UE Local 506 conducted trainings for its stewards on all three shifts at the local’s union hall on Thursday, March 6. Local 506 represents 1,400 production and maintenance workers at the sprawling Wabtec locomotive facility in Erie. 

The trainings were conducted by Brian Chismar, the Chief Plant Steward, with the assistance of several of the local’s divisional chief stewards. The trainings covered the basics of stewards’ duties, including communicating with their members, filing grievances, and organizing their members. 

The stewards worked through several grievance scenarios, covering contract language and discipline issues with the assistance of their divisional chief stewards. The stewards, who broke into groups, would then report back to the larger group how they wrote up the grievances.

Additional stewards’ trainings are planned for later this year, covering Weingarten Rights, information requests, and participating in fact-finding investigatory interviews.