Michael J. Sullivan
Michael J. Sullivan, a second generation Sheet Metal Worker, has been General President of the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association since March 1, 1999. He was elected to a third five-year term at the union’s 42nd General Convention in August 2009. Under Sullivan’s leadership organizing and expansion of job opportunities have remained at the forefront in the movement towards growth.[1]
Union work
Sullivan currently directs and supervises 157 Sheet Metal Workers Local Unions throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico whose members provide skilled services to the sheet metal and air conditioning industry, the kitchen equipment industry, to the transportation industry in both freight/commuter railroads and shipyards, and to other metal-related manufacturing and service operations. In addition to these duties, he earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the National Labor College; serves as a Vice President of the AFL-CIO Executive Council; and participates on numerous AFL-CIO Executive Committees. He is a Director on the ULLICO Board and also is a Vice President of the Building and Construction Trades Department. He is a trustee of the National Labor College.
Mr. Sullivan previously served as SMWIA’s General Secretary-Treasurer and had served as a Vice President of the SMWIA General Executive Council for 10 years. Mr. Sullivan began his career in sheet metal work in his hometown of Indianapolis, IN, where he completed his apprenticeship in 1969. He was elected Business Representative in 1973 and from 1979 to 1994 served as Business Manager and Financial Secretary-Treasurer of Local Union 20. During his tenure in Indiana, he was President of the Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council and Vice President on the State AFL-CIO. He was appointed by the Governor of Indiana to serve as a member of the Indiana Workers Compensation Commission and the Hoosier Alliance Against Drugs. He also was Chairman of the Labor Institute for Training and President of the Michigan-Indiana Council of Sheet Metal Workers.
Other service
Sullivan is a member of the board of directors of the Wesley Theological Seminary, serves as the Labor Co-Chairman of the Democratic Governors’ Association and is President of the Eugene V. Debs Foundation. [2]