Stewards are the glue that holds the Union together. They are the front line in challenging management, enforcing the contract, and upholding our rights. Most important of all, stewards are the people who will organize the local. All the good intentions in the world are useless without enough stewards to carry them out.

The first priority of every steward is to organize. Organizing is not simply signing people up to be Union members. It is more importantly encouraging members to stick together to support one another and to get fair treatment and a fair deal from management. The steward who succeeds in getting members to stick together or to be active in her/his work area or in the local as a whole is organizing the local. That's what a Union is all about, people working together to protect each other and themselves.

How does a steward organize his/her area?

1.   Enforces the contract. The steward must know the contract, the workers s/he represents, and their jobs. The steward must know the grievance procedure so that violations of the contract can be grieved. A grievance is a written complaint filed against the hospital saying that the terms of the contract have been violated. There are methods other than grievances that can be employed to solve a problem, such as discrimination, civil service, or Worker's Comp complaints. Although the contract only permits stewards work time to process contractual grievances, and obviously a steward will not be an expert in all the areas mentioned above or have the time to represent members in non-contractual areas, he/she should be able to get workers at least pointed in the direction of help for their individual problem.

2.   Works with management to resolve problems that are serious and affect many members but which are not covered under the contract. Some problems can be brought up at monthly labor/management meetings with the hospital. Stewards are also the people who lead fights against contracting out of jobs or support for contract negotiations. However, if stewards are to be successful in these types of activities members from the affected area must participate and help the steward out when requested.

3.   Knows the Union and informs members. A steward is the "voice of the Union", giving people correct information and thereby stopping rumors or misconceptions about the Union, negotiations, or problems at work.

4.   The steward should encourage workers to join the Union or to stay in the Union. More importantly, the steward should encourage members to take an active role in the Union.

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