New stewards come into the job with a million questions, ranging from the simple, like where to obtain grievance forms, to the difficult, like how to achieve just the right kind of working relationship with management. Here are some of the most basic questions - and answers - designed to help new stewards get up and running and familiar with their new responsibilities.

1. What are my rights in handling grievances?
You have the right to aggressively enforce and police the contract, to get information from your employer to aid in enforcing the contract, and to vigorously represent co-workers in grievance handling. You have the right to investigate grievance matters. That investigative authority includes interviewing witnesses, visiting areas where grievances occur, and getting all relevant documents. 

2. What are my other rights?
You have the right to sign up new members. You have the right to listen to complaints from all employees. You have the right to conduct other union business, at appropriate times: examples include helping employees with worker compensation claims, passing out leaflets and helping people get registered to vote, and so forth. You can't interrupt someone's work for routine union business, but you can't be prevented from conducting any union business you believe appropriate during breaks and before and after work. You have the right to speak up forcefully, in a way that recognizes your equal status with employer representatives when dealing with union representation issues.

3. Is the union legally bound by my actions?
When acting as the union steward you are the agent of the union. Your actions are no longer personal actions; they are legally considered the actions of the union. For example, sexual harassment or racial bias displayed by a union steward can create financial liability for the union. At the same time, stewards do not have the legal right to agree to anything barred by the union contract, or to ignore language of the contract.

4. Do I have to go to the boss's office to talk about a worker’s grievance?
No. It's not up to management to decide where a grievance is discussed, but it's not up to you, either: it's a negotiable issue. While you might want to enforce the contract in front of a worker whose rights have just been violated, you don't have that right. You and the supervisor have to agree on a time and place to talk about it.

5. Can management refuse to hear a grievance?
No. The union has the right to file and process grievances that it believes are legitimate. If your supervisor refuses to acknowledge your grievance, the union has the right to take it to the next level of management. 

6. Can I lead a workplace action to protest management's failure to honor a grievance settlement?
A protest is considered protected union activity when it is held in a peaceful, non-violent manner during nonworking time. You can also do certain things during the workday: boycott the company cafeteria, for example, or, assuming no dress codes are in place, wear identical, message bearing T-shirts or buttons.

7. If my contract gives me paid time for union business, what kind of business does that include?
You have the right to police the contract, file and process grievances, and speak out in enforcing the contract. Fulfilling these duties comes under union business. Some contracts may outline additional duties considered union business, for which stewards may be paid.

8. Can I be disciplined for insubordination?
Only if your extreme actions threaten the authority of a supervisor in the presence of other workers. Generally a steward (when acting in his or her role as a steward) can be disciplined only for conduct that is "outrageous" or "indefensible" and is "of such serious character as to render the employee unfit for further service." Gesturing and talking loudly and forcefully cannot be considered "outrageous." But you can't use racial epithets or extreme profanity or threats of violence, or organize illegal slowdowns or work disruptions, lead prohibited work stoppages or file grievances in bad faith. 

9. Can I put what I want on a bulletin board?
Not necessarily. Check your contract: some things may be barred, like notices supporting political candidates or documents that personally attack management representatives. But if your union contract allows the use of bulletin boards, you can probably post a wide range of things, including notices, cartoons, photos... most anything that pro- motes the union's legitimate work.

10. Can I be held to a higher standard than other workers?
No. If you come in late or make an error on the job, you can't be treated any differently than any other worker who does the same thing.

Grievance Information

"Time Lines"

     Many times when employees have issues or concerns that may be grievances, they forget one very important aspect of the grievance process, "Time Lines."  If an employee wants to file a grievance, they have only 30 days from the date of offense in which to file it.  This is part of the grievance procedure under our current state contract.  Failure to submit a grievance in a timely manner will cause the grievance to be considered untimely, and therefore not responded to.

     Also there are time lines which must be adhered to for an employee to appeal an unsatisfactory 1st step decision.  An employee has only 10 working days from receipt of the 1st step decision in which to appeal to the 2nd step.  There is also a time line to appeal an unsatisfactory 2nd step decision.  That time frame is 15 working days.

     Time lines also apply to appeal an annual rating.  An employee has only 15 days from date of receipt on an unsatisfactory rating.

     Time lines are also important when a person files an out of title grievance.  Under our current contract if an out of title grievance is sustained the grievant receives payment for only 15 days prior to the filing of the grievance.  In the past, many employees have lost months of back pay because they waited to file an out of title grievance.

Stewards and Workplace Violence

One of the steward's many roles is to look out for the health and safety of co-workers, and the threats don't always come from dangerous equipment, toxic chemicals, foul air or the like. In the United States, according to government statistics, there are an estimated 1.7 million workplace assaults annually - and 600 workplace homicides.

It's a dangerous world out there, but stewards can make it safer by staying alert and using the power of the union to educate bosses, members, criminal justice authorities, and the public.

Understand the Distinctions

First, look at the kinds of violence that occur in your work setting. There are four types:

Each type of violence calls for a different response from stewards. One of the first steps is to become familiar with the frequency and extent of violence in your specific setting. Examine injury and illness records: they can provide helpful information on the extent of reported assaults, including what department they are occurring in and the amount of lost time - if any - they are causing. This information can be used to get management to take the problem seriously. But be careful: under reporting is common in many worksites with frequent assaults, and other methods may be useful, such as worker surveys, inspections, or interviews of injured members.

What Next?

The U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration does not have a standard on workplace violence prevention, but it does offer guidelines and other resources at this website: http://www.osha-slc.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/index.html.

The OSHA guidelines call for management commitment and worker involvement; a comprehensive risk assessment; implementation of prevention measures; training, and periodic evaluation of the program.

Check with your union leadership to determine if your employer has a written, comprehensive violence prevention program. Beware: often, implementation of such programs lacks union and worker involvement and many of the important steps in the policy are never carried out. Stewards can help address this by providing feedback to the leadership.

If there is no program to address workplace violence, consider making a presentation to your executive board or health and safety committee, proposing that the union raise the issue with management. And you can propose that contract language be negotiated requiring workplace violence prevention programs.

Investigate incidents in which a member is subjected to violence and consult with the union leadership on how to pursue your findings. Possible union follow-ups include filing a grievance, raising the issue at the health and safety or labor/management meeting, creation of a workplace violence task force, or approaching management to implement preventive measures discovered in the investigation.