Twenty-first Century Partnering: Part III In recognition of 75 years of the successful labormanagement initiatives between SMACNA and SMART, Partners in Progress has been mapping out key developments in the partnership journey between the two organizations. April’s issue focused on the landmark Mutual Gains Bargaining (MGB) program—the first-ever labor-management cooperative training program in the sheet metal industry. This month, we explore how and why SMACNA and SMART kicked off the 21st century with a flurry of partnership efforts and programs. Training for industry bargainers was a great start for the national associations, but as Michael J. Sullivan, former SMART general president, noted, “There are a lot of common issues that come up between contract negotiations that are best handled by labor and management working together. Programs that helped them communicate and develop a good working relationship were well worth the time and resource investments from SMACNA and SMART at the national level.” SMACNA fully agreed with Sullivan’s assessment, and the planning began for the first SMACNA-SMART Partnership Conference in Orlando, Florida, in 2000. Partnership Conferences Once again, the program was led by Bernie Flaherty, but this time there was no training on collective bargaining, and this 14 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org
Michael J. Sullivan, former SMART General President who advocated for joint labor-management bargaining training and the first Partnership Conference.
was intentional. Flaherty described the goal of the program: “It’s not just negotiating a new contract every three years, but constantly working together to solve real issues. Such a partnership develops strong, ongoing, primary relationships
