UA leaders laud growth, shrug off tariffs at major convention

United Association (UA), the leading North American union representing plumbers, HVAC workers, and other skilled trades, in mid-August held its General Convention in San Diego.  

What’s happening: The meeting happens once every five years, with the last one having taken place during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• Highlights this year included General President Mark McManus being unanimously elected to a third term.
• Membership is up to about 410,000 — a jump of about 60,000 from five years earlier. 
• Actor Sean Astin, widely known for his main-character role in The Goonies, spoke about mental health, urging workers to seek help and support one another. 

Go deeper: During the convention — which took place as leaders of the U.S. and Canada were threatening to impose tariffs on each other’s goods, and subsequently did — top union officials asserted that workers’ cross-border bonds would remain despite geopolitical tensions between the two countries. 

• “No tariff, no tweet, insult or childish behavior will divide the members of the UA. Canadians, you’re most certainly respected, welcomed and cherished within the UA,” McManus said.
• “Tariffs don’t build anything. They delay everything,” said Canada’s Building Trades Unions Executive Director Sean Strickland, adding that they’ve raised the cost of new homes. 
• Delegates passed a resolution urging elected leaders to restore and strengthen the partnership between the neighboring countries, along with other resolutions advocating for stronger labor laws and upholding union apprenticeship standards. 

What they’re saying: ​Brian Kelly, Director of HVACR Services at the UA, whose day-to-day work focuses on high-level contract negotiations, told Homepros that the meeting didn’t get too political beyond that. 

• “The United Association is a microcosm of the United States,” he said. “Fifty percent are with one guy, 50 percent are with another guy, and our organization is no different.” 
• He noted that hot topics at the conference were recruiting new members and supplying labor for the data center boom: “We’re very, very happy that the narrative has certainly turned a corner with regard to trade schools and in pursuing jobs in the trades as opposed to a traditional four-year college.” 
• Every UA union has defined pension benefits, he added. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to make a wonderful living with the best benefits on the planet.” After 20 years in a truck and 36 years in the industry, “I’m looking at being able to retire in five or six years very comfortably, which is really nice after a really rewarding career,” he said.