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SMART_CONSTITUTION_FINAL_11-11-2014_cover_web The official SMART Constitution, as amended by SMART delegates at the first SMART General Convention, is now available on both the SMART website at smart-union.org and the Transportation Division website at www.utu.org.

In January 2014, the SMART Sheet Metal and Transportation Division officers completed constitutional modifications required by the terms and conditions of the merger between the two predecessor organizations. That document incorporated the former UTU Constitution into the former SMWIA Constitution as Article 21B of the merged document. At that time, all conflicts between Article 21B and the remainder of the constitution were resolved in order to effectuate the merger.

Earlier this year, delegates to the Transportation Division convention proposed recommendations for amendments to the constitution. At the first SMART General Convention held Aug. 11-15, those amendments were debated and resolved.

The August proceedings in Las Vegas closed with a show of unity, cooperation and newfound strength.

Of significance to SMART’s Transportation Division membership, the amended constitution contained provisions for the addition of a second vice president to the division’s Bus Department and the addition of a member of the Aviation Department to the division’s board of appeals.

The Transportation Division’s board of directors selected former Alternate Vice President – Bus Calvin Studivant to serve as the division’s second bus vice president to serve the Bus Department’s growing membership.

A member of Local 759 at Newark, N.J., Studivant was born June 18, 1960. He served his country in the U.S. Army from 1982 to 1986. He has been employed at Community Coach Transportation in New Jersey since June 1993, where he served his local as both a general chairperson and delegate. He also served as a Transportation Division organizer.

To fill the vacant office of alternate vice president– bus, the board of directors elevated former board of appeals member Alvy Hughes to that position.

Hughes began his transportation career with Charlotte Transit in 1995. As a member of Local 1596 at Charlotte, N.C., Hughes has served as local vice president and as both secretary and general chairperson of General Committee of Adjustment GO TMM.

On Oct. 23, the Transportation Division’s board of directors selected Charlotte Transit GO TMD Vice General Chairperson Brenda H. Moore (1715) to fill the open bus position on the board of appeals.

The board also chose Great Lakes Airlines Local 40 (Denver) President John Nolan to fill the position of aviation representative to the board of appeals.

The complete constitution, as amended, can be viewed here.

As noted in a Jan. 14 post to this website, the sheet metal and transportation divisions of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers have reached agreement on a SMART Constitution governing the entire organization.

Local delegates of the SMART Transportation Division will have the opportunity to propose amendments to Article 21B of the constitution – the former United Transportation Union’s Constitution – at the SMART Transportation Division’s 2014 convention.

In accordance with Article 21B, Section 13, at any time 120 days prior (March 2, 2014) to the Transportation Division convention, proposed amendments to the SMART Constitution’s Article 21B (which comprises the former UTU Constitution, as reconciled by the SMART merger agreement) may be submitted by any subordinate body of the Transportation Division or International officer listed in Article 21B, Section 2(A), of the SMART Constitution.

To view a letter from Transportation Division President John Previsich regarding submission of proposals to amend Article 21B, click here.

To view the SMART Constitution, click here.

(Proposed amendments must be received no later than March 2, 2014.)

Nigro
Nigro
Previsich_150_px
Previsich

We are pleased, as your general president and transportation division president, to present the first SMART Constitution and ritual to our membership. This is a milestone for both the former Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association and the United Transportation Union, that have merged to become the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers. While our merger has been complete for some time, this document solidifies this great union and its membership under a single constitution. It is impossible to speak to the success in completing this constitution without acknowledging both the hard work and the frustration of those who participated in the creation of the document and the membership who have waited patiently throughout this long and difficult process. The path has led both of us to take positions on interpretation of our separate constitutions and the merger agreement. In getting there, as would be expected of your leadership, we examined and debated every constitutional section thoroughly before agreement. At times, it required the help of an outside arbitrator to clarify a particular issue. While this slowed the process, it must be remembered the parties were tasked with blending 100 years of separate cultural and operational methods into a single constitution that would govern our organization. Throughout this process, both of us have recognized that, in the end, what matters is the importance of having a document that serves the best interests of all the membership of SMART. So, we are jointly resolved to move forward as an organization under one constitution and ritual, with a single focus. We, as your leadership, are dedicated to working collectively to provide a transparent and accountable organization that will strive to provide fair and reasoned representation to our membership and the efficiency of operation necessary to expand work opportunities for our members. To view the SMART Constitution, click here. To view a letter to all delegates attending the 2014 SMART Transportation Division Convention and First SMART International Convention, click here (This corrects and replaces the original posting from 1/14/2014.). To view questions and answers regarding the SMART Convention/Constitution, click here (03/18/14) Fraternally and in solidarity, nigro_signature     Joseph J. Nigro, General President previsich_sig_web John Previsich, President, Transportation Division  

Mike Futhey
Mike Futhey

At the conclusion of the SMART Transportation Division’s Boston regional meeting July 3, Transportation Division President Mike Futhey announced he will step down from office, pending resolution of arbitration proceedings regarding the union’s constitution.

In October 2011, Georgetown University law professor Michael H. Gottesman ruled the agreement to create the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation (SMART) Workers by a merger of the United Transportation Union and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association was an enforceable agreement and the two unions have been working to complete the merger since that time.

The arbitration proceedings center around interpretations of various articles of the UTU’s Constitution as it is inserted into the SMWIA’s bylaws to complete a final SMART Constitution.

Gottesman is again serving as the arbitrator in the current proceedings.

During a town hall forum at the Boston regional meetings opening ceremonies July 1, Futhey said agreement had been reached with most of the SMART constitution articles, but that several disputes remain. He indicated he would remain in office through the arbitration process, developing the constitution language for the transportation division.

He said the union does not want to release portions of the constitution that have been agreed upon until a final document has been decided upon.

“The final document is not a final document until that arbitration decision is made,” Futhey said.

Under the articles of the current UTU Constitution, Assistant President and General Secretary & Treasurer John Previsich would be elevated to fulfill Futhey’s unexpired term as president of the SMART Transportation Division.

Futhey is the eighth president of the UTU, currently known as the SMART Transportation Division. He was elected president in August 2007 and assumed office Jan. 1, 2008. He was re-elected president in August 2011.