Chris Carlough: My Journey

Educational Director, SMART International

In my house, sheet metal was a family affair. My father was general president for SMART International, and my grandfather was general president before him. The third generation always slacks a little bit, so I only became educational director. I grew up listening about labor disputes, organizing campaigns, and union issues at the dining room table. That is how I became involved. I became an area organizer in 1986 and worked as an international organizer for the union for 20 years before being asked to take over as education director about 14 years ago.

Two of my main interests in the union are mental health of the entire membership and their representatives, and promoting diversity and inclusion.

I am interested in advocacy for people who are struggling with mental health, addiction, and thoughts of suicide, as well as for all the people suffering, because addiction is a family disease. One of my top priorities is looking to normalize mental health so talking about it becomes as open and stigmafree as discussing any other illness. We have started doing this work through SMART MAP, an awareness and peer support program focusing on mental health, of which I am very proud. As a guy in long-term recovery, it’s important to do my part in killing stigma around substance use disorder by sharing my story, and if this issue resonates with you, reach out to your business manager and find out more about the SMART MAP program.

I also have a strong interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion. I strongly believe expanding our union in terms of gender and race is central to our future, but I don’t believe we can be successful without ending the culture of hazing, bullying, and harassment and without striving to be kinder—it doesn’t mean that we can’t be tough guys and gals, but let’s take the fight to the non-union sector and other trades who look to infringe on work within our scope. This is really important to me.

The sheet metal industry is a great place to make a living and to be in a position to have a good life. My dad used to say, “If you honestly tell sheet metal workers the whole story, they will always make the right decisions.” He felt we were the smartest of all the trades. I have always tried to hold on to that.

I think that no matter what we are trying to do or what cause we are hoping to advance for the sheet metal industry, if labor and management don’t do things together, we are operating in silos. Finding and following our common ground is at the heart of partnerships. It sounds cliché, but together we do it better. Survival and growth of the construction industry? That’s a common interest. The physical and mental health of our members and employees? That’s a common interest. Meeting the challenges of today’s construction industry, whether embracing the changing demographics or working through new technologies and other areas of mutual agreement? That is a common interest. It is key for us to be able to survive and thrive and to work on those areas we have in common. We owe that to our members, our contractors, and our industry. ▪