Overview

Sheet Metal Workers Local Union #2 encompasses the greater Kansas City metropolitan area, St. Joseph, and includes 39 counties in Missouri, as well as 21 counties in Kansas, including the cities of Lawrence, Pittsburg, and Coffeyville. Sheet Metal Workers Local Union #2 is an affiliate of the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, an International Labor Union with membership in the AFL-CIO, and the Canadian Labor Council.

Our local union's elected officials assist members in obtaining employment and manage the daily operations, including the very important role of recruiting new members and organizing contractors. Additionally, our representatives cooperate closely with the Apprentice and Journeyman Training Center in providing education and promoting safety programs.

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Local 2 Area

To view an enlarged map of Local 2's area click here.

Sheet Metal Workers Local 2 consists of 6 jurisdictional areas according to the contract. To view the counties in each area, click on the link you would like to view.

Area 1      Area 2         Area 3        Area 4         Area 5        Area 6

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Directions & Maps

The Union Hall is located 1.5 miles north of I-70 exit 63B.
Map to the Union Hall, located at 2902 Blue Ridge Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri.

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History

The impact of the labor movement in America is evident in the history of the Sheet Metal Workers, particularly that of the Local 2. From 1880 - 1889, 62 international unions were established. Among them was the ancestor of the present Sheet Metal Workers International Association. It was called the Tin, Sheet Iron and Cornice Workers International Association, established Jan. 25, 1888. Not all of the 62 continued, but the Cornice Workers survived to make their place in the history of modern trade unionism.

The origins of the union really go back to period in American labor and industrial history when tinners, tinsmiths or metal workers were constantly growing in numbers of shops to satisfy the increasing demand for their products and services of their skill - for utensils as well as for their construction skills. The metal workers found, as all craftsmen find and come to realize, that only in unity is there strength.

While skills in an expanding economy were at a premium, the advances in wages were not enough to satisfy the the more farsighted of the leaders among the tin workers. The perceptions of one of these men, Robert Kellerstrass, were to be translated into effective action. Early in 1887, Kellerstrass began communicating with other tinners' locals. His letter struck a warm response; other locals and members had been having similar thoughts about combining forces

The official convention call included reference both to Archibald Barnes of Kansas City, Mo., and to Kellerstrass to whom acceptances could be sent. Perhaps credit for the origin and calling should be shared; some observers think so.

The site of the founding event: Toledo, Ohio; the day: January 25, 1888. Tinners' organizations from Peoria, Ill., Kansas City, Omaha, Memphis, Toledo, Dayton and Youngstown convened to "better our conditions morally and socially", as Kellerstrass put it. Sessions were held for four days during which the problems of wages, hours and conditions, as well as labor relations, economic conditions, construction industry matters were discussed.

-from The Sheet Metal Workers' Story: A Chronicle of Fine Craftsmanship 1888 - 1980. By Arch A. Mercey

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