The Sheet Metal Workers' International Association (SMWIA) was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

of skilled

sheet metal worker Sheet or Sheets may refer to: * Bed sheet, a rectangular piece of cloth used as bedding * Sheet of paper, a flat, very thin piece of paper * Sheet metal, a flat thin piece of metal * Sheet (sailing), a line, cable or chain used to control the cle ...

s. Such workers perform architectural

sheet metal Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Thicknesses can vary significantly; extremely thin sheets are considered foil (metal), foil or Metal leaf, leaf, and pieces thicker than 6 mm (0.25 ...

work, fabricate and install heating and

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

work,

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

, appliance construction, heater and

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

construction, precision and specialty parts manufacture, and a variety of other jobs involving sheet metal. On August 11, 2014, the union merged with the

United Transportation Union The United Transportation Union (UTU) was a broad-based, transportation labor Trade union, union that represented about 70,000 active and retired railroad, bus, mass transit, and airline workers in the United States. The UTU was headquartered in C ...

(UTU) to form the

International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART) is a North American labor union headquartered in Washington, DC, which was chartered by the AFL–CIO in 2013. The product of a merger between the Sheet ...

, known by the acronym, SMART. The Sheet Metal Workers' International Association represented about 150,000 members in 185 local unions in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

History

In 1887, Robert Kellerstrass, secretary of the Tin and Cornice Makers Association of

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

—a local sheet metal workers' union—began agitating for the formation of a national sheet metal workers' union. Contacting as many tinsmiths' locals as he could, Kellerstrass arranged for a founding convention to be held in January 1888. Eleven delegates from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

met for four days. The union was founded on January 25, 1888, in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, as the Tin, Sheet Iron and Cornice Workers' International Association.Mercey, ''The Sheet Metal Workers' Story'', 1980. In five years the organization grew to include 108 locals in the United States. The first local in Canada was chartered in 1896 as well, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. A second Canadian local formed in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1900, and a

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

local in 1902. The union joined the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

(AFL) in 1889. The

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...

weakened the union significantly, however, and the union's finances collapsed. The AFL revoked the Tin, Sheet Iron and Cornice Workers' charter in 1896, even though many locals continued to exist. The union reorganized in 1897 as the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, and was rechartered by the AFL in 1899. In 1902, the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers' union instituted its first national death benefit for its members. In 1903, the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers' merged with the Sheet Metal Workers' National Alliance, a secessionist group that had broken away from the union in 1902, creating the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers' International Alliance. In 1907, the union merged with the Coppersmiths' International Union. The union became embroiled in a bruising battle with the plumbers' and carpenters' unions in 1919. The Sheet Metal Workers had organized thousands of railway

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

fabricators nationwide, but now the plumbers' union was arguing that it had jurisdiction over the piping work that went into building these engines. Railroad shop workers from the

machinists A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechani ...

blacksmiths A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gril ...

and plumbers met in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

in 1920 after a number of local plumbers' railroad unions defected to the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers. Although the workers could not agree on which union should have jurisdiction over the work, the workers did agree to form the Federated Railroad Shopmen's Union to protect their work from being taken over by non-railroad workers. In 1921, the federated union disbanded, but the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers won substantial jurisdictional concessions from the plumbers. The conflict would continue into the 1950s, substantially weakening the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers. Finally, on April 26, 1955, the

National Mediation Board The National Mediation Board (NMB) is an independent agency of the United States government that coordinates labor-management relations within the U.S. railroads and airlines industries. History The board was established by the 1934 amendments t ...

reaffirmed Amalgamated Sheet Metal Worker jurisdiction over plumbing and pipefitting work in the railroad industry. The introduction of metal moldings in buildings also created a problem for the union. The

United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, often simply the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC), was formed in 1881 by Peter J. McGuire and Gustav Luebkert. It has become one of the largest trade unions in the United State ...

claimed jurisdiction over trim and moldings, which had previously been made of wood. The carpenters' union had won a jurisdictional award from an arbitrator in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in the spring of 1909. But the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers demanded that the Building Trades Department (BTD) of the AFL issue a ruling. By a 3-to-1 majority, delegates to the Building Trades convention voted in favor of the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers. The carpenters, then the second-largest union in the AFL, withdrew from the Building Trades and initiated a series of

jurisdictional strike In United States labor law, a jurisdictional strike is a concerted refusal to work undertaken by a union to assert its members' right to particular job assignments and to protest the assignment of disputed work to members of another union or to un ...

s against the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers at job sites nationwide. The BTD retaliated by asking AFL president

Samuel Gompers Samuel Gompers (; January 27, 1850December 11, 1924) was a British-born American cigar maker, labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and served as the organization's ...

to revoke the carpenter's union charter. Instead, Gompers led the AFL executive council in demanding that the BTD reinstate the carpenters' union. The Building Trades did so in 1910, but continued to vote in favor of the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers' claims on work. The carpenters' union disaffiliated again. The carpenters' union continued to conduct strikes against the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers, and increasingly won the support of building contractors and local building trades councils. The National Board of Jurisdictional Awards also voted in favor of the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers. But the pressure by the much larger carpenters' union proved too great, and the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers conceded jurisdiction over interior work in 1926. The Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers' railroad affiliates were deeply involved in the

Great Railroad Strike of 1922 The Great Railroad Strike of 1922, or the Railway Shopmen's Strike, was a nationwide strike of railroad workers in the United States. Launched on July 1, 1922, by seven of the sixteen extant railroad labor organizations, the strike continued ...

, which proved to be a disaster for the union's railway unions. The Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers' absorbed the chandelier, brass, and metal workers in 1924, and once more changed its name—this time to the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association. In 1926, the Sheet Metal Workers co-founded the

Railway Labor Executives' Association Railway Labor Executives' Association (RLEA) was a federation of rail transport labor unions in the United States and Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territor ...

, a union lobbying group. In the spring of 1927, members of Local 206 in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, build structural reinforcements for

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

's aircraft, "The

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that Charles Lindbergh flew on May 20–21, 1927, on the Charles Lindbergh#New York–Paris flight ...

". During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Sheet Metal Workers members assisted in the building of buildings, experimental machinery, and

atomic weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear explo ...

-making equipment at

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee, Anderson and Roane County, Tennessee, Roane counties in the East Tennessee, eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Oak Ridge's po ...

, as part of the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

. In 1946, the Sheet Metal Workers became one of the founding members of the

Atomic Trades and Labor Council The Atomic Trades and Labor Council (ATLC) is a labor union umbrella organization, affiliated with the Metal Trades Department of the AFL–CIO, that serves as the bargaining unit representing about 2,100 workers employed by U.S. Department of Ene ...

. The Sheet Metal Workers are notable for negotiating a number of "firsts" in the construction industry. In 1946, Local 28 in

negotiated the first local health and welfare plan in the construction industry. In 1950, Local 28 negotiated the first pension plan in the construction industry. In 1966, the union established its first national pension plans (one for construction workers, one for manufacturing workers). In 1960, the Sheet Metal Workers organized its first

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

, the Political Action League (PAL).

Leadership

The Sheet Metal Workers have a long history of stable leadership. Robert Byron headed the union from 1939 to 1959. For three decades afterward, the union was headed by a father-son team. Edward F. Carlough was elected president in 1959, and his son Edward J. Carlough succeeded him in 1971. In 1993, Edward J. Carlough resigned as president of the Sheet Metal Workers after union members strongly criticized his lavish lifestyle and excessive spending. Carlough had a year left in his term. In 1993, Arthur Moore, a vice president of the union, was elected to succeed the younger Carlough as president. Moore won election as president outright in August 1994, and was active in the coalition which unseated

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

president Lane Kirkland in 1995 and elected John Sweeney. Moore retired after one term, and Michael J. Sullivan was elected president of the union. Sullivan retired in 2011. Joseph J. Nigro was elected General President effective July 1, 2011. He had been General Secretary Treasurer since 2006 and Assistant to the General President prior to that since September 1999. The merger between the SMWIA and the United Transportation Union (UTU) was finalized at the SMART First General Convention held in Las Vegas, Nevada the week of August 11–15, 2014. SMART stands for the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.

Contributions to political campaigns

According to

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

, Sheet Metal Workers Union was the United States' 27th largest donor to federal political campaigns and committees, having contributed over $51.8 million since 1989, over 90% of which went to the Democratic Party and other liberal groups. In the 2018 election cycle, SMART's

ranked sixth in donations to federal candidates at nearly $2.8 million.

Presidents

*Archibald Barnes, 1888–1889 *E.F. McKeon, 1890–1891 *Hugh Schwab, 1892 *F.A. Pouchot, 1893–1894 *T.J. Ritter, 1895 *R.M. Ryan, 1896 *H.H. Brauch, 1897–1898 *F.C. Cole, 1899–1902 *Richard Pattison, 1903–1904 *Michael O'Sullivan, 1905–1912 * J. J. Hynes, 1913–1938 *Robert Byron, 1939-June 1959 *Edward F. Carlough, June 1959- September 1970 * Edward J. Carlough, October 1970-July 1993 * Arthur Moore, July 1993 – 1999 * Michael Sullivan, 1999–2011 * Joseph J. Nigro, 2011

Notes

References

*Crowe, Kenneth C. "5 More Union Heads Side Against AFL-CIO Prez." ''Newsday''. May 18, 1995. *Dine, Philip. "Local Leader Takes on Chief of Union, Wins." ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch''. December 31, 1993. *"Edward F. Carlough, 81, Dies; Headed Sheet Metal Workers." ''New York Times''. July 12, 1985. *Sullivan, Ronald. "Edward Carlough, 62, Ex-Chief of Sheet Metal Workers Union." ''New York Times''. July 1, 1994.
"Glossary: Organizations." Samuel Gompers Papers.
University of Maryland. Accessed Jan. 23, 2007. *"Lonnie A. Bassett, 62, Metal Union Official." ''New York Times''. June 27, 1989. *Mercey, Arch A. ''The Sheet Metal Workers' Story: A Chronicle of Fine Craftsmanship, 1888–1980''. Washington, D.C.: Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, 1980. *Palladino, Grace. ''Strong Hands, Skilled Spirits''. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2005. *Ruben, George. "Union Uses Apprentices as Organizers - Sheet Metal Workers." ''Monthly Labor Review''. June 1985. *"Sullivan Assumes Presidency of Sheet Metal Workers' Union." ''Engineering News-Record''. March 8, 1999. *Swoboda, Frank. "Sheet Metal Union Head Steps Down." ''Washington Post''. July 15, 1993.

External links

Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program - CanadaSMART Web site
{{Authority control AFL-CIO Canadian Labour Congress Defunct trade unions in the United States Trade unions in Canada Sheet metal workers' trade unions Trade unions established in 1888 Trade unions disestablished in 2014