Business Representative/701 Automotive Coordinator – Walter Emerson

Walter “Wally” Emerson has been a proud member of IAM Local 701 since 2000. He spent his career in the Automotive industry and began serving as Shop Steward at Pugi of Downers Grove in 2013. In 2015, he was elected to the Local 701 Executive Board as a Trustee, a role he held until his appointment as Business Representative/Organizer in October 2017.In addition to his representational duties, Wally serves as the Local 701 Communicator and manages the Local’s digital presence, including its website, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. He currently represents members in the Automotive Dealership, Equipment, Ready-Mix, Machine Shop, and Trucking industries.

Wally is actively involved in the labor movement beyond Local 701. He is a delegate to the Illinois State Council of Machinists and the Midwest States Conference of Machinists, and he serves as the 1st Vice President of the Northeastern Illinois Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. He also holds roles as a Trustee on the Local 701 Training Fund and as a Trustee-in-Training on the Local 701 Health, Welfare, and Pension Fund.

Wally has completed a wide range of leadership and representational training at the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in Maryland. His coursework includes Arbitration, Advanced Arbitration, Collective Bargaining, Advanced Collective Bargaining, First Contract, Foundational Skills, Leadership I, Negotiating Healthcare, Negotiating Retirement Security, Organizing I and II, Political Training, the Service Contract Act, Basic and Intermediate Web Development, IAM-Critical Incident Response Training, and IAM-Adult Mental Health First Aid USA.