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The Education Department, in collaboration with the Organizing Department, held its Organizing III class during the week of October 6–10, 2025, in St. Louis. This redesigned class focused on the “top-down” organizing strategy, with a specific emphasis on developing organizing campaigns targeting nonunion contractors.

Expanding SMART’s signatory contractor base is one of the best methods local unions have to keep members employed. For that reason, it’s more important than ever for organizers to strengthen their ability to identify, build relationships with and ultimately sign new employers.  

The primary subject of the October class centered around what contractors need to succeed and how our locals are built to fulfil that primary need: a flexible labor force. Participants delved deep into a contractor’s mindset to understand the challenges of running a construction company, learning how to reframe common employer objections to unionization as benefits for both workers and contractors. Attendees also roleplayed interactions with the gatekeeper, delivered a custom-built elevator pitch and practiced both first meetings and subsequent meetings with the contractors.

Throughout the week, participants learned to find nonunion contractors in their local’s jurisdiction using Standard Industrial Codes (SICs) and turned their lists into maps and routes using Google Maps. There were nearly 20 exercises during the course; after mock exercises, participants debriefed with critical feedback to their peers.

A point system was in place, with organizers grouped into fiction local unions and evaluated by their fellow participants. “Local 111” — Phil Berg (Local 23), Cesar Carrillo (Local 26) and Yadriel Carrasquillo (Local 68) — took third place. “Local 444” — Adam Kerr (Local 71), Doug Meyers (Local 103) and Aaron Leslie (Local 104) — was ranked second place. “Local 333” — Dustin Hysmith (Local 16), Hallie Jennerman (International organizer/Local 18) and Jay Jones (Local 265) — was recognized by their peers as the top group in the class.

“Congratulations to Jay Jones, the highest point winner in the top group, for winning the coveted ‘Coffee is for Closers’ coffee cup!” said SMART Director of Education Eli Baccus. “We hope this class spurs participants’ top-down organizing efforts, and that more contractors are brought in for more member jobs.”

The SMART Education Department held its New Representatives I class in St. Louis, Mo., during the week of September 15, 2025. The class, completely revamped for 2025, provided officers with the chance to develop their skills across a range of areas — ultimately benefiting SMART members.

Topics included researching labo(u)r laws, practicing conflict resolution, differentiating grievances from complaints, practicing full and fair investigations, engaging in mock member charge trials, claiming work at a pre-job meeting, and preventing a decertification attempt. The course also delved into representatives’ responsibilities under the SMART Constitution and Ritual.

Along with Education Department staff, guest presenters included Dale Clark from the International Training Institute, who covered Bias and Belonging; Chris Carlough, director of Wellness and Mental Health Support, who presented on self-care; Luke Rebecchi, SMART house counsel, who overviewed trials and fiduciary responsibility; and Tim Miller and Jason Kirchevel from the SMART Jurisdiction Department, who covered jurisdictional disputes and pre-jobs.

On each of the five days of the class, participants honed their representational skills with role-play exercises. Attendees alternated between acting as representatives of a local union and as members working at a fictitious company, which helped them to understand different sides of a given scenario.

“Groups worked together throughout the week, and a point system was in place,” said SMART International Instructor Richard Mangelsdorf. “Congratulations to Jeremiah Hale (Local 20, Indiana), Tom Blotzke (Local 26, Reno, Nev.), Paul Shymske (Local 33, Northern Ohio), Curtis Cantrell (Local 68, Dallas), Jordan Chechitelli (Local 105, Southern California) and Mel Price (Local 312, Salt Lake City) for being recognized by their peers as the top group in the class!”

The SMART Education Department and Production Workers Department held the third annual Production Institute in Indianapolis, Ind., during the week of August 25, 2025 — bringing together union officials from across North America, including rank-and-file stewards, to train on how to effectively represent SMART production members.

The Production Institute is a three-year, progressive-format class, with attendees from last year advancing to the second round of courses. A new first-year class attended in 2025, along with the returning 2023 and 2024 groups. The first years studied the basics of labo(u)r history, steward training and collective bargaining. The second-year class was focused on a more in-depth investigation of organizing, steward training and collective bargaining. Finally, the third-year class prepared for and role-played a mock grievance arbitration and collective bargaining sessions.

“Each day, all three classes were brought together to talk about subjects like right to work and knowing your rights for the U.S. participants, while the Canadians discussed top-down organizing strategies in the production sector,” said SMART Director of Education Eli Baccus. “Congratulations to the third-year class for being the first-ever students to graduate from the Production Institute!”

SMART union leaders often need to communicate important information to a wide variety of people — politicians, business owners, fellow workers and reporters, to name a few — when fighting to better the lives of SMART members. That’s why the SMART Education Department held its Effective Communication II class in Pittsburgh, Pa., during the week of June 3, 2025, bringing together participants from across North America to enhance their skill sets.

The class focused on improving communication skills by dissecting branding and messaging techniques, practicing lobbying tactics, creating pitches for news stories, framing and reframing talking points, and making spontaneous arguments through debate. On each of the three days of the class, participants honed their lobbying skills with exercises that asked attendees to role play as random organizations that sometimes challenged their beliefs, helping local leaders understand the other side of the argument. Groups were mixed for every exercise, and a point system was in place.

“Congratulations to Christina Bayaniyan (first place) and Jon Davis (second place) for being recognized by their peers as the top two participants in the class!” said SMART Director of Education Eli Baccus.

SMART union leaders often need to communicate important information to a wide variety of parties — politicians, business owners, fellow workers and reporters, to name a few — when fighting to better the lives of SMART members. That’s why the SMART Education Department held its Effective Communication II class in Pittsburgh, Pa., during the week of June 3, 2025, bringing together participants from across North America to enhance their skill sets.

The class focused on improving communication skills by dissecting branding and messaging techniques, practicing lobbying tactics, creating pitches for news stories, framing and reframing talking points, and making spontaneous arguments through debate. On each of the three days of the class, participants honed their lobbying skills with exercises that asked attendees to role play as random organizations that sometimes challenged their beliefs, helping local leaders understand the other side of the argument. Groups were mixed for every exercise, and a point system was in place.

“Congratulations to Christina Bayaniyan (first place) and Jon Davis (second place) for being recognized by their peers as the top two participants in the class!” said SMART Director of Education Eli Baccus.

As industry, politics and economic landscapes shift, SMART representatives are constantly called upon to adapt accordingly, ensuring union members are represented to the best of their abilities. It’s a daunting task — but thanks to the SMART Education Department, local union officers across our union have access to an always-evolving lineup of courses designed to strengthen their representation.

That includes the department’s New Representatives II course, held in Rosemont, Ill., during the week of April 14th, 2025.

New Representatives II, which was completely redesigned for 2025 and delivered in-person instead of online, focused on improving representational and leadership skills beyond the day-to-day tasks that a representative would face. Participants worked in groups in several role-playing exercises throughout the week that covered topics such as time management, identifying leaders in local union memberships, building strategic relationships, lobbying, pre-jobs and conflict resolution. This class also marked the first time the Education Department implemented its new peer-based scoring system.

“Congratulations to Michael Thomas, Wayne Petty and James May for finishing as the top three participants in the class!” the department wrote.

As 2025 gets fully underway, bringing with it a new set of challenges across the United States and Canada, the SMART Education Department continues to offer classes to SMART members and officers — helping local unions better represent members, and strengthening our union.

Effective Communication I attendees
Effective Communication attendees

The Education Department held its Effective Communication I class in Phoenix, Arizona, during the week of January 13, 2025. Effective Communication I is focused on improving and applying public speaking skills by giving participants the opportunity to write, research and deliver speeches in front of the class. Participants worked individually and in groups to build informational and persuasive speeches on topics picked at random.

Effective communication is vital for activists of all kinds in our union — whether speaking at a union meeting, testifying to the importance of project labor agreements in front of a city council or speaking to organizing workers coming off the shop floor, communicating impactfully and persuasively can concretely benefit SMART members.  

“Over the course of the class, the participants made noticeable improvements in their public speaking comfort level and delivery,” SMART International Instructor Richard Mangelsdorf reported.

Organizing I participants

SMART members traveled to Dallas, Texas, approximately one month later to attend the Education Department’s Organizing I class during the week of February 10. The class, completely redesigned for 2025, focused on developing practical competency in the skills and process required to successfully facilitate “bottom-up” organizing campaigns: equipping organizers with the ability to help workers unionize their workplaces and join SMART.

Throughout the week, participants worked in small “local” teams in a comprehensive enactment that mimicked a bottom-up campaign. Each group worked as an organizing team and role-played the workers at two fictional companies — Alpha and Beta Sheet Metal — based on character backgrounds provided for the simulation.

Organizing will be crucial to our union in the months and years ahead, and attendees approached the class with an appropriate level of intensity.

“Participants were genuinely engaged in the simulation and were observed organizing each other after hours, on their own time,” Mangelsdorf remarked. “Everyone did a fantastic job working with their groups and playing their parts.”

Education Dept. hosts second annual Production Institute

The SMART Education Department held its second annual Production Institute in Indianapolis, Ind., during the week of September 9th — bringing SMART production members and leaders together to build knowledge, skills and camaraderie, and to strategize for the years ahead.

The Production Institute is a three-year, progressive-format class, with attendees from last year advancing to the second round of courses. A new first-year class attended this year, along with the returning 2023 group.

All classes included production-focused content in the core areas of collective bargaining, steward training, organizing and labor history. Attendees also learned about more timely issues in daily breakout sessions on topics such as labor/labour law updates, the open shop agenda and Project 2025, a MEMO focus group, bias and belonging, and the production salting program. Through interactive exercises, attendees were able to apply their knowledge and develop their skills while also getting to know their peers from across North America.

First-year class
Returning second-year class

New Representatives class helps latest crop of SMART leaders develop skills 

Newly elected and appointed SMART representatives traveled to Linthicum Heights, Md., during the week of September 16th, 2024, to build bonds and learn from one another in the SMART Education Department’s New Representatives I class. The new representatives worked in different groups on activities associated with topics like member misconduct, jurisdictional disputes, contract administration, pre-job meetings and crafting local union meeting reports. In addition, participants built a leadership growth plan to identify areas they would like to develop more as leaders and created specific goals around each item to help them grow throughout their careers.

Education Department hosts class on so-called “right to work” to boost member engagement, organizing

The SMART Education Department held its new “Right to Work and Member Retention” class in Detroit, Mich., during the week of September 30th. The class focused on the open shop movement, the impact of so-called right to work, strategies for improving membership retention, and the critical role that union leaders play in maintaining local union power.

Twenty-three participants from across our union worked together to problem solve and create action plans for their respective locals. The class also took time to celebrate the repeal of Michigan’s right-to-work law and the role that Michigan Locals 7 (Lansing), 80 and 292 (both Detroit) played in that process.

“Everyone’s hard work will help strengthen our union!” said SMART International Instructor Richard Mangelsdorf.

The SMART Education Department held its New Business Managers class in St. Louis, Mo., during the week of November 18, 2024. The new business and regional managers built comradery throughout the week as they worked on different group exercises focused on managing their local unions.

As part of the course, participants created strategic action plans that prioritized improvements in the areas of personal leadership, union representation, growth, resources, trust funds and community relationships. New business and regional managers also created a strategic action plan for their local and presented it to the class.

“The class will meet online in six months to see how everyone is proceeding with their plans,” said International Instructor Richard Mangelsdorf. “Well done, everyone!”

The SMART Education Department held its new “Right to Work and Member Retention” class in Detroit, Mich., during the week of September 30th. The class focused on the open shop movement, the impact of so-called right to work, strategies for improving membership retention, and the critical role that union leaders play in maintaining local union power.

Twenty-three participants from across our union worked together to problem solve and create action plans for their respective locals. The class also took time to celebrate the repeal of Michigan’s right-to-work law and the role that Michigan Locals 7 (Lansing), 80 and 292 (both Detroit) played in that process.

“Everyone’s hard work will help strengthen our union!” said SMART International Instructor Richard Mangelsdorf.