Build a Stewards Council from the Bottom Up

Want a stronger union at work? Consider building a stewards council.

I was a rank-and-file worker at a company with a good steward structure years ago, so I knew something about how it worked. After I began working as a union representative for Service Employees (SEIU) Local 660, I was assigned to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. I saw immediately that the union there was weak.

With only five stewards for 1,700 workers, demoralization was high. Many members complained that the union did nothing, and they wanted out. The only solution was to build the union at the facility.

I met with three interested stewards and we came up with an assessment and a plan. We knew we couldn’t handle every problem at once, so we decided to concentrate on one work area of about 20-30 workers at a time. We used three criteria to decide where to focus:

First, there needed to be a problem that affected most workers in the area. Additionally, it needed to be a problem that people felt strongly about. Finally, we wanted to focus on areas where there was a leader or potential leader in the group.

SETTING GUIDELINES

Once we found such a group, we had three goals: (1) organize an issue campaign that would involve a significant majority, (2) try to win a victory, and (3) recruit at least one leader to become a steward. Our long-term goal was to have at least one steward in every work area, on every shift, in a ratio of at least one steward for every 20 workers.

Once we had recruited at least 12 stewards who were representative of the workforce in the different areas, we would set up an interim stewards council. When we had 20, we would establish the permanent stewards council.

The council would function as a democratic body—we would elect officers and write a simple constitution, bylaws, and mission statement that mandated member input and democratic practices. All the while, we would need to keep recruiting.

We received a call from two workers on the hospital’s 4 West ward who complained that management had issued a memo stating that workers had to bring in a doctor’s note if they were off one day sick in December. The usual policy required a doctor’s note after three days.

I went with one of the stewards to meet with the callers.We asked if everyone was strongly opposed to this change, and they said “yes.” We decided that a petition could gauge the level of support while teaching petition circulators leadership skills.

Within three days, 23 of 25 workers signed. We then developed a draft campaign outline: we would file a group grievance and have as many people come into the grievance meeting as possible.

The lead workers mapped their work area by making a list of all the workers there, and got 12 workers to agree to come and speak at the grievance meeting. We could only get two workers released for the meeting, so the others came in on their breaks, two at a time, every 15 minutes, spread over an hour and a half. Work slowed down considerably.

Management was worried, and backed off on enforcing the new rule. Workers were happy and one leader became a steward.

SUPPORT LABOR NOTES

BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR

Give $10 a month or more and get our "Fight the Boss, Build the Union" T-shirt.

We repeated this process in other work areas and within four months we formed the interim stewards council. Within eight months, we had built a permanent stewards council that had elected its own officers.

LEADERSHIP AND EDUCATION

The council put out letters and leaflets, conducted larger campaigns at the facility, and was soon seen by workers and management as the union at the work site. As the full-time union rep, I worked most closely with the elected leaders of the council. Working together, we developed plans and campaigns to further strengthen the union.

Early in the recruitment process we decided to hold steward training classes. We held them after work at the hospital, once a week, to make it easy for stewards to attend. Topics included “Rights and Responsibilities of Stewards,” “Communication and Informal Problem Solving,” and “Organizing Around Worksite Issues.”

Most of the classes emphasized looking for group issues, because fighting for a group would strengthen the union much more than fighting for just one person. I involved the stewards in the classes as much as possible, including as presenters (when they felt comfortable).

We also set up a mentoring program. New stewards would go with more experienced ones or with me to meetings with management to see first-hand how issues were handled. As they gained knowledge, skills, and confidence, they began to participate more.

Our goal was to get as many stewards as possible to run meetings with co-workers and management by themselves. This gave the union a big boost. We also publicized our activities, especially our victories.

BRINGING PEOPLE IN

Soon, word was out that the union was alive and growing.Workers in other areas asked to become stewards. We asked them to help on a project and then brought them aboard.

Within a year and a half, we had 35 stewards and the union was winning some victories. Things were far from perfect, but management knew that the union was there.

I was then re-assigned to LAC-USC Medical Center, with over 3,500 workers. There was already a council there of about 40 stewards. Working with the leadership, we organized more issue campaigns and recruited many more stewards.

The council put out a monthly newsletter with three regular articles: (1) a victory that the union had won at the facility, (2) a current campaign that we invited workers to join, and (3) an invitation to become a steward.

Stewards councils make a big difference. When workers have one, they feel that they are the union—and that they have power.

Paul Krehbiel is a Field Representative/Organizer with SEIU Local 660 in Los Angeles. For more information about building a stewards council at your workplace, contact him at paulkrehbiel[at]earthlink[dot]net or 626-398-5101.