Next Gen District 4 Level 2 Training organized by Brian Callow & Israel Torres (District 4 Next Gen Coordinators) was held January 30th – February 3rd in Pittsburgh, PA. The event was invitation only. Brian & Israel chose twenty members from District 4 to attend this training, this was only the second time District 4 has held a Level 2 Next Gen Training.
Attendees from our USW Local 1000:
Kimberly Kephart- Dist. 4 Southern Tier Next Gen Regional Coordinator; USW Local 1000 Next Gen Chair; USW Local 1000 Executive Board Recording Secretary
Trey Wilkins- USW Local 1000 Next Gen Co- Chair; USW Local 1000 Executive Board Guard
Deanna Cavanaugh- Next Gen Active Member; USW Local 1000 Rapid Response Chair; USW Local 1000 Women of Steel Co-Chair; USW Local 1000 Executive Board Guard
We would like to thank our membership for approving the trip in January’s Monthly Membership Meeting to Pittsburgh for Level 2 Next Generation Training. We had a busy week of classes every day that were very informative and supplied us with an ample amount of knowledge to bring back to our local to help educate our Union Stewards, Next Gen Committee Members, and our Local Members. We had the pleasure of meeting several trainers from the USW International Training Department Meredith Stepp, John Lepley, and Lisa Jordan. We also got the pleasure to meet and listen to guest speakers Tom Conway (International President), Leeann Foster (International Vice- President), Del Vitale (Director), Dave Wasiura (Asst. Director), Kevin Mapp (International VP of Human Affairs), Garamo Perez (District 10 Staff), and John Shinn (International Secretary-Treasurer). We also got the opportunity to connect with other locals in our district who attended the training from Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Seneca Falls NY. We got to hear different contract benefits, discipline procedures, grievance policies, and many other differences between the different locals.
The content that we were educated on over the week consisted of…
What is a Union & what should it do! To name a few roles- CBA, negotiations, Organizing, Education, & Representation
Tour of our International building and what each layer provides for our membership.
Health & Safety Department, Rapid Response, Strategic Campaigns, Collective Bargaining, Research, & Benefits, Local Union Services, Organizing, Women of Steel, Next Gen, Pride, Veteran’s, Civil and Human Rights, New Media, and Legal
Duties of a Union Steward
Legal Rights & Responsibilities of Stewards- Weingarten Rights and Duty of Fair Representation
The Grievance Procedure, how to present a grievance, and writing a grievance.
Just Cause
Investigation
New Member Orientation & Tools
Labor History
How to organize within our local
The education materials provided to us, as well as the information received, we will be using to develop Next Generation Regional and Local trainings for this upcoming year, as well as Level 3 Union Steward Training for our local.
