Union officers fight for what matters on first day of SMART 2025 Leadership Conference 

“Our solidarity does not have borders. We are all in this fight together. It’s one fight, all fight. So let’s fight for what matters … our members.” 

That quote, delivered by SMART General President Michael Coleman, summed up day one of the 2025 SMART Leadership Conference. Kicking off Monday, August 4, the conference brought local union officers from every craft, trade and industry — across sheet metal, transportation, the United States and Canada — to New York City, New York, with one common purpose. That purpose? The 2025 conference theme: “Fighting for What Matters…Our Members.”  

SMART leaders rally attendees in keynote speeches  

SMART’s elected leadership addressed conference attendees for the bulk of Monday’s general session, outlining the challenges our union has faced and the importance of sticking together for the fights ahead.  

General President Coleman opened his keynote remarks by addressing the circumstances SMART members find ourselves in. To put it simply, SMART and organized labor are facing constant attacks aimed at dividing us.  

Our union, Coleman said, has always fought for the same basic principles: the right to live with dignity, to raise a family, to know your work means something, and your future is secure.  

But lately, he said, “it feels like those basics are getting lost in all of the noise. It feels like those core principals have slipped to page two of people’s priority list.” 

“Brothers and sisters, people are scared,” he added. 

Scare tactics are the oldest trick in the book, particularly when anti-worker entities are trying to undermine the cause of unions and organized labor. Whether it’s railroaders fighting against brutal hours and employers treating safety like it’s optional, sheet metal workers and roofers facing rising costs and attacks on our jobs, or shifting tariff policies meant to turn Americans against Canadians, SMART members are up against a lot right now.  

That’s why it’s more important than ever that we adhere to the conference theme: fighting for what matters, our members.  

“Our solidarity doesn’t have divisions, and it doesn’t have borders,” Coleman declared. “But the fights are going to continue.”  

General President Coleman then addressed what he referred to as the issue that, “might just be the elephant in the room.” This issue was SMART’s fight for due process that surrounds the case of Brother Kilmar Abrego Garcia.  

He leaned into the fact that this union fights for due process for each and every SMART member in the United States and Canada. We fight for due process on the shop floor, we fight for due process in rail yards, and we fight for due process in bus garages. Your union membership does not quit when you clock out.  

This is why we fight. That’s what defines SMART membership. And those values are vital as we face the powerful forces across North America that hate us. Coleman referenced a recent op-ed written by Steve Forbes that accused SMART-TD of buying our hard-won two-person crew rule.  

“See, people like Steve Forbes can’t imagine a world where working people have any power. They just can’t fathom that,” Coleman said. 

General President Coleman wrapped up his opening remarks by addressing the uncertainty we face in the world today. He talked about the job-threatening mergers being proposed on the rail system. He talked about the near daily headlines about megaprojects being cancelled that looked set to promise years of good-paying jobs for sheet metal brothers and sisters.  

But then he pointed out that this is why we are here at this leadership conference. We are training and preparing to put up the best damn fight we can because that is what our membership expects and deserves.  

“…let me tell you what gives me hope,” Coleman said. “This right here. This gathering of labor leaders. The solidarity we developed over the years. The solidarity that we saw last year at the convention.” 

“And that,” he concluded, “is what this moment demands.” 

General Secretary-Treasurer John Daniel used his remarks to speak directly to the officers in the room:  

“We are in a fight that matters,” he told attendees.  

He pointed out that officers’ leadership must revolve around listening and responding to members’ needs. 

And in 2025, “All that matters is this: Can I take care of my family?” he said. “That is where the politics get real.”   

That’s why, at the International level, SMART is working tirelessly to take advantage of new tools and data to strengthen our union’s resilience and bolster efforts to recruit, retain and grow. And it’s why, Daniel reemphasized, every leader – from the newest elected officer to the seasoned rep — needs to refuse comfort and instead continuously listen and lead.  

“Let’s fight for what matters,” he said. ”Not just for our jobs. Let’s fight for our families. Let’s fight for our futures; our ability to look the next apprentice in the eye and say, we’ve got your back.  

“I am here to fight with you,” he concluded. “We are here to fight together”  

Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson used his remarks to urge SMART-TD leaders to match the courage and commitment our members display every day. He pointed out that in moments of danger, on the job and in their communities, SMART members are known for their decisive and selfless leadership, and that we owe it to them to lead from the front, reflecting that same warrior spirit back to them.  

He pointed out the importance of this mentality, especially in the face of threats like the proposed Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger, which could jeopardize jobs, safety and our union’s strength.

“Our leadership must mirror the fight our members display — and stand just as strong.”

He urged every officer in attendance to take the information they will receive this week to heart and to use it to better defend our brothers and sisters. 

Attendees also heard from leaders from the conference’s host local unions: General Chairperson, SMART-TD General Committee of Adjustment 505 Anthony Simon, Local 28 (New York City and Long Island) Business Manager Eric Meslin and Local 137 (New York City) Business Manager Anthony Fotiadis.  

Simon, a longtime fixture in the New York labor movement, discussed the fitting location for the 2025 Leadership Conference, connecting New York’s legendary resilience to the work SMART members and officers do every day.  

“Here in New York, we know what it means to fight,” Simon said. “And I’m proud to say our members on the Long Island Rail Road stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our sheet metal brothers and sisters and all of labor in that fight, just as SMART leaders have done across North America. I am proud to be speaking alongside my brothers Eric of Local 28 and Anthony of Local 137.” 

Fotiadis represents the sign workers who light up iconic New York landmarks like Times Square, Broadway and beyond. Sign workers, like SMART members across North America, are the unsung heroes of our two nations, he explained. Local 137 members do the tireless work it takes to keep the lights on, whether in Times Square or beyond, 24/7/365. That’s why, he noted, it’s more important than ever to continue the fight. 

“This conference isn’t just another event, it’s a launchpad. We’ll leave here ready to build more, organize harder and make a stronger union for our members — and for working people across our continent,” Fotiadis said. “New York needs us. SMART needs us. Our members deserve us. Let’s answer that call.” 

As business manager of Local 28, Meslin fights on behalf of sheet metal workers across New York City and Long Island. And in every borough, across Long Island, he noted, SMART members are essential: building everything from schools and hospitals to the dignity and respect that all working people deserve. Now more than ever, he stressed, we need one another. 

“Corporate interests are louder than ever. Politicians play games with working families’ futures. Nonunion forces chip away at standards we have fought for generations to build,” he declared. “But we are still standing. Stronger than ever. Smarter than ever. More united than ever. Because that’s who we are, and that’s what we do.”  

SM, TD officers hear from industry leaders, SMART staff 

Following Monday’s general session, SMART sheet metal and TD officers broke off into separate industry sessions, hearing from guest speakers and reports from SMART IA staff.  

North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) President Sean McGarvey took the podium to rally officers for the collective fights we face. SMART, an affiliate of NABTU, has worked closely with the building trades federation to protect and advance the rights of SMART members, including recent court cases regarding the Department of Defense’s use of project labor agreements.  

In his remarks, McGarvey praised the fights SMART has pursued on behalf of members: Whether fighting for the due process rights of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, or working to provide members with access to maternity leave benefits, wraparound childcare benefits and beyond, he said, “That’s not just progress. That’s power in motion.” 

“But as proud as we are of these wins,” he added, “we have to face the moment we’re in.” 

Projects are being cancelled — over $17 billion in infrastructure and energy projects in the first half of this year alone. Jobs are being lost. Labor rights and standards aren’t being enforced. And union workers are the ones losing out.  

“To the president, to Congress, and to every decision-maker with a pen or a purse string: you say you support workers, then prove it,” McGarvey declared. 

He urged SMART officers to keep fighting for members by ensuring workers are informed about the policies and actions that are affecting them — and how organized labor can fight back. It doesn’t matter who anyone voted for; what matters is that we stick together, in solidarity, to fight for what matters.  

“Let’s link arms and make some noise, not just to defend and promote what we’ve built, but to expand it for the next generation. Because the work ahead isn’t easy, but neither are we,” he concluded. “Let’s get out there. Let’s tell the truth. Let’s win the future, together.” 

Attendees also heard from SMACNA President Tom Martin. Martin, the president of Local 33 signatory contractor T.H. Martin, Inc., has known SMART General President Michael Coleman for decades and is a longtime advocate for the unionized sheet metal industry. Martin offered officers updates from the contractors’ side of the trade, as signatory employers look to take on many of the same challenges that local unions face.  

SMACNA continues to work alongside SMART, as well as funds like SMOHIT, the International Training Institute and the National Energy Management Institute, to take on workforce demands, encroachment and beyond, always with the goal of growing and strengthening the unionized sheet metal industry. Through initiatives like Belonging and Excellence for All, recruitment and retention joint task forces and more, SMART and SMACNA continue to be partners in progress.  

“I know every area is different, but it is ultra important that we build these partnerships,” General President Coleman said. “We can’t let the things we disagree on get in the way of our progress.” 

Leadership conferences represent an important opportunity for local officers to hear directly from International departments and funds. On Monday, attendees received reports from Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust Administrator Aldo Zambetti, SMART Chief International Representative David Bernett and Education Director Eli Baccus.  

Zambetti provided an overview of the variety of programs that SMOHIT offers members —health screening research programs, bilingual toolbox talks, the 24/7 SMOHIT Helpline, SMART Members’ Assistance Program (MAP) sessions and peer-to-peer trainings, a Naloxone cabinet program to help reduce fatal overdoses, and beyond. He emphasized that SMOHIT needs local union outreach to offer resources to members and urged local officers to partner with SMOHIT to ensure members’ get the care and resources they deserve.  

Bernett outlined SMART’s efforts to streamline operations across North America when it comes to jurisdictional disputes, workforce support, local union engagement and governance, and — above all — SMART’s commitment to members’ rights and work. He reported on the work the department performed over the first half of the year, including jurisdictional disputes investigated, resolved and pending; job bank workforce requests and needed positions filled; strategic planning around megaprojects; and beyond.  

“The fight is usually won with you, in your seats at home,” Bernett told officers.    

Breakout sessions offered attendees the opportunity to learn, engage with one another and build solidarity.

The cornerstone of strong local unions is strong local representation. For that reason, the SMART Department of Education offers programming to local union officers year-round and often over the course of several years, helping SMART leaders bolster their representation. Education Director Eli Baccus presented on the department’s revamped core classes that will offer more hands-on and practical training, collaboration with other International departments on relevant coursework, new classes for 2026 that will focus on relationship-building among participants, and more.  

(Read a summary that includes TD breakout information here.) 

Day one of the 2025 SMART Leadership Conference set a powerful tone for the week ahead, uniting leaders from across North America under a single purpose: fighting for what matters — our members.  This union will not back down. And officers will use trainings like this Leadership Conference to continue to win those fights. 

As officers head into the coming days of training, collaboration, and strategy, the spirit of unity and determination that filled the room on Monday will serve as both a guide and a rallying cry for the work ahead.