What is a Shop Steward?
Stewards are mentors and advocates for union members with questions or concerns at work. We organize members to address issues as a group instead of dealing with them alone. We accompany and support members in meetings with management to ensure a fair process in which everyone is heard. Our training program gives stewards the skills, knowledge and resources to make us effective advocates and organizers at work.
If you are interested in becoming a Union Steward or Leader, please contact your Union Rep/Organizer.
Your Role as a Shop Steward
Your chief responsibility as a steward is to build a united, organized, and involved membership. Without involvement and solidarity, no union in the world can protect and serve its members. As a leader in the workplace, you’ll have your hands full. That’s because SEIU stewards are…
Organizers
What This Means
This doesn’t just mean signing up new members. It also means SEIU stewards are responsible for organizing the whole workplace to deal with problems as a united group. Which is what labor unions are all about.
Worksite Leaders
What This Means
You keep it moving. You’re not afraid to speak up to management. You make unity happen, and you never let anyone forget there’s a union at your worksite. (Nobody said this job is easy.)
Problem Solvers
What This Means
You’re the person workers turn to with their problems. Whether it’s a work-site hazard, an unjust firing, threats of layoffs, or just a new employee with a question. Perhaps you can solve the problem with a friendly word, or maybe you’ll organize a worksite action or file a grievance. Problems don’t go with your territory. They are your territory.
Educators & Communicators
What This Means
The contract. The health insurance plan. What’s a “ULP”? How can I do this? Why did they do that? Your members are counting on you to help them make sense of a complicated world. Equally important: your union officers are counting on you to help them keep in touch with your co-workers.
SEIU Stewards Manual
The SEIU Stewards Manual explains some of your different jobs in more detail. For now, it’s enough that you understand and accept your wide responsibility in the workplace, and remember that your primary duties are to organize and to solve problems. (You’ll see later how those duties go hand in hand.)
