents. He was joined by John Pitts (organizer from SMART-TD Local 608), James Sandoval (general chairperson for SMART-TD Local 0023) and Chad Yokoyama (SMART-TD Local 1687).

Michael Childers speaks to SMART councilmembers.

Attendees at the Roofing and Building Enclosure Council meeting were also updated on cutting-edge tools and training for new panel systems. These will give SMART architectural sheet metal workers and roofers a leg up over the nonunion competition as SMART continues to expand market share and collective bargaining power for members.

The Production and Sign Council heard from Michael Childers, the department co-chair of the School for Workers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Childers spoke about the collaboration between the labor movement and civil rights movements, and how that solidarity translates to work being done today as SMART looks to spread our message of opportunity to people of all races and backgrounds. Local 464 (Ponca City, Okla.) Business Manager Mechelle McNew, a longtime leader on the council and founding member of the SMART Women’s Committee, was also honored at the close of the council meetings for her contributions to the organization as one of the first woman leaders in the SMART sheet metal industry.

Former SMART General President Joseph Sellers and General President Mike Coleman addressed attendees at all three meetings and updated them on progress at the International level. Each committee later honored General President Sellers for his contributions to the union and the substantial progress made during his time in office. Among the items Sellers received was a fishing rod to use during his retirement, when he will have the chance to spend time with his family.

Remarking at the end of a presentation from the SMART Women’s Committee, whose members were also in attendance, Sellers noted that he “looks forward to seeing the work you continue to do, because you’re shaping SMART.”

SMART Army lands in Memphis

On Thursday, May 18, members of SMART Local 4 in Memphis were joined by SMART members across North America for a community litter cleanup in historic Soulsville, where union members also helped repair and plant in Urban Forest and Community Garden. Following the event, the SMART Army presented a $21,100 check to Memphis City Beautiful, the nation’s oldest beautification commission.

“As part of our Recruitment and Retention Council, Roofing and Building Enclosure Council and Production and Sign Council meetings in Memphis this week, we decided to collectively do what our union does best: uplift working families in local communities,” said SMART General President Michael Coleman, who participated in the volunteer event. “We are proud to partner with organizations like Memphis City Beautiful and the Urban Forest and Community Garden to give back to the neighborhoods in which our members live and work.”

Congresswoman Craig

SMART’s political advocacy has paid off during recent years, as pro-labor members of Congress voted to invest in our jobs and our industries with the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. International and local union leaders continue to forge political relationships in order to benefit members across the country — and in April, the strength of those relationships was made clear, as congressional leaders from both parties stopped by SMART’s reception during the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) Legislative Conference.

SMART members in attendance heard from Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Nannette Barragán (D-Calif.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Valerie Hoyle (D-Ore.). Members in each representative’s respective state turned out in force to put those candidates in office; in return, each candidate has acted on our behalf: from introducing legislation to bring labor to the table on workforce training standards, to voting to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.

“I’m standing here today because of labor,” Craig said before urging Local 10 (Minnesota) members to leave to watch the Minnesota Wild playoff hockey game. “You knocked so many damn doors, and I promise I will be here for you every damn day.”

Congresswoman Hoyle

“I can guarantee to all of you that I’m never going to stop fighting for you,” Hoyle declared later. The former UNITE HERE member added: “If you come into my office, I’ve got hard hat stickers from SMART, I’ve got my AFL-CIO posters up — you walk into my office, you know it is a union office.”

SMART members also heard from Local 19 (Philadelphia, Pa.) President and Business Manager Gary Masino, who is currently running for city council to represent Northeast Philadelphia. Masino was born and raised in Northeast Philly — he knows from experience that working people need a champion for their interests in office. As councilmember, he vowed to work tirelessly for safer streets, jobs that pay livable wages and to invest in Philadelphia schools.

“I’m going to fight for labor and do everything I can to make Philadelphia a union town again,” Masino said.

Congressman Fitzpatrick
Congresswoman Sherrill

SMART’s relentless political advocacy over recent years has helped foster massive infrastructure investment on both public and private projects. From New York state, to Central Ohio, to Arizona and well beyond, megaprojects are creating tens of thousands of jobs for SMART sheet metal workers — all with a presidential administration that is pushing hard for these projects to include strong labor standards that create union jobs.

“Right now we’re tracking close to 300 megaprojects — we know that there will be about 60 that will break ground, are currently started or will be starting this year,” said SMART Chief International Representative Scott Parks. “It wasn’t that long ago that a $1 million sheet metal job was very exciting; now we have 60 megaprojects in the pipeline. It’s a good time to be a sheet metal worker.”

Much of the public funding for these projects comes from legislation passed by the Biden administration: the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Due to the unprecedented role labor has played in the passage and assembly of those laws, companies hoping to take advantage of funding and tax incentives are being pushed to build with strong labor standards in place, bringing good, union jobs to projects breaking ground from coast to coast.

Importantly, Parks pointed out, these jobs require a consistent sheet metal presence, keeping our members at work as technology advances, during retooling and reorganization, and during outages and shutdowns. And the specific skills and crafts required on such projects cover nearly all the sheet metal positions that SMART represents: from frontline supervisors, to testers and balancers, to welders, to everyone else.

“If you can imagine balancing a project that could require 100 balancers — geographically, you may only have 100 balancers in two states,” he explained. “So we’re going to be challenged to make sure we tool up our members so that they’re prepared to take care of these projects.”

The bounty of work on the horizon has created an unprecedented moment of opportunity. According to Parks, the current number of megaprojects breaking ground means one can almost make a projection 10 years out — a far cry from the post-2008 years, when SMART leadership balked at speculating even two or three years into the future. But with that opportunity comes new responsibility.

“We are not going to be able to apprentice our way into the workforce we need to meet these demands — we are not going to be able to do things the way we have always done it in the past, period,” explained SMART General President Michael Coleman. “We have got to put an exceptional focus on organizing, recruiting and retaining in every community.”

SMART members and local unions know the differences between a union career and a nonunion gig: stability, family-sustaining pay and benefits, solidarity and safety on the job, to name only a few. Now, with hundreds of huge jobs breaking ground from Oregon to Atlanta — on top of SMART local unions’ core work — the time is now to bring members into our union.

“When it comes to organizing and recruiting, we’re organizing shops, we’re organizing projects — folks who want to be union sheet metal workers, we’ll bring them in,” Parks explained. “If they’re in an apprenticeship program that may not be a sheet metal apprenticeship program, we’re bringing them in so they have the best chance of success moving forward. If someone comes in as a nonunion journeyperson, that’s great too — we want everyone.”

Many of these projects may provide SMART members in other locations with the opportunity to travel for work. For more information on traveling to jobsites, contact your local business manager and visit the SMART sheet metal job bank.

The explosion of megaprojects in North America, combined with ongoing core work in the sheet metal industry, is creating previously-unheard- of workforce demands for local SMART unions across the continent — not just in the next few years, but the next several decades. In response, SMART, SMACNA, the International Training Institute and other industry stakeholders have launched a variety of initiatives to bring young people into the trade and expand beyond recruiting through word of mouth.

“The industry is going to change moving forward, and it’s vital that we evolve with it,” remarked SMART General President Mike Coleman. “If we are going to achieve the growth required in upcoming years, we need to make sure we’re recruiting in all the communities in which we live and work, bringing in apprentices from all backgrounds.”

One program has already proven successful in that regard.

Heavy Metal Summer Experience (HMSE) is a six-week-long summer career exploration camp that introduces high school students and recent graduates to careers in the building trades through hands-on projects, working alongside skilled tradespeople and discovering local apprenticeship training opportunities. Founded by Angie Simon, past president of SMACNA and retired CEO of Western Allied Mechanical, the program seeks to engage young people who may not otherwise know about our trade and give them the opportunity to learn directly from SMART sheet metal workers, among others. This can be particularly beneficial for young people in underserved areas — giving our union the chance to establish a foothold in communities where we may previously have been absent.

The camp began as a trial program at Western Allied Mechanical in Union City, California and Hermanson Company in Seattle, Washington in 2021. Since then, it has expanded across the country, producing success stories along the way. SNIPS NEWS recently profiled Alejandra, a Local 66 (Seattle) apprentice who found her way to the trade via HMSE.

“I didn’t know exactly where I was going. I didn’t have the funds to go to college or university, and I heard about this program, the Heavy Metal Summer Experience,” she told SNIPS. “I attended and they introduced me to the trades — more sheet metal focused — but they did touch on most trades. They told me that they would pay me to learn, and I was sold.”

Alejandra’s experience demonstrates the importance of programs like Heavy Metal Summer Experience in raising public awareness and providing pathways into the trade for women, people of color and others from historically underrepresented communities. By bringing in those members, local unions can expand their reach and grow their strength well into the future.

“These megaprojects and the organizing and recruiting we do now won’t just impact the next few years — these are chances to provide good, family-sustaining careers for generations to come,” Coleman concluded. “By engaging with programs such as Heavy Metal Summer Experience, local unions can help secure a legacy in their communities for the long term.”

Local unions and interested members can find more information at HMSE.org.

Local 36 (St. Louis, Missouri) hosted its annual Bass Classic in April — and thanks to extenuating weather, the fishing was even more eventful than usual.

“We had a HAIL of a time this year,” the local wrote on Facebook, “braving not one, but two hail storms over the course of the tournament. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event happen, and congrats to everyone who weighed fish.”

FIRST PLACE: 14.3 LBS

Sam Partain — Wyatt Knuckles

SECOND PLACE: 10.22 LBS

John Dubrouillet — Glen Livaudkis

THIRD PLACE: 9.41 LBS

Brian Granger — Greg Bunton

FOURTH PLACE: 6.65 LBS

Fred Hubler — Brian Hubler

BIG BASS 1: 4.58 LBS

Steve Zambruski — Ryan Zambruski

BIG BASS 2: 4.29 LBS

Sam Partain — Wyatt Knuckles

LOCAL 36 FISH: 3.54 LBS

Andy Smith — Jake West

SM Local 25 (northern New Jersey) President/ Business Manager Joe Demark presented Frank Creegan with a plaque in honor of his 59 years of service, including as a trustee for the local’s Welfare, Annuity & Vacation Funds. Congratulations, brother!

Frank Creegan

On April 18, 2023, Local 104 (northern California) members joined a coalition of local tradespeople to secure 360,000 union construction hours in the city of Pittsburg, California. Local 104 member Mousaab Atassi spoke to city officials, providing the voice and perspective of working families. Great work, Local 104!

The Local 105 (Los Angeles) SMART Army turned out to help Autism Spectrum Athletics (ASA) with its baseball tryouts in April. ASA, which was established in 2012, offers community- based socialization sports programs that are designed to be stress free and non-competitive, with positive peer support. ASA Chief Executive Officer Manny Zapata is a Local 105 member.

Business Manager Steve Hinson and Business Representatives Donny Sappington, Tim Hinson and Erik Villegas helped facilitate ASA’s baseball activities, demonstrating the power of union solidarity to bring fun and happiness to all.

Local 464 (Ponca City, Okla.) member RJ Warren retired on April 28, 2023, bringing an end to 46 years of service as a tool and die maker at Air System Components/JCI.

“He has been with this production plant through many owners and a loyal union member since February, 1977,” explained Local 464 Business Manager/Financial Secretary-Treasurer Mechelle McNew.

McNew presented Warren with a retirement watch on his last day of work. Congratulations, brother!

SMART Local 22 (central New Jersey) celebrated Memorial Day weekend with its annual flag placement in honor of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy,” the local wrote on Facebook. “They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment.”