Donald Ratzel, a proud Local 80 (Detroit, Michigan) member of 56 years, continues to stay active in his local union: attending union meetings, supporting his brothers and sisters and participating in Local 80’s annual Dollars Against Diabetes (DAD’s) Day events.
Donald Ratzel (left) with Local 80 Business Manager Tim Mulligan
DAD’s Day is a North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) campaign to raise money to find a cure for diabetes. Every year, Local 80 holds a golf outing to support DAD’s Day, contributing to the collective fundraising efforts of SMART locals and building trades unions across North America. So far, the campaign has donated more than $57 million to the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami, Florida.
Thank you, Brother Ratzel, for your dedication to your local and to the ongoing effort to cure diabetes!
Each year in April, SMART members travel to Washington, DC, to gather with fellow trade unionists for the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) Legislative Conference: a week for union members to forge alliances with pro-worker politicians, lobby for laws that benefit workers and strategize for a future that puts SMART to work. This year’s conference was no different; with a theme of “Foundations for the Future,” SMART local and International leaders spent April 21-24 working to secure a better tomorrow for working-class people across North America.
Tuesday: pro-worker allies demonstrate commitment, attendees hit the pavement in workshops
Tuesday’s conference began with a jam-packed plenary session, where attendees heard from government officials whose actions – not just their words – have benefited SMART members and families.
President Sean McGarvey speaks during the NABTU Legislative Conference
During his keynote address, NABTU President Sean McGarvey described the extraordinary difference building trades unions make in the lives of ALL workers across North America, from the apprentices who come from poverty and earn a union-made pathway into the middle class, to the workers building our nation’s transition to a green economy. He also outlined the progress unions have made in recent years: pro-worker laws that invest in our industries, an executive order from President Joe Biden requiring project labor agreements on large-scale federal construction jobs, permitting reform and expanded prevailing wage protections that raise pay for construction workers, to name just a few.
“Behind every policy win, behind every investment win, there are real workers’ lives at stake,” McGarvey reminded the capacity crowd. “We cannot back down, we cannot slow down – we must keep fighting.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has been stridently pro-worker throughout his time in office, signing laws that establish air ventilation programs for public schools (with strong labor standards attached to create jobs for SMART Local 10 members); implement the most expansive prevailing wage enhancements in state history and the largest increase ever to the Minnesota work compensation system’s permanent partial disability fund; ban anti-union captive audience meetings; and much more (including a two-person freight train crew law).
“It’s not about winning races so you can get more political capital to go out and win another race,” he declared. “You win races so you can burn the hell out of that political capital to improve people’s lives.”
Walz described how desperately needed repairs to the Blatnik bridge that connects Duluth, Minnesota, to Superior, Wisconsin, can finally be made thanks to funding from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. But that funding – and the union jobs it has already created – can disappear in an instant, he warned attendees. Only with pro-union policies and policymakers can unions like SMART continue to benefit workers across the United States.
“Vote your values, stand together — if we do that, we truly are building the foundations of the future,” Walz concluded.
Acting United States Labor Secretary Julie Su – along with her immediate predecessor, Marty Walsh – has been one of the most pro-union leaders of the Department of Labor since the 1940s, and she showed it with her appearance at the NABTU Legislative Conference. Throughout her speech, Su referred to the union apprentices and journeypersons she has met across the country, including SMART members in Cleveland, Ohio, and Kokomo, Indiana. Those workers, she said, are experiencing the life-changing benefits of federal investment in union jobs and American industry.
“We’re not just talking about jobs. We’re talking about careers. We’re talking about building intergenerational wealth,” Su said. “That is what’s possible when we invest in workers.”
In her still-young tenure at the Department of Labor, Su has implemented regulations that finalize President Biden’s executive order requiring PLAs on large federal projects – which means there are an estimated 100 PLA-covered jobs now breaking ground – updated prevailing wage regulations to increase pay for construction workers nationwide and more. From strong labor requirements in the laws funding new megaprojects to increased protections of union-won jobsite standards, she noted, union members and families are reaping the benefits of pro-union policy. And she commended unions like SMART for committing to extending those benefits to women, people of color, the formerly incarcerated and beyond.
Day one attendees also heard from Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs and Jeff Peoples, chairman, president and CEO of the Alabama Power Company. Bibb has worked hand in hand with the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades to implement federal funding in a way that puts union members to work improving the city, and he vowed to continue that partnership to create a prosperous, resilient city for ALL Clevelanders. Frerichs, meanwhile, has long been an advocate for unions in Illinois – and he has leveraged his position as state treasurer to come up with innovative strategies to benefit workers in his state. By using policy to create a state fund for infrastructure investment and joining with pension funds to push for labor considerations for investors, Frerichs said, states beyond just Illinois can ally with union members.
“We may not win every fight, but we aren’t afraid to sit across the table from CEOs to make sure they use skilled labor,” he declared.
And Peoples, the son of a coal miner with a long appreciation for organized labor, detailed how working with the building trades has helped develop jobs, innovation and reliable power sources in the South: “If we’re going to build in Alabama, we’re going to build it with you, we’re going to build it with union labor.”
Attendees spent the afternoon in various workshops, networking with fellow trade unionists to pursue organizing, legislative and investing strategies that build power for union members. In the capital strategies and organizing workshop, attendees heard from a panel that included asset managers, a union organizer and an investigative journalist, who each spoke to different aspects of private equity’s power in American society – and how unions can work together to pressure hedge funds and managers into adopting strong labor principles.
Panelists take a question during the capital strategies and organizing workshop.
In a session on military service members’ rights, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) educational benefits and Helmets to Hardhats, attendees learned about the laws and benefits protecting servicemembers and veterans — and how to put those laws and benefits to work in JATCs.
And SMART General President Emeritus Joseph Sellers moderated a panel on investing in commercial real estate with leaders from Ullico and the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT), diving deep on questions of commercial real estate and detailing how investing in labor-forward companies can reap dividends for everyone. One example: the AFL-CIO’s investment in housing construction, which creates union jobs and yields a return on investment for union funds.
On Tuesday night, SMART local officers and International staff gathered for the annual SMART Political Action League (PAL) reception, where SMART General President Michael Coleman awarded plaques to the 31 local unions whose members donated the most, per capita, to the PAL fund – helping SMART support politicians who work to create jobs and protections for union sheet metal workers.
Wednesday: demonstrating our political power, lobbying for more
Attendees came together on the final day of the NABTU Legislative Conference to hear from governmental allies on the federal, state and municipal level, and to lobby Congress to pass pro-worker policy that creates union jobs and benefits our members.
Pa. Gov. Josh ShapiroMd. Gov. Wes MooreAFL-CIO President Liz ShulerScranton Mayor Paige CognettiMilwaukee Mayor Cavalier JohnsonGSA Administrator Robin Carnahan speaks with NABTU President McGarvey
The morning began with a fireside chat with U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Robin Carnahan, whose implementation of strong labor standards for projects related to federal facilities has put SMART members to work across the country. As the manager of federal government properties, acquisitions and more, the GSA is one of the largest players in the country when it comes to building, maintaining and retrofitting buildings, and as a pro-labor official, Carnahan has strived to ensure that work is performed using union workforces. She and NABTU President McGarvey discussed, among other things, the value of project labor agreements and how federal legislation provides the money GSA needs to put union members to work on “greening our federal carbon footprint.”
“Project labor agreements are just good business,” Carnahan declared.
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm also spoke to attendees on Wednesday, outlining the ways in which the department is implementing funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act to pursue a decisively pro-union green energy policy. Thanks in large part to the public and private clean energy jobs breaking ground every day, Granholm said, construction employment is at its highest level in recorded history.
“These jobs are the result of a focused, strategic plan; a new industrial revolution is taking shape,” she told attendees. “It is historic, and your labor unions had a hand in shaping this strategy every step of the way. These wins belong to you.”
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO and a longtime fighter for SMART members, took the podium to talk about labor’s resurgence — and the importance of maintaining a policy platform that makes it possible for unions to organize, build, grow and win. From a pro-labor National Labor Relations Board to updates to prevailing wages and job-creating laws, she said, it is more vital than ever to vote for union members’ interests in November.
“It does not matter which craft you are in, people respect the building trades,” Shuler declared. “People recognize that you are the ones that build our nation. … Finally, people recognize that the labor movement is the place to build power.”
And on the state and municipal level, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Scranton, Pa., Mayor Paige Cognetti, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Maryland Governor Wes Moore detailed the myriad ways in which pro-labor policy is extending from the federal scope to benefit union members in states and cities with a shared pro-worker outlook.
Johnson explained how Milwaukee works hand in hand with Wisconsin building trades workers to build a better city for residents, from huge residential projects — funded in part by the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust — to core infrastructure (much of it made possible by money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act).
“[The building trades] are working to make sure that they represent the interests of their members, yes, but those interests also coincide with what’s best for the city; what’s best for residents all across Milwaukee,” he said.
Cognetti, meanwhile, discussed how unions in Pennsylvania are helping lift workers in Scranton into the middle class — again, boosted by funding from federal legislation. Through workforce navigation money from the American Rescue Plan and infrastructure funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Scranton is helping lead people to apprenticeship programs and putting members to work on core public works projects. Plus, Cognetti’s administration has instituted strong labor standards in the city: Any $25,000-plus project funded by the city or the state government pays a prevailing wage, and Cognetti is proposing a responsible contractor ordinance this spring.
Maryland Gov. Moore detailed his long personal history with the labor movement, starting when his father died when he was three years old — and his father’s union paid for the funeral. Decades later, Moore talked about the importance of investing in apprenticeship programs and putting union members to work on infrastructure projects — particularly as the state mourns the deaths of six construction workers in the devastating Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. That bridge, he said, will be rebuilt with union labor. And moving forward, he vowed, Maryland will continue to invest in its workers.
“When people say that you have to somehow choose between having a growing economy and a fair one, it’s a false choice. We don’t have to choose, because we can and we will have both,” Moore declared.
And Shapiro, a longtime friend of SMART Local 19, Local 12 and Local 44, went long on his relationship with organized labor and how working with the union building trades has helped Pennsylvania accomplish incredible things — not the least being the repair of the I-95 highway collapse in just 12 days in 2023. Shapiro, who issued a directive to all agencies in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to use project labor agreements whenever possible (a directive that went into effect April 1), explained how policies like responsible contractor ordinances and PLAs benefit workers, high-road contractors and the building tradespeople of the future. And in order to benefit those future trades workers, Shapiro told NABTU, he signed an executive order to create a first-in-the-nation initiative to invest up to $400 million in federal funding to train up to 10,000 new workers in Pennsylvania.
“We are giving every Pennsylvanian the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed,” Shapiro said to a standing ovation. “We have a tremendous opportunity right now – and the progress we make is going to run right through your union halls.”
The conference’s final plenary session concluded with a speech from President Biden, who just that morning received NABTU’s endorsement in the United States presidential race. Biden drew a stark contrast between the anti-worker actions of 2016-2020 — a union-busting NLRB, a promised “infrastructure week” that never arrived and more — with the progress workers have made since 2021: 51,000 projects started since the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; 15 million jobs created; an executive order requiring project labor agreements on federal jobs that cost more than $35 million; Davis-Bacon updates that expand prevailing wages for construction workers; and the repealing of Trump’s proposed Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs) rule, to name a few.
“Trump promised us an infrastructure week, but I’ll tell you: In four years, he didn’t build a damn thing,” Biden said.
With a pro-worker majority in Congress, more is possible, Biden added, calling for the passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.
“It’s just beginning,” he proclaimed. “Roads, bridges, ports, airports, clean water systems, available high-speed Internet all across America and built by the building trades.”
Following President Biden’s speech, SMART members and trades workers departed for Capitol Hill, where they met with legislative staffers to push Congress to act on our behalf. And as attendees returned to their home locals over the following days, they carried the message resounding throughout the conference halls to union members across the country: We need to advocate for our interests, at the ballot box and beyond, to secure our collective future.
Following the 2023 SMART Leadership Conference day one joint session, Transportation Division and sheet metal union leaders went their separate ways for industry-specific sessions. General President Michael Coleman began the sheet metal session with remarks that detailed the material he touched on in his joint session speech, emphasizing how the International has streamlined its focus on supporting local unions; the importance of organizing and recruiting across all the diverse groups that make up our two nations; mobilizing members for the 2024 election; and more.
“We have spent decades working for this moment we face today,” he said. “This moment, right now, is our time – our time to take advantage of the opportunities that sit before us.”
Coleman described some of the programs implemented by the International to benefit local unions and mobilize members – including centralized communications, the SMART Army, peer-to-peer programs, the new member orientation kit and more. Coleman also listed the different initiatives put forth to help local unions staff megaprojects and maintain their core work. More than anything else, he stressed the need for growth, both by organizing new members into SMART and by recruiting in every community in which we work and live, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or creed.
“The future of both our nations is one of a diverse workforce and people – we can either choose to be a part of that future, or a relic of the past,” Coleman concluded. “This is our time to get back to our roots as a union and provide opportunity to all qualified individuals who choose to join us.”
SMART General President Michael Coleman and NABTU President Sean McGarvey
Coleman then introduced Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, who has been a fierce ally for SMART and all union building trades workers throughout his career. McGarvey started his speech by paying tribute to General President Emeritus Joseph Sellers, who he said has “been there for me as a friend, as a mentor, as a member of the board of presidents.” Sellers’ invaluable work for SMART and across the labor movement, particularly regarding pension security, will benefit workers for generations to come, McGarvey added.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with you, my friend,” he told Sellers.
McGarvey then noted that the conference theme, “This Is Our Time,” is spot on. “Not since the end of World War II have working people had an opportunity like this,” he explained.
McGarvey described the Biden administration’s unprecedented engagement with the labor movement, building trades unions and working people in general. On the one hand, he said, that refers to the administration’s solicitation of policy direction from organized labor. On the other, federal funding from legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act is creating extraordinary workforce opportunities – and demands. Now it’s on the building trades to meet this moment, McGarvey emphasized, including new work building North America’s climate resiliency and a green energy future.
NABTU President McGarvey
“Nobody’s more important in the fight against climate change than SMART and sheet metal workers,” he noted, pointing to SMART members’ work on energy efficiency, HVAC and beyond.
McGarvey reiterated Coleman’s emphasis on bringing underserved communities into the labor movement and lifting workers into the middle class. Investments in infrastructure, workforce development and domestic manufacturing make it imperative for unions like SMART to open wide the doors of our training centers and union halls. NABTU, McGarvey said, is working to help unions do just that by piloting childcare programs for building trades workers, fully developing a culture of inclusion on the jobsite, partnering with organizations like Helmets to Hardhats to bring in veterans, and more.
“That doesn’t happen without the support of SMART and other union affiliates,” he declared.
Maryland Congressman David Trone followed President McGarvey. Trone opened his remarks by noting several of his priorities as an elected representative: combatting the opioid epidemic, helping Americans with their mental health and working for criminal justice reform – all issues that are near and dear to SMART members’ hearts.
“We need more leadership to say: people come first, and when they do, businesses do fine,” he said. “America’s values are inextricably linked to the values of the labor movement.”
Congressman David Trone
Trone noted that federal legislation that he supported – including the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act – will help spur a new American industrial revolution. Importantly, he said, the implementation of that legislation and the rolling out of funding has only just begun. Over the next four, six, eight years, the projects and jobs created by federal investment will put SMART members to work and change the lives of countless people. That makes it even more crucial to fund registered apprenticeships, implement project labor agreements far and wide, and support unions like SMART.
“In order to lock in these wins, we have to ensure that workers’ voices are heard and their rights are protected,” Trone said. “I’m incredibly proud to be your partner in this continued fight. I’m going to always stand with labor.”
Later in the sheet metal session, Sheet Metal Workers’ National Pension Fund (NPF) Executive Director Lori Wood provided an overview of the NPF – certified healthy in the Green Zone since 2022. Finally, General President Coleman welcomed Clark Ellis of Continuum to the stage, where he elaborated on specific details and outlined the continued progress of the strategic plan, underscoring the opportunity SMART has to recapture and expand market share.
“The strategic plan is the backbone that can help ensure SMART does the right things to grow and maximize our potential,” he said.
Following a busy morning, both sheet metal and TD leaders fanned out to continue their work in various breakout sessions, including meetings on forming a committee; lessons learned from a bottom-up organizing campaign at Ketchikan Vigor Shipyard; future developments in Canada; updates from the Biden administration; and much more.
SMART members from across the United States and Canada gathered in Washington, DC on April 25th and 26th for the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) 2023 Legislative Conference. Throughout the week, workers and elected union leaders came together to push for legislation that prioritizes union members, as well as hear from elected officials, industry stakeholders and others.
The April 25th plenary session began with a keynote address from NABTU President Sean McGarvey, who introduced and emphasized the 2023 conference theme: “Empowering the Infrastructure Generation.” Unprecedented investment — spurred by pro-worker federal legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and more — is creating tens of thousands of jobs and sparking the renewal of America’s infrastructure. This presents opportunity for the workers of today and tomorrow, McGarvey said, and it’s vital that unions push for legislation like the National Apprenticeship Act to ensure we can train the workforce to meet demand and bring workers of all backgrounds — rural, urban, women, people of color, the formerly incarcerated, veterans and more — into unions like SMART.
“Our model makes sure workers aren’t just trained for a project, but equipped with the highest skillsets for a long and meaningful career,” McGarvey explained. “This is our time to make sure we are building the opportunity pipeline to maximize private investment with public dollars and reach communities large and small.”
McGarvey was followed by various pro-worker officials, including former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin. Walsh discussed his time working with the Biden administration and the importance of making our voices heard in the halls of power — and the need to spread the word about how pro-labor elected officials are benefiting working families.
“Who you vote for has consequences,” Walsh said. “This is how we restore and expand access to the middle class in this country: through good, union jobs.”
Following Walsh, NABTU attendees were joined by Governor Pritzker, who has overseen a transformative pro-worker shift in the Prairie State — including the passage of the Workers’ Rights Amendment, project labor agreements on more than 1,000 construction projects, a $50 million Illinois Works pre-apprenticeship program and the passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, a pro-worker clean energy law that covers climate infrastructure projects with project labor agreements.
“Workers’ rights are gaining strength,” Pritzker declared. “Supporting workers’ rights is about investing in Illinois’ most precious resource, our nation’s most precious resource: our people.”
Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin has been a steadfast advocate for the union apprenticeship model, recognizing the potential unions have to lift workers of all backgrounds into the middle class. She explained the continued significance of union apprenticeships as policy and technology shift the way the world works, and declared to NABTU attendees her intent to continue the fight to reauthorize the National Apprenticeship Act.
“There’s one tried and true method that has lasted and stood the test of time, and that’s apprenticeships,” Baldwin said.
The day concluded with a fiery address from President Joe Biden, who took the stage hours after announcing his intent to run for reelection. Throughout his speech, Biden focused on the steps taken by his administration to create an American economy that grows from the bottom up and the middle out — and emphasized that “we need to finish the job.”
“I learned a long time ago: There’s labor, and then there’s UNION labor,” he declared.
Biden explained how his administration’s pro-worker agenda has led to the passage of laws including the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Together these laws helped protect multiemployer pension plans; invested heavily in HVAC, energy efficiency, production, transit, rail infrastructure and other SMART sectors; created more than 800,000 manufacturing jobs; capped insulin copays at $35 per month for those covered by Medicare; and much more. The president also referred to his executive order requiring project labor agreements on federal projects that cost more than $35 million — a policy that amounts to an investment in union labor.
“I’ve said it many times: Wall Street didn’t build America. The middle class built America, and unions built the middle class,” Biden said.
“For decades, trickle-down economics hollowed out the middle class. America rewarded wealth, not work. … As jobs were lost, something else was lost as well: a sense of pride, a notion of who you are, a sense of self-worth, earning your way,” he added. “My economic plan is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America, and that’s what we’re doing: rebuilding America.”
The April 26th plenary saw remarks from a range of bipartisan speakers, including Rep. Nikki Budzinski, Republican Congressmen Don Bacon and Brian Fitzpatrick, Senator Raphael Warnock, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and others. Once again, the focus was firmly on the future — and how unions like SMART need to ensure we meet the workforce demands of this moment for generations to come. From making sure people of all backgrounds have pathways into union apprenticeships, to passing legislation that helps fund ever-evolving apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, now is the time to secure our future
“Thank you for building the strongest and most robust country in the world,” Bacon said during his speech. “You deserve fair wages for a hard day’s work; pension when you retire and safety at work.”
“You are at the center of America,” Warnock added during his remarks. “We need to hear your voices and countless efforts you’ve made to build this country. As you continue beating that drum, I will keep looking for every opportunity I can to stand up and protect our working people.”
Following the speaking agenda, SMART members joined representatives from the rest of the building trades on Capitol Hill to lobby for legislation that benefits our members.
“SMART has proudly gathered with our fellow building trades unions at the annual NABTU Legislative Conference for decades, and in recent years we have seen first-hand how conditions for workers have changed under the Biden administration,” SMART General President Michael Coleman said. “We will continue to work with pro-labor allies and push for policies that put our members to work.”
North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) hosted the Mikva Challenge’s annual “Democracy is a Verb!” celebratory reception on Sunday, April 23 in Washington, DC. During the reception, Mikva Challenge — whose mission is “to develop youth to be empowered, informed, and active citizens who will promote a just and equitable society” — honored former SMART General President Joe Sellers with the organization’s Legacy Award, recognizing his contributions to and support for the program and local communities.
Sean McGarvey, president of NABTU, introduced Sellers. “Joe is very involved in apprenticeship and training, since back at Local 19. Some of the progressive programs he put together at SMART have been fantastic.” He added that Sellers “is like a steady rock. He’s always there. He’s always there with you. He’s been there for SMART members, and he extended that to groups like Mikva.”
Sellers then took the stage, telling Mikva Challenge: “Your civic engagement is unmatched, and the issues you’re working on are vitally important to not only your neighborhood but our country. Listening to what you do enthused me to make a difference in the way you’re making a difference.”
Founded in 1998, the Mikva Challenge began as a small pilot program with an all-volunteer staff in four Chicago schools; 23 years later, Mikva has grown to serve over 17 states, 3,200 teachers and 135,000 students annually. According to the organization’s website, Mikva has spent the last two decades developing an education model based on the principles that: 1. Youth voice matters; 2. Youth are experts on the issues that affect them; 3. Our communities and schools are stronger when youth leaders are involved in all aspects of civic life.
“I am impressed with how you create goals and you follow those goals with action plans,” Sellers remarked to reception attendees. “And there is nothing that gets me more jazzed up than action plans!”
The Mikva Challenge provides schools with strategies and tools to engage young people in high quality, student-centered learning about the democratic process — an objective that aligns with the way SMART provides state-of-the-art training to apprentices while encouraging members to engage with their local union. Mikva’s programs are designed to develop social and emotional skills, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. The organization also focuses on improving school and community culture while enhancing teacher effectiveness through inquiry-driven, project-based study, creating opportunities for engaging in democracy.
Sellers concluded his remarks by addressing Mikva students.
“Make sure you understand about our apprenticeship programs,” he said. “Our goals are aligned with yours, and with an apprenticeship you can go back and harness your power as a union member to amplify your voice.”
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.
WATCH: “I am very excited about the big jobs that are coming up. We have many opportunities that they offer for those who are willing to work, work hard and learn new skills.”
North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) hosted an event titled “Meeting the Moment” on Thursday, March 30 in Columbus, Ohio. The event, part of NABTU’s Opportunity Pipeline series, featured NABTU President Sean McGarvey, SMART Local 24 (southern Ohio) member McKenzie Quinn, representatives from the Ohio governor’s office, state politicians from both sides of the aisle, local union workers and more, all talking about one thing: $200 billion worth of megaprojects breaking ground in Ohio.
“Join us in rebuilding America and join us in establishing your place in the middle class,” McGarvey said at the event, addressing the union tradespeople of the future. “… We look forward to building this together as a team, as a community for the benefit of all in our country.”
As a result of massive investment and new megaprojects from companies like Intel, Honda and more – spurred in part by federal legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act – the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council estimates that more than 115,000 union workers will work full time from 2023 to 2025. That enormous number of jobs opens a huge window of opportunity for SMART sheet metal workers, both current and future members.
McKenzie Quinn (front row, second from right) with the leadership of Local 24.
“In Columbus right now, we have a lot of exciting upcoming projects,” Local 24 journeyperson Quinn said. “We have chip factories, data centers, electric vehicle battery plants, and this is going to bring hundreds of good-paying jobs in the next few years.”
That not only means family-sustaining jobs for Ohio SMART members – it creates a golden opportunity for local unions to recruit, organize and grow their market share.
“We need to do our best to continue recruiting people from every background,” Quinn noted. “This opportunity is available to everyone.”
Megaprojects, union apprenticeship programs create opportunity for all
Multiple speakers at Thursday’s event testified to the power of a union apprenticeship when it comes to lifting workers up, no matter their background or identity. Year after year, the statistics demonstrate that unions reduce economic disparity for women, people of color and other members of historically marginalized communities. By taking advantage of megaprojects and bringing more workers into the unionized trade, SMART locals can do more than fortify their strength – they can create real opportunity for all.
“Joining a union has given me safety and security in my job and safety from discrimination, not only with wages but also gender-based discrimination,” Quinn said. “This is a great chance for everybody, including women and minorities, to get into the trades and have a great career.”
SMART members from across the United States and Canada gathered in Washington, DC on April 25th and 26th for the 2023 North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) Legislative Conference. Throughout the week, workers and elected union leaders came together to push for legislation that prioritizes workers, as well as hear from elected officials, industry stakeholders and others.
The April 25th plenary session began with a keynote address from NABTU President Sean McGarvey, who introduced and emphasized the 2023 conference theme: “Empowering the Infrastructure Generation.”
Unprecedented investment – spurred by pro-worker federal legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and more – is creating tens of thousands of jobs and sparking the renewal of America’s infrastructure. This presents opportunity for the workers of today and tomorrow, McGarvey said, and it’s vital that unions push for legislation like the National Apprenticeship Act to ensure we can train the workforce to meet demand and bring workers of all backgrounds – rural, urban, women, people of color, the formerly incarcerated, veterans and more – into unions like SMART.
“Our model makes sure workers aren’t just trained for a project, but equipped with the highest skillsets for a long and meaningful career,” McGarvey explained. “This is our time to make sure we are building the opportunity pipeline to maximize private investment with public dollars and reach communities large and small.”
McGarvey was followed by various pro-worker officials, including former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin. Walsh discussed his time working with the Biden administration and the importance of making our voices heard in the halls of power – and the need to spread the word about how pro-labor elected officials are benefiting working families.
Former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh speaks at the 2023 NABTU Legislative Conference
“Who you vote for has consequences,” Walsh said. “This is how we restore and expand access to the middle class in this country: through good, union jobs.”
Following Walsh, NABTU Legislative Conference attendees were joined by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who has overseen a transformative pro-worker shift in the Prairie State – including the passage of the Workers’ Rights Amendment, project labor agreements on more than 1,000 construction projects, a $50 million Illinois Works pre-apprenticeship program and the passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, a pro-worker clean energy law that covers climate infrastructure projects with project labor agreements.
“Workers’ rights are gaining strength,” Pritzker declared. “Supporting workers’ rights is about investing in Illinois’ most precious resource, our nation’s most precious resource: our people.”
Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin speaks at the NABTU Legislative ConferenceNABTU President Sean McGarvey speaks at the NABTU Legislative Conference.
Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin has been a steadfast advocate for the union apprenticeship model, recognizing the potential unions have to lift workers of all backgrounds into the middle class. She explained the continued significance of union apprenticeships as policy and technology shift the way the world works, and declared to conference attendees her intent to continue the fight to reauthorize the National Apprenticeship Act.
“There’s one tried and true method that has lasted and stood the test of time, and that’s apprenticeships,” Baldwin said.
The day concluded with a fiery address from President Joe Biden, who took the stage hours after announcing his run for reelection. Throughout his speech, Biden focused on the steps taken by his administration to create an American economy that grows from the bottom up and the middle out – and emphasized that “we need to finish the job.”
“I learned a long time ago: There’s labor, and then there’s UNION labor,” he declared.
Biden explained how his administration’s pro-worker agenda has led to the passage of laws including the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Together these laws helped protect multiemployer pension plans; invested heavily in HVAC, energy efficiency, production, transit, rail infrastructure and other SMART sectors; created more than 800,000 manufacturing jobs; capped insulin copays at $35 per month for those covered by Medicare; and much more. The president also referred to his executive order requiring project labor agreements on federal projects that cost more than $35 million – a policy that amounts to an investment in union labor.
“I’ve said it many times: Wall Street didn’t build America. The middle class built America, and unions built the middle class,” Biden said.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker speaks at the NABTU Legislative ConferencePresident Joe Biden addresses the NABTU Legislative Conference
“For decades, trickle-down economics hollowed out the middle class. America rewarded wealth, not work. … As jobs were lost, something else was lost as well: a sense of pride, a notion of who you are, a sense of self-worth, earning your way,” he added. “My economic plan is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America, and that’s what we’re doing: rebuilding America.”
The April 26th plenary saw remarks from a range of bipartisan speakers, including Rep. Nikki Budzinski, Republican Congressmen Don Bacon and Brian Fitzpatrick, Senator Raphael Warnock, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and others. Once again, the focus was firmly on the future – and how unions like SMART need to ensure we meet the workforce demands of this moment for generations to come. From making sure people of all backgrounds have pathways into union apprenticeships, to passing legislation that helps fund ever-evolving apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, now is the time to secure our future.
“Thank you for building the strongest and most robust country in the world,” Bacon said during his speech. “You deserve fair wages for a hard day’s work, pensions when you retire and safety at work.”
“You are at the center of America,” Warnock added during his remarks. “We need to hear your voices and countless efforts you’ve made to build this country. As you continue beating that drum, I will keep looking for every opportunity I can to stand up and protect our working people.”
Following the speaking agenda, SMART members joined representatives from the rest of the building trades on Capitol Hill to lobby for legislation that benefits our members.
“At the NABTU Legislative Conference, I had a first-hand view of the way that conditions for the working class have changed under the Biden administration and a Congress filled with pro-worker candidates,” SMART General President Joseph Sellers said. “We will continue to push for pro-labor policies that put our members to work and lift working families up.”
Local 18 (Milwaukee, Wis.) fourth-year apprentice Nicole Severson always knew she wanted to be part of a trade. Her father was a diesel mechanic, her brother a sheet metal worker, and her uncles worked as an elevator operator and a heavy equipment operator, respectively – giving her a thorough knowledge of the trades from a young age. Now, she’s making her family and her union proud as the most recent SMART winner of the NABTU Tradeswomen Heroes award.
“As her employer has noted, Nicole is a huge asset to [her] team,” Local 18 wrote when nominating Severson for the award. “She is extremely detailed, has a great attitude, and is always willing to give a helping hand.”
Despite her family background, Severson took an uncircuitous route to the unionized sheet metal trade. She initially worked in the finance world, completing an apprenticeship program in high school and spending 15 years working in various finance positions. At that point, though, she began to feel she had achieved all she could in that sphere; she reached out to her brother and began working as a dispatcher with a contracting firm.
“This opportunity gave her great insight into plumbing, electrical and HVAC,” said the NABTU press release announcing Severson’s award. “Her work on a daily basis with the commercial HVAC service technicians made her realize the diverse skill set of a service technician was what she was looking for in a career.”
Now, four years into her new vocation, Severson has proven to be a skilled, reliable and tenacious worker.
“Nicole is always looking for ways to improve her skillset through new challenges and asking questions,” Local 18 added. “Unlike some apprentices, Nicole is never intimidated by the equipment. Her background as a dispatcher has really helped us as an organization improve communication between the field and the office.”
SMART congratulates Nicole on this well-earned recognition!
Angela Poore
Fourth-year Local 18 apprentice Angela Poore received the September NABTU Tradeswomen Heroes award — a recognition of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin sheet metal worker’s perseverance, skill and dedication to her craft.
“She is hard-working, shows up on time and soaks things up like a sponge,” the Local 18 Milwaukee Joint Apprenticeship Committee said when nominating Angela for the award. “Angela…exemplifies a great employee.”
Angela’s journey to the unionized sheet metal industry was an unorthodox one. Born and raised on military bases, Angela and her family spent 11 years driving from state to state, including Kansas, Alaska and Texas — finding adventure on cross-country odysseys.
After settling in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Angela eventually moved out of her family home at 17 years old, working at two chiropractic offices for 15 years and starting her own cleaning business.
As is the case for many 21st-century American workers, though, an economy devoted less to working families and more to Wall Street made economic stability hard to find, and while researching other career options, Angela was introduced to sheet metal by her stepfather, a Local 18 business agent. She spent some time honing her math skills, then signed up as a pre-apprentice at 34 years old.
“It’s very intimidating being a female going into a ‘man’s world,’ but I realized that the guys I was working with were like anyone else at a job,” Angela said. “They taught me so much, they showed me the wrong and right ways of doing things.”
Having spent all four years of her apprenticeship at JM Brennan Co., Angela has been able to experience the camaraderie of working in a union shop — and she’s taken advantage of every mentorship and learning opportunity that has come her way.
“The best part, so far, is working with so many different foremen/ journeymen and learning their ways of doing things,” she noted. “It helps you find what way works best for you. I cannot wait to become a journeyperson or a foreman and see where this road takes me.”
The Local 18 Joint Apprenticeship Committee clearly feels the same way.
“Angela is always willing to take on new challenges,” the committee wrote in Angela’s nomination. “When Angela’s employer challenged the employees to differentiate themselves from others, she was the only one who approached her superintendent seeking guidance on improving her welding skills. Angela had always shown signs of success as a welder, but with this challenge took the opportunity to really focus and hone those skills.”
“We would be lucky to have more apprentices, and future journeyworkers, like Angela,” the committee concluded.
In July 2022, yet another SMART sister earned recognition from North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) for her hard work and proven track record: Annet Del Rosario, a journeyperson out of SMART Local 206 (San Diego, California).
“Her positive attitude and relentless work ethic are infectious to those around her,” said Local 206 in the NABTU press release announcing Del Rosario’s Tradeswomen Heroes Award win. “I can’t think of anyone that deserves more accolades for everything she means to our local and those lucky enough to be around her.”
Del Rosario joined Local 206 in March 2002, committing to the union’s five-year apprenticeship program in August 2003 and turning out as a journeyperson in 2008. Since then, she has worked in the field as well as the shop on the HVAC side; she’s also served several terms as a trustee and an e-board member. In her current position, she is the shop foreman at Able Heating & Air — the first female to fill each position in the local’s history. Del Rosario’s tireless advocacy continues outside of work as well: She created and is president of Building Trades Sisters, an all-female union trades group in San Diego.
“Annet is the shining example of what can be done when someone puts their mind to it,” added the Local 206 press release. “She has always wanted to put in the work to receive the rewards.”
SMART congratulates sister Annet Del Rosario for this well-deserved recognition!
