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Skilled Trades Employment Preparation Program (STEPP)

STEPP is designed to strengthen UAW-Chrysler workers’ math skills. Successful completion of the course fulfills the math requirement for taking the apprentice test. Students receive five weeks of pre-algebra, 14 weeks of algebra and five weeks of shop math and spatial relations.

Classes are offered at UAW-Chrysler facilities based on the plant leadership’s request. If a STEPP course is being offered at your location, notices will be posted in the plant, and you should talk to the apprentice representative or contact Pat Peralta, UAW, or
Doug Olejniczak, Chrysler, for more information.

Susan Justice makes history.

Susan Justice made history at New Castle, Ind. Machining and Forge. In December 2000, she became the first female graduate of the plant’s apprentice program. Now a journeyman electrician, Justice is blazing a trail because she took a chance on the Skilled Trades Employment Preparation Program (STEPP). For about six months, she took classes at the plant after working third shift on the piston pin line. She polished her skills and, just as important, gained confidence to do well on the apprentice test.

"The program increased my speed in math, which was important on the test," said Justice, who’s worked for Chrysler more than 12 years. "Spatial relations was the most beneficial part for me. Without that training, I don’t think I would have passed the test."

Justice feels she has been able to make a statement by her successful completion of the apprenticeship program:

"It says to other women, ‘You can do the same thing,’ " said Justice. "It says that by furthering your education and taking a risk, you can do something really worthwhile and feel really good about yourself. It’s not impossible for women to get in the skilled trades."