At its July meeting the SMACNA Board of Directors agreed to commit resources to major new initiatives. The first and largest relates to workforce development. The Board agreed to a long-term program to improve the awareness of the HVAC / sheet metal industry and the opportunities it presents so that our industry is perceived by highly qualified candidates as an industry of choice for successful craft and non-craft professional careers.
SMACNA will develop and consistently update and distribute, through multiple channels and formats, industry and career information, profiles of success, potential career paths, and economic data, so that a wider and deeper pool of candidates see the industry as a rewarding path to satisfying their life and career goals. The effort will link to and support direct recruitment efforts at the chapter level and by individual contractors.
This is not a short-term project to address immediate manpower shortages, but a long-term effort to attract the most qualified candidates to our industry. Only a highly skilled and engaged workforce will enable contractors to meet the evolving needs of customers and take full advantage of emerging technologies available to fabrication and construction operations.
The Board also addressed SMACNA’s role in keeping contractors informed of relevant construction industry technology developments and helping them identify potential implementation opportunities. The Board expects the pace of introduction for new and improving construction and fabrication technologies to accelerate.
To that end the Board directed SMACNA to identify and partner with construction industry technology experts to provide greatly expanded coverage of the topic in SMACNA publications and to provide increased educational opportunities to SMACNA members. Further, SMACNA will establish a standing Technology Advisory Committee made up of sheet metal industry technology specialists that will share their knowledge and experience to improve SMACNA’s service offerings.
The Board also noted the substantially increased demand on SMACNA’s Technical Services staff by members, chapters and the design and code communities for access to education programs, papers and direct consultations. One of SMACNA’s strategic goals is to be more directly involved with code and design communities to leverage the value of SMACNA standards and improve opportunities for its contractors.
However, this success has created a demand that exceeds our current capacity to fully meet. Therefore, SMACNA will immediately begin recruitment efforts to add qualified professional staff to its Technical Services work group.
The SMACNA Board believes these initiatives are of such a priority that work should begin immediately, even though current income levels are not sufficient to cover the full cost (expected to approach $2 million annually) of the programs. The Board understands SMACNA will have to access reserve funds to cover these initial costs. Clearly, that strategy is not economically sustainable.
After a discussion of the need for these important programs, whether and for how long SMACNA’s financial reserves could support deficit spending, and whether and when industry manhours will diminish, the Board unanimously approved a $0.03 per hour dues increase phased in over 3 years beginning in 2020.
This decision was made after much deliberation by the Board. Due consideration was given to using SMACNA resources wisely and providing tangible value to contractors and chapters for their contributions. These new initiatives meet that criteria.
The schedule for the increase is as follows:
For US firms/chapters:
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If your CBA next expires or you have a wage reopener in 2020, begin paying an additional penny (13¢ total) on the 2020 anniversary date of your CBA and add a penny on the anniversary date each year thereafter until dues/IFUS contribution totals 15¢/hour in 2022.
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If your CBA next expires or you have a wage reopener in 2021, begin paying an additional 2¢ (14¢ total) on the 2021 anniversary date of your CBA and add a penny on the anniversary date in 2022 so that dues/IFUS contribution totals 15¢/hour in 2022.
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If your CBA expires or you have a wage reopener in 2022 or later, begin paying an additional 3¢ (15¢ total) on the 2022 anniversary date of your CBA.
For Canadian firms/chapters:
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If your CBA next expires or you have a wage reopener in 2020, begin paying an additional penny (6¢ total - Canadian) on the 2020 anniversary date of your CBA.
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If your CBA next expires or you have a wage reopener in 2021, begin paying an additional penny (6¢ total - Canadian) on the 2021 anniversary date of your CBA.
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If your CBA expires or you have a wage reopener in 2022 or later, begin paying an additional penny (6¢ total - Canadian) on the 2022 anniversary date of your CBA.
Based upon this implementation schedule, given the timing of CBA expirations and assuming no precipitous fall off in manhours, SMACNA anticipates an increase in dues revenue over 2019 levels of $120,000 in 2020, $600,000 in 2021, $1,560,000 in 2022 and $2,280,000 in 2023. New program expenses will exceed these income projections until 2023.
The Officers and Board of SMACNA are unanimously supportive of these programs and funding approach. If you have any questions or comments, please contact SMACNA CEO Vince Sandusky directly at vsandusky@smacna.org or 703-803-2985.
