home | on the job | leadership

Shop Steward Leadership Guide

 The Steward's Role    |    The Right to Represent     |    The Steward and Politics

Local 616 Stewards Council    |    Resources

Steward Profiles (click images)

Monique Chaney-Williams

Marilyn Hudson

Click the image to download the Shop Steward Leadership Guide as a PDF (332K)

 The Steward's Role

The shop steward holds a special place in any union. At the worksite, the steward is the union — the link between union members and management.


Shop stewards are members' first line of defense, responsible for enforcing the contract and handling grievances, and for proactively ensuring worksite safety, mobilizing members for the union's political campaigns, orienting new members to the worksite and the union, and more.

Your job as a shop steward is more than a list of duties, however: Your chief responsibility is building a united, organized, and involved membership at your worksite. Stewards play both offense and defense.

All this gives shop stewards a special responsibility, but also a special authority that is protected by law as well as your union contract. As a shop steward, you deal with management as an equal. It is a violation of federal law for your employer to discriminate or retaliate against you for fulfilling your steward duties.

Because of the importance of shop stewards, Local 616 is making it a priority in 2005 to grow and strengthen the base of stewards who populate our many worksites. We'll hold trainings for new and veteran stewards, and provide resources like this guide to help you do your job as a shop steward better.

•  What Is a Shop Steward?

Perhaps the most visible and dramatic part of your job as a steward is handling grievances. But being a Local 616 shop steward means much more than that. You'll also be:

A Communicator: Members need to know what's going on. You do this through worksite meetings, your union bulletin board, and most importantly, one-on-one conversations.

A Problem Solver: Not every problem is a grievance. You can prevent most problems from becoming grievances by taking appropriate actions: getting the facts, creating a plan, and involving members.

An Educator: Education comes not just through teaching, but through action. Union members learn by sharing experiences, taking action, and discussing it afterward.

A Health and Safety Watchdog: You may not need hard hats and thick gloves, but modern office technologies pose plenty of dangers. A steward helps keep his or her co-workers safe on the job.

A Political Activist: As public employees, your real bosses are your elected officials. That's why politics is part of every Local 616 member's job. Our stewards advance our political goals by mobilizing members for phone banks, rallies, COPE drives, and get-out-the-vote activities.

Sound like a lot? It is. But don't worry. The resources and profiles in this Shop Steward Leadership Guide will provide you with information — and inspiration — from others who have done it before and made their union stronger.  •