Become a Union Steward

The most important aspect of being a steward is that he or she is an employee's link to the union. A steward is a friendly and trustworthy face in the department or building. She or he is someone who is known to co-workers as someone they can go to for information or help. Stewards advise employees on their rights in the workplace (as well as their responsibilities). The most important duties are to listen and respond conscientiously.

People's involvement can take many different levels. They could just take questions and get back with answers. They could be an extra pair of eyes to help someone write a reclass application. They could do more action-oriented things, like get people to sign petitions or write legislators. Or they could do more legalistic things like file grievances.

It's really important for people to know that they don't have to know everything. "Steward" sounds awfully intimidating, because it sounds like someone needs years of study and practice and must know everything from soup to nuts. Not true. Collectively, union members have hundreds of years of experience, and that is our greatest shared resource, "It's not what you know; it's that you know where to find it."

There is almost a natural tendency for people to be drawn into learning more. If their co-workers come to them with questions, naturally a steward will learn as he or she goes along. After a little while, they'll have a pretty good body of knowledge about things they wouldn't have dreamed about before. That's what makes being a steward so interesting and challenging. It's that you're always learning and always being given the chance to be creative or mischievous and apply your learning to real-life situations--and help people in really concrete ways in the process.

Excerpted from an e-mail from Craig Alderson,
Former CUE Chief Steward