SMART Constitution available online, officers elevated

The official SMART Constitution, as amended by SMART delegates at the first SMART General Convention, is now available on both the SMART website at smart-union.org and the Transportation Division website at www.utu.org.

In January 2014, the SMART Sheet Metal and Transportation Division officers completed constitutional modifications required by the terms and conditions of the merger between the two predecessor organizations. That document incorporated the former UTU Constitution into the former SMWIA Constitution as Article 21B of the merged document. At that time, all conflicts between Article 21B and the remainder of the constitution were resolved in order to effectuate the merger.

Earlier this year, delegates to the Transportation Division convention proposed recommendations for amendments to the constitution. At the first SMART General Convention held Aug. 11-15, those amendments were debated and resolved.

The August proceedings in Las Vegas closed with a show of unity, cooperation and newfound strength.

Of significance to SMART’s Transportation Division membership, the amended constitution contained provisions for the addition of a second vice president to the division’s Bus Department and the addition of a member of the Aviation Department to the division’s board of appeals.

The Transportation Division’s board of directors selected former Alternate Vice President – Bus Calvin Studivant to serve as the division’s second bus vice president to serve the Bus Department’s growing membership.

A member of Local 759 at Newark, N.J., Studivant was born June 18, 1960. He served his country in the U.S. Army from 1982 to 1986. He has been employed at Community Coach Transportation in New Jersey since June 1993, where he served his local as both a general chairperson and delegate. He also served as a Transportation Division organizer.

To fill the vacant office of alternate vice president– bus, the board of directors elevated former board of appeals member Alvy Hughes to that position.

Hughes began his transportation career with Charlotte Transit in 1995. As a member of Local 1596 at Charlotte, N.C., Hughes has served as local vice president and as both secretary and general chairperson of General Committee of Adjustment GO TMM.

On Oct. 23, the Transportation Division’s board of directors selected Charlotte Transit GO TMD Vice General Chairperson Brenda H. Moore (1715) to fill the open bus position on the board of appeals.

The board also chose Great Lakes Airlines Local 40 (Denver) President John Nolan to fill the position of aviation representative to the board of appeals.

The complete constitution, as amended, can be viewed here.